Friday, February 15, 2008 | Reason : Wingnut News | print version

Ben Stein Wins Intelligent Design Money

by SCIAM Observations

Thanks to SPS for the link.

Reposted from:
http://science-community.sciam.com/blog-entry/Sciam-Observations/Ben-Stein-Wins-Intelligent-Design/300009517

by Gary Stix

Ben Stein was the goofball host of the cable show "Win Ben Stein's Money." A Christian University in southern California has just announced that it is honoring Stein for his upcoming movie that makes the case for taking intelligent design seriously. The press release, issued today, declares: "Ben Stein Wins Money from Intelligent Design Community."

Stein is scheduled to receive from Biola University the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth, named after a well-known creationist. "The award," according to the release," recognizes Johnson's pivotal role in advancing our understanding of design in the universe by opening up informed dissent to Darwinian and materialistic theories of evolution."

The release does not mention how much Ben Stein won, but it does cite Stein's upcoming movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:"

"In his new movie "Expelled," Stein wonders whether humans were designed by an intelligent being or whether we were simply the result of an ancient natural accident. In his search for an answer, he discovers an elitist scientific establishment that punishes the scientific proponents of Intelligent Design because they reject some of the claims of Darwin's theory of evolution. 'Big science in this area of biology has lost its way,' says Stein. 'Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it's anti-science.'

"In light of Stein's contribution to the pursuit of liberty and truth, particularly as it relates to the field of Intelligent Design, he is being honored with the 2008 Johnson Award. The award ceremony will feature premiere clips from the forthcoming movie, the personal appearance of scientists who were expelled from their jobs because they are sympathetic to Intelligent Design, and will include a brief address by Stein.."

The movie is a potential setback to science educators' continuing efforts to set the record straight because Stein, the son of renowned economist Herbert Stein, lends a patina of respectability to neo-Creationist science as a result of his status as a minor celebrity. Perhaps more egregious than the movie is Stein's contention in his writing that "Darwinism, perhaps mixed with Imperialism, gave us Social Darwinism, a form of racism so vicious that it countenanced the Holocaust against the Jews and mass murder of many other groups in the name of speeding along the evolutionary process."

What can only be hoped is that a trenchant critical response by journalistic and science publishing institutions (and, of course, the blogging community)--will suffice so that Ben Stein never gets funding to make an Expelled II.  Please download the recent National Academy of Sciences report "Science, Evolution and Creationism" to get the straight story.

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1. Comment #127869 by Sally Luxmoore on February 15, 2008 at 5:04 pm

This is seriously depressing. Let's hope it never gets made.

Other Comments by Sally Luxmoore

2. Comment #127873 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Credulity always coughs up its dough.

A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place.

Other Comments by Diacanu

3. Comment #127874 by dave2 on February 15, 2008 at 5:09 pm

The movie? I'm afraid it already has been.

Other Comments by dave2

4. Comment #127883 by bonno on February 15, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Let's hope it gets made and fails miserably. You can have all the fun to point out its shortcomings!

Other Comments by bonno

5. Comment #127884 by room101 on February 15, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Stein is scheduled to receive from Biola University the Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth...

LOL...that's rich.

Hey, how about the "Kenneth Lay award for business acumen" ???

Other Comments by room101

6. Comment #127889 by Wosret on February 15, 2008 at 5:18 pm

What a tool he is. I never would have guessed he was crazy, I used to watch his show all the time. He seemed somewhat like a tool, but not insane as he is now making himself known as by any intelligent person. I think they just offered him big bucks. I think even the most simply minded person understands that "interpretations of evolutionary ideas have caused evil, therefore evolution is wrong," is outwardly, and obviously a fallacious argument. It is well below sophistry, which is at least subtly fallacious, not obviously.

Other Comments by Wosret

7. Comment #127906 by QuickEye on February 15, 2008 at 5:32 pm

Stein, the son of renowned economist Herbert Stein, lends a patina of respectability to neo-Creationist science as a result of his status as a minor celebrity

Well that, and hopefully the other way around, too: the movie will lend a patina of disrespectability to Stein. Fingers crossed...

Other Comments by QuickEye

8. Comment #127910 by rod-the-farmer on February 15, 2008 at 5:47 pm

One can only hope that his first movie will not make it into mainstream theatres across the world. But if it does, it dies a quiet death for lack of interest. I am sure it will get some play in fundie churches, but that is preaching to the converted, so to speak.

