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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a controversial 2008 independent documentary film which claims that "Big Science" suppresses criticism of both the evidence for evolution and the modern evolutionary synthesis, which is the theory explaining this evidence. The film, hosted by Ben Stein, contends that this scientific theory contributed to the Nazi Holocaust, communism, atheism and Planned Parenthood. Furthermore, the film claims that American educators and scientists who believe that there might be evidence of intelligent design in nature are being persecuted for these beliefs.

The general media response to the film has been largely unfavorable, receiving a 9% ("Rotten") meta-score from Rotten Tomatoes. Multiple reviews, including those of USA Today and Scientific American, have described the film as propaganda. The Chicago Tribune's conclusion was "Rating: 1 star (poor)", while the New York Times described it as "a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry." Positive reviews have come primarily from some religious right, conservative and creationist media outlets.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science describes the film as dishonest and divisive, aimed at introducing religious ideas into public school science classrooms, and the film is being used in private screenings to legislators as part of the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaign for Academic Freedom bills.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a documentary charging Darwinists with suppressing and persecuting scholars who disagree with them in order to avoid discussing the scientific challenges which Intelligent Design presents to the Origins of Species aspects of Theory of Evolution. . The film's premise is that scientists have been expelled like naughty children from schools, universities and the scientific community, merely for daring to ask inconvenient questions. The documentary is co-written and hosted by Ben Stein and was released in America on Friday, April 18, 2008.

The film is described in its online trailer as “a startling revelation that freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry have been expelled from publicly-funded high schools, universities and research institutions.”

The film argues that scientists and educators who promote intelligent design are persecuted by the scientific establishment. Examples given by the film include Richard Sternberg, a biologist, journal editor, and research associate at the National Museum of Natural History, and Guillermo Gonzalez, a pro-Intelligent design astrophysicist denied tenure at Iowa State University in 2007.

In the film's trailer, Stein states that there are "people out there who want to keep science in a little box where it can’t possibly touch God" and that "freedom of thought and freedom of inquiry have been expelled from publicly-funded high schools, universities and research institutions."

Contents 1 Summary 2 Darwinism 3 Academic Freedom 4 About intelligent design itself 5 Eugenics 6 Filmmaker statements 7 Positive reception 8 Viewer Reception 9 Negative Reception 10 Issues surrounding the film 11 See also 12 External links 13 References

Summary The film documents how some opponents of intelligent design have ulterior motives for suppressing any presentation of ID in classrooms or scientific journals, based on the theory's ideological implications. The implication being that if ID is true, naturalistic evolution as a causation for all life on the planet is false, which removes the ground on which one of the most successful arguments for atheism is built. The film documents why advocacy for atheism is one motive to suppress ID and raises awareness to those who do not understand the underlying philosophical culture war.

The film attempts to describe how the current status quo of the educational system is a de facto endorsement of atheism as a state religion. As a result of this state sponsored perspective, those teachers, professors and academics who speak publicly to oppose atheistic dogma are denied access to funding, tenure and other benefits of participation in academia. The film does not argue to replace the state religion of atheism with any religion or belief in God.

Rather, the film argues that all viewpoints should be included in discussion because of the intrinsic benefits of freedom. To describe the current situation, the film uses the metaphor of a wall erected between Darwinism and all other alternate explanations, similar to the Berlin Wall which the Communists erected to prevent communication and movement within the city. Rather than permit students to be exposed to weaknesses and flaws in evolutionary doctrine, the establishment suppresses alternate ideas and destroys the careers of academics and even journalists who openly question it.

The film shows how opposition to ID is chiefly based on fervent (almost rabid) support for atheism. ID says that a purely naturalistic explanation of the first appearance of life is not as likely as the idea that it was designed. This leads ideologically to questions about an Intelligent Designer with supernatural powers, just as surely as Darwinism's "survival of the fittest" leads to Social Darwinsm and Eugenics.

Those who are horrified at the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazis condemn Darwinism for provided Hitler with ideological justification for his "Final Solution". Darwinism The movie describes Darwinism as a brilliant theory for the 19th century, but hints at some of the many holes in Darwin's work. For example, modern science has uncovered some aspects of the staggering complexity of the cellular and subcellular mechanisms. Armed with even a limited knowledge of the inner workings at the cellular level, the idea that this life randomly designed itself almost defies credulity. This is a material fact of which Darwin was wholly unaware.

But the film does not point to the problems with Darwin's work to prove that evolution is false. In fact, the film accepts that over time, species really do adapt or evolve as described by Darwin. The film pays tribute to the brilliance of Darwin, who correctly described adaptation, natural selection and some evolutionary processes.

The film's criticism is not so much with Darwin, but rather with the atheistic dogma that has become attached to Darwinism. The film points out that others have used Darwin's ideas as a panacea to neatly resolve the question of the origins of life and even the origin of species. Through brief examples, the film illustrates why the Theory of Evolution as an explanation for the origins of life requires a leap of faith in atheism that is at least as problematic as the leap required to believe the reverse. This sets up the main thrust of the film.

Academic Freedom Another point the film makes is that science is never served by a strict adherence to dogma. No question in science should be off the table. Therefore, a scientific mind must allow for the possibility that anything not falsifiable is possible. Contrary to this thought, forces in our culture today are fully invested in an atheistic concept of the universe and thus their interpretation of the Theory of Evolution and the Origin of Species is above reproach. These forces are fully entrenched in academia and it is policy at many institutions of learning to brook no dissent when it comes to the idea of Intelligent Design.

The open mind begs the question: if we cannot establish with certainty whether the life was created or whether it appeared from sheer luck, then why are we forcing one of these two choices upon our academia?

