Whether that\u2019s true is not for me to say. But the film itself \u2014 which I saw at a local post-production facility in downtown Vancouver \u2014 certainly plunges into its controversial subject matter in a way that is designed to get attention, provoke laughter, stimulate outrage and generally produce more heat than light.<\/p>\n
In many ways, Expelled<\/em> follows the template set by Michael Moore and his imitators.<\/p>\n\u2026<\/p>\n
The film \u2026 uses cheesy archival footage to mock some of the atheists\u2019 claims; and the closest it ever comes to explaining what ID theory actually is, and thus whether it deserves any sort of scientific attention, comes via a cheeky animated sequence on \u2018The Casino of Life\u2019 that is similar in feel and tone to the history-of-guns bit in Moore\u2019s film Bowling for Columbine<\/em>.<\/p>\nAlas, the film also cherry-picks quotes in a way that will be disappointing to anyone who is familiar with the debate over ID and the origins of life. British scientists-turned-clergymen Alister McGrath and John Polkinghorne are dropped in for a few seconds to explain that religion and science can get along, but no mention is made of the fact that both men subscribe to evolutionary theory and are critical of ID.<\/p>\n
And Stein\u2019s climactic interview with Dawkins includes an exchange that is treated like a major \u2018gotcha!\u2019 moment, yet if anything it suggests there is something fundamentally dishonest, or at least disingenuous, about the ID movement.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matters are further confused by the fact that the film never acknowledges that some ID theorists actually believe in evolution, albeit perhaps only to a point. Instead, the film allows the viewer to think that ID and evolution are natural enemies \u2014 an idea deepened by the film\u2019s efforts to link Darwinism with the Holocaust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My friend and colleague Peter Chattaway has joined the growing list of Christian film critics who have very mixed feelings about Expelled: No Intelligence Necessary. His review is published at BC Christian News. He comments even further at his blog. Here are some memorable moments:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1345,258],"class_list":["post-34452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-expelled-no-intellgence-allowed","tag-peter-chattaway"],"yoast_head":"\n
Peter Chattaway Reviews "Expelled"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My friend and colleague Peter Chattaway has joined the growing list of Christian film critics who have very mixed feelings about Expelled: No Intelligence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peter Chattaway Reviews "Expelled"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My friend and colleague Peter Chattaway has joined the growing list of Christian film critics who have very mixed feelings about Expelled: No Intelligence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-04-24T20:38:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-16T16:58:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/\",\"name\":\"Peter Chattaway Reviews \\\"Expelled\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-04-24T20:38:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-16T16:58:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"My friend and colleague Peter Chattaway has joined the growing list of Christian film critics who have very mixed feelings about Expelled: No Intelligence\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/04\/peter-chattaway-reviews-expelled\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Peter Chattaway Reviews “Expelled”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. 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