More Expelled: NIA (sick of it yet?)

I wanted to post a link to this letter by Richard Dawkins because I think it is very important that people read it. Especially if you aren’t knowledgeable about the involvement, or lack thereof, of evolution in the Jewish Holocaust.

I find it absolutely appalling that the makers of Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed have damaged people’s minds the way they have. It is a tragedy that people have to suffer this intellectual assault. However I feel fortunate that they made their movie in a country where speech is free and as much as they are free to spout propaganda, the rest of us are free to try to correct the damage.

Please give the letter a read.

For more on Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed see:

• Eugenie Scott’s website Expelled Exposed (pay particular attention to the reviews of the movie that are from Christian and “neutral” publications, and what happened to the so-called expelled individuals – all verifiable information)
• Michael Shermer’s site under the heading “Debunking Expelled“
• The Wikipedia entry on Expelled
• The Internet Movie Database entry for Expelled
• PZ Meyers’ various blog entries about Expelled along with a video of an interview on the “Expelled from Expelled” incident with he and Richard Dawkins

I don’t expect that individuals particularly enamored with Expelled and Intelligent Design in general to be convinced by these sources, as many of them are part of “Big Science” and are therefore untrustworthy “evolutionists”. I encourage those people NOT to take the scientists word for it (or my word for it), but don’t take Ben Stein’s word for it either. (If I were popular enough, I’d say I can’t wait for that sentence to appear out of context somewhere, without the bit after the comma. Luckily no one cares what I say…so far.)

The information on everything presented in Expelled is out there to be found for oneself and I hope that people will realize the inherent flaw in deciding to blindly believe one person’s synthesis of events while scoffing at another’s. Do the research and then decide with a free mind what is probably the truth.

Black People vs. Women vs. The Elderly

It’s always something. Can a non-white, non-middle-aged, and possibly non-male person run for president without their particular “digressing” characteristic being dramatically thrust into the forefront of their campaign?

Nope.

If Barack wins, it can’t possibly be because he’s a well-educated, charismatic man with a clean political history. It’s because he’s black. If Hillary wins, it can’t possibly be because she’s an intelligent, shrewd politician with years of experience. It’s because of her vagina. If John wins, it’s can’t be because he has been the most politically reasonable republican in 8 years to run for president and also has years (and I mean YEARS) of political experience. No, it’s because he’s old and wise, claims he invented the question mark, and uses words like “ragamuffin”. Adorable.

But seriously, are Hillary’s clothes really an appropriate topic of conversation for a political candidate? Or Barack’s lack of a flag lapel pin? Or McCain’s probable use of Metamucil? Watching the news lately is like watching a 24/7 documentary on condescension.

Young(ish), white males who run for president get to answer questions about the budget, health care, social security, homeland security, terrorism, gas prices, international relations, taxes, education, issues in science and technology, space exploration, alternative power options (i.e., nuclear power), natural disaster relief, etc. These answers are later analyzed by various news pundits and we get to hear the sound bites in a lovely montage on The Daily Show.

This year, however, I’ve noticed a shift in the newscasters’ focus. For example, Hillary – wears a slightly cleavage-y shirt? Slut! Wears something conservative? Prude! What does she think about social security? I don’t have a frigging clue because she happened to wear something that day and apparently her taste in pantsuits was a much more important topic of discussion. McCain doesn’t quite remember something that happened 30 years ago? Senile! What does he think about nuclear power? I dunno, but I do know he’s old. Barack – doesn’t wear a lapel pin? Terrorist-lover! Why do you love the terrorists, Barack? Is is because your middle name is Hussein?! AHA! What does he think about teaching evolution in school? Well, I do know that one because they talked about it on the Skeptic’s Guide. CNN though? I got nothing.

In Canada things are simple. You vote for some nobody running in your riding who votes for someone else who votes for someone else to sit at parliament. Those people then choose a leader to represent them. The party with the most seats wins the house and the leader of that party becomes the prime minister who then makes all the decisions. Unless your party has less seats then the rest of the parties combined in which case you have a minority government and no decisions get made at all! See?

Sigh. Ok, maybe the US has something here with the way they run things. But to take a whole year and several million dollars just to run for president only to be reduced to inane and blatantly insulting discussions about appropriate cleavage, the presence or absence of lapel pins, and decisions from 30 years ago is absolutely fucktarded.