If I didn't know better, I'd think it a parody

According to Lewis Black's hypothesis of the cause of cerebral aneurysms, when someone hears something incredibly stupid or irrational (i.e. "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.") the mind fixates upon it, becoming more and more stressed until a cerebral aneurysm occurs. If I should suffer an aneurysm in the next 24 hours, then, don't be surprised; I just read one of the most vapid statements I have ever come across. If you value your own health you won't proceed, but the comment from the Answers in Genesis article "A Meeting of Minds" (*snicker*) about the meeting of Ken Ham and Ben Stein has to be seen to be believed.

Hyping Stein's past jobs, the article says;

Expelled is hosted by the brilliant Ben Stein, actor/economist/lawyer/presidential speechwriter/science observer--a 21st-century Einsteinian figure. [emphasis added]

Wait... what? This Einstein? The same Albert Einstein that was a brilliant theoretical physicist and not some winy conservative pissant like Ben Stein? Well, if nothing else it's good to know that AiG sets the bar low when it comes to the kind of "intellect" they admire. Stein doesn't return the favor though; the most he could say about the Creation Museum is that one day he hoped to buy some ice cream there;

Ben told Ken that he was aware of the "wonderful" facility near Cincinnati and hoped to visit one day (and also to enjoy his favorite ice cream at a parlor chain in our area called Graeter's, he told Ken!).

Truly worthy of an exclamation point. Snarkiness aside, the article reflects that groups like AiG are taking a more "big tent" approach to Expelled, as YEC creation groups have often chastised the sister intelligent design movement for not being more explicit about the designer being the Judeo-Christian god in the past. Contrary to such misgivings, the House of Ham is encouraging people to lobby theaters to make sure Expelled has a good run at the box office, even buying local school board members tickets and reserving entire theaters for churches if need be. All this hype within creationist circles makes it sound like the producers of Expelled are starting to panic, though.

Keeping the film secret from film reviewers, scientists, and journalists (and only providing showings to select audiences who are told to go out and hype the film) doesn't bode well for this documentary, and I imagine that even if it makes it to a wide theatrical release next month it's essentially going to tank. People already embroiled in the culture war involving creationism and evolution are talking about the film, but I would guess that most theater-goers haven't heard of it and probably don't really care. This time of year is a bit of a dumping ground for movies, anyway, everyone being focused on the summer season that kicks off in May, so we'll probably be seeing the DVD version of Expelled pop up especially quickly after the film fades from view in the few theaters it's released in.

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I take it you never had to rely on a horse for transportation? What would you say if you could only attend college if you had a horse to ride to and from school?

Expelled has destroyed my guilty pleasure in watching America's Most Smartest Model; I just can't condone the guy. (The sheer idiocy of the show would be fun to condone.) At least watching it,I know there won't be any contestant competitions centred around evolution.

(and thanks for the blogroll add, Brian!)

Come on, someone who loves ice cream can't possibly be that bad... ?

By Christophe Thill (not verified) on 14 Mar 2008 #permalink