Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Duet

2009-03-25T22:49:25Z

RedFlare: New page: A duet is a piece of music played by only two musicians in harmony.

A duet is a piece of music played by only two musicians in harmony.

Talk:Karma

2009-03-25T22:43:30Z

RedFlare: /* Redirect to Arctic Tribes */ new section

{{Wikiproject Religion}}

== Redirect to Arctic Tribes ==

Why does this redirect to Tribes of the Arctic Region?
Karma is one of the pillars of Hindu culture and religion. Can anyone with the authority or know-how to do so unlink this?

User talk:RedFlare

2009-03-25T22:36:52Z

RedFlare: New page: Hi there!

Hi there!

Planet X

2009-03-25T22:32:50Z

RedFlare: New page: Before complicated astronomical devices were perfected, the true number of planets was unknown. Planet X was referred to as a planet in the Solar System that had not yet been discovered.

Before complicated astronomical devices were perfected, the true number of planets was unknown. Planet X was referred to as a planet in the Solar System that had not yet been discovered.

Debate:Where is the middle?

2009-03-25T22:30:28Z

RedFlare: New page: ==Premise== I know that this is a very broad question but I want to try and put the world in perspective for myself. * Is there a "middle" between liberals and conservatives? * Is the mea...

==Premise==
I know that this is a very broad question but I want to try and put the world in perspective for myself.

* Is there a "middle" between liberals and conservatives?
* Is the meaning of liberal and conservative to be left and right respectively of the middle?
* If a line graph was drawn, would the placements of liberal, middle, and conservative change over time or are they more concrete?
* Is the ideology of society as a whole what one would call the middle or would one say that the middle is a definite point and the ideologies of the public change?

Sorry for the long question but I'd love to hear everyone's opinions!

User:RedFlare

2009-03-25T05:22:07Z

RedFlare: New page: Hi!

Hi!

Futurama

2009-03-25T05:17:20Z

RedFlare: /* Minor Characters */

'''Futurama''' is an animated television show created by [[The Simpsons]] creator [[Matt Groening]]. The show is based primarily in the 31st century, following the lives of the workers of the package delivery company "Planet Express". There is a pseudo-futuristic theme to the show, that mixes science fiction with modern day culture. It is known for its excellent supporting characters, who often provide as much entertainment as the main characters; Morbo and Richard Nixon are just two examples.

==Characters==

*'''Phillip J. Fry''' or '''Fry''' is the show's main protagonist. In the first episode Fry finds himself [[Cryonics|cryogenically frozen]] on New Year's Eve 1999, awakening on the same day 1000 years into the future. Fry is often portrayed as thoughtful but stupid, with little common sense and less than perfect social skills, working as Planet Express's "Delivery Boy". He has an ongoing crush for Leela, who is constantly turning him down.
*'''Turunga Leela''' or '''Leela''' is the cycloptic spaceship captain of Planet Express. Her origins are an ongoing theme of earlier episodes. Leela is shown as more responsible and ambitious than other members of her crew, and is skilled in martial arts.
*'''Bender Bending Rodriguez''' or '''Bender''' is a drinking, smoking, stealing, prostitute-hiring, generally amoral humanoid bending-robot. Bender generally is shown to have no regard for other people's feelings, but is often shown to actually care about the people he works with, particularly Fry.
*'''Professor Hubert Farnsworth''' or '''The Professor''' is Fry's only living relative. His role is as the senile and eccentric "mad inventor" owner of Planet Express. He seems to hold little or no value to the lives of his crew, and, being over 150 years old, has a very bad memory, and generally exhibits many of the stereotypes of old age. He has a self-cloned "son" named Cubert.
*'''Amy Wong''' is a Chinese intern at Planet Express. She is portrayed as cute but clumsy, and has very rich parents who own the entire "western hemisphere" of Mars.
*'''Dr. John Zoidberg''' is a lobster-like humanoid of the "Decapodian" race of aliens, who works at Planet Express as the company doctor. Even though his patients are all human, he shows very little knowledge of human anatomy. Zoidberg is regarded contemptuously by most of the other characters, and is shown to be very poor and often horribly lonely.
*'''Hermes Conrad''' is the Rastafarian accountant of Planet Express and an ex-Olympic limboer. He works for the "central bureaucracy" and has a wife and a son.

