The IUS Christian Student Fellowship hosted a presentation and discussion of the 2008 independent documentary, “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” on Thursday, March 5, in the Hoosier Room.
Directed by Nathan Frankowski and starring and co-written by Ben Stein, the film asserts that the mainstream scientific community suppresses academics who see evidence of intelligent design in nature and who doubt evidence supporting evolutionary theory.
Around 30 students, faculty and community members attended the event, with nearly all staying afterward for an hour of discussion about intelligent design, evolution and arguments for both sides.
Campus minister Josh Boswell said while the CSF doesn’t agree with all of the points made in the film, the main message is one that merits discussion.
“We feel that the film is a legitimate way to generate conversation about intelligent design in a creative way,” Boswell said.
“Through the film we would like to be able to encourage dialogue regarding issues of intelligent design and get people thinking and talking about questions that may not be raised in upper level institutions” he said.
Though the debate between proponents of evolution and intelligent design is a hot-button issue, Boswell said the intent of the CSF in showing the film was not to dredge up contention.
“It’s not our desire to instigate controversy or stir up trouble,” Boswell said at the beginning of the presentation, “but to encourage an open discussion about these issues.”
After the film, Boswell opened the discussion by introducing topic questions such as strongest evidences for or against intelligent design, the debate surrounding intelligent design and the philosophical implications regarding evolution.
Though several of the attendees participated, the discussion was largely dominated by the back and forth conversation between Nathan Muncy, philosophy senior, and Ross Nunes, a psychiatrist with an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, who is now employed by a university which he said he would rather not disclose.
Muncy argued for the validity of evolutionary theory by pointing to instances where he said he believed the facts of macro-evolution were obvious, such as adaptation, variation and selection. In addition he cited a study where he said he believed life was successfully created from non-living materials.
On the other side of the debate, Nunes said the logic of evolutionary theory was flawed in light of the concepts of irreducible and specified complexity, which he used to evaluate and respond to Muncy’s claims.
Their conversation ended with a friendly handshake, Muncy and Nunes responded to the film with the polarity of their assessments as
opposite as their opinions.
“The movie did a good job of setting up a false dilemma,” Muncy said of the film portraying the extreme ostracization and dismissal of believers of intelligent design in the scientific establishment.
Nunes, however, said he was impressed with the film and its message of allowing different ideas to be considered. He also said he felt some of the cracks in the logic of evolution were exposed.
“The devil is always in the details,” Nunes said.
“One of the main tenets of logic is that ‘he or she who asserts must prove’, which must be applied to any theory, including the theory of evolution. I find that those trying to prove evolutionary theory are rarely able to speak with much specificity” Nunes said.
Boswell said he felt the event was a success, because it raised questions which translated into an in-depth discussion of the issues, though he said he wished more of the attendees would have actively participated.
Boswell said his own belief in intelligent design leads him to want the theory to be given the opportunity to be heard so that everyone can decide for themselves.
“Evolution is one interpretive model of data, but I believe that intelligent design is a model which can explain our existence” he said.
By AMY FAULHABER
Staff Writer
amfaulha@ius.edu