Other Comments by rod-the-farmer

9. Comment #127911 by Gymnopedie on February 15, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Awww... Poor little Ben Stein taking on big bad science. I feel sooo sooo soowwy for him.

Other Comments by Gymnopedie

10. Comment #127912 by Spandrell on February 15, 2008 at 5:50 pm

In the other Expelled thread, a review of the movie is posted and it claims that Evolution and Intelligent design are never defined, and Stein shies away from any question remotely involved with the factual accuracy of either. His mealymouthed position might be paraphrased better as "interpretations of evolutionary ideas have caused evil, therefore evolution shouldn't be talked about so much and we should talk about creationism instead." (At least the mainstream creationists don't debate so gutlessly.)

"Darwinism, perhaps mixed with Imperialism, gave us Social Darwinism, . ."

That says just as much as "German patriotism, (perhaps mixed with a rabid, vicious hatred of Jews) gave us the Holocaust."
It tells us absolutely nothing concrete about the issue being debated and sounds good in rhetoric, and the only truthful thing about the statement is that the speaker knows that it's easier to defend what you say when you hide behind a disjunction.

Other Comments by Spandrell

11. Comment #127920 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 5:59 pm

Spandrell-

Evolution and Intelligent design are never defined, and Stein shies away from any question remotely involved with the factual accuracy of either.

Well, from what I've seen of the trailer at least, the thrust of the film seems to be a big bottom lip puffed, sniffle voiced, martyrdm routine for creationism being picked on by big mean science.

Morons will swallow it like candy.

Other Comments by Diacanu

12. Comment #127933 by Spandrell on February 15, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Exactly. The premise of the movie is 'Secular Humanists are persecuting Christians because evolution is considered a worthwhile topic for scientists to research, while Intelligent Design is not.' Bringing in any discussion of factual accuracy will do nothing to advance that premise, and the intended audience for this film, quite frankly, doesn't care about learning facts so much as getting a chance to develop their martyrdom complex.

Oh, and the review from the other thread:

http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3229

Other Comments by Spandrell

13. Comment #127944 by dlitt on February 15, 2008 at 7:19 pm

It is depressing that the majority of Americans are going to flock to the theatre in search of something (mistakenly perceived as intellectual) to help support their dogma - just as they flocked to see the shit-kicking of their Jesus in the "Smashin' of the Christ." We can only hope for well published bad reviews and good attendance for "Religulous."

Other Comments by dlitt

14. Comment #127957 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 7:44 pm

dlitt-

"Smashin' of the Christ."

ROTFLMAO!!!

That's great, can I use that?

Other Comments by Diacanu

15. Comment #127972 by Richard Morgan on February 15, 2008 at 8:18 pm

dlitt :

the majority of Americans are going to flock to the theatre in search of something (mistakenly perceived as intellectual)

I find this notion surprising but, in some ways encouraging, since I've just finished reading the thread "Dum and Dumber : Are Americans hostile to knowledge."
This seems to contradict the notion that a majority are going to flock to see a film because of it's (apparently) intellectual appeal.
Doesn't it?

Other Comments by Richard Morgan

16. Comment #127974 by liserdarts on February 15, 2008 at 8:24 pm

"Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are."

And then we learn interpretations of evolutionary ideas have caused undesirable implications.

...I guess we should close our eyes and find a new "throry"

Other Comments by liserdarts

17. Comment #127975 by hoops mccann on February 15, 2008 at 8:25 pm

rod-the-farmer says:
"One can only hope that his first movie will not make it into mainstream theatres across the world."

When I first heard about the fleas, I wondered about their commercial viability as well. Is anyone actually buying this stuff? I have to wonder if it is vanity published or (more likely) subsidized by some group.

Other Comments by hoops mccann

18. Comment #127977 by quill on February 15, 2008 at 8:26 pm

He's not insane, just depressingly stupid.

What's even more depressing is the fact that BIOLA University (which stands for Bible Institute of Los Angeles University) is internationally accredited.

Within literally a minute of the trailer, scenes of Nazi death camp footage began creeping in. Ben's portrayal of evolution ("somehow that mud came to life") is so absurd that it can never be taken seriously by any thinking person. But if there are enough unthinking people in the world that BIOLA University is actually accredited... sigh.

