It’s not that The Mennonite is a particular must read of mine. Sure it’s useful as a church publication goes and there’s been the occasional interesting article. Plus, they do run poetry on occasion and some of it can be pretty decent. But all-in-all, it’s pretty mainstream, nothing too out there, nothing too aggressively retro. Usually, the really weird stuff only shows up in the Readers Say pages.
So you have to warn me, dear editors, if you are going to let some “guest” columnist write some crackpot article masquerading as a review for a movie that everyone agrees is, well, crackpot. Some kind of a WARNING: head might actually explode mid-read from sheer weight of contemplating this insanity sign somewhere, please.
The May 20 issue (which for some reason only arrived for me this week) has an “review” of Ben Stein’s documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Now, this has been getting some press lately — mostly because Stein has been very clear that this movie is geared toward one audience only.
What annoys me about The Mennonite review is that none of that controversy is acknowledged and there’s no attempt at all to point out any problems with Stein’s approach or argument. Instead we get all the code words that let us know exactly what this reviewer thinks: “left-leaning … produced by the likes of Michael Moore,” persecution by powerful academic …. communities,” the linking of Darwinism to the Nazis and political correctness “run amuck.”
And honestly, another thing that annoys me? Intelligent design. Put all the pretty and scientific-y names on it that you want, it’s still creationism at its core. Oh, but it’s not evolution that’s being critiqued, it’s a “particular Darwinian form of evolution.” Give me a freaking break; no one believes that for a minute.
Honestly, if The Mennonite is going to allow something like this to run, they at least need to have a counterpoint. For example, how about the excellent, excellent online series that the Templeton Foundation has discussing the Big Questions, including faith and science? And you know what? Yea, there’s a Mennonite! And he’s a scientist! [Just a side note that Owen Gingerich is totes cool. Seriously. The guy holds the title for Most Awesome Living Mennonite. Plus, he's originally from Iowa. Which just adds to his greatness.]
4 responses so far ↓
1 Scott // May 25, 2008 at 8:52 am
Maybe if I didn’t personally know several teachers and professors who’s belief in evolution played a role in their firings I could contemplate the thought that Ben Steins bizarro-world actually exists.
2 mennomom // May 26, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I see your point(s), urbanmenno & Scott, but you have to admit that extremism is to be found on both ends of the spectrum. One should be allowed to raise questions and or/create doubt regardless of whether one is talking about science or religion. A scientist who refuses to acknowledge the possibility of intelligent design (which is not just doublespeak for creationism based on a literal reading of Genesis 1) as a way of explaining the origin of the universe and life is just as bigoted as the die-hard literal 6 day creationist who refuses to entertain the thought that maybe at least some parts of the theory of evolution make sense. And yes, I’ve heard Owen Gingerich speak and he is awesome and a great example of how a person can be a credible scientist & intellectual giant, and a person of sound Christian faith at the same time. This either/or stuff does not have to be. More often than not, the truth is found somewhere in the middle. And yes, I’m sure teachers and professors on both sides of the middle have lost their jobs, depending on where they were teaching and the degree to which their raising questions was taken out of context and used against them, perhaps for other reasons than what lay on the surface. Politics can be ugly, whether the secular university or the Christian college.
3 urbanmenno // May 26, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Except, MennoMom, we are talking about science and science doesn’t have extremes. Science doesn’t have emotion, science isn’t about a belief system. As soon as you start thinking that there’s a middle ground when you are talking about science, it isn’t science anymore. Then it’s a theology or a some sort of belief system.
“Raising doubt” on scientific theories means that other scientists attempt to reprove or disprove the theorems using similar methods … and that isn’t what intelligent design does. There is no way to prove the intelligent design theory using scientific methods… so it isn’t science.
And no, someone who refuses to acknowledge intelligent design is not bigoted. They are being scientific. One can be both scientific and religious … the two aren’t competing which each other. They are trying to explain two entirely different things.
Once upon a time, people tried to make their religion scientific (trying to “prove” God exists) and what happened? Turns out you can disprove God’s existence just as easily. Now people are trying to make their science religious. And what is happening? It’s not science anymore.
4 mennomom // May 27, 2008 at 11:44 am
Hey, I get it, I get it! I just don’t think it’s possible, in real life, to have such hard and fast categories. I agree that science & religion are separate spheres which answer different questions; science attempts to answer the How? and religion/faith the Why? But I think we need to allow for a sense of mystery in both spheres, and maybe that’s where they can intersect.
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