Denyse O'Leary

Scholar Richard Weikart, author of From Darwin to Hitler asked me to publish this essay to Uncommon Descent. You can read more from Weikart here and my review of his highly recommended book is here. (Note: If you care about this subject, don’t listen to glib excuses and misdirection; read the book.)

I am glad to say that the Expelled flapette on this subject has spiked demand for Weikart’s meticulously researched work, especially because it features the work of Darwinist Nazis who had never before even been translated into English:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,259 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories: (What’s this?)
#3 in Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Medicine > Medical Ethics
#6 in Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Discrimination & Racism
#11 in Books > History > United States > African Americans
(at 9:41 am EST)

For a while, Weikart was the target of unscholarly attacks by people determined to obscure the role of Darwinism as an underlying belief very well suited to Hitler’s Third Reich.

Anyway, here is his essay:

Was It Shameful for “Expelled” to Connect Darwinism and Nazi Atrocities?

Many critics of Ben Stein’s new film, “Expelled,” have expressed distaste—and some have gone absolutely apoplectic—over his linking of Darwinism with Nazism. In an MSNBC article bioethicist Arthur Caplan called the film immoral and even ridiculously calls Stein a Holocaust denier, because of his audacity to link Darwinism with Nazi atrocities. Scientific American calls this aspect of the film shameful.

We need to clarify first that neither Stein nor anyone else in “Expelled” ever claimed that Darwinism was the sole culprit for the Nazi program for killing the disabled or exterminating the Jews. The argument was more circumspect: Darwinism was an important—but by no means exclusive—ingredient in the Nazi worldview that motivated them to pursue death for the “inferior” as a means to foster evolutionary progress. This is irrefutable, if anyone will simply examine the evidence (just read the chapter “Nation and Race” in Mein Kampf).

If we focus on the Nazi program to kill the disabled, we find that just about all historians who have examined the evidence have concluded that Darwinism did have something to do with it. The museum in Hadamar (which Stein visited in the film) and the accompanying book for sale there both explain the influence of Darwinism on the Nazi euthanasia program. Read More ›

Hre’s a thoughtful look by Tim Woods of the Waco Herald-Tribune at the response in and around Baylor University to Expelled – given that Baylor itself was one of the subjects. On the situation of Prof. Robert Marks, Woods records,

Marks’ involvement in Expelled centers on a Web site about his evolutionary informatics research lab.
The research is friendly to the philosophy of intelligent design, Marks says, but is not direct intelligent design research.
The site, formerly on Baylor’s server, was shut down last year by school officials who claimed it lacked sufficient disclaimers that the work was in no way that of Baylor University.

I admire the way reporter Woods relays – with no comment – a rationale so paper-thin as to display the institution’s contempt for the reader/hearer. So many journalists today, wedded to materialism, would choose to implicitly make excuses for the institution. One such might have written, “because, they explained, Marks had never made clear that the university did not support his research.”

Then Woods quotes a functionary: Read More ›

According to Box Office Mojo, Expelled is estimated to have

– earned $5,282,000 in 10 days.

– it is currently ranked 6th in political documentary, 12th in Christian, and 15th in documentary.

– It is currently ranked 13 in films, but every film ranked above it was released in far more theatres.

Meanwhile, Read More ›

Would you go to see a film about a pregnant New York waitress from a deprived background – estranged from her family, dumped by her lover, fired for being late, and about to arrange an abortion? Really? If you said no, you would certainly be affirmed in your decision by critics at the top Entertainment sections. But then Bella stunned film mavens by winning the Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award. Audiences have since made Bella a popular, award-winning – and well-rewarded – movie. There is currently an enormous cultural divide between elite culture and popular culture in North America, and film’s future rests with popular culture. To understand what will happen next for Expelled, ignore the derision of the Read More ›

Gonzaga law prof David DeWolf comments of Richard Dawkins’s effort to spin his recent sympathy for the idea of extraterrestrials bringing life to Earth – as admitted to the Expelled team in the film:

The point of Dawkins’ concession in the movie is not that panspermia is a preferable alternative to evolutionary theory, but rather THAT IT CAN BE STUDIED SCIENTIFICALLY. (Sorry for shouting, but I get excited about these things.)

Dawkins concedes that you could scientifically investigate whether or not the origin of life reflected natural processes or whether it was likely the result of intervention from an external, intelligent source. If you concede this point, which Dawkins appears to do on camera, then Robert Pennock, Eugenie Scott, Judge Jones et al. are dead wrong in postulating “that ID is an interesting theological argument, but that it is not science.” (Kitzmiller, 400 F.Supp.2d 707, 746) Read More ›

The Expelled film performed agreeably at the box office (see link below) but just for fun google “Expelled” and “lies” and see how many hits you get from very angry Darwin fans. Apparently, a well-meaning Christian was concerned about all this steam and fog, asking, “Is it true? Did the Expelled producers really lie?”

Well, no, yes, … and no again. The term “lies” needs unpacking in the context.