Other Comments by quill

19. Comment #127979 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 8:28 pm

quill-

"somehow that mud came to life"

Oh, of course, God molding that same mud into a guy shape, and breathing into it, that's perfectly reasonable!

Other Comments by Diacanu

20. Comment #127981 by lbalough on February 15, 2008 at 8:32 pm

Well, let's hope that Bill Maher's Religulous provides a nice counter balance to Stein's idiocy.

Other Comments by lbalough

21. Comment #127982 by Captain Yesterday on February 15, 2008 at 8:35 pm

At least for once they appropriately title something ... The Johnson Award, hehe.

Other Comments by Captain Yesterday

22. Comment #127984 by dansam on February 15, 2008 at 8:36 pm

Until I heard about this movie, I considered Ben Stein to be a smart guy with a technical background. He has written many reasonable articles in the Sunday NY Times business section on economics & investing.

So I'm actually pretty shocked & upset to see him spouting all the "usual arguments" that I'd expect to hear from the uneducated lot of pseudo-scientific creationist folk.

It's depressing.

Other Comments by dansam

23. Comment #127987 by dlitt on February 15, 2008 at 8:39 pm

Comment #127957 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 7:44 pm
dlitt-

"Smashin' of the Christ."

ROTFLMAO!!!

That's great, can I use that?

Feel free... I plagiarized it myself.

Other Comments by dlitt

24. Comment #127989 by quill on February 15, 2008 at 8:42 pm

I'm not going to bother hoping for "well-published bad reviews", either. Something tells me our American media will be negligent in their duty to society, just as always.

Media outlets will report "Expelled" as "a controversial film" that has "some scientists riled up". They won't present it as the bullshit that it is.

Other Comments by quill

25. Comment #127990 by Richard Morgan on February 15, 2008 at 8:43 pm

"Sexual desire, perhaps (only "perhaps", mind you) mixed with immorality, gave us rape and sexual abuse of children."

I'm beginning to think that Stein's reasoning is flawed...

Other Comments by Richard Morgan

26. Comment #127991 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 8:46 pm

Richard Morgan-

rape and sexual abuse of children

Two things notoriously absent from the ten commandments.
Y'know, the ten commandments Mike Huckabee says "pretty much cover everything".

Other Comments by Diacanu

27. Comment #127993 by KingofallSamurai on February 15, 2008 at 8:54 pm

If you watch the trailer (link in the above article to movie's website), they've been very naughty.

There's a clip of Richard Dawkins saying:
"As a scientist, I'm pretty hostile to a rival doctrine ..."

However, it is blatant from the way he sounds at that point, that they have cut off the end of his sentence - presumably explaining what sort of rival doctrine. Instead, they are trying to make it sound like he is opposed to the very concept of rival doctrines ...

Other Comments by KingofallSamurai

28. Comment #127995 by dlitt on February 15, 2008 at 9:01 pm

Comment #127972 by Richard Morgan on February 15, 2008 at 8:18 pm
[edit] ...I've just finished reading the thread "Dum and Dumber : Are Americans hostile to knowledge."
This seems to contradict the notion that a majority are going to flock to see a film because of it's (apparently) intellectual appeal.
Doesn't it?

The majority who see the film will be the needy 'choir' looking for something they naively believe is an intelligent point of view.
Many Americans are hostile to 'evidence based' knowledge. The film will probably appeal to a slightly older demographic than the 'wannabe dumb' teenager.

Other Comments by dlitt

29. Comment #128001 by dkv on February 15, 2008 at 9:18 pm

We are sexual and add sustainable to it and we become intelligent..
Consider following what if scenarios:
What if we are moving Towards Sustainable Pleasure?
What if whatever constitues us in contained in everything which is part of the universe.
What if genes came into existence to increase pleasure?
(Physically I think increase in similarity means increase in pleasure)
What if there was no singular point of origin of the Universe?
What if the Masses just came out like tress on a flat earth...and then the principle of similarity worked on it?
The theory of Evolution is far from complete.
If you find those scenarios irritating then that explains the success of Ben Stein's argument.