===Minor Characters===

*'''Morbo''' is an extraterrestrial news presenter working on earth. He often shows his contempt for humans and is frequently portrayed as violent and aggressive, with quotes such as 'Puny humans will be pleased to know that their pathetic race was today doomed to extinction' and '...and that's why the orphans of class 2-A are Morbo's 'vermin of the week'.
*'''The Hypno Toad''' is a toad with the ability to hypnotize those that look into its gaping eyes.

==Seasons and films==
Currently Futurama has four seasons, three straight-to-DVD films ("Bender's Big Score", "The Beast with a Billion Backs" and "Bender's Game"), and one more film in the pipeline. The show was canceled by Fox after the fourth season, but was brought back due to the success of the show in reruns on the Cartoon Network.

==External Links==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149460/ IMDB website]

[[category:Television Shows]]

Futurama

2009-03-25T05:17:10Z

RedFlare: /* Minor Characters */

'''Futurama''' is an animated television show created by [[The Simpsons]] creator [[Matt Groening]]. The show is based primarily in the 31st century, following the lives of the workers of the package delivery company "Planet Express". There is a pseudo-futuristic theme to the show, that mixes science fiction with modern day culture. It is known for its excellent supporting characters, who often provide as much entertainment as the main characters; Morbo and Richard Nixon are just two examples.

==Characters==

*'''Phillip J. Fry''' or '''Fry''' is the show's main protagonist. In the first episode Fry finds himself [[Cryonics|cryogenically frozen]] on New Year's Eve 1999, awakening on the same day 1000 years into the future. Fry is often portrayed as thoughtful but stupid, with little common sense and less than perfect social skills, working as Planet Express's "Delivery Boy". He has an ongoing crush for Leela, who is constantly turning him down.
*'''Turunga Leela''' or '''Leela''' is the cycloptic spaceship captain of Planet Express. Her origins are an ongoing theme of earlier episodes. Leela is shown as more responsible and ambitious than other members of her crew, and is skilled in martial arts.
*'''Bender Bending Rodriguez''' or '''Bender''' is a drinking, smoking, stealing, prostitute-hiring, generally amoral humanoid bending-robot. Bender generally is shown to have no regard for other people's feelings, but is often shown to actually care about the people he works with, particularly Fry.
*'''Professor Hubert Farnsworth''' or '''The Professor''' is Fry's only living relative. His role is as the senile and eccentric "mad inventor" owner of Planet Express. He seems to hold little or no value to the lives of his crew, and, being over 150 years old, has a very bad memory, and generally exhibits many of the stereotypes of old age. He has a self-cloned "son" named Cubert.
*'''Amy Wong''' is a Chinese intern at Planet Express. She is portrayed as cute but clumsy, and has very rich parents who own the entire "western hemisphere" of Mars.
*'''Dr. John Zoidberg''' is a lobster-like humanoid of the "Decapodian" race of aliens, who works at Planet Express as the company doctor. Even though his patients are all human, he shows very little knowledge of human anatomy. Zoidberg is regarded contemptuously by most of the other characters, and is shown to be very poor and often horribly lonely.
*'''Hermes Conrad''' is the Rastafarian accountant of Planet Express and an ex-Olympic limboer. He works for the "central bureaucracy" and has a wife and a son.

===Minor Characters===

*'''Morbo''' is an extraterrestrial news presenter working on earth. He often shows his contempt for humans and is frequently portrayed as violent and aggressive, with quotes such as 'Puny humans will be pleased to know that their pathetic race was today doomed to extinction' and '...and that's why the orphans of class 2-A are Morbo's 'vermin of the week'.

