Ben Stein roused by Suppression in Science
Comment: SpiritLinks
"Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the
evidence wherever it may lead…" announces Premise Media Corporation. Their
latest movie production, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" reveals
the dirty little worldwide secret that scientists are being censored, silenced
and even persecuted for digressing from "reigning orthodoxy."
Expelled's host, commentator and muckraker, Ben Stein, best known as the
lovable, deadpan economics teacher in "Ferris Beuller's Day Off,"
takes his role very seriously and with perceptible passion. In the
controversial documentary, which opened to fervent audiences on April 18, the
former presidential speechwriter, economist and self-described
"scold" travels the world speaking with scientists, chemists and
philosophers asking, "Were we designed or are we simply the end result of
an ancient mud puddle struck by lightning?"
Produced by Premise Media Corporation and marketed by Motive Entertainment, the
movie rejects the notion that the case on how we came to be is closed and
exposes the widespread harrying of scientists and educators who pursue
legitimate opposing scientific views.
Premise reports: "The attack on scientific freedom was so egregious that
it prompted a congressional investigation." The results were published in Discovery
Institute – Center for Science and Culture: US
Congressional Committee Report: Intolerance and the Politicization of Science
at the Smithsonian, December 15, 2006.
"The debate
over evolution is confusing and to some, bewildering." Darwinism does not
take into account DNA, microbiology, The Big Bang, Einstein's Theory of
Relativity or the human genome.
"The theory of
Intelligent Design is simply an effort to empirically detect whether the
'apparent design' in nature acknowledged by virtually all biologists is genuine
design (the product of an intelligent cause) or is simply the product of an
undirected process such as natural selection acting on random variations."
Heralding release of
the movie, Stanford Review, the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness club
and VOX Clara: A Journal of Christian thought at Stanford University sponsored the
debate "Atheism vs. Theism and Scientific Evidence of Intelligent
Design" on January 27, 2008.
The event featured
Christopher Hitchens, visiting professor of liberal studies, New School in New
York, author, "God is not Great" vs. Jay W. Richards, research fellow
and director of Acton Media at the Acton Institute, co-author, "The Privileged
Planet." Ben Stein hosted the event with Michael Cromertie, Vice President
of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington and co-editor "Piety
and Politics" as moderator.
The nearly full
house at Dinklespiel Auditorium consisted of Stanford students and faculty and
the larger community, including those in t-shirts that read, "Stand up for
Evolution" and "Atheists are friendly in Silicon Valley. Church
Communication Network telecast the live event to churches around the country.
Each debater was
given 14 minutes for opening remarks. Hitchens began, "I can't imagine
it'll take me 14 minutes to demolish intelligent design, as I refuse to call
it."
Christopher – don't
call me Chris – Hitchens cited barbarism, misery, ignorance, slavery and early
death as proof of an absent or undeserving God. "Who's design? What kind
of design? What kind of caprice, what kind of incompetence, what kind of
cruelty?" Hitchens asked. His argument was largely based on the premise
that religion condones and colludes in atrocities and immorality, citing genital
mutilation, suicide bombings and child molestation.
"We all know
that it's wrong to torture little children just for the fun of it," Richards
said in his opening remarks, adding "a sneer is not an argument." Richards
moved quickly into a case for a scientifically complex design only afforded planet
earth and pointed to the universe's "beginning" as further evidence
of intention.
"Where does the
evidence point in terms of two competing hypothesis, to an atheistic or
theistic world view? Richards asked. For theists, "there is a personal
being, a transcendent, eternal, personal being. This being is by definition
goodness and love."
Both speakers
received numerous outbursts of applause, but Hitchens credibility suffered when
he resorted to vulgarity and name-calling.
Each presented an
argument deserving merit, though rather than offering a final say on the
question of atheism vs. theism, the debate roused contemplation and potential
for discussion.
R&S: What
did you think of the event?
Stein: It went much more smoothly that I thought it
would. Chris, Christopher Hitchens conducted himself in a very refined and
dignified way. And, I thought the other guy {Jay Richards] was spectacularly
good. I couldn't get over him. He was just overwhelming. I had not realized he
was such a powerhouse. He was amazing and conducted himself magnificently. So I
thought it went very, very well.
R&S: A few days ago, I asked Barry Kibrick, interviewer of authors on the PBS show "Between the Lines" what he would ask the debaters. He said that his only question would be, "If you believe in the awe of creation does it really matter whether you're an atheist or a theist?"