As I mentioned to some friends yesterday, the Darwin fan, like other materialists, uses the term “lie” in a different sense from the traditional one with which that Christian is familiar.

To the Christian, a lie is a deliberate falsehood. In that sense, no, the producers are not lying. Darwin fans really behave as the film portrays them when anyone produces evidence or argument against their orthodoxy.

But Darwin fans themselves use the term “lie” in a quite different way. They mean any statement or piece of evidence that does not promote their party line or does not make them look good.

Their usage has nothing to do with the sincerity of the speaker or the quality of the evidence.

From their perspective, Expelled is full of lies.

But no again if you mean, does the film describe fact as opposed to fiction? It is fact.

Likewise with the claim that the Expelled producers tricked Darwinists into appearing. Read More ›

With the Expelled movie set to open across the United States in less than 24 hours, the latest uproar is a claim?/revelation? that the film used John Lennon’s Imagine without permission. Also, some stuff from The Killers.

Here’s the Wall Street Journal (but you must pay for most of it). Update: Here it is on Richard Dawkins’s site in full. Hat tip to Ethan below.

Huff Post columnist James Boyce holds forth here. And here’s a wealth of what may be information. (“Have some potato chips with your salt, for goodness sakes …”)

Tomorrow I will be in a blogger’s teleconference with Ben Stein and have written to ask that he address the accusation and the producers’ response that they only used a little bit of the music.

[(2008 04 18 1:43 EST) Update from the “Oh for Pete’s sake” department: The press conference has been cancelled.  I phoned the agency, where the person at the desk knows nothing, except that she hasn’t heard that the film won’t open tonight. So for now I suppose it will.  Legal action  from the Yoko Own-o empire later, perhaps.  

Quite honestly, at this point, I think the only important question re Expelled is whether the people it is intended to reach will go see it.  That’s all any documentary can ever do.  Later, I will write about the curious reviews appearing in legacy media, designed to reassure the materialist faithful that it is lies, all lies.  Also, scattered handsful of people will apparently turn out to protest. 

If I get time, I would like to write a cultural document about the sort of person who rousts himself out on a Friday night, wearing a tee shirt that demands, “On what day did God make the fossils?” (The day before yesterday,  Pootsie, and if you are not buying a ticket, could we stand a  little ways away from the booth? ) ]

For now I am wondering whether it was a publicity stunt to force the left blogosphere to write about the film.

You know, the old ad gimmick that if you hear something mentioned often enough, you end up buying it ….

Update April 18, 2008: I just received an e-mail from a correspondent, advising 

I saw you discussing this on the article about “Expelled”, so here is what the head administrator over at the official Killers forum has just posted:

“I just spoke to the band’s manager, and adding to the confusion was the fact that they did authorize a project months ago with this request:
Quote:

“The film is a satirical documentary with an estimated running time of 1 hour and 50 minutes, exploring academic freedom in public schools and government institutions with actor, comedian, economist, Ben Stein as the spokesperson.”

What they authorized was a documentary about “academic freedom in schools”, not the film that the producers produced.

They contacted the producers of the film to ask that the song be removed but it is too late. Unfortunately it was misrepresented to them when the request came through to use it. Add this band to a long line of people who were misled by the producers of this film.“

 Absolutely fascinating!  It sounds as though our correspondent does not think that academic freedom applies to those who disagree with her about the evidence from nature  for the design of life. Thus the film really “isn’t” about academic freedom in the schools, you see.  Academic freedom is freedom to spout the party line at all times and in all places. Remember that, folks.

In any event, if the Expelled team got permission, they got permission, so they are legally in the clear.  (Note: Budget line item under expenses: Nuisance lawsuits – $???????)

Also, just up at Access Research Network: A look at Jewish physicist Gerald Schroeder’s The Science of God

For the most part Schroeder would get along quite well with the design theorists (and he is in the Expelled film): Here’s why: Read More ›

I received this press release moments ago: The skinny: 1. The Expelled producers have filed suit in the Northern District of Texas seeking declaratory judgment that there is no copyright or other infringement. Premise Media also seeks its attorneys’ fees in responding to the XVIVO claims. 2. They also suspect that some will try to influence Internet search ranks for Expelled, to direct persons seeking information to attack sites instead. (To solve this problem, just go to Expelled directly.) For the fire and brimstone press release, go here.

As reviews of Expelled pile up, ranging from the “Dishonest!” (as if) through “missed the exit lane two hours ago*” through facile, and on to thoughtful, ending with the rousingly positive, one thing has become quite obvious: There really is a culture war, and whether you love or hate this film will largely depend on which side you are on.

If you are a materialist, you will think that any level of harassment, persecution, or unjust dealings against non-materialists or Darwin doubters is justified. Or else you will simply refuse to see it when it is before your face. After all, you know that Darwin was right, there is no free will and no hereafter, and all that matters is winning now.

