Intelligence Expelled

2008/03/22 · by · in Idiocracy, Politics, Religion

Today I read about one of the most ironic events of which I’ve ever heard. You can’t make this kind of thing up. The atheistic PZ Meyers (a biologist and associate professor University of Minnesota, Morris), was kicked out of a private screening of a now highly controversial ‘documentary’. Events proceed roughly as follows:

  1. PZ is approached to perform an interview about a film titled ‘Crossroads’ which is to be an ‘analysis of the intersection between religion and science within the context of biology’. Basically, both he and Richard Dawkins were deceived into giving interviews for the film.
  2. PZ goes on the web, and through the interface provided by the filmmakers, reserves a seat for himself, family, and his guest Richard Dawkins. He does not falsify his name (or anyone else’s) in doing so.
  3. While standing in line at the theater, he is approached by a guard and told he must leave.
  4. Ultimately he complies, without any fuss.
  5. Richard Dawkins, and the rest of PZ’s family get to see the movie.

So the major points of irony?

  • He got kicked out of a movie in which he appears on screen, and for which he is thanked in the credits.
  • He’s an associate professor, and was expelled from a private screening of a movie titled: “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”.

Of course some major deceptions get spread about the entire affair. Instead of listing those, I’ll just let the people involved speak for themselves.

  • PZ himself posts about the experience here, here and here.
  • A video of a discussion between PZ and Richard about the affair, with disparaging comments on the quality of the movie itself.
  • Two examples of the ‘official’ account now being spread about the incident: here and here.

And in other (re|be)lated news. In the movie they have used a clip, from Harvard, about some of the molecular mechanisms within a cell; The same clip (mentioned in the above discussion) that has been completely plagiarized by the minions of the Discovery Institute.

So, a mirthful smirk to the ID folks for providing me and the rest of the blogosphere a really good laugh.