Before turning to Expelled, let’s mention the really important news: Secret Cylons tell all! Also, see Star Wars vs. Star Trek on democracy. Abnormal Interests and Northstate Science highlight the truly expelled. John Pieret highlights Sarkar’s review of Expelled. The Austringer highlights DaveScot’s take on the Darwin -> Hitler theme in the movie (also at Further Thoughts). See also The Island of Doubt on skepticism and science. The Brites show review data that suggests Expelled is doing what it intended... Read more

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has issued a statement concerning the movie Expelled. Edward W. Lempinen writes: The film, “Expelled,” posits that science is unable to explain crucial gaps in evolution on Earth, and that the intervention of an intelligent designer was necessary to advance the development of life. The film claims that scientists ruthlessly suppress such challenges… “We were… especially disappointed to learn that the producers of an intelligent design propaganda movie called ‘Expelled’ are inappropriately... Read more

A review I wrote (previously posted on this blog) of God and Evolution: A Reader has now appeared in print in the latest Reports of the National Center for Science Education, Volume 27 Numbers 5-6 (Sep-Dec 2007) pp.53-54. Read more

This is a repost of something I wrote on my old blog about Carl Sagan’s The Varieties of Scientific Experience, which are essentially a transcript of his Gifford Lectures. Sagan’s approach to religion is so thoughtful, level-headed, and rational that it is tempting to advocate “Saganism”, an approach to truth that is open to both the sciences and spirituality, and which acknowledges (as Sagan did) that the spiritual quest and the human effort to understand out place in the universe... Read more

This post includes a round up of some of today’s blogging about Expelled, a premiering today that claims to be about science and sounds likely to be mostly fiction. Higgaion has several posts about Expelled, as well as one about religion and science in the new X-Files movie, subtitled “I want to believe”. He also has a good answer to a bad question. The Panda’s Thumb has multiple posts with reactions to Expelled from all over. Henry Neufeld writes about... Read more

The headlines always say things like “Earthquake Rocks Midwest”. So if you are a journalist, newspaper editor or reporter looking for a more interesting title, remember that it would be equally true to write “Midwest Rock Earthquakes”! Read more

I’m not known for being a literalist, but this morning we did have an earthshaking event. This morning’s earthquake registered 5.4 on the Richter scale, apparently, and the epicenter was in southeast Illinois. The vibrations woke my wife and I up. We both realized it was an earthquake fairly quickly, but she was certain first, being from Romania, where there have been many earthquakes, including severe ones. It seemed to last for at least 12 seconds, but presumably began before... Read more

A student of mine has created an image of Yoko Ono as the Hindu goddess Kali, standing on Ben Stein’s chest: Priceless… Read more

Abnormal Interests and Notes From Off Center respond to a very strange question about evolution asked by Jim West. Jim has moved on to other subjects. Thoughts in a Haystack discusses a Bible-toting science teacher. Amused Muse has an Expelled round up. Further Thoughts covers a news story making the rounds in the blogosphere, which suggests I might need to redo my picture of Ben Stein as follows: Higgaion has a great quote from James McKeown, a former professor of... Read more