Just as Einstein's Theory of Relativity obliterated and at the same time upheld Isaac Newton's work in Physics, the film implies that there is perhaps a great deal to learn by asking questions about the origins of life. The film shows why Darwin's work is important and in many respects valid. That said, Darwin's works should not be used as philosophical works to describe the nature of God or the origins of life.

About intelligent design itself Ben Stein told Bill O'Reilly,

Intelligent design is an attempt to fill in the gaps; it might be totally wrong. Eugenics The film shows the historical connection between the ideology of "survival of the fittest" and the Holocaust. By the 1920s, German textbooks were teaching evolutionary concepts including heredity and racial hygiene. The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics was founded in 1927; in 1933, Germany passed the Law for the Protection of Heredity Health. Josef Mengele studied anthropology and paleontology and received his Ph.D. for his thesis entitled "Racial Morphological Research on the Lower Jaw Section of Four Racial Groups." In 1937, Mengele was recommended for and received a position as a research assistant with the Third Reich Institute for Hereditary, Biology and Racial Purity at the University of Frankfort, and subsequently became the "Angel of Death" for directing the operation of gas chambers of the Holocaust and for conducting horrific medical experiments on inmates in pursuit of eugenics. Evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould admitted: "The Nazi racial hygiene program began with involuntary sterilizations and ended with genocide."

One academic says in the film, "While I would never want to indict a theory for how someone misused it ... views of human nature that lower our estimation of what we are have consequences to how people treat each other." Steven C. Meyer said, "In Darwinism there's a denial of any intrinsic dignity for human persons. We are the result of undirected natural processes that did not have us in mind" While the film takes pains to point out that evolution is not directly responsible for the Holocaust, one Jewish group felt the movie went too far:

The film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed misappropriates the Holocaust and its imagery as a part of its political effort to discredit the scientific community which rejects so-called intelligent design theory. Hitler did not need Darwin to devise his heinous plan to exterminate the Jewish people and Darwin and evolutionary theory cannot explain Hitler's genocidal madness. Using the Holocaust in order to tarnish those who promote the theory of evolution is outrageous and trivializes the complex factors that led to the mass extermination of European Jewry. Filmmaker statements "If you acknowledge this idea that design can be detected scientifically in the universe, then you open up the door to saying, 'Maybe this atheistic view isn't true,' the entire worldview of people who are atheists crashes down around them," Mathis said. "This is a foundational concept for people who believe this way. So they defend it with incredible vigor." Positive reception In National Review, David Klinghoffer, a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute, describes the Darwin-Hitler connection:

Expelled touches on Darwinism’s historical social costs, notably the unintended contribution to Nazi racial theories. That part packs an emotional wallop. It also happens to be based on impeccable scholarship. "The key elements in the ideology that produced Auschwitz are moral relativism aligned with a rejection of the sacredness of human life, a belief that violent competition in nature creates greater and lesser races, that the greater will inevitably exterminate the lesser, and finally that the lesser race most in need of extermination is the Jews. All but the last of these ideas may be found in Darwin’s writing." Tom Bethell, a conservative journalist for the American Spectator, wrote:

The film, a documentary, is about scientists and researchers who acknowledge the scientific evidence for the intelligent design of life and who have been ostracized or denied tenure as a result. In a word, they have been "expelled" from the academy. Carl Wieland, the managing director for Creation Ministries International, wrote:

This powerful documentary is all about the persecution and censorship of any scientist who dares to oppose the Darwinist paradigm, by even suggesting the relatively modest hypothesis that the universe shows detectable evidence of design. Richard Dawkins "posits a creation theory of his own that fits the parameters of the film's working definition of intelligent design" in Expelled, but claims the movie is "dull, artless, amateurish, too long, poorly constructed, and utterly devoid of any style, wit, or subtlety."

In his quest to attack Ben Stein, Kluger puts words in his mouth, and then commits the strawman fallacy:

" makes all the usual mistakes nonscientists make whenever they try to take down evolution, asking, for example, how something as complex as a living cell could have possibly arisen whole from the earth's primordial soup. The answer is it couldn't--and it didn't... The movie does not criticize Darwinists for saying the cell "arose whole" but for arguing "that life arose from a primordial sea on a lifeless planet through a chance collision of chemicals". This is the typical pro-evolution device of pretending that critics don't understand what evolution is saying. But it backfires, because the movie comes with a leader's guide which shows that Kluger is the one in error. Viewer Reception Expelled opened on April 18, 2008, on 1000 screens. It grossed $3.2 million US, or more than $3,000 per screen in its first weekend.

Negative Reception Before the film opened, pro-evolution opponents of the film were heavily critical of its premise.

The pro-evolution magazine Scientific American criticized the film, calling it "intellectually dishonest," and detailed their objections with the film and intelligent design in a series of inflammatory articles.

The pro-evolution magazine New Scientist ran a review which described the movie as follows: "Expelled is pure propaganda, its style reminiscent of a substandard Michael Moore flick complete with voice-over narration and lots of aimless wandering around". The review criticized the movie's treatment of Dawkins and even made claims of trying to "sneak ID into schools".

NCSE used the film's release to launch a fresh attack on ID, repeatedly calling it "creationism" as part of their strategy to demonize scientific critiques of evolution. The gist of their defense of Caroline Crocker's dismissal was (1) she wasn't "fired" (because that means only immediate termination in their book) but merely let go at the end of the semester as is common practice when a teacher is no longer needed on the faculty; and (2) each mention of intelligent design in class was an unauthorized addition to the curriculum. Apparently, only pro-evolution information is allowed in evolution class, and its weaknesses are not to be revealed if you want to get tenure.

