Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed- A Violation of Free Speech

The two-hour special documentary, Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, features the Kitzmiller v. Dover School District case in 2004. It captures the turmoil that tore apart the community of Dover, Pennsylvania in one of the latest battles over teaching evolution in public schools. Some members of the community believed that not only Darwinism, but also a so called theory, Intelligent Design, should be taught in their public high school. It was a battle between the two theories. It forced neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend. The community itself was broken half and half on the controversial issue.

Censoring Science begins in Washington D.C., where we are introduced to Dr. James Hansen. Born in 1941 on a farm in Denison, Iowa, Jim was the fifth child and first boy out of seven children. His father, who had minimal education, held many different low-paying jobs and the family moved rather frequently. In third grade, Jim’s sister gave him part of her paper route- a job he would keep throughout high school, gradually saving up enough money to pay for college. Though he was a rather laid-back student, he earned the highest score on an IQ test (taken by seventh-twelfth graders) in seventh grade. Because of his test scores Jim received a scholarship to the University of Iowa, where he came under the

Lastly, on to my favorite line from the movie, “the bible is a book, it is a good book, but it is not the only book.” I love this line because it is relatable to me. I believe in God, and I believe that he put me on this earth and he has a plan for me. I also know that there is scientific evidence proving that man evolved from ape. What do I believe? Should I go against my faith and say that we evolved from ape, or should I go against scientific evidence and say that God put us all on this earth. I do exactly what Henry Drummond did in the movie. He had the bible in one hand and Darwin’s book in the other. He placed the bible on top of Darwin’s book and walked out of the

The question whether creation or Intelligent Design should be taught in public schools is applicable to America’s society today. Most school districts would rather avoid both topics due to causing arguments among students and teachers and leading to uncomfortable conversations. Evolution is the belief that one form of life gives rise to the next, like a tree with branches and twigs. Darwin called it “descent with modification” which is now called “natural selection”. Natural Selection, in the film, is said to be small changes occurring over time that can result in new speciations. If you think about it, evolution does not say anything about the creation of life. It only

Thesis: It is patently absurd to argue that creationism and / or intelligent design deserve a place in public school textbooks in the "science" chapter or in any way near to the chapter on evolution. The United States Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and freedom of expression, so all faiths and denominations have the absolute right to worship and believe as they

Case law supporting the absence of the instruction of intelligent design theory from secular, public education cites several main grounds for exclusion, including the unconstitutionality of ?sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement of the sovereign in religious activity? [397 U.S. 664].

Aguillard case, attitudes towards science education have not changed in any significant way. Don Aguillard, the plaintiff of the Edwards case, did research on attitudes in the decade following the court’s decision on his case. He gathered data from Louisiana high school teachers in the 1997-1998 educational school year. He found that, “Fifty-two percent of biology teachers [indicated] that creationism was scientifically valid…14 percent of biology teachers indicated that creationism was not scientifically valid.” (Aguillard 1999, pg. 185)

“Alien Notion” by Chip Rowe was featured in The Playboy Forum in February 2003. In this article Chip Rowe writes about the attempts of creationist to bring God into public schools. According to Chip Rowe, after the Supreme Court ruled that teaching biblical creationism in public school is a violation of church and state, creationist have been divided into two groups. One group called “young earthers” believe a literal interpretation of Genesis in the Bible, while the other group developed a new way to “sneak God into the classroom” by creating intelligent design or as Rowe describes it “creationism after a shower and a shave”. The creationist behind intelligent design avoid mention of Adam and Eve; instead they say any intelligent being could’ve designed it. He also states that religious right organizers utilized “grassroots lobbying efforts” that gave intelligent design “a legitimacy it didn’t deserve”.