*'''The Hypno Toad''' is a toad with the ability to hypnotize those that look into its gaping eyes.

==Seasons and films==
Currently Futurama has four seasons, three straight-to-DVD films ("Bender's Big Score", "The Beast with a Billion Backs" and "Bender's Game"), and one more film in the pipeline. The show was canceled by Fox after the fourth season, but was brought back due to the success of the show in reruns on the Cartoon Network.

==External Links==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149460/ IMDB website]

[[category:Television Shows]]

Futurama

2009-03-25T05:16:52Z

RedFlare: /* Minor Characters */

'''Futurama''' is an animated television show created by [[The Simpsons]] creator [[Matt Groening]]. The show is based primarily in the 31st century, following the lives of the workers of the package delivery company "Planet Express". There is a pseudo-futuristic theme to the show, that mixes science fiction with modern day culture. It is known for its excellent supporting characters, who often provide as much entertainment as the main characters; Morbo and Richard Nixon are just two examples.

==Characters==

*'''Phillip J. Fry''' or '''Fry''' is the show's main protagonist. In the first episode Fry finds himself [[Cryonics|cryogenically frozen]] on New Year's Eve 1999, awakening on the same day 1000 years into the future. Fry is often portrayed as thoughtful but stupid, with little common sense and less than perfect social skills, working as Planet Express's "Delivery Boy". He has an ongoing crush for Leela, who is constantly turning him down.
*'''Turunga Leela''' or '''Leela''' is the cycloptic spaceship captain of Planet Express. Her origins are an ongoing theme of earlier episodes. Leela is shown as more responsible and ambitious than other members of her crew, and is skilled in martial arts.
*'''Bender Bending Rodriguez''' or '''Bender''' is a drinking, smoking, stealing, prostitute-hiring, generally amoral humanoid bending-robot. Bender generally is shown to have no regard for other people's feelings, but is often shown to actually care about the people he works with, particularly Fry.
*'''Professor Hubert Farnsworth''' or '''The Professor''' is Fry's only living relative. His role is as the senile and eccentric "mad inventor" owner of Planet Express. He seems to hold little or no value to the lives of his crew, and, being over 150 years old, has a very bad memory, and generally exhibits many of the stereotypes of old age. He has a self-cloned "son" named Cubert.
*'''Amy Wong''' is a Chinese intern at Planet Express. She is portrayed as cute but clumsy, and has very rich parents who own the entire "western hemisphere" of Mars.
*'''Dr. John Zoidberg''' is a lobster-like humanoid of the "Decapodian" race of aliens, who works at Planet Express as the company doctor. Even though his patients are all human, he shows very little knowledge of human anatomy. Zoidberg is regarded contemptuously by most of the other characters, and is shown to be very poor and often horribly lonely.
*'''Hermes Conrad''' is the Rastafarian accountant of Planet Express and an ex-Olympic limboer. He works for the "central bureaucracy" and has a wife and a son.

===Minor Characters===

*'''Morbo''' is an extraterrestrial news presenter working on earth. He often shows his contempt for humans and is frequently portrayed as violent and aggressive, with quotes such as 'Puny humans will be pleased to know that their pathetic race was today doomed to extinction' and '...and that's why the orphans of class 2-A are Morbo's 'vermin of the week' '.

*'''The Hypno Toad''' is a toad with the ability to hypnotize those that look into its gaping eyes '.

==Seasons and films==
Currently Futurama has four seasons, three straight-to-DVD films ("Bender's Big Score", "The Beast with a Billion Backs" and "Bender's Game"), and one more film in the pipeline. The show was canceled by Fox after the fourth season, but was brought back due to the success of the show in reruns on the Cartoon Network.