John Derbyshire, a columnist at the conservative National Review Online, wrote a surprisingly critical review, despite not having seen the film, and confused intelligent design with creationism. He said that "creationists" have been "morally corrupted" and engage in "willful act of deception." He concludes that attacking "science" (i.e. evolution) is equivalent to attacking Western Civilization.

Issues surrounding the film Allegations have been made that the producers of the film used copyrighted material without permission at multiple points in the film. Yoko Ono, owner of the rights to John Lennon's songs including the one sampled in the film, "Imagine", has sued Premise Media for copyright violation.

Atheist professor PZ Myers attempted to attend a pre-release screening of the film, but was prevented from entering by security officials. However, Richard Dawkins, who had accompanied Myers, was able to get in.

Evolutionist Richard Dawkins claimed he was tricked into appearing, indicating that he had been told it would be a movie named Crossroads that would be focused on "exploring the controversy." (Two others who similarly claimed to have been deceived said they would have appeared anyway.) In response, Ben Stein said that no one he interviewed asked what the film would be about, and the co-producer Walt Ruloff said at the preview that interviewees were paid and were even told ahead of time what the questions would be.

People presented in the film

The film portrays several people including Richard Sternberg, Guillermo Gonzalez, and Caroline Crocker as victims of persecution by "Big Science" for their promotion of intelligent design and for questioning "Darwinism". Other intelligent design supporters such as David Berlinski, William Dembski, Stephen Meyer, Jonathan Wells, Paul Nelson, Pamela Winnick and Gerald Schroeder appear in the film as well.

In addition, the motion picture includes interviews with scientists and others who advocate the teaching of evolution and criticize intelligent design as an attempt to bring religion into the science classroom. These include PZ Myers, William Provine, Richard Dawkins, Michael Ruse, Michael Shermer, and Eugenie Scott.

Richard Sternberg

Richard Sternberg, a Staff Scientist for the National Center for Biotechnology Information and fellow of the intelligent design advocacy group ISCID, also has an unpaid research position giving him facilities at the Smithsonian Institution. Six months after he gave notice of resignation from a temporary unpaid position as editor of the scientific journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, he circumvented the journal's reviewing process to include a paper by intelligent design proponent Stephen C. Meyer which argued that the development of phyla during the Cambrian explosion was not fully explained by evolution. The Society subsequently declared that the paper "does not meet the scientific standards of the Proceedings" and would not have been published had usual editorial practices been followed.

In the movie Stein states that the paper "ignited a firestorm of controversy merely because it suggested intelligent design might be able to explain how life began". He claims that Sternberg was "terrorized" and his "life was nearly ruined when he strayed from the party line while serving as editor of a scientific journal affiliated with the prestigious Smithsonian Museum of Natural History." The journal is not affiliated with the Smithsonian, and Sternberg still has his research position. Stein claims it was the "most egregious" case and "He lost his job", but the NCSE noted "the worst that happened to Sternberg is that people said some unkind things about him in private email to one another. Since the same can be said of almost every person, it’s hard to see how this could be construed as 'life ruining'".

Guillermo Gonzalez

Guillermo Gonzalez is an astrophysicist, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Iowa State University and a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. He is also a fellow with the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design and co-authored The Privileged Planet.

After the normal review of his qualifications, such as his record of scientific publications (which had dropped sharply after he joined the faculty), he was not granted tenure and promotion on the grounds that he "simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy." In the previous decade, four of the 12 candidates who came up for review in the department were not granted tenure. Expelled portrays Gonzalez as a victim of religious discrimination and the Discovery Institute campaign asserts that his intelligent design writings should not have been considered in the review. However, Gonzales listed The Privileged Planet as part of his tenure review file. Dr. Gregory Tinkler of Iowa Citizens for Science stated that "Being a religious scientist is perfectly normal and acceptable, but scientists are supposed to be able to separate science from non-science, and good research from bad. Academic freedom protects a scientist's ability to do science, not to pass off a political or religious crusade as science."

Caroline Crocker

Caroline Crocker was a part-time cell biology lecturer at George Mason University who became the center of controversy after her lecture taught students demonstrably false creationist material, including intelligent design claims. In the film Stein states, "After she simply mentioned Intelligent Design in her cell biology class at George Mason University, Caroline Crocker’s sterling academic career came to an abrupt end." However, she continued to teach her course until her contract expired, and after losing that job repeated the creationist lecture in her other position at Northern Virginia Community College. A George Mason University spokesman said her contract was not renewed for reasons unrelated to her views on intelligent design, and that though they wholeheartedly supported academic freedom, "teachers also have a responsibility to stick to subjects they were hired to teach, and intelligent design belonged in a religion class, not biology. Does academic freedom 'literally give you the right to talk about anything, whether it has anything to do with the subject matter or not? The answer is no.'" Crocker subsequently had a postdoctoral year at the Uniformed Services University, and currently has a full time post as executive director of the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Center which promotes intelligent design clubs at high schools and universities.

Robert J. Marks II

Robert Marks is an engineering professor and director at Baylor University and author of numerous technical books and articles. The Baylor administration asked Marks to return an intelligent design research grant. Marks' collaborator in this project was Discovery Institute fellow William Dembski. In July and August 2007, they formed the Evolutionary Informatics Lab (EIL) at Baylor, and posted their work on the subject on a web server hosted by the university. The university removed the website after receiving complaints that the website appeared to be endorsed by the university. Baylor officials later allowed the website back on their server but required changes be made to the website so that it did not appear to be endorsed by the University. Evolutionary Informatics Lab was reestablished independently of Baylor University.