Other Comments by dkv

30. Comment #128010 by Wendy Norris on February 15, 2008 at 9:26 pm

Dan Whipple at Colorado Confidential.com wrote the first review of "Expelled" here followed today by an account of a press conference call with Ben Stein and the film's producers here.

Enjoy!

Other Comments by Wendy Norris

31. Comment #128015 by 82abhilash on February 15, 2008 at 9:33 pm

Americans are more smarter than the mainstream media gives them credit for. This movie will do well in its niche markets - the fundies, the crazies and their kids who they force to go with them. But I doubt it will make any real impact in the main stream. Few people will care enough to watch and those that do will not care enough to do anything about it.

On the other hand if there are too many bad reviews it might actually make people think there is something worth watching, some may then buy into Ben's crazy conspiracy theories.

"Why so many bad reviews?" "It is as if they did not want us to watch it." Well we now know why." And so on.

Other Comments by 82abhilash

32. Comment #128017 by dlitt on February 15, 2008 at 9:47 pm

I will probably watch it. I'll wait for the 'torrent' though, so I don't contribute to their coffers.

Other Comments by dlitt

33. Comment #128019 by Richard Morgan on February 15, 2008 at 9:48 pm

82abhilash :

Americans are more smarter than the mainstream media gives them credit for.

*Groan.*
Grammar groan.
A special prize for the first person to re-write this sentence in correct English. (Please mention your mother tongue. If you are a native Welsh speaker, the prize value will be doubled.)

Other Comments by Richard Morgan

34. Comment #128025 by dkv on February 15, 2008 at 10:00 pm

There is a possibility that all the religion bashers will get roasted in hell like insects...they will might get subjected to inhumane torture by the devil who will throw their half conscious body in boiling oil.
Any doubts so far?

Other Comments by dkv

35. Comment #128027 by Diacanu on February 15, 2008 at 10:07 pm

dkv-

Doubt about what?

That the idea of hell was thought up by hateful primitive men in the bronze age, and is perpetuated to this day by people with the same mentality?

No doubt at all.

Other Comments by Diacanu

36. Comment #128028 by Richard Morgan on February 15, 2008 at 10:07 pm

dkv

There is a possibility that all the religion bashers will get roasted in hell like insects...they will might get subjected to inhumane torture by the devil who will throw their half conscious body in boiling oil.

I showed this to a very young nephew. He asked me which video game was being described and was a Gameboy version available.
Well, over to you, dkv

Other Comments by Richard Morgan

37. Comment #128032 by dkv on February 15, 2008 at 10:23 pm

A analogy exists in real world.When FBI captures an Iraqi undercover agent ... his fate will be similar.Or when Israeli captures a Muslim terrorist his fate will be no different...(and vice versa)
The question is whether there is a possibility ?

Other Comments by dkv

38. Comment #128036 by MelM on February 15, 2008 at 10:30 pm

The ancient Greeks started the revolution of independent thought in the West. Christianity is the counterrevolution.

Faith is a vice.

Other Comments by MelM

39. Comment #128042 by TonyA on February 15, 2008 at 10:48 pm

Intelligent design, perhaps mixed with stupidity, gave us Intelligently Designed Stupidity, a form of stupidity so insidious and effective that the afflicted are not able to recognize their affliction.

Other Comments by TonyA

40. Comment #128044 by dkv on February 15, 2008 at 10:57 pm

Faith is a advice.

Other Comments by dkv

41. Comment #128047 by dkv on February 15, 2008 at 11:21 pm

An exceptionally simple theory of everything.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0770

Other Comments by dkv

42. Comment #128050 by Spandrell on February 16, 2008 at 12:09 am

Re: post 21
Bill Maher is a very funny man, but don't expect him to be on your side on matters of evolution and elementary biology.

http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/12/drinking_the_an.html
Maher believes that vaccinations do nothing to prevent disease, and that Pasteur's germ theory is "just that". I know he's thrown quite a lot of good zingers towards the Catholics over the years, but it doesn't make much sense to praise someone for being an atheist if they're such a willful cretin on matters of verifiable fact.

Other Comments by Spandrell

43. Comment #128053 by kluv0008 on February 16, 2008 at 12:56 am

Yeah the movie is in post-production i.e. it's already been made.

But I agree with those who have commented about Bill Maher's new movie which is set to open in most theaters on Easter!