==External Links==

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149460/ IMDB website]

[[category:Television Shows]]

Hellenistic

2008-04-28T15:07:17Z

RedFlare:

{{stub}}'''Hellenistic''' means anything relating to [[Greek]] history, culture, and art after the life of [[Alexander the Great]]. Hellenization was the process of adopting a Hellenistic view and was almost a worship of Greek culture and Greek ways. Ancient [[Palestine]] had a great deal of difficulty in keeping Jewish culture separate from the influences of Hellenization and the clash of cultures among the [[Jewish]] people sometimes manifested itself in violent ways.

A synonym of Hellenism is Humanism.

Ore

2008-04-28T15:06:10Z

RedFlare:

'''Ore''' is a type of raw [[metal]] extracted from the ground. It is normally refined and removed of impurities to obtain the sought metal.

==See Also==
[[Iron]]

[[Category:Geology]]

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-04-28T15:04:42Z

RedFlare:

'''''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed''''' is a controversial [[documentary]] charging [[Darwinists]] in [[United States of America|America]] with suppressing and persecuting opponents in violation of that country's [[First Amendment]]<ref>Stein told O'Reilly, "This whole problem is about violation of the First Amendment. There are many scientists - many - who have been expelled from their jobs, who have had their web sites shut down, who have been denied grants [or] tenure because they wanted to question the limits and boundaries of Darwinism ... that's not how society has progressed." </ref> in order to avoid discussing the scientific challenges which [[Intelligent Design]] presents to the [[On_the_Origin_of_Species_by_Means_of_Natural_Selection | 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.<ref>[http://www.expelledthemovie.com/news.php Expelled the movie website]</ref>
The documentary is co-written and hosted by [[Ben Stein]] and was released in America on Friday, April 18, 2008.
<div style="float:right; width:13em; border:green solid 1px; margin-left:0.5em; padding:0.5em">North Americans can locate a theater showing the film by state or zip code [http://expelledthemovie.com/theaterap.php here].</div>

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.” <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/science/27expelled.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2</ref>

The film argues that [[scientist]]s and [[educator]]s who promote intelligent design are persecuted by the scientific establishment.<ref name=pressrelease>{{cite web |author=Lesley Burbridge-Bates|publisher=[http://www.premisemedia.com/ Premise Media]|date=[[2007-08-22]] |url=http://www.premisemedia.com/EXPELLED-PressRelease_08-22-07.pdf |title=''Expelled'' [[Press Release]] |accessdate=2007-09-29 |format= |work=}}</ref>
Examples given by the film include [[Richard Sternberg]], a [[biology|biologist]], journal editor, and research associate at the [[National Museum of Natural History]], and [[Guillermo Gonzalez]], a pro-[[Intelligent design]] [[astrophysics|astrophysicist]] denied tenure at [[Iowa State University]] in 2007.<ref name="nyt">[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/science/27expelled.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin], New York Times, 27 September 2007</ref>

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."<ref name="nyt"/>

==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]]".

* Those who are horrified at the prospect of a Creator condemn Intelligent Design for providing [[Young Earth Creationists]] with ideological justification for their beliefs.

Thus it become difficult to separate science from its social or political implications.

==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 [[Charles Darwin|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==

The main thrust of the film is that science is never served by a strict adherence to dogma. The theme of the film is that 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. <ref>[http://www.expelledthemovie.com/video.php Film trailer]</ref>

==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]]."<ref>http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/scopenotes/sn28.htm</ref>

*One academic says in the film, "While I would never want to indict a theory for how someone misused it ... [yet] views of human nature that lower our estimation of what we are have consequences to how people treat each other." [http://www.wingclips.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16681&category_id=778]

*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"<ref>Meyer is alluding to a statement by Harvard paleontologist [[George Gaylord Simpson]].</ref>

==Filmmaker statements==

{{quotebox|"If you acknowledge this idea that [[design]] can be detected scientifically in the universe, then you open up the door to saying, 'Maybe this [[atheist]]ic view isn't true,' [and] 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."<ref>[http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?id=27761 Intelligent Design foes no match for Stein in 'Expelled'] - Baptist Press </ref> }}

==Inaccuracies==

*A large claim made as to why Darwinism may not be true is that it doesn't explain the origin of the universe. Darwinism wasn't meant to explain the origin of the universe and cannot be compared to Intelligent Design in this area.