Michael Egnor

Michael Egnor is a neurosurgeon and a signatory to the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism and Physicians and Surgeons who Dissent from Darwinism. When a citizen's group in Virginia sponsored an essay contest for high school students on the topic "Why I would want my doctor to have studied evolution", Egnor responded by posting an essay on an intelligent design blog claiming that evolution was irrelevant to medicine. His essay was met with considerable criticism by medical professionals, professors and researchers. In the film, Stein describes this as "Darwinists were quick to try and exterminate this new threat", and Egnor says he was shocked by the "viciousness" and "baseness" of the response. The National Center for Science Education surmises that "Michael Egnor had apparently never been on the Internet before."

Michael Shermer

Michael Shermer is an author, science historian, founder of The Skeptics Society, and editor of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating and debunking pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. He was interviewed for the movie by Stein and assistant producer Mark Mathis and described feeling awkward about their motives soon after the interview began.

For my part, the moment I sat down with Stein (with Mathis there) and he asked me that question about firing people for expressing dissenting views a dozen times, I realized that I was being manipulated to give certain answers they were looking for me to give. I asked them both, several times, if they had anything else to ask me about evolutionary theory or Intelligent Design. In frustration I finally said something like "Do you have any other questions to ask me or do you keep asking me this question in hopes that I'll give a different answer?"

After a break and small talk the interview resumed, but the questions continued to follow a similar vein.

Stein finally asked my opinion on people being fired for endorsing Intelligent Design. I replied that I know of no instance where such a firing has happened. This seemingly innocent observation was turned into a filmic confession of ignorance when my on-camera interview abruptly ends there, because when I saw Expelled at a preview screening... I discovered that the central thesis of the film is a conspiracy theory about the systematic attempt to keep Intelligent Design creationism out of American classrooms and culture.

Shermer has, however, stated that he believes that the film is effective in delivering its message to its target audience.

Richard Dawkins

Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, popular science writer, and holds a professorship dedicated to Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. Dawkins is portrayed as one of the leading members of "Big Science". In her review of the film for New Scientist, Amanda Gefter comments on the film's presentation of Dawkins' interview, including showing him "in the make-up chair, a move calculated to demean since surely everyone else, including Stein, is powder-puffed off-camera", and describes "foreboding music" and a "low-lit room" filmed with "sinister camera angles" used as part of an appeal to "raw emotion" during his interview.

In Dawkins' interview, the director focused on when Stein asked Dawkins under what circumstances could intelligent design have occurred. Dawkins responded with Francis Crick and Leslie Orgel's tongue-in-cheek example that in the case of the "highly unlikely event that some such 'Directed Panspermia' was responsible for designing life on this planet, the alien beings would THEMSELVES have to have evolved, if not by Darwinian selection, by some equivalent 'crane' (to quote Dan Dennett)."

PZ Myers

Paul Zachary Myers is an Associate Professor of biology at University of Minnesota Morris, and the author of the science blog Pharyngula. In the film he is portrayed as a member of "Big Science".

Claims that film producers misled interviewees

The movie has been criticized by several of the interviewees, including Myers, Dawkins, Shermer, and National Center for Science Education head Eugenie Scott, who say they were misled into participating by being asked to be interviewed for a film named Crossroads on the "intersection of science and religion", with a blurb which described the strong support that had been accumulated for evolution, and contrasted this with the religious who rejected it, and the controversy this caused.

It has been the central question of humanity through the ages: How in the world did we get here? In 1859 Charles Darwin provided the answer in his landmark book, "The Origin of Species". In the century and a half since, geologists, biologists, physicists, astronomers, and philosophers have contributed a vast amount of research and data in support of Darwin's idea. And yet, millions of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and other people of faith believe in a literal interpretation that humans were crafted by the hand of God. The conflict between science and religion has unleashed passions in school board meetings, courtrooms, and town halls across America and beyond.

— Defunct Rampant Films site for Crossroads

However, the movie was actually pitched to Stein as an anti-Darwin picture:

I was approached a couple of years ago by the producers, and they described to me the central issue of Expelled, which was about Darwinism and why it has such a lock on the academic establishment when the theory has so many holes. And why freedom of speech has been lost at so many colleges to the point where you can't question even the slightest bit of Darwinism or your colleagues will spurn you, you'll lose your job, and you'll be publicly humiliated. As they sent me books and talked to me about these things I became more enthusiastic about participating. Plus I was never a big fan of Darwinism because it played such a large part in the Nazis' Final Solution to their so-called "Jewish problem" and was so clearly instrumental in their rationalizing of the Holocaust. So I was primed to want to do a project on how Darwinism relates to fascism and to outline the flaws in Darwinism generally.

— Ben Stein, Mocked and Belittled, World Magazine

On learning of the pro-intelligent design stance of the real film, Myers said, "not telling one of the sides in a debate about what the subject might be and then leading him around randomly to various topics, with the intent of later editing it down to the parts that just make the points you want, is the video version of quote-mining and is fundamentally dishonest." Dawkins said, "At no time was I given the slightest clue that these people were a creationist front", and Scott said, "I just expect people to be honest with me, and they weren't."

Mathis called Myers, Dawkins and Scott a "bunch of hypocrites", and said that he "went over all of the questions with these folks before the interviews and I e-mailed the questions to many of them days in advance". Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times, complaining about the deception. Speckhardt wrote, "If one needs to believe in a god to be moral, why are we seeing yet another case of dishonesty by the devout? Why were leading scientists deceived as to the intentions of a religious group of filmmakers?"

Charles Darwin quotation issue

In support of his claim that the theory of evolution inspired Nazism, Ben Stein attributes the following statement to Charles Darwin's book The Descent of Man:

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. Hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

Stein stops there, then names Darwin as the author in a way that suggests that Darwin provided a rationale for the activities of the Nazis. However, the original source shows that Stein has significantly changed the text and meaning of the paragraph, by leaving out whole and partial sentences without indicating that he had done so. The original paragraph (page 168) (words that Stein omitted shown in bold) and the very next sentences in the book state:

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed. The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.

