Category Archives: Antievolution

The Expelled RSVP site(s) getting to the facts

Posted on by

Strap yourselves in folks this is has some twists and curves.

OK first a synopsis of events: biologist/blogger/atheist provocateur P. Z. Myers signed up online to see a screening of Expelled (a film in which he appears and is thanked in the credits) along with his family and biologist/atheist provocateur maximus, Richard Dawkins, and as everyone not living in a deep dark cave in Borneo that lacks internet access knows, was kicked out of the theater and not allowed to view the film.

The lovely irony of one of the producers of a film, that decries the supposed discrimination and mistreatment of antievolutionists by the scientific mainstream, pettily expelling a scientists who was interviewed in that film, for no apparent reason, sent howls of virtual laughter through the blogosphere along with a sizable heap of scorn down upon the producers head.

This provoked a fairly desperate scramble amongst the ID creationism crowd to defend and justify the producers actions and vilify both Myers and Dawkins (as if they needed more reasons beyond their being evolutionists and atheists). Included in the counter charges they’ve made against Myers and Dawkins is that they were uninvited “gate-crashers” who “gamed the system” to illegitimately gain access to the screening.

Myers in his public comments on his blog and elsewhere has simply stated that he signed up online to see the screening but did not explain how he came to find the web page where this could be done.

Read on »

Expelled! The Movie Rip-off and the Event at Biola

Posted on by

This is where I was supposed to be telling you what I thought about the film Expelled after having paid (yes I know, “boo, hiss”) $10 to Biola university for a ticket to “Expelled! The Movie and the Event“.

Here is their description of the event:

EXPELLED!
The Movie and the Event
with Ben Stein

Intelligent Design: What happens when a group of scientists get terminated for thinking it is reasonable to believe in ID? Actor Ben Stein makes a funny and thought-provoking movie about it. Join us for an exclusive backstage film pass and hear from Stein himself as well as a panel of experts.

“The Movie and the event”, “backstage film pass“, sounds like you might actually see the movie right? Wrong! Instead all you get for your ten clams and your forty minute drive (one way) is essentially a commercial for the movie with a few clips and a lot of ID babble from Stephen C. Meyer, Ben (Mad Dog) Stein, and three or four also spokes.

Addenda (3-29): A couple of analogies I thought of regarding this being a “backstage film pass”. Imagine getting a backstage pass to a concert where you get to “go backstage” but the band doesn’t play. Or for the rednecks out there, imagine getting a pit-pass but there’s no race going on. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense does it? (End)

Meyer and me

Needless to say I am a bit peeved about this.

It gets “better” though. After listening to Stein practically foam at the mouth (he almost seemed like he had a pulse for a minute there) about the horrible injustices supposedly documented in his film and a bunch of stuff about God—despite the fact that one of the clips from the film was one of the Discovery Institute muckety-mucks prattling on about how they want to talk about science and that it’s the “people with no argument” who keep bringing up the “red-herring” of religion—the night was topped off with Stein receiving the Orwellianly titled “Phillip E. Johnson Award for Liberty and Truth” for 2008. All of this to no less than three standing ovations from the crowd.

Along for the ride with me was Dr. Wilfred Elders (Prof. of Geology Emeritus UC Riverside), and Dr. Jim Hofmann (Liberal Studies Dept. Cal State Fullerton) and his wife, I’ll let them speak for themselves as to what they thought about the evening in the comments if they wish.

Good times…

I’m sure more about this disappointment will come out later (I have an audio recording) but it’s late and that’s it for now.

Off to the movies…

Posted on by

Well I’m going to see Expelled for myself very soon. I won’t say exactly when or where I’m going, but I won’t be alone. At least two allies, a retired geologist and philosopher of science will be there as well.

Needless to say my post on the tangled web of Expelled RSVP pages will be delayed a bit longer. But on the up side you can expect another account of seeing the film on top of it.