*The film claims Richard Sternberg was fired from the Smithsonian Institute when he had never held a job there. He only maintained a volunteer position from which he was not removed."<ref>http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=six-things-ben-stein-doesnt-want-you-to-know&page=2</ref>

== Negative Reception==

The [[liberal]] [[atheist]] [[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, [[conservative]] 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.<ref>Bethell, Tom, [http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12759 No Intelligence Allowed] ''The American Spectator'', 19th February, 2008.</ref>

Before the film opened, pro-[[evolution]] opponents of the film were heavily critical of its premise. [[Evolutionist]] Vadim Rizov of the Village Voice called it "bizarre and hysterical".<ref>[http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/articles/2008/20080417155632.aspx]</ref>

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.<ref>http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=sciam-reviews-expelled</ref>

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 [[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins]] and even made claims of trying to "sneak ID into schools".<ref>Gefter, Amanda, Warning! They've Got Designs on You, 12 April 2008, New Scientist.</ref>

[[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; 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]]. [http://www.expelledexposed.com/index.php/the-truth/crocker]

== Viewer Reception ==
''Expelled'' opened on April 18, 2008, on 1000 screens. It grossed $3.2 million US, or more than $3,000 per screen.<ref name=wnd>"[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62152 'Expelled' propelled to box office top 10]." ''WorldNetDaily'', April 21, 2008. Accessed April 21, 2008.</ref>

==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. <ref name=dk>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Mjg1NDg2ZDM5YTMwMGFiZGNhNTU5M2MwOTQ2NGE1Mjc=]</ref>
* "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. <ref>http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12759</ref>

[[Carl Wieland]], the managing director for [[Creation Ministries International]], wrote:
{{QuoteBox|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.<ref>Wieland, Carl, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5638/ Cracking the wall in science] 20th February, 2008, (Creation Ministries International).</ref>}}

[[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."<ref>http://www2.nysun.com/article/74583</ref>

In his quest to attack Ben Stein, Kluger puts words in his mouth, and then commits the [[strawman fallacy]]:
{{QuoteBox|"[Stein] 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...<ref>Kluger, Jeffrey, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1729703,00.html Ben Stein Dukes it Out with Darwin], April 10th, 2008, <i>Time</i></ref>}}

: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.

== See also ==
*[[Origins debate]]
*[[Theory of evolution]]
*[[Creation-evolution controversy]]
*[[Design detection]]
*[[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.discovery.org/a/4689 Michael Shermer’s Fact-Free Attack on <i>Expelled</i> Exposes Intolerance of Darwinists towards Pro-Intelligent Design Scientists]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Intelligent Design]]
[[Category:Evolution]]

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

2008-04-28T15:00:16Z

RedFlare:

'''''Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed''''' is a controversial [[documentary]] charging [[Darwinists]] in [[United States of America|America]] with suppressing and persecuting opponents in violation of that country's [[First Amendment]]<ref>Stein told O'Reilly, "This whole problem is about violation of the First Amendment. There are many scientists - many - who have been expelled from their jobs, who have had their web sites shut down, who have been denied grants [or] tenure because they wanted to question the limits and boundaries of Darwinism ... that's not how society has progressed." </ref> in order to avoid discussing the scientific challenges which [[Intelligent Design]] presents to the [[On_the_Origin_of_Species_by_Means_of_Natural_Selection | 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.<ref>[http://www.expelledthemovie.com/news.php Expelled the movie website]</ref>
The documentary is co-written and hosted by [[Ben Stein]] and was released in America on Friday, April 18, 2008.
<div style="float:right; width:13em; border:green solid 1px; margin-left:0.5em; padding:0.5em">North Americans can locate a theater showing the film by state or zip code [http://expelledthemovie.com/theaterap.php here].</div>