The Expelled Exposed website also points out that the same misleading selective quotation from this passage was used by anti-evolutionist William Jennings Bryan in the 1925 Scopes Trial, but the full passage makes it clear that Darwin was not advocating eugenics. The eugenics movement relied on simplistic and faulty assumptions about heredity, and by the 1920s evolutionary biologists were criticizing eugenics. Clarence Darrow, who defended the teaching of human evolution in the Scopes trial, wrote a scathing repudiation of eugenics.

Legal issues

In pre-screenings of the film, animation sequences portraying the internal functioning of cells as having machine-like complexity were seen to resemble a video from Harvard University entitled The Inner Life of the Cell produced by XVIVO, which intelligent design proponent William Dembski had used in lectures until he was stopped in November 2007. XVIVO issued the film producers a cease-and-desist letter on April 9, 2008, alleging infringement of copyright. The producers then filed a suit claiming that they owned the copyright on animations in the film, and a different animation was publicized, apparently as a substitute. Other animation segments in the film have also been questioned.

The film makes unlicensed use of John Lennon's song "Imagine", and the copyright holder Yoko Ono filed a lawsuit on April 23, 2008. The film producers responded by claiming use under fair use doctrine. In response to the lawsuit, a federal judge in New York issued an injunction preventing the further distribution of the film pending a hearing on May 19. A song by The Killers is used in the film under a license which they claim was obtained by misleading them about the film.

Academic Freedom bills

Since 2004 a series of anti-evolution Academic Freedom bills have been introduced in State legislatures in the United States, based on the claims by the Discovery Institute that teachers, students, and college professors face intimidation and retaliation when discussing scientific criticisms of evolution, and therefore require protection. The Wall Street Journal describes the bills as aiming to expose more students to anti-evolution articles and videos produced by advocates of intelligent design or Biblical creationism. There were pre-release screenings of Expelled for Florida and Missouri legislators in support of Academic Freedom bills in those states.

The Florida screening, held in the IMAX Theater of the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee on March 12, 2008, was restricted to legislators, their spouses, and their legislative aides, with the press and public excluded. Under the Florida sunshine law they had to watch the film without discussing the issue or arranging any future votes. Commenting on this, and the controversy over Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel managing to view the film against the wishes of the film company, House Democratic leader Dan Gelber of Miami Beach stated, "It's kind of an irony: The public is expelled from a movie called Expelled." The screening was attended by about 100 people, but few were legislators, and the majority of legislators stayed away.

Shortly before the film's general release, its producer Walt Ruloff held a press conference at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. on April 15, and announced his plans to use the film as part of a campaign to pass academic freedom bills in a variety of American states. At least one Discovery Institute press conference on the bills has included a screening of Expelled.

Reaction

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed was not screened in advance for film critics, and when the film was released it received generally negative reviews. As of April 26, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 3 critics gave the film positive reviews and 30 gave negative ones. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 20 out of 100, based on 13 reviews.

Response to the movie from conservative Christian groups and the Discovery Institute has been mostly (but not exclusively) positive, largely praising the movie for its humor and for focusing on what they perceive as a serious issue. One otherwise critical review in the mainstream press praised the movie for highlighting the idea of academic freedom. Not all conservative reaction has been positive; conservative National Review columnist John Derbyshire described the movie as "creationist porn" and "propaganda for ignorance and obscurantism."

Response from other critics was largely negative, particularly from those in the science media. The film's extensive use of Michael Moore-style devices was commented upon, but the film was widely considered unamusing and unsubtle, boring, poorly made, unconvincing, insulting, and offensive to the religious.

The film's rhetorical approach was subject to much criticism, widely considered to be misleading and dishonest and was compared to that used by Big Tobacco and propaganda. The movie's use of Holocaust imagery (and other techniques) to demonize evolution and those working in the field was a particular cause of concern and was considered distasteful and manipulative of the audience, with many critics surprised that Stein, a Jew, was involved in a movie which exploited the Holocaust in a "dishonest" way. Several writers wondered whether Stein was involved for purely mercenary reasons and some expressed concern for his career direction and the film's effect on his reputation. The film's evasiveness with regards to factual information was criticized, in particular that the movie failed to coherently define either evolution or intelligent design, or to adequately explain the nature of the scientific debate, in particular omitting pertinent facts regarding the "expelled" scientists. The movie was further derided for a lack of historical accuracy with regards to Stalinism and the Holocaust, regardless of evolution's involvement in either.

The movie's promotional campaign also raised eyebrows, with many reviewers characterizing it as an attempt to drum up support from those who already agreed with its viewpoint while shielding the film from outside appraisal. Many were of the opinion that the movie is 'preaching to the converted', and at least one reviewer was concerned that those asking questions at preview screenings were planted. There were also fears that the film was another step towards "sneaking" the teaching of intelligent design into schools.

Box office

Expelled opened in 1,052 theaters (the largest ever for a documentary), earning $2,970,848 for its opening weekend with a $2,824 theater average. In its second week, it earned $1,394,940 at 1,041 theaters for an average of $1,340 per theater and its third week it earned $678,304 at 656 theaters for $1,034 per theater. Originally, Walt Ruloff, the movie's executive producer, "said the film could top the $23.9-million opening for Michael Moore's polemic against President Bush, Fahrenheit 9/11, the best launch ever for a documentary." Reviewing Expelled's opening box office figures, Nikki Finke of the Los Angeles Weekly wrote that considering the number of screens showing the film, the ticket sales were "feeble", demonstrating "there wasn't any pent-up demand for the film despite an aggressive publicity campaign." Referring to its opening weekend, Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly said the movie "was a solid top-10 contender" and "hat's a very respectable total for a documentary, although non-fiction fare rarely opens in 1,052 theaters." In contrast, Lew Irwin (StudioBriefing) wrote that the film "flopped", and "failed to bring out church groups in big numbers".

