c. 2008 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Pop quiz: What is the real source of evil in the modern world? Greed? Intolerance?
Well, according to “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed,” it’s Darwinism, a philosophy that posits the pointlessness of life and encourages the “de-privileging of human beings” _ and, as such, is responsible for everything from atheism to abortion, euthanasia to the Holocaust.
And here I thought evolution had something to do with the Galapagos islands and “Inherit the Wind.”
A hard-core, fundamentalist bit of right-wing propaganda, “Expelled” slyly appropriates its style from liberal and left-wing sources, with Ben Stein conducting deadpan interviews of a grab-bag of experts and wackjobs, while intercutting old movies, new animation and newsreel footage.
This is all fine _ a number of comedy shows and documentaries have been hard-core, left-wing propaganda, serving up more red-meat entertainment than useful information. But Jon Stewart is a lot funnier than Stein.
“Expelled” practically swims in images of Cold War communism, talking incessantly of the “wall” that traditional scientists have built to close off debate. But what the movie really _ absurdly _ wants to do is equate scientists with traitors. Stein speaks darkly of the “party line” and how “you’ve got to be a good comrade” _ or else be banished to the “gulag” of irrelevance.
The film doesn’t acknowledge that faith can be more dangerous than reason (or even that some creationists have been granted tenure, as it well knows).
Typical of all propaganda, it also distorts language. The narration talks of “Darwinism” _ not evolution _ to make it sound like another dangerously secular cult; creationism is replaced by the more scientific-sounding “intelligent design” _ as if simply doing a search/replace of “Creator” with “intelligent cause” hides the theory’s basis in religion.
(INFO BOX FOLLOWS)
Plot: An exploration of evolution and the resulting collision of science and faith.
What works: There might be a good movie in there somewhere.
What doesn’t: The makers of this highly slanted film begin on a note of hysteria and go on from there.
Featuring: Ben Stein. Director: Nathan Frankowski. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Rating: PG, for thematic material, some disturbing images and brief smoking.
(Stephen Whitty is the film critic for The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.)
KRE/RB END WHITTY400 words, with optional trim to 300
A photo of Ben Stein from `Expelled’ is available via https://religionnews.com.