ASA Executive Director, Randy Isaac, invited Jeffrey Schloss from the Center for Faith, Ethics, and Life Sciences at Westmont College to write a review of the recently released movie
Expelled. That review, entitled "The Expelled Controversy: Overcoming or Raising Walls of Division?" is on the ASA web site at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/resources/Schloss200805.html ( PDF Version )
Jeff's review is a careful and thoughtful piece that represents the way the ASA tackles difficult and controversial topics. Here's the outline of the review:
I. Seeking an Open Inquiry
II. Is Evolution Wedded to Atheism?
III. Do “anti-science bigots stifle science”?
IV. Did Darwin Lead to Hitler?
V. Breaking Down or Putting up Walls?
And here is one of my favorite paragraphs in the opening section that sets the tone (and prepares the reader for the hard work ahead):
What I want to do in this review essay is carefully assess the claims of the film, plus those made in the recent firestorm of criticisms and defenses. It is not targeted at scholars, but it is offered to the thoughtful. “Is there no shorter way of coming to Geometry…?” King Ptolemy is reputed to have asked Euclid. “Sire, there is no royal road to geometry.” Polemical soundbites criticizing and defending the movie notwithstanding, there is no short way to the truth of these issues. While the following assessment is lengthy, it contains segments dealing with each major claim of the film, which may be read separately.
We invite ASA members to post substantial comments on the review, the movie itself, or other reviews published elsewhere. To comment click on the "Add a Comment" link in the lower left. (If there is no "Add a Comment" link, click on the blog entry title to get to a page where there is an "Add a Comment" link.) Please indicate your name so that we can confirm that you are an ASA member. Ignore the "Log In" link. These comments will be moderated and will not appear immediately. More casual discussion and comments should be posted on the
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Jack Haas (unauthenticated)
May 12, 2008 6:29 AM
Reactions to the film have typically based on the background of the viewer. I have been particularly interested in those of lay Christians who
have been attracted by attention grabbing advertisements in Christian periodicals. One guy thought it was "great" to see Dawkins put down by Ben's sharp questions. The viewer had been "intimidated" by college faculty in biology and geology who told their classes at the beginning that they did not want to hear questions from evangelical Christians. Responses from others - mostly seniors - were positive and generally unquestioning of the major points the film seeks to raise. A limited audience to be sure but should one expect any more from a general audience not clued in to the nuances of Expelled"?
Propaganda works best with such an audience!
Noelle Allison (unauthenticated)
May 13, 2008 6:47 AM
I am thoroughly enjoying the review, and thankful for how carefully it discusses the film. I'm working my way slowly through it, and having finished the second section "Is Evolution Wedded to Atheism?" end up wondering why evolution causes such a crisis of faith. I'm a chemist by training, and have never struggled with wondering whether God is sovereign (or exists at all) in the various "concrete" declarations of how chemical reactions come about, or the nature of electrons, etc. Is it just that evolution translates more easily into the public debate ("You can't tell me my gramma was a monkey!") and has become the focal point? It seems to me that knowing (or trying to know) How a thing was brought about doesn't replace Who brought it about--if my kids told me I wasn't actively working in our home because the carpets were really cleaned by the vacuum I'd have a word or two to say to them about it!
Paul H. Carr (unauthenticated)
May 14, 2008 11:41 AM
I would like to thank Jeffery Schloss for his detailed “The Expelled Controversy,” which gives fair consideration to both sides. I concur with his conclusion that “Expelled” sadly raises rather than lowers the barriers between science and faith.
The barriers come from posing the wrong question “Does God’s creativity came from design OR chance?” The answer to the right question, “Does God’s creativity come from design AND chance?” is “yes.”
Darwinian evolution is characterized by the interplay of the natural selection law (design) and variations (chance.) Recent advances in complexity theory and Madelbrot’s “Fractal Geometry of Nature” confirm that Darwinian processes characterize nature’s beauty. As chaos theorist Joseph Ford put it: “God plays dice, but the dice are loaded.”
As proposed in my book “Beauty in Science and Faith,” this interplay can be extended to science and spirit. Spirituality, the source of religious meaning, provides the 'why,' which complements the 'how' of science. The complementary beauty of spirit and science is needed to prevent terrorism and materialism. Spirituality without scientific validation can lead to religious extremism, as in 9/11 and "Expelled." Science and technology without spiritual and moral constraint can result in the exploitation of nature’s intrinsic beauty, the environmental challenge. The integration of the “how” with the “why” will hopefully lead to a beautiful new story that transcends national and cultural differences.
Todd Peterson (unauthenticated)
May 16, 2008 7:50 AM
As counterpoint, Jeffrey Schloss takes 22 pages (24 with references) to dance around ID by addressing Ben Stein's movie. Schloss fails to address the main point, that is, what intelligent design (ID) is and why it truly opens up a unique opportunity for all. I've watched many academics dismiss ID, even Francis Collins says it will fade away, but then this is folly.
Schloss engages in pages and pages of what academics do, write a lot. My point is simple and I made the same point to the producers of "Expelled" at an early screening ... simply focus more on ID iteslf. The fact that Douglas Axe is presented in the film speaks volumes to where ID is going. Schloss may not understand and the viewers of ‘Expelled’ and the readers of Schloss' review won't understand either ... current work in support of ID may take time, like any new perspective finding its way into the science arena ... but that does not belittle its importance as the ‘evolution advocates’ insist.
The real touch of class in all this is the quality of video presentations like "Privileged Planet” as opposed to “Flock of Dodos” (a counter ID video) that is a net insult to academia and free thought let alone any kind of credible response to ID. I and my fellow ASA members need to be reminded as Scripture tells us to ‘discern.’ (www.windowview.org)
Victor Shane (unauthenticated)
Jun 5, 2008 3:51 PM
Jeff's review is thorough, comprehensive, and well-written. In some
respects, at least, Ben Stein's movie comes across as a knee-jerk
reaction to one of Michael Moore's "documentaries". An ancient
Hebrew-Aramaic saying describes what is going on here: "Lo m' ahavat
Mordekhai, ella mi simaat Haman!" ("Not for the love of Mordechai, but
for the Hatred of Haman!" Not for the love of genuine science, but for
the hatred of atheists! Not for the love of God's truth, but for the
hatred of Darwin! The enemy of my enemy is my friend, regardless of
what he says! I think Jeff Schloss is cautioning us not to fall into
this sort of a trap, and he is right of course.