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.” <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/science/27expelled.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2</ref>

The film argues that [[scientist]]s and [[educator]]s who promote intelligent design are persecuted by the scientific establishment.<ref name=pressrelease>{{cite web |author=Lesley Burbridge-Bates|publisher=[http://www.premisemedia.com/ Premise Media]|date=[[2007-08-22]] |url=http://www.premisemedia.com/EXPELLED-PressRelease_08-22-07.pdf |title=''Expelled'' [[Press Release]] |accessdate=2007-09-29 |format= |work=}}</ref>
Examples given by the film include [[Richard Sternberg]], a [[biology|biologist]], journal editor, and research associate at the [[National Museum of Natural History]], and [[Guillermo Gonzalez]], a pro-[[Intelligent design]] [[astrophysics|astrophysicist]] denied tenure at [[Iowa State University]] in 2007.<ref name="nyt">[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/27/science/27expelled.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin], New York Times, 27 September 2007</ref>

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."<ref name="nyt"/>

==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]]".

* Those who are horrified at the prospect of a Creator condemn Intelligent Design for providing [[Young Earth Creationists]] with ideological justification for their beliefs.

Thus it become difficult to separate science from its social or political implications.

==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 [[Charles Darwin|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==

The main thrust of the film is that science is never served by a strict adherence to dogma. The theme of the film is that 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. <ref>[http://www.expelledthemovie.com/video.php Film trailer]</ref>

==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]]."<ref>http://www.georgetown.edu/research/nrcbl/scopenotes/sn28.htm</ref>

*One academic says in the film, "While I would never want to indict a theory for how someone misused it ... [yet] views of human nature that lower our estimation of what we are have consequences to how people treat each other." [http://www.wingclips.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=16681&category_id=778]

*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"<ref>Meyer is alluding to a statement by Harvard paleontologist [[George Gaylord Simpson]].</ref>

==Filmmaker statements==

{{quotebox|"If you acknowledge this idea that [[design]] can be detected scientifically in the universe, then you open up the door to saying, 'Maybe this [[atheist]]ic view isn't true,' [and] 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."<ref>[http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?id=27761 Intelligent Design foes no match for Stein in 'Expelled'] - Baptist Press </ref> }}

==Inaccuracies==

*A large claim made as to why Darwinism may not be true is that it doesn't explain the origin of the universe. Darwinism wasn't meant to explain the origin of the universe and cannot be compared to Intelligent Design in this area.

*The film claims Richard Sternberg was fired from the Smithsonian Institute when he had never held a job there. He only maintained a volunteer position from which he was not removed.

== Negative Reception==

The [[liberal]] [[atheist]] [[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, [[conservative]] 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.<ref>Bethell, Tom, [http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12759 No Intelligence Allowed] ''The American Spectator'', 19th February, 2008.</ref>

Before the film opened, pro-[[evolution]] opponents of the film were heavily critical of its premise. [[Evolutionist]] Vadim Rizov of the Village Voice called it "bizarre and hysterical".<ref>[http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/articles/2008/20080417155632.aspx]</ref>

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.<ref>http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=sciam-reviews-expelled</ref>

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 [[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins]] and even made claims of trying to "sneak ID into schools".<ref>Gefter, Amanda, Warning! They've Got Designs on You, 12 April 2008, New Scientist.</ref>

[[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; 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]]. [http://www.expelledexposed.com/index.php/the-truth/crocker]

== Viewer Reception ==
''Expelled'' opened on April 18, 2008, on 1000 screens. It grossed $3.2 million US, or more than $3,000 per screen.<ref name=wnd>"[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62152 'Expelled' propelled to box office top 10]." ''WorldNetDaily'', April 21, 2008. Accessed April 21, 2008.</ref>