You can’t make this stuff up folks: More from DaveScot

Posted on by

DaveScot the Energizer Bunny of Antievolution:

In my previous post where it was confirmed that Paul “PZ” Myers fooled the hosts of a private screening of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” by RSVPing to an invitation he never received I reserved judgement on Richard Dawkins, giving Dawkins the benefit of doubt that he may have been duped by Myers into thinking he was an invited guest at the private screening.

Well, there is no longer any doubt. Richard Dawkins registered for the screening as “Clinton” Dawkins. How many of you knew Dawkins’ first name was Clinton? Registering for the event using a first name which he never uses for anything else is about as red-handed as you can get. Dawkins was fully aware he was sneaking into a private screening to which he wasn’t invited and attempted to hide his presence by using his legal first name in the registration.

Except Dawkins didn’t register under his rarely used and little known first name because he personally didn’t register under any name. Myers registered for him, putting him down under his own name as a guest that would be accompanying him.

So business as usual I guess…

Contradictory stories from the ID crowd on the Expelled incident

Posted on by

I guess they don’t read each others blog posts.

Over at Post-Darwinist, Denyse O’Leary is quoting Expelled producer Mark Mathis as admitting that he:

…banned pz because I want him to pay to see it. Nothing more.

Nothing about being uninvited, or sneaking in, or gate-crashing, but apparently the right hand of O’Leary didn’t bother to let the left hand of DaveScot know because over on Uncommon Descent DaveScot graces us with yet another round of bleating about Myers and Dawkins being uninvited gate-crashers.

DaveScot: Richard Dawkins and PZ Myers are running around saying they weren’t “gate crashers” at a pre-screening of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”. But that’s exactly what they were.

Make up your minds people.

Read on »

Richard Dawkins reviews Expelled

Posted on by

And recaps the Expelled from Expelled incident, see: Lying for Jesus? by Richard Dawkins

For more critiques, reviews, and news on this soon to be released intelligent design creationism film be sure to see the National Center for Science Education’s site set up for just this purpose: Expelled Exposed.

And the propoganda about the “Expelled Incident” goes on, and on…

Posted on by

Apparently the folks in the intelligent design creationism crowd are going to try and stick to the story that P. Z. Myers and Richard Dawkins were somehow doing something dishonest or unsavory when they tried to attend/did attend, respectively, a showing of Expelled last Thursday evening (3-20-08).

Bruce Chapman President of the Discovery Institute claimed yesterday (3-21-08) that Dawkins (and Myers) had stooped to “gate-crashing” the showing and that:

Dawkins apparently acknowledged that he had not been invited and did not have a ticket. A sophomoric side to his ideological campaign is thus revealed.

Read on »

Dawkins and Myers discuss the expelled from Expelled incident

Posted on by

Here Richard Dawkins and P. Z. Myers discuss Myers expulsion from the film, the film itself, and some of what happened afterwards, enjoy…

Popular science blogger P. Z. Myers expelled from Expelled

Posted on by

This is too, too funny.

P. Z. Myers of Pharyngula tried to attend a free showing of the intelligent design creationist film Expelled today (a film in which he appears btw) but was apparently recognized by the producers of the film who had security ask him to leave under threat of arrest! The irony of creationists expelling a scientist from a film that claims that ID creationists are treated unfairly by mainstream science is delicious enough but it is hardly the best part. I won’t spoil the punch line, go to Pharyngula and read all about it.

Update: P. Z. has some additional information about what happened in the Expulsion from Expelled incident.

An evening with an “Evil Woman.”

Posted on by

Last Monday evening (3-3-08) I had the great pleasure of meeting one of my colleagues in the battle with antievolutionists, Dr. Barbara Forrest of Southeastern Louisiana University. She is the co-author of Creationism’s Trojan Horse: The wedge of Intelligent Design (2004), and more recently an expert witness in the Intelligent Design trial; Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District (2005).

Dr. Forrest and myself

Dr. Forrest was giving a talk at Cal State Fullerton titled “Evil, Evil Woman” about what it was like being the only female witness in Kitzmiller trial and the sort of (mis)treatment she has been subjected to at the hands of the Intelligent Design crowd before, during and after the trial.

Read on »