Thursday, May 14, 2009

Ben Stein

I recently watched Ben Stein's movie about intelligent design. I thought it would be entertaining to watch; mostly in an ironic way. That being said I went in with low expectations about its core arguments for intelligent design. But when I watched the teaser online, back when it was first being released, it was portrayed more as a documentary looking into why there isn't a debate between intelligent design and evolution as opposed to, what it turned out to be, an argument for intelligent design.
From the onset his arguments were weak at best and hypocritical at worse:
If you do not know exactly how life first came into existence doesn't it make sense that God (with emphasis on the singular form of the noun) create it? This of course ignores the further issue of how did said God come into existence?
I enjoyed the fact that the priests interviewed argued that religion should not supplant science and that the Catholic Church has reconciled itself with modern science; including evolution.
I will say Richard Dawkins is a douche. I am in possession of at least one of his books but am not really sure if I want to read it anymore.
Ben Stein's mocking tone of some of the theories about how life first came into being is hardly appropriate for a documentary and really puts him on par with Bill Maher; not a compliment.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

meh, I liked Religulous. Ben Stein always speaks in a mocking tone though. He also speaks in a monotone. I call it the mock-o-tone because I'm creative with language like that.

\ said...

I liked his old TV show. It was funny but now he is just sad.

Mark Rosenkoetter said...

Religulous is just a movie about a skeptic that forgets to be skeptical of his won skeptism. Maher is always the cynic, creating straw men and never putting forth a postive belief. I don't hate the guy or anything like that, but I believe his approach has major failures.

I have not watched the Ben Stien doc. However, Tim, and you will hate me for this, but if God does exist there would not have to be beginning of God because It is outside of space and time.

Also, if there was an infinite past there be no possibility of arriving to today. However, time is a product of change and movement within the material universe, at least that is the best I think we can know of it.

\ said...

I have completely changed my view of Richard Dawkins. He is a wonderful person.