==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. <ref name=dk>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Mjg1NDg2ZDM5YTMwMGFiZGNhNTU5M2MwOTQ2NGE1Mjc=]</ref>
* "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. <ref>http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12759</ref>

[[Carl Wieland]], the managing director for [[Creation Ministries International]], wrote:
{{QuoteBox|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.<ref>Wieland, Carl, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5638/ Cracking the wall in science] 20th February, 2008, (Creation Ministries International).</ref>}}

[[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."<ref>http://www2.nysun.com/article/74583</ref>

In his quest to attack Ben Stein, Kluger puts words in his mouth, and then commits the [[strawman fallacy]]:
{{QuoteBox|"[Stein] 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...<ref>Kluger, Jeffrey, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1729703,00.html Ben Stein Dukes it Out with Darwin], April 10th, 2008, <i>Time</i></ref>}}

: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.

== See also ==
*[[Origins debate]]
*[[Theory of evolution]]
*[[Creation-evolution controversy]]
*[[Design detection]]
*[[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.discovery.org/a/4689 Michael Shermer’s Fact-Free Attack on <i>Expelled</i> Exposes Intolerance of Darwinists towards Pro-Intelligent Design Scientists]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Movies]]
[[Category:Intelligent Design]]
[[Category:Evolution]]

Violent video games

2008-04-28T14:41:13Z

RedFlare:

Violent video games teach and encourage the players -- typically children -- to engage in horrific virtual violence. Examples include:

* Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend (M-rated) -- The ads for this game boast that new weapons will enable you "to hack your enemies to meaty bits!" It involves a game character who commits violent acts against unarmed civilians. Other features in the Postal series include: urinating on people to make them vomit in disgust, using cats as shotgun silencers, and playing fetch with dogs using human heads.

* The Punisher (M-rated) -- Game player is able to jam knives into victims' sternums and pull up to increase the damage, cut off heads, ram a character's open mouth onto a curb, run a character over with a forklift, rip a character's arms off with an industrial hook, and set a character on fire in an electric chair.

* Resident Evil: 4 (M-rated) -- Game player uses a special blood-splattered chainsaw controller designed for playing the game, which includes chainsaw decapitations and impalements, and characters ripping off other character's throats and biting off their heads.

* Manhunt (M-rated) -- Game player's character is James Earl Cash, a convicted serial killer facing execution. The execution is ordered to be faked so that a character named "The Director" can use Cash as a star in a series of snuff films. As the Cash character kills other characters, by suffocating them with a plastic bag, slicing them up with a chainsaw, shooting them point blank with a nail gun, stabbing them in the eyeballs with a glass shard, or beheading them with a cleaver, The Director makes sexually vulgar comments. The game has two difficulty settings: fetish and hardcore.

* God of War (M-rated) -- Game features disembowelment, mouth-stabbing, eye-gouging, severed limbs, and human sacrifice.

* Silent Hill 1-4 -- large portions of these games involve roaming around decaying buildings and beating hideously malformed humanoid monsters to death with blunt instruments. (They may not actually be monsters...)<ref>[http://youtube.com/watch?v=oywfsv2SJNg "They look like ''monsters'' to you?"]</ref>

* Condemned -- Requires the player to bludgeon NPC's to death. Since the game is played on the wii it promotes the player to act out the gruesome killings.

The Court of Appeals for the [[Eighth Circuit]] declared this to be [[free speech]] and struck down a [[Minnesota]] law that prohibited minors from purchasing or renting video games bearing a "Mature" or "Adult Only" rating.<ref>''Entm't Software Ass'n v. Swanson'', 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 5634 (8th Cir. Mar. 17, 2008).</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Video games]]

== References ==

<references/>

== Sources ==

* [http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60631 Violent video games free speech?]

[[Category:Video Games]]