Ben Stein lost my money

I've been seeing the teasers for the new Ben Stein movie Expelled lately. I couldn't tell exactly what it was about, and perhaps that's because he wants to control the potential damage that could be caused if intelligent people were to see it.

I was drifting aimlessly around the web today, as I usually do when I should be taking care of real life responsibilities, when I came across this site: http://www.expelledexposed.com . Apparently the movie is an attempt to portray the scientific community as a good 'ol boy system which will blacklist and run out anyone who believes in creationism/intelligent design(ID). We're taking creation and religion out of the required teachings in schools, and now some people think it's a massive conspiracy. Enough so that they have deceived people (as to the intent, and even the title of the movie) for their interviews, cherry-picked commentary and quotes, and flat-out lied about the supposed destruction of careers and defamation of character of certain ID scientists. I'm too worked up to paraphrase, so I'll quote some examples.

The Claim

“A few months after this interview Baylor University shut down his research website once they discovered a link between his work and intelligent design.” (Ben Stein, Expelled)

The Facts

Robert Marks’s “Evolutionary Informatics Laboratory” website – touting intelligent design – was originally hosted on a Baylor University server. Concerned that the material on the website misleadingly suggested a connection between the intelligent design material and Baylor, administrators temporarily shut the website down while discussing the issue with Marks and his lawyer. Baylor was willing to continue hosting the website subject to a number of conditions (including the inclusion of a disclaimer and the removal of the misleading term “laboratory”), but Marks and Baylor were unable to come to terms. The site is currently hosted by a third-party provider.

The Claim

Sternberg’s “life was nearly ruined when he strayed from the party line while serving as editor of a scientific journal affiliated with the prestigious Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.” (Expelled)

The Facts

As stated above, Sternberg did not lose his office or his access to collections, he did not lose his job, he was not “fired” from the (unpaid) editorship of the journal (he had resigned six months before the publication of the Meyer article), and from the e-mails in the appendix to the Souder report, it appears that his colleagues were civil in their communications with him. The Smithsonian renewed his Research Collaborator status for another three years in 2006. It seems, then, that the worst that happened to Sternberg is that people said some unkind things about him in private email to one another. Since the same can be said of almost every person, it’s hard to see how this could be construed as “life ruining”. There is no evidence of any material harm done to Sternberg as a result of the publication of the Meyer article. And any damage done to his reputation would seem to have been self-inflicted.

There is an excellent blog article by one of the scientists interviewed in the movie here: http://richarddawkins.net... where he eloquently vents his frustration at being used and misrepresented in the movie, as well as some of the more glaringly obvious errors that it portrays.

You know, I don't mind people believing in creationism, etc. but to portray the scientific community as close-minded and largely organized against any theory is ridiculous. Post a theory with supporting evidence for peer review, and it will be checked and eventually confirmed or found to be inaccurate. There is resistance to change from "standard" theory, but once proven the scientific community evolves and accepts new ones. They are more than happy to rewrite the textbooks if the new theory is capable of advancing or replacing an older one with repeatable results. It's both dirty and telling when you have to manufacture a story in order to advance your cause.

The sad thing is I will never be able to laugh at Ben Stein again. Wait a minute, did I say again?