Comments on: Expelled Opening Weekend Income http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/ Conservative group weblog that publishes daily commentary on political events and topics affecting Canada, the United States and the world. Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:46:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: dalton http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180963 dalton Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:46:43 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180963 Matthew, you may have missed my request for a source for the information you quoted. We atheists tend to value evidence over assertions of belief, so if you could provide that...? Thanks. Matthew, you may have missed my request for a source for the information you quoted. We atheists tend to value evidence over assertions of belief, so if you could provide that…? Thanks.

]]> By: Charles Anthony http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180920 Charles Anthony Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:35:07 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180920 Well, Matthew, I am a creationist and that is not how I view Dawkins. There is no basis for saying that Dawkins will believe ANYTHING and when it comes to this "alien insemination" concept, I actually do not see it as being very far from the truth anyways. God comes from out of this world, as I understand it. Your insistence "<em>that militant atheists will believe ANYTHING that allows them to scratch God out of the equation, including aliens descending from on high</em>" is unjustified because Dawkins was simply asked for a possibility. That possibility is valid. In other words, Stein baited Dawkins and then took his words out of context. Now, YOU are doing the same. Well, Matthew, I am a creationist and that is not how I view Dawkins. There is no basis for saying that Dawkins will believe ANYTHING and when it comes to this “alien insemination” concept, I actually do not see it as being very far from the truth anyways. God comes from out of this world, as I understand it.

Your insistence “that militant atheists will believe ANYTHING that allows them to scratch God out of the equation, including aliens descending from on high” is unjustified because Dawkins was simply asked for a possibility. That possibility is valid.
In other words, Stein baited Dawkins and then took his words out of context. Now, YOU are doing the same.

]]> By: Matthew http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180919 Matthew Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:23:28 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180919 Charles Anthony, even as Dawkins tries to explain his way out of an unedited, lengthy explanation on the conditions in which he could see ID as possible (and his exact words in the movie were that it was in the realm of possibilities -- see the movie for yourself if you don't believe me; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuByYoqS3c for another description of an actual movie-goer's observations). Dawkins, in his interview, confirmed what us creationists have long observered, which is that militant atheists will believe ANYTHING that allows them to scratch God out of the equation, including aliens descending from on high to seed the world (presumably on the backs of crystals...). Nothing in the quote you offered above has directly disputed this or explained it, so forgive some of us for seeing Dawkins in this instance as being a bit of a pyramid-hatted kook. Charles Anthony, even as Dawkins tries to explain his way out of an unedited, lengthy explanation on the conditions in which he could see ID as possible (and his exact words in the movie were that it was in the realm of possibilities — see the movie for yourself if you don’t believe me; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuByYoqS3c for another description of an actual movie-goer’s observations). Dawkins, in his interview, confirmed what us creationists have long observered, which is that militant atheists will believe ANYTHING that allows them to scratch God out of the equation, including aliens descending from on high to seed the world (presumably on the backs of crystals…). Nothing in the quote you offered above has directly disputed this or explained it, so forgive some of us for seeing Dawkins in this instance as being a bit of a pyramid-hatted kook.

]]> By: dalton http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180909 dalton Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:29:20 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180909 Matthew, what's your source for this statement, please? "Second-highest gross earnings for a documentary in its opening weekend! (the #1 spot goes to Michael Moore’s movie that glorifies the Canadian health care system as being efficient…)." According to the source you linked to, a) the opening weekend gross was $2,970,848, NOT 3.2 million. b) other higher opening weekend grosses for documentaries include Farenheit 9/11, Tupac: Resurrection. Can you provide your link? Matthew, what’s your source for this statement, please?

“Second-highest gross earnings for a documentary in its opening weekend! (the #1 spot goes to Michael Moore’s movie that glorifies the Canadian health care system as being efficient…).”

