Expelled: A Creationist Conspiracy Movie?

Edit:Try this link:www.expelledthemovie.com...


I work at a non-profit TV station, and one of the shows I work on is called Strictly Ministry. It's basically a tv show showcasing Christian music videos. The other day, we showed a trailer for this new movie coming out called Expelled. It features Ben Stein, and from what I could gather, it was a movie about Creationist Scientists and their efforts to have Creationism identified as a scientific theory, or outright truth.It also focuses on ID scientists that have been blacklisted, expelled from their positions,and discredited in the scientific community.

It is a decidely pro-creationism movie, one that,as an Atheist and supporter of evolution and natural selection,am very interested in seeing. The host of our show, a pastor, promised to get me advance screening passes to see it,so I'll definately let you all know how it turns out as soon as possible.Unfortunately I don't have any links to this movie, and even if I did I wouldn't know how to post them. But I am sure some of you will find it quickly and post it.

Until the movie comes out and we can begin dissecting it, we can ponder these questions:

Could this movie be considered part of a Creationist/Christian/religious conspiracy?

Has there been any feature length movies(not DVD/internet/homebrew) movies put out for a pro-evolution standpoint?If so, is that considered a conspiracy? If there hasn't been, is that in itself a conspiracy?

Finally, can we consider movies of this nature to be propaganda, or part of a conspiracy? Consider not just religious,or scientific movies, but political movies as well. Do movies really have the power to sway people beliefs and opinions?

I look forward to everyone's input!

[edit on 5-4-2008 by Gigatronix]

[edit on 5-4-2008 by Gigatronix]

My vote is for propaganda as part of a conspiracy. But it's only a conspiracy because it is an organized attempt to subvert science in favor of religion. The perpetrators certainly don't intend evil, but they nevertheless do a lot of harm to our kids.

reply to post by Neiby
I agree that the "perps" don't intend evil(at least I hope not), but harming our kids? I think that's a bit of a stretch, but I guess it depends on how soon in kids education do they want to push this, and how hard will they push it.

My personal opinion is neither Evolution nor Creationsism should be taught in public schools. Since neither can claim to have full support from the scientific community, save it for college as an elective.

This movie looks very interesting and Im curious as to how the both sides will react to it. Will Creationists support it 100%, or will they find their own problems with it? Will it inflame the debate even more? What do the makers of this movie hope to achieve?



[edit on 5-4-2008 by Gigatronix]

[edit on 5-4-2008 by Gigatronix]

To say that the theory of evolution does not have broad scientific support is simply an untrue statement. It's like saying, "Other than the tens of thousands of scientists and decades of science that support it, it doesn't have broad support."

The theory of evolution is the by far the best explanation of the development of species that we have. There isn't even a close second. If you don't teach science to kids then you guarantee that we'll be behind the rest of the world in that regard. That is harmful to the kids and to our country.

Creationism shouldn't be taught because it simply doesn't have a scientific basis. It is mythology. One must be willing to twist evidence and science to believe in Creationism.

[edit on 5-4-2008 by Neiby]

well, at the very least it's based on outright fraud. they duped myers and dawkins, which shows you the extent they'll go to for their side.

star and a flag from me.

reply to post by Neiby
Great post,star for you. The point you brought up about our academic standing compared to the rest of the world is a strong argument. I've heard that this creationism versus evolution debate is mostly raging here in the States. I wonder why this is? In countries with higher science and math knowledge, like India, do they have to reconcile their religion with science?Are they compatible in those cultures?Or is it simply just not that big of a deal...

reply to post by madnessinmysoul

One thing I will say, as I was watching the trailer, Ben Stein uses the ol'"they want us to believe everything happened randomly" type argument against evolution. I really had hoped they had enough sense to realize that even some Christians know that is patently untrue.Maybe he was just trying to be funny, but to someone who may not be very informed on the inner-workings of biology, this statement could be misleading. Add to that the possibility of the viewer may already be predisposed to Creationism, it may come off as biased. But I'll reserve judgement at this point.

reply to post by Gigatronix


hmm

well, i've decided to see the movie before i make a further judgment on specifics, but i do know they were very shady with myers, throwing him out of the premiere after they interviewed him and whatnot...

but anyway, i'll get back to you once i've seen it.