Admitting our biases...

After a wonderful day full of reading, writing, and Hebrew I met up with my friend John tonight to see Ben Stein's movie "Expelled". Altogether, I am really glad I went to see it. It was entertaining and informative and I felt like patting my fellow Christians on the back as I was leaving (not necessarily a good thing...). So, as a review, let me start with the negatives and then move on to the positives.

Negatives:
- This movie was definitely a cure for sensory deprivation. It seemed at times that there were more images flashing before my eyes than meaningful words. This did help with the flow and entertainment value of the documentary, but some of the images and clips between interviews were just downright awkward or altogether ridiculous. For example, I highly doubt that 60 seconds of computer generated DNA transcription and translation processes without any explanation really did the average movie-goer any good at all...
-There was definitely a lack of good definition in this movie. There was no real stated case for intelligent design and evolution was only defined in pieces. Sometimes just making sure that everyone is on the same board with their definitions can go a long way in defining the parameters of the debate.
-I'm still not sure what the main thrust of this movie was. Was it to highlight the unfair treatment that Intelligent Design sympathizers and proponents are receiving from the academy? Or was it to make a case for Intelligent design as a scientific pardigm? Or was it to point out the slippery slope ramifications of Naturalism as lived out by Nazi Germany? Or was it to promote freedom of speech and expression? All of the above? A, C, & D? I am confused...
-This movie will likely end up just being another sermon to the choir. Christians everywhere will feel better about themselves and find empowerment in the message. That can be good, but how many will really heed Ben's concluding challenge and actually lose their jobs for speaking out? Only time will tell.

Positives:
-The concluding interview between Stein and Dawkins is itself worth the price of admission. Listening to Dawkins back pedal as Stein forces him to admit there must be some level of design possible for the origins of the universe was beautiful. I am impressed that Stein took it that direction and thought for a moment I saw a little Schaeffer-like "take the roof off" action going on.
-I forget his name, but the gentleman who adamantly stated that what is at stake is not really science vs. creationism but rather a battle over worldviews. "Admitting our biases up front" - that is downright truth right there. This guy gets it. We all have the same evidence. We just interpret it differently.
-There is one atheist/evolutionist that is interviewed who is one of the only men I have ever heard who lives consistently in his worldview. He is a man who flat out says there is nothing to this life - no meaning, purpose, will, etc. There is nothing to life after death, etc. At the time of the interview he was in remission from a brain tumor and recognized it could come back at any time. He said he wasn't going to live like that if it did...he said he would put a gun to his head. Stein comments in the movie that sometime after the interview he learned that the cancer had indeed returned. We don't know what the man did or did not do. Either way, I was moved. God have mercy on him.
-I was impressed with the vast array of individuals interviewed. Good representation from both sides of the debate.
-There is a lot of tongue-in-cheek narration in this movie and it was definitely funny. I would expect nothing less of Stein. Again, this documentary was indeed entertaining.

Well, I am sure that there are more positives and negatives. But that is all my tired mind can muster right now. If you have a chance, go see this movie. It's worth it.