AAAS statement

On April 18, 2008, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) issued a statement about Expelled. The AAAS was "especially disappointed to learn that the producers of an intelligent design propaganda movie called 'Expelled' are inappropriately pitting science against religion." The statement "further decries the profound dishonesty and lack of civility demonstrated by this effort," and said the movie "seeks to force religious viewpoints into science class – despite court decisions that have struck down efforts to bring creationism and intelligent design into schools."

Promotion

The promotion of the film is being managed by Motive Marketing, which was responsible for promoting The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Polar Express. A total of four public relations firms have been hired. The film's website includes trailers, additional material, press articles, and a blog. The blog's first entry was an open letter from Ben Stein which explains his personal premise for the movie. Stein utilizes arguments based on freedom of inquiry, teleology and the beliefs of historically prominent scientists. He also accuses the modern American scientific establishment as being "a new anti-religious dogmatism". The letter claims that Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein based their work and discoveries on creationist assumptions, and that they would not be allowed to pursue their science in the anti-religious scientific atmosphere that exists today.

The film's website asks for submissions of personal stories of discrimination against students for suggesting design or questioning Darwinian theory, with the enticement that a winning story, or stories, will be featured in the film.

To publicize the film, Ben Stein appeared on the cable television show The O'Reilly Factor. Intelligent design was described by Bill O'Reilly as the idea that "a deity created life", and Stein stated that "There's no doubt about it. We have lots and lots of evidence of it in the movie. And you know Einstein worked within the framework of believing there was a god. Newton worked within the framework of believing there was a god. For gosh sakes Darwin worked within the framework of believing there was a god. And yet, somehow, today you're not allowed to believe it. Why can't we have as much freedom as Darwin had?" The Discovery Institute quickly issued a statement that when Bill O'Reilly conflated intelligent design with creationism he was mistakenly defining it as an attempt to find a divine designer, and regretting that "Ben referred to the 'gaps' in Darwin's theory, as if those are the only issues that intelligent design theory addresses." It went on to assert that "intelligent design also provides a robust positive case, and a serious scientific research approach", a claim that had been explicitly refuted in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District court case.

In advance of the film's release, executive director Walt Ruloff, and producers Mark Mathis and Logan Craft provided interviews to various Christian media outlets, explaining what they thought of the movie, why people should see the movie, and why it would have an impact on the evolution debate.

Producers also gave away a free, limited edition Ben Stein bobblehead doll to anyone who brought 25 people to see the movie.

The "Expelled Challenge"

In order to promote the film, the website "GetExpelled.com" launched "The Expelled Challenge" which offers to pay schools up to $10,000 to send students to see the movie. The program offers between $5 and $10 for every ticket stub submitted by the school within the first two weeks of the release of the film. Wesley R. Elsberry noted that at the upper end of the range, the value of the reward is probably greater than the actual ticket price.

The program also recommends a "school-wide mandatory field trip" as "the best way to maximize your school's earning potential". Elsberry criticizes this as a call to "take children away from classrooms, fill their heads with obnoxiously delivered misinformation, and profit off of it."

A similar program called the "Adopt-A-Theater Campaign" was announced in March 2008. The goal is to produce a competition among church groups and other organizations to see which can generate the largest group sale of movie theater tickets to see the film. The five largest groups to register and attend a screening will be awarded $1,000.

Press conferences

A 50 minute telephone press conference with Stein and the producers was held in late January 2008. Dan Whipple of Colorado Confidential reported that journalists had to submit their questions by email in advance for screening, and at the conference "softball" questions were posed by Paul Lauer, a representative of the film's public relations firm. Only four outside questions were used, all from Christian organizations with only two of them from "the press". Questions came from the policy/lobbying groups Focus on the Family and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Christian program Listen Up TV, and the Colorado Catholic Herald. Whipple described Expelled as appearing to be anti-rational, and cited Stein describing problems with Darwin's Theory of Evolution as being the unanswered questions "Where did life come from?... How did the cell get so complex? ... Assuming it all did happen by Random Mutation and Natural Selection, where did the laws of gravity come from. Where did the laws of thermodynamics come from? Where did the laws of motion and, of heat come from?"

Producer Walt Ruloff claimed that they had interviewed "hundreds and hundreds of scientists who wouldn't even talk" because of their fears for their career prospects if they strayed from the current orthodoxy or from a "Darwinian position". Whipple contrasted this with his own experience of interviewing many scientists holding very unorthodox ideas who were "forthright, diligent and feverishly eager to promote their ideas", and not finding any refusing to defend their research.

Another telephone press conference was held March 28, 2008. PZ Myers listened in on the initial part of this press conference, and then (having heard the password to talk into the call during pre-conference chatter) challenged the producers for "lying". The producers were flustered when Myers confronted them with the information that there had been persecution of Jews long before Charles Darwin's theory. Myers asked them if they had ever heard of the word "pogrom". At this, the producers claimed that Myers was dishonestly listening to the telephone conference, and Myers was asked to leave the conference call. He did so, after first providing the press with an email address where he could be contacted.

On March 28, 2008, many members of the staff at Scientific American were invited to view the film. After which, they began an interview with Mark Mathis which was recorded and is hosted on their website. In the interview, Mathis claims the overt use of Nazi imagery and quote-mining of scientists was not his decision, but instead blames unnamed superiors. He concedes that the cases of the scientists shown in the film are inflated (again, not his decision) and makes erroneous claims regarding the Dover vs. Kitzmiller case which the editors factcheck on the same page.

