[NYTr] New "Intelligent Design" Film Counters "anti-Religious Dogmatism"

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

sent by Bill Berkowitz

Talk to Action - Sep 10, 2007
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/10/11913/1028

Ben Stein to battle `anti-religious dogmatism' 
with pro-intelligent design film 

By Bill Berkowitz

Five years ago, in the days before Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction
during halftime of Super Bowl XXXVIII set the FCC and the television
networks off into a cleansing frenzy, Ben Stein, the television
game-show host and pitchman who was once a speechwriter for President
Richard Nixon,  gave Arianna Huffington the finger during a live CNN
talk show.

Now, Stein intends to give the vast majority of the scientific
community the finger by attacking evolution and touting intelligent
design in a new film due out early next year.

And, Stein, who's co-hosting the upcoming VH-1 reality show "America's
Most Smartest Model," is movie-making in the  name of "battling
anti-religious dogmatism." Move over Michael Moore, here comes Stein's
pro-intelligent design documentary

Come next February, be on the lookout for "Expelled: No Intelligence
Allowed."

At his new blog, Stein introduces himself to what he hopes will become
a core of intelligent design volunteers and supporters:

    I'm Ben Stein - many of you know me from the classic film, `Ferris
Bueller's Day Off,' or from my Comedy Central show `Win Ben Stein's
Money.' Still others of you may know me as a speechwriter, for
presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. You may even have read my
books, attended one of my lectures at The American University,
Washington DC, or seen me on the talk shows.

According to Stein, his documentary - produced by Premise Media and
marketed by the Westlake Village, California-based Motive Entertainment
-- "chronicles" Stein's "confrontation with the widespread suppression
and entrenched discrimination that is spreading in our institutions,
laboratories and most importantly, in our classrooms, and that is doing
irreparable harm to some of the world's top scientists, educators, and
thinkers."

Stein hysterically points out that

    Under a new anti-religious dogmatism, scientists and educators are
not allowed to even think thoughts that involve an intelligent creator.
Do you realize that some of the leading lights of "anti-intelligent
design" would not allow a scientist who merely believed in the
possibility of an intelligent designer/creator to work for him... EVEN
IF HE NEVER MENTIONED the possibility of intelligent design in the
universe? EVEN FOR HIS VERY THOUGHTS... HE WOULD BE BANNED.

According to Stein, "In today's world, at least in America, an Einstein
or a Newton or a Galileo would probably not be allowed to receive
grants to study or to publish his research."

    They cannot even mention the possibility that- as Newton or Galileo
believed - these laws were created by God or a higher being. They could
get fired, lose tenure, have their grants cut off. This can happen. It
has happened. EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed comes to theaters near
you in February 2008. To learn more, check out my blog here often ...
and explore the rest of our site for new developments, or to volunteer
to help spread the word.

The trailer for the movie - using George Thorogood's rebel anthem "Bad
to the Bone" as background music - portrays Stein as the courageous
"rebel" fighting against the storm troopers of Darwinism. "I'm not
going to let it stop me from investigating or speaking about it
[intelligent design]," Stein says during a speaking engagement.    

Building Michael Moore-like buzz

Stein's collaborators intend to use the months leading up to the film's
release to drum up Michael Moore-like buzz and directly appeal to
anti-evolution evangelical Christian pastors and religious school
teachers. In mid-August, a Beliefnet reporter "attended a presentation
to drum up advance support for the film. It was led by Paul Lauer -- a
Christian marketing maven best known for helping make [Mel Gibson's]
`Passion of the Christ' the blockbuster it was -- and one of the film's
co-producers ..."

Beliefnet reported that the film "presents a world of ... "the new
scientific movement" (Intelligent Design) ...  vs. the tired, old
`theory' of evolution. Relying on news-clip montages, interviews, even
cut-away shots of concentration camps, `Expelled' talks of faithful
scientists and other believers losing jobs, losing grants, even losing
friends in defense of ID. And, relying on footage of Richard Dawkins,
Sam Harris, and other atheists du jure, it sets up a worldview of ID
vs. atheism, with no gray areas in between.

    And, taking it even further, it posits that, without God, there can
be no source of morality, no reason not to `stab someone on the
subway,' to borrow another phrase I heard a couple of times yesterday
(and which explained, according to Lauer and Logan, the concentration
camp scenes, since the film will explore the influence of Darwinism on
Hitler). So the battle for ID to be taught on par with evolution is no
more, no less than a battle for the legitimacy of morality itself.

According to Motive Marketing's website, the organization was founded
by Lauer, "who has pioneered the development, production, sales,
marketing, and distribution of media, entertainment, and consumer
products worldwide for the last 20 years." The site points out that
"Lauer is also one of the most well connected entrepreneurs in the
Faith and Family Market ..."  

    Lauer has gone on to manage grass roots outreach campaigns for the
Tom Hanks/Robert Zemeckis film, "The Polar Express," as well as the
record breaking Walden Media/Disney epic series, "The Chronicles of
Narnia." In addition, Lauer has assisted with the marketing and
distribution of numerous independent film projects.

Lauer's resume includes serving as president for three media companies:
Veritas Communications, Publishing Services, and Lauer & Associates. He
was also the founder and publisher of YOU! Magazine, published
worldwide in six languages (3,700,000 copies distributed), and Youth
Beat, a syndicated youth page with 1,000,000 circulation.