According to the source you linked to,
a) the opening weekend gross was $2,970,848, NOT 3.2 million.
b) other higher opening weekend grosses for documentaries include Farenheit 9/11, Tupac: Resurrection.

Can you provide your link?

]]> By: Ken http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180906 Ken Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:52:51 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180906 Here's another review of the movie: "Flunk This Movie! Ben Stein's new anti-science movie Expelled is all worldview and no evidence. Ronald Bailey | April 16, 2008" http://www.reason.com/news/show/125988.html Here’s another review of the movie:

“Flunk This Movie!
Ben Stein’s new anti-science movie Expelled is all worldview and no evidence.

Ronald Bailey | April 16, 2008″

http://www.reason.com/news/show/125988.html

]]> By: Charles Anthony http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180905 Charles Anthony Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:12:27 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180905 Matthew, I suggest that you read <a href="http://richarddawkins.net/article,2394,Lying-for-Jesus,Richard-Dawkins">Richard Dawkins himself</a> concerning alien seeding: <blockquote>"<em>Another example. Toward the end of his interview with me, Stein asked whether I could think of any circumstances whatsoever under which intelligent design might have occurred. It's the kind of challenge I relish, and I set myself the task of imagining the most plausible scenario I could. I wanted to give ID its best shot, however poor that best shot might be. ---SNIP--- The conclusion I was heading towards was that, even in the highly unlikely event that some such 'Directed Panspermia' was responsible for designing life on this planet, the alien beings would THEMSELVES have to have evolved, if not by Darwinian selection, by some equivalent 'crane' (to quote Dan Dennett). My point here was that design can never be an ULTIMATE explanation for organized complexity. Even if life on Earth was seeded by intelligent designers on another planet, and even if the alien life form was itself seeded four billion years earlier, the regress must ultimately be terminated (and we have only some 13 billion years to play with because of the finite age of the universe). Organized complexity cannot just spontaneously happen.</em>"</blockquote> That much of what he is saying is sound. Having said that, Dawkins goes on with other conclusions which are not sound, in my opinion. Nevertheless, Ben Stein (and now yourself) harping on this theory in this manner is unjustified. Matthew,
I suggest that you read Richard Dawkins himself concerning alien seeding:
“Another example. Toward the end of his interview with me, Stein asked whether I could think of any circumstances whatsoever under which intelligent design might have occurred. It’s the kind of challenge I relish, and I set myself the task of imagining the most plausible scenario I could. I wanted to give ID its best shot, however poor that best shot might be.
—SNIP—
The conclusion I was heading towards was that, even in the highly unlikely event that some such ‘Directed Panspermia’ was responsible for designing life on this planet, the alien beings would THEMSELVES have to have evolved, if not by Darwinian selection, by some equivalent ‘crane’ (to quote Dan Dennett). My point here was that design can never be an ULTIMATE explanation for organized complexity. Even if life on Earth was seeded by intelligent designers on another planet, and even if the alien life form was itself seeded four billion years earlier, the regress must ultimately be terminated (and we have only some 13 billion years to play with because of the finite age of the universe). Organized complexity cannot just spontaneously happen.“

That much of what he is saying is sound.
Having said that, Dawkins goes on with other conclusions which are not sound, in my opinion. Nevertheless, Ben Stein (and now yourself) harping on this theory in this manner is unjustified.

]]> By: dalton http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180903 dalton Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:40:00 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180903 There's an amusing review of the film here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080421/review_nm/film_stein_dc_1;_ylt=Agr7NRnjqgEeWWY5J2MuvHv0kPUI I'm afraid the writer wasn't as impressed as you were. There’s an amusing review of the film here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200.....MuvHv0kPUI

I’m afraid the writer wasn’t as impressed as you were.

]]> By: anon http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2008/04/21/expelled-opening-weekend-income/#comment-180902 anon Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:51:10 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/?p=3245#comment-180902 You really want to hammer away on this until you look silly, don't you? You really want to hammer away on this until you look silly, don’t you?

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