RE: [asa] A Message from the RTB Scholar Team (fwd)

I sent that to an "Expelled" and ID supporter, and his response:

"I am beginning to believe the only problem with Christianity is the
Christians. I would say Hugh is ignorant of a few facets of this whole
argument."

I'm surprised of his response. I've been sending him a lot of the
criticism, but he has a strong loyalty to ID... and a personal friend at
the Discovery Institute.

I'm seeing the movie this Friday, on its first day of release. Thanks
for sharing the info.

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of gordon brown
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 11:07 AM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: [asa] A Message from the RTB Scholar Team (fwd)

Here is a reaction to the EXPELLED film.

Gordon Brown (ASA member)

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear RTB Chapter members,

With the impending release of "EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed" (April

18), the Reasons to Believe scholar team thought it best to prepare a

statement of our position, a guide for answering questions from
chapters,

networks, and apologists. Keep in mind that the mission of RTB centers
on

reaching out to science-minded people with two purposes:

1. to bring the Gospel message to those who would not otherwise hear it,
and

2. to strengthen the faith of those who fear that science conflicts with
the

Christian faith-equipping them for ministry in the process.

In order to accomplish these purposes, we must first earn the right to
be

heard.

After previewing the promotional materials provided by the movie's

marketers, we were concerned that the movie took an adversarial approach
to

the scientific community. A number of RTB scholars and staff attended a

prerelease screening in Los Angeles recently and confirmed that EXPELLED

definitely does take such an approach. The movie draws an analogy
between

the Berlin wall and the scientific community's response to intelligent

design. By doing so, EXPELLED implicitly argues that the scientific

community deems certain questions off-limits, particularly any question

about the legitimacy of neo-Darwinian evolution. The movie further
argues

that academia, the media, and the courts all conspire as "thought
police" to

oppress any and all dissent from the party line.

Clearly some oppression and discrimination have occurred, but the
experience

of RTB scholars and many of their contacts refutes the movie's premise
that

the scientific community systemically and unilaterally fosters these

injustices. While individual scientists and institutions have behaved

unfairly at times, this charge cannot in all fairness be leveled against
the

scientific community as a whole.

Regardless, from RTB's perspective, the central question is this: when

injustices do occur, how should we respond? Consider the response of
Nate

Saint to his son's question, as depicted in the movie, End of the Spear.

Nate, Jim Eliot, and three other missionaries were preparing to make
contact

with the notoriously violent Waodani tribe in Ecuador. Stevie asks if
they

will shoot the Waodani if attacked. Nate replies: "We can't shoot the

Waodani, son. They're not ready for heaven. We are."

If science-minded skeptics indeed represent a mission field, then we
should

not come out shooting. EXPELLED seems to do just that. While an
entertaining

movie, its main thrust runs counter to RTB's mission of seeking to
engage

scientists in the scientific arena. Consequently, any endorsement of

EXPELLED by RTB hinders our ability to spread the Gospel message to
those we

hope to reach.

Therefore, we ask all chapter members and volunteers to refrain from

endorsing EXPELLED in any official way. This request does not extend to
your

personal interactions-only to any actions taken in association with or
on

behalf of Reasons to Believe.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

The RTB Scholar Team

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Received on Wed Apr 16 15:12:48 2008