I found watching Ben Stein's "Expelled" to be a bitter-sweet experience. I had to catch it on opening night, since I was leaving the country the following Sunday, and I had to go to the late-night show because of grandparent duties. In spite of the late hour, the theater was half-full. It was the "rowdy-Christian" bunch, if you know what I mean.
I'm a Ben Stein fan, and I'm pretty sure this movie is a labor of love. Ben wants to defend God, and he wants to make a statement about academia. While I think he did a great job, I had a nagging, uncomfortable feeling all the way through.
The movie's strength is its narrow aim. Ben doesn't take on all that is wrong with the world. He just wants to show that scientists who believe in Intelligent Design experience professional persecution in an arena that claims to be open-minded and free. He hints and tantalizes about the inevitable conclusions such thinking has (like the inescapable denial of free-will), but these are only side-lines. He concentrates on how our scientific institutions are filled with as much prejudice as any other segment of society.
This is where the uncomfortable feeling arose in my mind. As I sat there watching sincere men and women tell of the abuse they suffered for trying to be honest and fair, I kept thinking of parallels I've seen in churches. For every example in the movie, I could think of several examples in church life. What made me sad is that the "bad guys" in science are not that much different from the "bad guys" in local congregations. It's even worse with Christian bad guys, because they do their dirty work while using the name of God.
I guess the lesson is that wherever there are people, there will be crummy people.
The movie ended to a round of applause from the rowdy church crowd (even though Stein is Jewish, I assume). I'm pretty sure that most of the people that will see this movie will be Christians. It's a good documentary, and I recommend it. I am hoping hope there will be a beneficial, unintended consequence. Maybe the Christians will see themselves as they boo the bad guys. Perhaps it will make them think.
