BoPL

There’s a new movie just starting to do the rounds called ‘Expelled’. It’s a stunning behind-the-scenes expose of how scientists are essentially nazis who think good Christian folk are intellectually no better than shaved monkeys. It’s possible I may have over-simplified a little there, but not by much. It features science luminaries such as Richard Dawkins talking about science and creationism. You may be surprised to learn that the interviewees on the ‘pro-science’ side were initially told it was going to be a balanced examination of the conflict between science and religion. If you were surprised then you may need to familiarize yourself some more with the tactics of the creationist movement.

Anyway, one of the people who tried to get into what appears to have been a private screening of the movie was PZ Myers, a biologist from Morris, MN who is a stern opponent of creationism. His rhetoric knows no bounds, but physically he is every inch the gentleman professor that cliche demands, and immeasurably unlikely to cause a ruckus in public. He wasn’t trying to sneak in, didn’t hide who he was in any way, and was peaceable at all times.

Nonetheless he was removed from the line at the movie theater when waiting to get into the movie, at the request of the producer and, subsequently, the theater manager. I object to banning people in this way because of ideological objections, but it was a private screening so they were entirely within their rights so to do (they got a policeman involved, however, which seems plain wrong). Myers left peaceably, stopping only to tell his family where he would be.

Now for the ironies. The first is that Myers is actually in the movie, and is even thanked at the end for his contribution. That alone would be rich enough, but it pales in comparison to the fact that the rest of Myers’ party was allowed in. Along with his wife and daughter were Richard Dawkins and the entire staff of the Richard Dawkins Foundation. They were not, it appears, too impressed with the film.