Promotional efforts by others

The film is being promoted by Christian media and by organizations affiliated with the Discovery Institute. As part of the Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns claiming discrimination one of the organization's websites, Intelligent Design the Future, makes the claim that Expelled "reveals the stark truth: Darwinists have been conspiring to keep design out of classrooms, out of journals, and out of public discourse." The Discovery Institute has published more than twenty articles featuring on its evolutionnews.org website and blog, tying its promotion of Expelled in with its effort to pass the "Academic Freedom Bill" in Florida.

Many others in the Christian and Creationist communities are anxiously anticipating this movie. For example, Georgia Purdom of Answers in Genesis, a young earth creationist organization, discussed the film and the promotional campaign in an article that appeared December 17, 2007 on the AiG website. Purdom is glad that the film will highlight the discrimination against scientists who rely on the Bible, instead of human reason, for their work. She complains that the only scientists featured appear to be connected with the intelligent design movement, rather than creationists like herself. Purdom also expresses uneasiness about the "big tent" approach of intelligent design and this film, since it does not look like it will promote the Bible as a better source of truth than the Koran or human reason. She equates the use of human reason with agnosticism.

Ray Bohlin of Probe Ministries also wrote about the upcoming film on his website. He also states that it was possible to doubt Darwin in biology graduate school in the 1980s, but it is no longer possible because of increasing restriction of academic freedom.

Kent Hovind's Creation Science Evangelism ministry has also promoted the film on its website as well as selling Expelled resource material.

Pre-release screenings

As part of the pre-release marketing for the film, a web-based RSVP system page was publicized, offering free private movie screenings. Persons filling out an online entry form were sent a reservation confirmation via email which stated that no ticket was needed and that IDs would be checked against a list of names. The producers also held invitation only screenings for religious organizations and government officials, including screenings for legislators to promote anti-evolution Academic Freedom bills.

Conservative Christian groups

In advance of release, the film was shown at private screenings to various Christian conservative leaders, including James Dobson. On March 11, 2008, a preview screening was held in Nashville for attendees at the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters. The young Earth creationist organization Answers in Genesis reported that its leader, Ken Ham, met Ben Stein beforehand to discuss promoting the film. It requested supporters to ask local movie theater managers to show the film, and to encourage their church leadership to buy out a local theater to show the film to as many people from that church as possible.

PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins at Minnesota pre-release screening

Expelled interviewee PZ Myers followed the online procedure to reserve seats for himself and guests under his own name to attend a showing at the Mall of America in Minnesota on March 20 , 2008, but shortly before the film started, a security guard told him that the assistant producer Mark Mathis had instructed that Myers be removed from the premises. Myers described being expelled in this way as showing off "the hypocrisy of these people, as well as their outright incompetence". His guests were allowed in, including fellow interviewee Richard Dawkins, who asked in a question-and-answer session at the end of the film why Myers had been excluded. Dawkins later said that "if anyone had a right to see the film, it was . The incompetence, on a public relations level, is beyond belief." Dawkins described the event as "a gift" and that "we could not ask for anything better".

One blog claimed that Myers had gatecrashed the showing. Jeffrey Overstreet, a film critic for Christianity Today, cited an e-mail from a college student who was at the screening. The student assumed that Dawkins and Myers had not been invited, and suggested that Myers had been "hustling and bothering" invited guests. The student subsequently stated that Myers "didn't cause a disruption per se; he was kindly escorted out." However, Mathis later wrote:

Yes, I turned Mr. Myers away. He was not an invited guest of Premise Media. This was a private screening of an unfinished film. I could have let him in, just as I invited Michael Shermer to a screening in Nashville. Shermer is in the film as well. But, in light of Myers' untruthful blogging about Expelled I decided it was better to have him wait until April 18 and pay to see the film. Others, notable others, were permitted to see the film. At a private screening it's my call. Unlike the Darwinist establishment, we expell [sic] no one.

Myers described this as an admission by Mathis that Myers had not been "unruly" or "gatecrashing", but had been thrown out "on a petty, arbitrary, vindictive whim" without legitimate cause. In an email to another blog, Mathis stated that "I banned pz because I want him to pay to see it. Nothing more."

In a press release dated March 25, 2008, Mathis claimed that the decision to expel Myers was made well in advance, as soon as it was noted that Myers, Dawkins, and "a group of other atheists" had signed up to view the movie, and was a deliberate PR move to capitalize on the irony. The release claims that Myers is "distraught" and that he had been calling upon others to sneak into screenings for "many weeks". Myers responded that he only felt "a little guilty that I'd escaped a bad movie while my friends and family were stuck with watching it" and that he has never requested that people sneak into screenings or "even asked them to sign up for them, as I did". He observed that Dawkins was registered only as an anonymous guest — the press release claim that he "oddly used his formal surname 'Clinton' instead of Richard to sign up" was erroneous. All attendees had to show identification, and Dawkins had used his British passport, which shows both of his forenames, giving his full name as "Clinton Richard Dawkins".

Reports of false cancellation notices for screenings

Arizona State University professor John M. Lynch (who blogs at "Stranger Fruit" on the ScienceBlogs network) reported that he and several others received an email stating that the screening he was to attend had been moved one hour earlier. He and others later received an email stating that the screening had been cancelled. One of the other individuals to receive this email phoned the theater, which revealed that the screening was not cancelled. He attended, and found that his name was no longer on the guest list, but after some negotiation (presenting his confirmation email and stating he was not representing any organization) he was allowed to view the movie. Lynch proposed a guest pre-screening process was set up in response to the Myers and Dawkins incident, and points to this as evidence.