Huffington wins Ben Stein's finger

In his intro, Stein doesn't mention perhaps his most historic
television appearance. On January 11, 2002, he was one of the guests -
along with Arianna Huffington, comedian Kate Clinton and Sarah
Ferguson, Duchess of York and Queen of Weight Watchers -- on CNN's
"TalkBack Live: America Speaks Out." Stein, incensed by Huffington's
comments, actually flipped her the bird on live tee vee.  

Here's what I wrote at the time in a column posted at WorkingForChange:

    From the beginning of the program, Stein was a bit edgy, appearing
miffed the other guests would have the audacity to mildly, and I stress
the word mildly, criticize U.S. government policy.

    The first few topics were related to the war on terrorism. The
discussion ranged from how the Al Qaeda/Taliban prisoners transported
to the U.S. Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba should be treated to how much
access the media should have to the prisoners and to information
regarding the overall state of the war. The group also discussed the
recent suicide of the deeply troubled 15-year-old Tampa boy who crashed
a small airplane into a high-rise office building.

    The other guests didn't actually disagree with many of Stein's
views on the war. However, they did allow that there were questions
that needed to be raised. In fact, some of his early remarks received
the loudest applause from the audience. It's just that from the
beginning of the program Stein seemed agitated and angry. He was
certainly not very comic-like; I am told by a friend that's how Stein
normally is. He was surly, sour and clearly pissed off.

    According to the CNN transcript, when discussing the treatment of
the prisoners in Cuba Stein said: "They are extremely dangerous in any
circumstance. They have shown that they like to kill civilians whenever
possible. I think by all means tranquilize them and drug them and keep
them in chains. I think they are being treated incredibly well, not
just to be put up against a wall and shot, considering their behavior."

    While no one on the panel disagreed that the prisoners had done
despicable things, they expressed the hope that they would be treated
humanely -- if only to show the world the U.S. is concerned about the
human rights of all people.

    As the discussion proceeded, Clinton raised a question about press
access to the prisoners. "The problem for me," she said, "is that we
have not allowed the press to come in, the press has been told to
leave. They can't tape. They can't actually watch what is going on,
which raises a lot of suspicions."

    Stein huffily responded: "I don't understand why we have any
concern about these people at all. I mean, these people are major
league scumbag killers. The problem in the world history in the last 40
years has hardly been U.S. mistreatment of prisoners. It's been
mistreatment of U.S. prisoners by people with whom the U.S. was engaged
in conflict. And we have no doubt that if these people captured our
men, they would torture them and kill them."

    A short time later, Huffington picked-up on the press access
question. She was concerned that although the press briefings of
Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld were entertaining, they were often
devoid of solid information. (Even the President recently joked the
afternoon briefings have turned Rumsfeld into a matinee idol.)

    Huffington: "I think this problem, not just in terms of the
detainees in Cuba but generally, the restriction of the amount of
information given to the press is very troubling. That is what happened
in Vietnam. And a lot went on behind the scenes that the American
public did not know."

    The conversation included comments about the Tampa teen, and
Huffington pointed out that all societies have people who do evil
things, and it is simplistic to divide the world into the evil-doers of
Afghanistan and the Middle East and the good guys of America.

    This set Stein off: "I think what we should care about is comments
like the ones I have been hearing in the last few minutes which are
endlessly blaming America and trying to shift the focus away from the
fact that we had a massive, historically unique act of terrorism
directed against America by foreign people, and somehow making it
change to say, well is America treating these people right now after it
captures them? That's one thing. I'm really sick of blaming the victim,
especially when the victim is America."

    In no time, Stein accused Huffington of dominating the
conversation; the audience made a few comments; and then Huffington
delivered the final blow. She told Stein "we should be able to hold two
contradictory thoughts in our head, at least all of us except for Ben
Stein, who seems to be only able to hold one thought. But we should be
able at one and the same time..."

    Quick shot of Stein; he's delivering the finger to Huffington.

    Maureen O'Boyle, the host: "Oh, my goodness."

    Huffington: "No excuses for Charles [the Tampa teenager] and for
what he did, and, at the same time, be able to try and understand what
brought him to that point. These two things are not impossible to hold
at the same time."

    O'Boyle: "Duchess, do you have something to say?"

    Ferguson: "Great role model, Ben."

    O'Boyle: "Yes, really. Hello."

    Stein: "I can't believe that. I don't think I want to -- why should
I be here and be criticized by Arianna? I think my credentials for
commenting on this are at least equivalent to hers. And I didn't say
anything even slightly as belittling as what she said. What's the point
of a conversation in which there's just belittling, slurring of one
another?"

    The transcript notes applause from the audience.

    Stein: "If you want to just have a group of dogs barking at each
other, just go to the pound and put your microphone there and you'll
have a group of dogs barking at each other. "

    After the commercial break, O'Boyle returned and told the audience
Stein had decided to leave. And, at the end of the show when it came to
thank the guests, Ben Stein's name wasn't mentioned. 

Meanwhile, taking a break from "battling anti-religious dogmatism,"
Stein is co-hosting -- along with celebrity fashion expert Mary Alice
Stephenson -- a new VH-1 series called "America's Most Smartest Model."
According to Starpulse News Blog, the "reality competition series
brings together fourteen models, (7 men, 7 women) all of whom think
they are the perfect combination of beauty and brains. In the end, only
one model will prove that they are more than just another pretty face
and take home a $100,000 prize and the coveted title of `America's Most
Smartest Model.'"