‘Lying for Jesus?’
Lying for Jesus? is Richard Dawkins’ review of what appears to be a hilariously stupid and somewhat fraudulently produced movie titled “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”, narrated by Ben Stein:
“The whole tone of the film is whiny, paranoid — pathetic really. The narrator is somebody called Ben Stein. I had not heard of him, but apparently he is well known to Americans, for it is hard to see why else he would have been chosen to front the film. He certainly can’t have been chosen for his knowledge of science, nor his powers of logical reasoning, nor his box office appeal (heavens, no), and his speaking voice is an irritating, nasal drawl, innocent of charm and of consonants. I suppose that makes it a good voice for conveying the whingeing paranoia that I referred to, so maybe that was qualification enough. “
Many more reviews of the movie and additional news coverage of the bumbling production company behind it can be found at the site ExpelledExposed. Read on.
just saw Expelled; the fact that Ben Stein isn’t trying to win any popularity contests helps to validate his message… i gather that his goal is to promote free thought, especially more thinking about worldviews that drive American academia
Patrick, I certainly would respect the concept of promoting free thought, but I hardly think encouraging the view that people that disagree with you are equivalent to Nazis is a good way of promoting this. This is actually a pretty silly and ridiculous argument.
And because Ben Stein is an ass doesn’t validate his message. Nice reverse ad hominem argument, but also just doesn’t fly. Being an ass just makes you an ass.
I might’ve actually been interested in going to see a movie that actually tried faithfully to present the point of views of both sides in this debate, but it is pretty clear that this movie is just a one-sided attempt at denigrating the thoughts and concepts of those who disagree. They wouldn’t have needed to lie to get those people to participate if it wasn’t.