If you are a non-materialist, you think that the line between good and evil passes through the human heart and that there really is free will and truth, and you keep hoping that evidence will one day finally matter.

This struggle for the soul of science will  be played out  in public from now on, which is probably a good thing. But expect to groan through many TV-driven fatuities  (Big Science, meet Big Hair; New Science, meet Christian pundettes).

Prediction: The ability to communicate skillfully with the public – over against legacy media story distorters – will be critical.

*This critic apparently believes that Expelled will wreck Ben Stein’s career. Yeah really.

Just up at the Overwhelming Evidence blog

From Mutation Works: Evolve your own musical cave man. (And if he turns out to be a great, yawping troll, please reclassify him as an anthropoid ape and send no photos). Read More ›

He’s the guy in the blue shirt, talking about the National Academy of Science.

Jeff Schwartz is best known as the lead author of The Mind and the Brain, which addressed key findings on how the mind controls and shapes the brain. (Move over, Steve Pinker, you’re hogging the bench again.)

Incidentally, Bill was commenting on Time science writer Jeffrey Kluger’s Cordon Bleu theory of the origin of life (stir and slow cook). I have never read a serious OOL researcher who talked in such a blithely optimistic way.

This highlights a key feature of current materialism: Read More ›

What is the cultural significance of the sheer dullness of National Center for Science Education’s Expelled attack site? Is this their idea of an attack site? Rows and rows of links to the usual suspects who have every reason not to like the film’s message, offering the usual denials and denunciations. Maybe an Expelled philanthropist should give them a grant to spice it up. After all, their site will be no use for Expelled publicity unless they come up with something better. But wait … maybe they can’t come up with something better. Does that mean they are losing the culture war? Also: Will Expelled succeed at the box office? Expelled: Intellectual property vs. intellectual territorialism Wanted: Social scientist to Read More ›

A couple of days ago, I highlighted a recent op-ed in the Waco Tribune celebrating Baylor’s faculty’s cleverness in keeping their affair with Darwin at a discreet distance from lay Baptist donors for decades.

A friend has kindly trolled through Web arcana at Baylor and noted for me the depth of the passion in the Geology department:

Baylor’s Geology department’s FAQS ask, among other things, “What is science?” and  suggest as further reading: Read More ›

A most interesting op-ed appeared in the Waco Tribune (April 6, 2008) by Argye Hillis, a retired biostatistician. Hillis is quite obviously proud of Baylor’s embrace of “the ‘E’ word” (evolution), and of the way in which the institution  skillfully circumvented lay concern. For example,

The late Dr. Cornelia Smith reveled in remembering “the time in the 1920s when the merchants of Waco marched four abreast from downtown Waco in support of Lula Pace.”

Dr. Smith, whose memory is still revered by the older Baylor faculty, carefully avoided labeling Dr. Pace’s teaching as evolution, just as she avoided the “E” word in the more than 40 years that Dr. Smith led the Baylor biology department herself.

In general, Hillis offers the usual boilerplate in favour of a dying materialist idea, accompanied by reassurances that the Baylorites who embrace it are devout Christians. (That glow you are seeing is faith, folks, not phosphorescence.) Read More ›

In an earlier post, I introduced the concept of “denormalization.”

In this second post, I want to talk about PZ Myers. He and his supporters are also candidates for denormalization.

To recap, thuggery or scams that have persisted for a long time and are endorsed at the highest levels of the establishment come to seem “normal.” So the “problem” is not the behavior of thugs and scammers but the attempted responses of those they attack.

The responses sound raucous or incoherent against the tranquil background of accepted misgovernment.

However, in a free society, misgovernment persists because most people do not know what is going on and do not know what they can do to change things. Denormalization means getting the message out to a broad public: Look, this is happening. Do you think it’s fair? If not, here is what you can do about it.

That’s what the Expelled film is doing in the ID vs. unguided evolution (Darwinism) controversy. It shows both the evidence for intelligent design of life and the unconscionable lengths to which the Darwin fans are willing to go, to keep both students and the broad public from knowing why their ideas about the nature of life are probably  wrong.

Myers came to public notice recently when line producer Mark Mathis ejected him from a recent Expelled screening. I suppose he felt ill-used, given that a number of other atheists who were attending a conference in the area (including Richard Dawkins) were admitted. Mathis retorts, Read More ›

If I had heard the word “denormalizing” from a sociology prof, instead of from Ezra Levant, the courageous Canadian lawyer who is working to bring down Canada’s unspeakable “human rights commissions”, I would just groan.

But, “denormalizing” is a useful term for the Expelled film’s potential impact in the United States.

Consider, for example, the following recent events:

– When Rick Sternberg published a peer-reviewed paper in his Smithsonian journal that suggested support for intelligent design, a concerted effort was made to ruin his career. he was told not to come to the press conference disavowing the article because, he told Michael Powell of the Washington Post, “they could not guarantee me that they could keep order” among the distinguished Darwinist scientists (September 2005). Read More ›