Rush Limbaugh Interviews Ben Stein

[grayman]

I tried to find a link to this, but unfortunately there isn't one at the moment.

In the May edition of The Limbaugh Letter Rush limbaugh interviews Ben Stein about the film Expelled. If you can get your hands on a copy, check it out.

BTW, I'm neither endorsing nor defending any of this. I'm just putting it out here for discussion. I know it's lengthy, but I wanted to show some of the (in my opinion) more interesting quotes. Hope you don't mind.

Here are some highlights (Any mis-spellings are probably mine):

Rush: Why don't you briefly synopsize this movie for my readers and what spurred you to it.

Stein: "Expelled" is about the Darwinists, who say that random mutation and random selection explains everything, and who believe that it is their right to fire anybody from any university job if that person even slightly questions the Darwinist worldview. It's about Darwinist's belief that everything in the universe is material and naturalistic and there is no possibility of God, no possibility of an Intelligent Designer. We would like to know by what right they fire people who think that there is an Intelligent Designer and that possibly the Intelligent Designer's name is God. We want to know why, if Darwin himself said there should be endless discussion and analysis of the issue, that Darwin's followers say, "No: fire antone who questions Darwinism." We want to know why, if the great scientists like Newton, Galileo, and Einstein believed in God and thought they were simply explaining God's handiwork, that the neo-Darwinists say, "Don't even think of mentioning Godor you are out on your ear." That is what the movie is about.

They speak of a "Darwinist scientist". I wonder of whom they speak?

Rush: I have seen the movie, folks, and I want you to know that it builds and it builds, and there is a Darwinist scientist - I'm not going to name him - featured throughout the movie who Ben finally ends up speaking to at the end. Do you mind if I give one thing away about that conversation?

Stein: You can give away as much as you want.

Rush: I find it amazing - the look on your face when this man denied, without question, the exiistance of God, and then admitted how his beliefs could not explain how life or anything else originated. You got him to admit that he thought an alien life form - it could not under any circumstances be God - may have come to earth and got the ball rolling.

Stein: When he said that it was more likely that some people from outer space came than that there was a God, that just struck me as astonishing. I was dumbstruck, practically knocked unconscious, by that comment.

Note how many times Stein says, "I think", I believe", and so forth through the interview.

Rush: I know you have a theory about this...it seems they have a paranoia about the whole concept of God. What do they fear about God?

Stein: I think they fear - and this is just a guess, Rush, I haven't psychoanylized them - that if there is a God, they are going to be judged at some point either in this life or the afterlife, if there is one, and that they will have been found to been violating moral codes. They don't want to be judged. They want whatever they want. After all, if they are just specks of mud, animated by a lighting strike, they don't have any moral responsibility to anyone. If they don't have some speck of the divine about them, then they can do pretty much anything they want and there is no judgement of it. I think they fear the idea of being judged.

Rush: You talked to people at these universities who were responsible for terminating the scientists who are open to the concept of Intelligent Design, and they tried to tell you it wasn't for that reason. What did they tell you?

Stein: They said, "Oh, it's just that the contract wasn't renewed.," but not for any specific reason. One guy said it wasn't renewed because it wasn't renewed. They didn't give us any straight answers, ever. They never said, "it's because we were supressing any idea that conflicts with Darwinim," although we did have a woman named Eugenie Scott fromm some association of science teachers who were pretty frank, saying, "We are just going to squeeze out anybody who doesn't believe in Darwinism."

Stein: I think people have political viewpoints and psychological and psych-political viewpoints as I would call them, and cook up the science to support their preexisting views. In fact, I'm quite convinced that is what Darwinism was. Darwinism basically said, at the end of the day, under all this rigmarole, that Northern European white people are destined to rule the world. That, it seemed to me, was a way of legitimizing the British Empire. Darwinism really was a theory legitimizing a certain political worldview more than anything else. By the way, Hitler's friends picked it up and ran with it - only they said that the Northern European country that was destined to rule the world was Germany.

Rush: I don't want to give this away, but in the movie there is a trip you take with a curator.