Go see it! Again, Bill Maher's movie is called

Religulous

Other Comments by kluv0008

44. Comment #128054 by Saerain on February 16, 2008 at 1:12 am

28. Comment #127993 by KingofallSamurai on February 15, 2008 at 8:54 pm

If you watch the trailer (link in the above article to movie's website), they've been very naughty.

There's a clip of Richard Dawkins saying:
"As a scientist, I'm pretty hostile to a rival doctrine ..."

However, it is blatant from the way he sounds at that point, that they have cut off the end of his sentence - presumably explaining what sort of rival doctrine. Instead, they are trying to make it sound like he is opposed to the very concept of rival doctrines ...

Truncated and out-of-context quotes drive me nutty. Comedy shows do this sort of thing occasionally and the audience can tell and it's fine, but this is just viciously fraudulent. When I first saw the first trailer, I hoped that they had gotten the clip from an existing interview that could be fully quoted in refutation, but it seems Dawkins has never uttered the words 'rival doctrine', so they must have conducted the interview on their own.

Should scientists really have to travel with their own cameraman to be sure these things don't happen? Incredible.

Other Comments by Saerain

45. Comment #128057 by stevencarrwork on February 16, 2008 at 2:02 am

Stein can talk about Darwinism and the Holocaust, but Hitler was a creationist.

Hitler explicity rejected Darwinism and the evolution of man.

From Hitler's Tischgespraeche for 1942 'Woher nehmen wir das Recht zu glauben, der Mensch sei nicht von Uranfaengen das gewesen , was er heute ist? Der Blick in die Natur zeigt uns, dass im Bereich der Pflanzen und Tiere Veraenderungen und Weiterbildungen vorkommen. Aber nirgends zeigt sich innherhalb einer Gattung eine Entwicklung von der Weite des Sprungs, den der Mensch gemacht haben muesste, sollte er sich aus einem affenartigen Zustand zu dem, was er ist, fortgebildet haben.'

I shall translate Hitler's words, as recorded by the stenographer.

'From where do we get the right to believe that man was not from the very beginning what he is today.

A glance in Nature shows us , that changes and developments happen in the realm of plants and animals. But nowhere do we see inside a kind, a development of the size of the leap that Man must have made, if he supposedly has advanced from an ape-like condition to what he is' (now)

And in the entry for 27 February 1942 , Hitler says 'Das, was der Mensch von dem Tier voraushat, der veilleicht wunderbarste Beweis fuer die Ueberlegenheit des Menschen ist, dass er begriffen hat, dass es eine Schoepferkraft geben muss.'

Hitler also wrote 'Die zehn Gebote sind Ordnungsgesetze, die absolut lobenswert sind.'

Other Comments by stevencarrwork

46. Comment #128059 by stevencarrwork on February 16, 2008 at 2:08 am

As a scientist, Richard Dawkins is pretty hostile to his OWN doctrines...

He actually looks for evidence that what he writes is true.

Other Comments by stevencarrwork

47. Comment #128069 by Vaal on February 16, 2008 at 2:52 am

Worrying. There should be a disclaimer on the movie saying "This is complete bolloxs and it may damage your brain!".

Unfortunately the ignorant will flock to see it, and it will be another pseudo arrow in their armory of religious propaganda, for us to have to refute.

I worry about humanity, have they lost the capacity of critical thought? We were always taught at school to question everything yet the Religites have no qualms at all when it comes to misrepresentation, lies, spin and inanity beyond comprehension. Hopefully people will see it for the utter cobblers it is, and it will give RD and PZ Myers and others the opportunity to tear it to pieces.

Other Comments by Vaal

48. Comment #128100 by pedlar on February 16, 2008 at 7:09 am

Sally at comment 1:

This is seriously depressing. Let’s hope it never gets made.

As others have pointed out, not only has it been made and pre-released, but Dawkins (and PZ Myers among others) were deceived into appearing in it. PZ’s blog has followed the story closely, i.e.:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/09/expelled_comes_to_the_ny_times.php

On a more cheerful note, it looks like a bust for the Idiots:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/01/expelled_not_even_released_and.php

I honestly don’t know how these people sleep at night.

Other Comments by pedlar

49. Comment #128105 by AtheistJunkie on February 16, 2008 at 7:25 am