Denialism

Ben Stein read the HOWTO

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by

MarkH
in ,

Reading You Are Dumb’s take on Ben Stein and expelled, I found out they have a blog for the movie! I’m so excited, because it’s clear that Ben Stein, in his introductory post, shows he’s done his research and read the Crank HOWTO. Check it:

Some of the greatest scientists of all time, including Galileo, Newton, Einstein, operated under the hypothesis that their work was to understand the principles and phenomena as designed by a creator.

Really? Their hypotheses included God each time? That’s shocking. Continued.

Operating under that hypothesis, they discovered the most important laws of motion, gravity, thermodynamics, relativity, and even economics.

Now, I am sorry to say, freedom of inquiry in science is being suppressed.

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.

Darwin mind-reading! We are powerful evilutionists after all, why wouldn’t we have mind-reading technology? But what a great example of crank persecution!

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.

And there we have it! A Galileo reference, perfect. I’m not sure why they think Newton is helpful for the crank. Newton, if anything, was an evil bastard who would attack anyone who was seen as a threat to his supremacy. But either way, great first blog post Ben. You’ve done your research and you’re going to fit right in with all the other cranks.

Comments

  1. Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD

    have their grants cut off.

    Well, those are not the most painful things to have cut off.

    Reply
  2. pough

    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…

    My prediction is that we will see this quote in the movie: “I get to vote on tenure decisions at my university, and I can assure you that if someone comes up who claims that ID ‘theory’ is science, I will vote against them.” We won’t, however, see the full quote:

    I get to vote on tenure decisions at my university, and I can assure you that if someone comes up who claims that ID ‘theory’ is science, I will vote against them. If someone thinks the sun orbits around the earth, I will vote against them. If someone thinks fairies live in their garden and pull up the flowers out of the ground every spring, I will vote against them. Tenure decisions are not pro forma games, but a process of evaluation, and I’d rather not have crackpots promoted. Beckwith may be a nice fellow with a commendable publication record, but when it gets right down to it, his untenable position on intelligent design puts him smack in the middle of the tinfoil hat brigade. And that position on ID is a focus of many of his publications, so it is certainly a legitimate criterion for judging him.

    (Before the inevitable trollish twit starts claiming this is a sign of intolerance, I’ll short circuit that by stating that whether a person is Christian or Muslim or atheist, Republican or Democrat or Green, is not an issue in tenure decisions and would not be and has not been a factor in any tenure votes I’ve cast. I do not object to differences in opinion among my colleagues. I do object to keeping fools around.)

    Reply
  3. oku

    What these cranks always conveniently forget is that Galileo did not have to fight against other scientists, but the Catholic church. And they needed hundreds of years to change their mind.

    Reply
  4. Chad

    Good post. Yeah, cause Einstein really believed in a “God.” Newton rejected the Trinity. Does anyone really think that if these guys lived today and had a firm modern scientific understanding of the universe, that they’d believe in a personal three headed god who influences the outcome of battles and football games? Who will change traffic patterns JUST for you so you don’t have to hit a red light? One who hates gays, loves slavery, thinks pedophilia is awesome and commands his followers to commit genocide? I put my money on NOT!

    One other thing. Perhaps someone can explain to me why a crank is called a crank. I saw the definition that appeared in Nature, via Wikipedia:

    “A crank is defined as a man who cannot be turned.”

    – Nature, 8 Nov 1906, 25/2

    Is it supposed to be ironic? A crank after all is there to be turned. Just wondering.

    Reply
  5. MarkH

    I think a crank can only be turned one way. But then, it might refer to some of the other synonyms, like “toiler” which refer to how they just focus on one thing. Or how they just go around, and around on the same topic ad nauseum.

    Reply
  6. Boris

    Wow, looks like the IDers snatched the grand prize on “Win Ben Stein’s Respectability.”

    Reply
  7. MikeB

    He gets extra crank points with all the ‘CAPITAL LETTERS’ he uses in the bit you quoted – its nice to see he’s following the rules of Crank HOWTO.

    Reply

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