Stein: Gee, I
don't really know how to answer that. I'll answer it in a fumbling way to say
that something magnificent and awe-inspiring is going on every day that the sun
rises on this planet. Something magnificent and awe-inspiring is going on every
day that the universe exists. Something so huge and spectacular and complex
that it inspires a sense of deep wonder and worshipfulness in me. That it's
almost instinctive, so that I'm not sure that it needs to be argued about.
What I kept thinking
about [during the debate] is I don't think there needs to be an argument about
it. I can just feel it. I don't need their argument. I feel it.
R&S: Have
you always felt this way? [I asked with envy.]
Stein: Yes.
[He answered quickly and indisputably.]
R&S: Are
you the originator of the idea for the movie? Where did that come from?
Stein: No,
that came from him [pointing to producer Walt Ruloff].
Ruloff: The
original idea came from my background in technology. And, in technology, you're
allowed and you're supposed to ask all questions. You're supposed to push the
paradigm of thought. And, if you're restricted in being able to do that, well,
we're not going to have an obsolescence rate with technology, which is basically
every 6 months.
And, so, when I
started looking into the area of biotech in the area essentially of genomics,
there was a whole series of questions that you weren't allowed to ask, or, more
importantly, be able to openly talk about. And the key element of great science
is if you have collaboration, scientific collaboration. So I was blown away by
this censorship that was happening.
R&S: How
did you discover that?
Ruloff: By
interviewing and talking to many scientists about it. Being able to really put
the current mechanism under the microscope which is the so-called random
mutation combined with natural selection. The driving force is random mutation
and there is a lot of evidence and a lot of work that people want to do in
breaking this paradigm. This paradigm really based on our work needs to be
broken because it's holding back science.
And that is
fundamental to finding out what is going on within the cell. And so that got me
very passionate about it and I immediately got in touch with Ben. And, Ben and
I started working together and started dreaming about this documentary.
R&S: Did
you know each other before hand?
Stein: No, we
met each other about 2 years ago.
R&S: Was
the idea of going around and interviewing scientists …
Stein: That
was Walt's idea. It was all Walt's …
Ruloff: No,
no.
Stein: It was
all Walter. It was.
Laughter all around.
R&S: What
was your part in the movie?
Stein: I'm
the host and narrator.
Ruloff: The star, and the genius and the brains.
Stein: No,
no, no, no, no. Walter's the genius.
R&S: I
don't know about all your books.
Stein: You
can look them up on Wikipedia…
R&S: Oh,
I know, and I will tell you that, as a parting gift to my last love, I gave him
an anthology of your, "How to Ruin your Life; How to Ruin your Love Life,
How to Ruin your Financial Life."
Do you write about
this issue [atheism vs. theism]?
Stein: I
wrote about it in "The American Spectator" and I expect to write
about it more. [And I'd swear I saw a glint of excitement in the great poker-face.}
R&S: Do
you feel like you're on a mission now?
Stein: I've
been on a mission in terms of trying to get people to think more about the role
of God in their lives for a while. I've been involved in the right to life
movement for quite a long time. So, this is really an extension of that. It's
about recognizing the role that God plays in our daily life.
R&S: As
my final question, what would you like to tell me that people should know?
Stein: I
think that people should know that there's an awful lot that Darwinism does not
explain. It does not explain where the laws of physics and thermodynamics and
motion and all the laws that keep the universe running come from. It does not
explain how life began.
Contrary to all the
fudging going on onstage, science has never observed the evolution of one
distinct species. And, people can say, 'oh the genome this, the genome that.'
The genome of a human is not that distant from the genome of a frog. So, that
fact, that they are of similar genomes doesn't prove that man evolved from
frogs, just that they're similar. So, there's never been a singular species
that I'm aware of that's been observed to evolve.
So there's a lot
that has not been answered yet by Darwinism. Christopher Hitchens, I'm sure, is
being sincere when he says, 'It's considered ridiculous to even challenge it.'
That's just nonsense.
I turned off the
recorder and thanked Ben Stein and Walt Ruloff for the interview. Ben Stein
replied, "Thank you for reading my books."
"You bet!"
I hope I said.
-- -- --
Diana deRegnier writes the column SpiritLinks for United
Press International ReligionAndSpirituality.com from the San Francisco Bay
Area. Her articles appear in numerous Internet and print publications. Diana
also maintains the site for the non-profit program SpiritLinksNewsletter.org
for spiritual explorers of any or no religious affiliation. © Copyright 2008 by
Diana deRegnier.