Originally Posted by aaronssongs

Please explain how Darwinism and Nazism are connected....

Originally Posted by Southern Man

Does Mike do this in his films? "That's disturbing enough, but what Stein does next is truly shocking. He allows the principal advocates of Darwinism to speak their minds. These are experts with national reputations, regular welcomed guests on network television and the like. But the public knows them only by their careful seven-second soundbites. Stein engages them in conversation. They speak their minds. ..."

Originally Posted by Southern Man

I'm wondering if you read this before you posted:

"Stein insists that he isn't accusing today's Darwinists of Nazism. He points out, however, that Hitler's mad science was inspired by Darwinism."

Originally Posted by mlurp

I like Ben Stein's dry humor... But this is for all of you not just me to express my ideas. The story has links in it if you want more.

Opinion

Brent Bozell III
Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists Fri Apr 18, 3:00 AM ET

Ben Stein Vs. Sputtering Atheists - Yahoo! News

I confess that when the producers of Ben Stein's new documentary "Expelled" called, offering me a private screening, I was less than excited.


It is a reality of PC liberalism: There is only one credible side to an issue, and any dissent is not only rejected, it is scorned. Global warming. Gay "rights." Abortion "rights." On these and so many other issues there is enlightenment, and then there is the Idiotic Other Side. PC liberalism's power centers are the news media, the entertainment industry and academia, and all are in the clutches of an unmistakable hypocrisy: Theirs is an ideology that preaches the freedom of thought and expression at every opportunity, yet practices absolute intolerance toward dissension.

Evolution is another one of those one-sided debates. We know the concept of Intelligent Design is stifled in academic circles. An entire documentary to state the obvious? You can see my reluctance to view it.

I went into the screening bored. I came out of it stunned.

Ben Stein's extraordinary presentation documents how the worlds of science and academia not only crush debate on the origins of life, but also crush the careers of professors who dare to question the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution and natural selection.

Stein asks a simple question: What if the universe began with an intelligent designer, a designer named God? He assembles a stable of academics — experts all — who dared to question Darwinist assumptions and found themselves "expelled" from intellectual discourse as a result. They include evolutionary biologist Richard Sternberg (sandbagged at the Smithsonian), biology professor Caroline Crocker (drummed out of George Mason University), and astrophysicist Guillermo Gonzalez (blackballed at Iowa State University).

That's disturbing enough, but what Stein does next is truly shocking. He allows the principal advocates of Darwinism to speak their minds. These are experts with national reputations, regular welcomed guests on network television and the like. But the public knows them only by their careful seven-second soundbites. Stein engages them in conversation. They speak their minds. They become sputtering ranters, openly championing their sheer hatred of religion.

PC liberalism has showered accolades on atheist author Richard Dawkins' best-selling book "The God Delusion." But when Stein suggests to Dawkins that he's been critical of the Old Testament God, Dawkins protests — not that Stein is wrong, but that he's being too mild. He then reads from this jaw-dropping paragraph of his book:

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."

Dawkins has a website. Its slogan is "A clear-thinking oasis."

It's understood that God had nothing to do with the origins of life on Earth. What, then, is the alternate explanation? Stein asks these experts, and their very serious answers are priceless. One theorizes that life began somehow on the backs of crystals. Another states electric sparks from a lightning storm created organic matter (out of nothing). Another declares that life was brought to Earth by aliens. Anything but God.

The most controversial part of the film follows Stein to the Dachau concentration camp, underlining how Darwin's theories of natural selection led to the eugenics movement, embraced by Adolf Hitler. If there is no God, but only a planetary lab waiting for scientists to perfect the human race, where can Darwinism lead? Stein insists that he isn't accusing today's Darwinists of Nazism. He points out, however, that Hitler's mad science was inspired by Darwinism.

Now that the film is complete, the evolutionist prophets featured in the film are on the warpath inveighing against it, and the alleged idiots who would lower themselves to watching it. Richard Dawkins laments how the film will solicit "cheap laughs that could only be raised in an audience of scientific ignoramuses." Minnesota professor and blogger P.Z. Myers predicts the movie is "going to appeal strongly to the religious, the paranoid, the conspiracy theorists, and the ignorant —— which means they're going to draw in about 90 percent of the American market." Myers and Dawkins now both complain they were "duped" into appearing in the movie (for pay).

Everyone should take the opportunity to see "Expelled" — if nothing else, as a bracing antidote to the atheism-friendly culture of PC liberalism. But it's far more than that. It's a spotlight on the arrogance of this movement and its leaders, a spotlight on the choking intolerance of academia, and a spotlight on the ignorance of so many who say so much, yet know so very little.

L. Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center. To find out more about Brent Bozell III, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at Creators Syndicate - Celebrating 20 Years as a World-Class Syndicate Of Talent.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC

Originally Posted by Southern Man

I'm wondering if you read this before you posted:

"Stein insists that he isn't accusing today's Darwinists of Nazism. He points out, however, that Hitler's mad science was inspired by Darwinism."

Originally Posted by Magnvs

You know, I used to respect Ben Stein. Just as I used to respect C.S. Lewis. These two are equals in my mind - excellent examples of intelligent men who have fallen to unintelligent ideas. Basically, logic applies to all aspects of their thinking, but they randomly decide to make a "God box" that's immune to rational analysis. Every other opinion or concept may be reevaluated or updated, even replaced, but this one idea cannot budge.

It is very likely that Ben Stein was raised in religion and simply held onto it. C.S. Lewis apparently took a "journey" through all the religions and ended up choosing Christianity, which Christians use as testimonial evidence of why their religion is better than all the others.

As I said, I do respect these men for the things they do know, but I say this with moderation. For to say that one is well educated in theology or that one knows a lot about the Bible or religious thinking is the same thing as saying that someone is a GENIUS when it comes to Harry Potter. Sure, that's knowledge, but...

Ben Stein has a good point, though. The scientific community has been very asinine in squelching Creationist theory. Come on, have an open mind! I told members of a scientific convention that I believe storms happen when Zeus gets angry with mortals. They laughed me out of the room! In this day and age, our academic community needs fresh ideas. What better way to get them than from the doctrine of a 2,000 year old religion?

Originally Posted by Zephyr

I'm wondering if you have reading comprehension powers beyond those of a five-year-old.

Where did I say he was accusing present Darwinists of Nazism?

And in any case, Hitler's "mad science" is a lie. He and his ilk were racists, plain and simple. Darwinism had nothing to do with it.

Originally Posted by UShaditComing

mlurp- This isn't Ben Stein against spluttering atheists as much as it's going to be Ben Stein agaisnt mainstream religion which is going to run away from Stein so fast that it will be a blur. Of course you wouldn't have the slightest idea why.