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Australian Media on EXPELLED

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In reading an Australian news report on Ben Stein’s EXPELLED, I came across this paragraph (go here for full story):

Stein is [a man] with a mission: to prove US academics are being expelled from universities for daring to suggest creationism should be taught in science classes. And to prove that creationism — the belief that God created everything in six days, a creed accepted by 80 per cent of Americans — is the only riposte to Darwinism. Evolution, in Stein’s narrative, is linked to “communism, the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust and planned parenthood”.

Whereas the American media by now understands that ID is different from young-earth creationism, it appears that some of the foreign media are still clueless. I would encourage readers of this blog to contact the author of this ridiculous comment — John Harlow — and try to talk some sense into him.

Comments
Harlow's view on Expelled is very predictable. Most journalists are aware of the old censorship laws that existed before western societies became secular. Journalists like Harlow and Derbyshire have an instinctive antipathy to religion because they fear the ascendancy of the church and the potential loss of there own freedom. It has been show in studies (which don't get any press coverage) that journalists favor no-fault divorce, abortion, gay marriage, and assisted suicide. Christian morality is a plague to many of them. So they have to trash Expelled no matter how good the science and sociology is. If ID is accepted then there must be a designer. If there is a designer then we are accountable. Through years of effort the press has been able to gain control of the morality in society through a relentless campaign to foist their view through the mass media. It has been successful. Harlow writes a review of a film no one in the country can see so that his society does not move toward religious values which would threaten journalist's secular accomplishments and their future goals for gay marriage and assisted suicide. Harlow and Derbyshire are worried that their power will diminish and that their secular world view will be shattered. The possibility that there world view may be shattered is so frightening to them that they will not even see Expelled to write a review. This shows however, the potency of ID. Secularists are too frightened to give it a fair review. We must be on the right track and only need to continue our efforts to spread the truth.Peter
April 30, 2008
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Intelligent Design has certainly not gone unnoticed in Australian universities, at least amongst students. I think all countries - America included - have people who confuse ID with YEC. I've certainly seen it amongst Americans. At one university here in Australia a video was shown in a science subject with some info on the Dover trial. Surprisingly, even though the lecturer displayed this clearly anti-ID video, her comments were very enigmatic in terms of her own opinion. She showed a definition of science that the schools wanted to implement, and pointed out that it seemed like a good one without mentioning any problems with it. She did not state that ID was not science. In philosophy of religion, Michael Behe's Irreducible Complexity is examined. I think that John Harlow may not be taken representatively of Australia's general level of awareness of ID and its claims. The general levels of animosity and understanding here seem to conform well to my experience with citizens of other nations online. I'm not sure if ID gets much media attention here though, and I realise my comments have been only tangentially related to the media.Croath
April 30, 2008
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Somebody coming along and just opening all the links up could easily get the impression that ID = Creationism.
THE AUSTRALIAN webpage has a huge banner ad for World Vision, a Christian relief organization. I didn't know THE AUSTRALIAN was a Christian news service, but how easy it was for me to get that impression! ;) I thought journalism was supposed to be a profession, not a careless pasttime like crossword puzzles or Sudoku.russ
April 30, 2008
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Praxiteles: "The error probably stems from the slightness of creationism as an issue in Australia." That displays a slightness of understanding any other country by many Americans :P That article was crass, yet the Australian is actually one of our better newspapers! Oh, CMI is giving a "World by Design" later this year: * Did everything just happen? * Why has ‘intelligent design’ caused such opposition? * Why don’t more people get to hear all the evidence for design? * What about so-called ‘bad designs’? * Who is the designer and why does it matter?Jonathan Sarfati
April 30, 2008
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When one of the moderators of this blog runs a site called "youngcosmos" which is also linked to on the side bar (albiet marked as a personal site) is this really that surprising? Somebody coming along and just opening all the links up could easily get the impression that ID = Creationism.Uthan Rose
April 30, 2008
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G'day Bill, The first comment to make about my fellow Australian, John Harlow, is that he obviously has come from a similar background to that of Derbyshire in the last thread: neither have seen the movie!!! Unless Harlow has been able to jet around to the States or has has an illegal download, he wouldn't have seen the movie on our shores. I've tried to find a movie theatre that is showing it and can't. I've also written to Expelled, and although they have most courteously answered some questions, they haven't been able to tell me who a partner would be in Australia for its release. [Mental note: wait for DVD release] So, Bill, I think what I can draw from Harlow's comments is simply is that idiocy has no defining barrier and can be found in every country. Australians really don't care and don't see an issue on ID. It's not apathy, it's just not seemingly relevant in their mindset. And Harlow is able to use this and blithely state stuff that WE know to be incorrect but will generally go unnoticed by the usual reader. Sad, eh! I hope the other Aussie bloggers - like Jono Safarti and Jason Rennie - may find a moment to comment too.AussieID
April 29, 2008
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Last person to find his email addy is a rotten egg.Gods iPod
April 29, 2008
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What a mistaka to maka. Mr Harlow is clearly talking about young earth creationism, and ID is obviously not young earth creationism. The error probably stems from the slightness of creationism as an issue in Australia.Praxiteles
April 29, 2008
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