See also

• Creation-evolution controversy
• Flock of Dodos, a documentary contrasting the debate between intelligent design proponents and the scientific establishment that supports evolution.
• Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, a NOVA documentary about intelligent design and the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial.

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112. Q: What's the best way to get our school families to come out to the movies?
     A: In speaking with Christian Schools, we've found that hosting a school-wide "mandatory" field trip is the best way to maximize your school's earning potential. Send a field trip home with your middle school and high school students, have each child pay for their own ticket, then collect the stubs at the door once you get to the movie theater. With this model, you also will be able to benefit from the ticket stubs purchased by parents who choose to come as well. Expelled Challenge FAQ page
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117. I always aim to misbehave, PZ Myers, Pharyngula blog, March 28, 2008
118. Audio of PZ Myers Crashing the Expelled Teleconference, Rebecca Watson, Skepchick blog, March 28, 2008.
120. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". ChristianCinema.com. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help).
     • Ben Stein to battle Darwin in major film: Actor-commentator stars in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, WorldNetDaily, September 28, 2007.
     • Ben Stein Confronts Dominance of Darwinian Thought in New Film: Intelligent Design vs. Darwinism, Katherine T. Phan, Christian Post, September 28, 2007.
     • Ben Stein exposes the frightening agenda of the Darwinian Machine in new movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Christian Today, Australian edition, September 23, 2007.
     • "Expelled" Live Lecture Webcast at 11:00AM EST, Family Research Council blog, November 28, 2007.
     • New documentary to expose academic punishment for those against Big Bang Theory, Catholic News Agency, August 29, 2007.
121. "In the News - Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". Access Research Network. 2007-09-24. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
122. ^ "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed the new film on the ID controversy". ID the future. 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
123. What Happened to Freedom of Speech? Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Premise Media, Center for Science and Culture, Discovery Institute, August 22, 2007
124. "Prepared Remarks for Florida Academic Freedom Bill Press Conference" (html). http://www.discovery.org. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-17. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
125. ^ Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Georgia Purdom, AiG–U.S., Answers in Genesis website, December 17, 2007.
126. ^ Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, Ray Bohlin, Probe Ministries website
127. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". Creation Science Evangelism. April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
128. "One Great City ~ CH!CAGO: Private Screening". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
129. "Expelled - RSVP System". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
130. Wesley R. Elsberry (21 Mar 2008). "The Austringer » Expelled from "Expelled"". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
131. "Expelled gone missing from Santa Clara - The Panda's Thumb". March 21, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
132. Disinvited to a Screening, a Critic Ends Up in a Faith-Based Crossfire, John Metcalfe, New York Times, March 10, 2008.
133. "Question: What would you like to say to Darwin?" Stein: "You are a wealthy man, you married a wealthy woman, why don't you just live quietly out in the countryside and not torture us with your half-baked suppositions, which have caused so much misery?" (Friday Five: Actor Ben Stein, Jennifer Mesko, Citizenlink, April 4, 2008)
134. Exposing the Truth in the Evolution Debate, Focus on the Family (James Dobson), Broadcast Archives, April 7, 2008
135. Mark Looy, Answers in Genesis (March 13, 2008). "A Meeting of Minds". Retrieved 2008-03-15.
136. ^ PZ Myers (March 21, 2008). "Pharyngula: A late night quick one". Retrieved 2008-03-23.
137. Chris Hewitt (03/21/2008). "Biology prof expelled from screening of 'Expelled' - TwinCities.com". The Pioneer Press. Retrieved 2008-03-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
138. ^ Dean, Cornelia (2008-03-21). "No Admission for Evolutionary Biologist at Creationist Film". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
139. Jeffery Overstreet, ""Richard Dawkins crashes the party at screening of Expelled, The Looking Closer Journal, Retrieved March 21, 2008
140. Mark Moring, "Dawkins crashes Expelled party", Christianity Today Blog, Retrieved March 21, 2008.
141. Inside Higher Ed, "See Ben Stein's Movie", March 24, 2008
142. "Pharyngula: An admission from Mark Mathis". Retrieved 2008-03-25.
143. "Intelligent design film: Volunteer's account of what really happened when Darwinist was kicked out of the screening"; post-darwinist.blogspot.com; March 23, 2008
144. EXPELLED Controversy Top Issue in Blogosphere, Premise Media press release, Business Wire, March 25, 2008.
145. Lying by press release, PZ Myers
146. John Lynch (March 31, 2008). "Even more on Expelled in Tempe". Stranger Fruit. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
147. John Lynch (April 2, 2008). "Expelled in Tempe: The Final Countdown". Stranger Fruit. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
148. Expelled in Tempe: The Expected Happens

External links

• Official website
• Premise Media homepage
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed at IMDb
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed at Rotten Tomatoes
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed at Metacritic
• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed at Box Office Mojo
• Template:Amg movie

Supportive sites

• Expelled Resources A list of articles, multimedia resources from Access Research Network, a creationism and intelligent design advocacy group.
• Expelled Resources A list of articles, multimedia resources from Discovery Institute, a creationism and intelligent design advocacy group.

Critical sites

• Expelled Exposed — A National Center for Science Education site debunking each claim made in the movie and examining the actions of its producers.
• "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed--Scientific American's Take:". Scientific American. April 9, 2008. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help), package of reviews and commentary including Six Things in Expelled That Ben Stein Doesn't Want You to Know.

Background Information

• Darwin Online A collection of Darwin's books, letters and essays

• 2008 films
• English-language films
• American documentary films
• American propaganda films
• Independent films
• Intelligent design controversies