Our core values are built upon freedom. Freedom from tyranny, freedom from control, freedom to choose. A student should have the option to learn whatever it is they desire, whether it be evolution, or creationism, because it is our right to choose what to believe. There was a true story based on an argument where science was not allowed to be taught, but religion was. It correlates to the novel Inherit the Wind. The plot settles in a trial held between two defendants lawyers battling it out of the science versus Evolution. A school teacher named Cates, who got arrested and went to jail because he taught evolution in a science class. I believe that evolution should be taught in science classes and that school teachers being arrested due to

In Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008), Ben Stein travels the world to expose the incarceration in the realm of science. Stein’s goal is to rile up the audience to stir up desire and motivation of the voice of the people to bring down the unjust wall in scientific academia. Ben Stein fails to persuade his active viewing audience that universities have used unfair practices to exclude research and believers in intelligent design from the scientific community, but succeeds in persuading the unpretentious and idle audience. Ben Stein losses his credibility and ultimately his persuasive power through the use of misrepresentation of messages and facts, fallacies of ethos, pathos, and logos, and the digression from the main point of the

How did life on earth begin? On one had we have religious people who think that a higher power created the universe and others believe that god was not part of the equation, which is causing a big outrage amongst different groups. In fact, it is to the point where people questioning “god” as a creator are being persecuted. The original theory of, which is based on Darwinism, believes that mankind evolved from apes, monkeys, and cells. However, the theory does not specifically explain how life began, how the cell evolved and got to where it is today. Overall, this theory contained many gaps, and this movie was in essence demonstrating, how intelligence design is trying to fill in those missing link but

Freedom of speech is more than just words, it is posters, petitions, rallies, protests, and more. This lets opinions be shared and spread to make a difference in the world. The problem is that in schools there is a limit on the amount of freedom of speech students can have. How are students supposed to feel like they have a voice when they are being told that they can only speak of certain topics? By what means could student be educated on their rights like the First Amendment if they cannot have full access to that right at all times? Students are brought together by freedom of speech, schools should not be stopping that. It is essential that freedom of speech in schools should not be limited because it gives students a voice, it educates them on their rights, and it brings students together.

Both Dale Kohler and Roger Lambert have very strong opinions about science and religion but there are many aspects that has to be disagreed with because they're a lot of information presented in the debate but while reading the main character's life story, it does not “connect” with what they are preaching. Intelligence and subjectivity are two different specialities and they cannot be combined even though Dale Kohler tries to show the both is needed to have an relationship with God (Barbour, p. 209-217). Intelligence, as dicussed in class is based on finding evidence to help prove something is true and reaonsing where subjectivity is basedon personal experiences and feelings but they do not like evidence gathering or believe in rationality (Benton). The main point, I am trying to bring out is someone of higher power had to create ‘moral laws or moral codes’ because its in humanly impossible of them creating the moral laws, only someone with devine power will know what laws to write in people heart so they know what is right and wrong (C.S.Lewis, Mere

Teaching Creationism or Intelligent Design to our youth can be done in a way that is neither opinion based nor completely fact based, but may hold some risk of personal interpretation. The first thing needed to be considered is how can children of the middle school age range grasp such a deep subject and have the capacity to reach their own conclusion. Information found regarding the development of children in this developmental range was found in the book titled "Characteristics of Middle Grade Students,” Caught in the Middle by the Sacramento Department of Education. It was found that students of this age hold a variety of learning attributes that support the belief that children can handle both sides of this controversial issue. Some

Public schools are a place to learn proven facts and some very well—known and accepted theories. These schools have been led this way for a long time and show no signs of changing. Many states around the country have rejected the teaching of creationism in public schools, since the subject is so controversial among teachers and parents. In Ohio, a bill to develop new science content standards was not successfully passed. Many creationists were upset when they discovered that the first drafts of the standards were filled with evolutionary content, without any allowance for alternative explanations of life’s origins. In the uproar, the state board held a special meeting to investigate the process that the writing team and advisory committee used to draft the science standards (Matthews, Answering Genesis). This is why learning the facts about evolution should be taught at school. By doing this, there would be much less confrontation between teachers, students, and parents. If one has the desire to learn about creationism or any other beliefs of how the world came to be, one should learn it at a place outside of school, such as church or at home.