mormonsandscience

The only thing worse than a complete lie is a lie mixed with truth. A lie mixed with truth is more likely to deceive people than a simple lie.

Expelled Exposed is basically a movement to expose the supposed lies in Ben Stein’s movie Expelled. I recently read two sources spearheading this endeavor: a website attacking the movie that is sponsored by the National Center for Science Education (NCSE), and a blog posting by Michael Shermer on the website for Scientific American (SA). These two sites present harsh accusations towards Ben Stein, accusing him of completely misrepresenting the truth in his portrayal of scholars who were expelled from institutes of higher learning for embracing intelligent design.

After reading the shocking accusations against Stein’s movie at the NCSE and Scientific American websites, I had to find out if anyone has posted a reply to the accusations. That is when I came across a pro-Expelled article by lawyer Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute. After thoroughly reading all the aforementioned material in an objective manner, I have come to a most unfortunate conclusion.

The National Center for Science and Education and Scientific American have unfairly labeled Ben Stein as being a deceptive, anti-scientific, religious fanatic. These entities have attempted to do this by adding a pinch of truth to a large portion of falsehoods. Shame on them!

I shall give you a sampling in this post. The following are falsehoods perpetuated by the NCSE and SA, and truths of the matter from Corey Luskin. (Note: All quotations come from Luskin’s article titled “Michael Shermer’s Fact-Free Attack on Expelled”)

Falsehood #1 – Stephen Meyer’s article which explained the sudden appearance of life forms during the Cambrian Explosion using intelligent design, and which appeared in the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, was not peer reviewed nor was it subjected to review by an associate editor according to the rules of the biological society.

Truth of the Matter – Meyer’s article was peer-reviewed by 3 reviewers. It is true that Richard Sternberg, the editor who processed Meyer’s article, did not send the article to an associate editor for final review. However, it is a fact that editors working for the biological society are permitted to use their own discretion when deciding whether to forward an article to an associate editor. Dr. McDiarmid, president of the biological society, admitted that there was no wrongdoing regarding the peer-review process of Meyer’s paper.

Falsehood #2 – Scholars at the Biological Society did not treat Richard Sternberg poorly because of his pro-intelligent design viewpoints. No pressure was put on Sternberg to leave his position at the Smithsonian.

Truth of the Matter – Emails from staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where Richard Sternberg worked clearly indicate that he was dealt with harshly because of his pro-ID leanings. Consider the following conclusions from a congressional investigation into Mr. Sternberg’s case. The Congressional Staff Report states:

            “Officials at the Smithsonian created a hostile work environment intended to for Dr. Sternberg to resign his position as research associate in violation of his free speech and civil rights”

            “In emails exchanged during August and September 2004, Smithsonian officials revealed their intent to use their government jobs to discriminate against scientists based on their outside activities regarding evolution.”

            “Smithsonian officials conspired with a special interest group on government time and using government emails to publicly smear Dr. Sternberg; the group also enlisted to monitor Sternberg’s outside activities in order to find a way to dismiss him.”

Falsehood #3 – Pro-ID Iowa State University astronomer Guillermo Gonzales was denied tenure because his publication record “tanked” while at ISU.

Truth of the Matter – Gonzales has published numerous peer-reviewed articles. Indeed his publication rate slowed when he started to investigate and write a book about ID called the Privileged Planet. Even still, as of 2001, Gonzales led ALL TENURED FACULTY who voted against his tenure in normalized publications and citations. According to Luskin, ‘Dr. Gonzales has over 350% more peer-reviewed science articles than what his department ordinarily requires for.” A majority of external reviewers who reviewed Gonzales’ tenure application agreed that he deserved tenure. One external reviewer wrote: “Dr. Gonzales is eminently qualified for the promotion according to [ISU’s] guidelines of excellence in scholarship.”

Falsehood #4 – There was no conspiracy at ISU to deny Gonzales tenure based on his intelligent design leanings.

Truth of the Matter – ID played a major role in denying Gonzales tenure at ISU. 

            “ISU Physicist John Hauptman explicitly admitted in an op-ed that he voted against Gonzales’ tenure because of ID.”

            “Dr. Gonzales’ department chair Eli Rosenberg devoted a full third of his chair’s statement in Gonzales’ tenure file to discussing intelligent design.”

             “Two tenure-voting faculty in Gonzales’ department had links to an anti-ID petition publicly denouncing intelligent design as creationist pseudoscience.”

            Other ISU faculty were intent on sending a message to Gonzales that “his efforts will not be considered as science by the faculty.”

Conclusion

The anti-Expelled lobby has unfairly accused Ben Stein of misrepresenting the truth. It appears that they will stop at nothing to besmirch Stein’s work. They have even gone so far as to criticize him as being “dishonest” for using extras in the opening scene where Stein gives a speech to students. Hmmm? A Hollywood production using extras. How is that dishonest?!

In my opinion, aggressive attacks on Expelled from the National Center for Science Education and Scientific American are exposing their hidden atheistic agenda – to completely secularize our society and drive any mention of God out of science.

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