Stein: Oh, my God. That was amazing - a Nazi killing center.

Rush: But the jaw-dropping episode shows the guide walking you around, and your facial expressions as she attempts to justify what went on there. You are right when you say these people don't want to be judgmental. They don't even want to be judgmental about Hitler.

Rush: Did the Darwinists that you interviewed know who you were?

Stein: The American ones certainly did. I'm not sure if the forign ones did. For sure the one in Germany didn't. As far as I could tell, just based on my gut feeling, all (Oxford evolutionary biologist) Dr. Richard Dawkings knew was that I was a kind of interfering, nosy, Jew. At several points during our conversation - he is a famous Darwinist - in order to point out what he considered the ridiculousness of Intelligent Design, he likened it to Holocaust Denial. I don't think he knew I was a famous person. He just knew I was a Jew.

Does anyone else find irony in the next quote?

Rush: Good luck with it, because it is made for our times. It will cause people to think, not only about your subject, but about so many other important things related to it.

Stein: We hope people look at it and say, "You know, these people might have something here. Let's not just accept what the Dawkinses of the world tell us. Let's think about it critically."

Rush: It so illustrates the close-mindedness, the arrogance, and the fear of people who don't think they have to debate what they believe.

That's it. The whole interview is several pages long. thanks for reading.

I await comments.

 

[Olowkow]

Thanks, but......no thanks. Slimeballs both.

 

[EvilSmurf]

The IDiots/Creationists is similar to Holocaust Denial idea has been espoused by Dawkins (and many other advocates of proper science education such as Gould) for many many years. Funny how Stein thinks that Dawkins is only saying this because he somehow knows Stein is Jewish.

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

...So, a rightwing shock-jock drug addict and a rightwing monotone know-it-all walk into a bar, the shock-jock says to the bartender...

 

[Kopji]

So did they ever get around to explaining why they believe a god created everything rather than aliens?

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

Thanks for transcribing what you did grayman.

I'd like to say I was shocked that Rush didn't object to Ben's claim that "if you mention God you're outta here" by asking why Francis Collins, Bob Bakker, Kenneth Miller, etc. still have their jobs, but given how shoddy the rest of the interview was, I wasn't.

 

[Empress]

...we did have a woman named Eugenie Scott fromm some association of science teachers who were pretty frank, saying, "We are just going to squeeze out anybody who doesn't believe in Darwinism."

So they found a scientist that refers to evolution as "Darwinism" did they? Why do I have such a hard time believing that?

Also, why do these idiots insist that evolution explains the origins of life? There's only millions of theistic evolutionists in the world. Of course, if you're genuinely this stupid about subjects like evolution, I suppose it's only natural you won't bother to learn about others' religious views.

I've heard that Ben Stein has admitted that he only did this for the money; presumably he knows full-well that he's peddling a load of crap to ignorant people who don't know better, and either don't want to, or don't know to, learn the facts. Don't know whether that's true, but if it is, he's even slimier than I thought he was.

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

So they found a scientist that refers to evolution as "Darwinism" did they? Why do I have such a hard time believing that?

If Euginie Scott actually said that I'll print out this entire thread and eat it. If she said anything that could even be paraphrased like that I'll print out that quote and eat it.

My guess is I won't be adding any extra fiber to my diet.

 

[shadron]

If Euginie Scott actually said that I'll print out this entire thread and eat it. If she said anything that could even be paraphrased like that I'll print out that quote and eat it.

My guess is I won't be adding any extra fiber to my diet.

I know you're not sweating it, US, but ... don't sweat it.

 

[grayman]

If you'd like, I'll bring a copy or two to TAM. That way, any of you that think you can stomach reading the whole interview, can.

 

[Civilized Worm]

So they found a scientist that refers to evolution as "Darwinism" did they? Why do I have such a hard time believing that?

To be fair, Richard Dawkins talks about "Darwinism" all the time.

 

[wahrheit]

Stein: We hope people look at it and say, "You know, these people might have something here. Let's not just accept what the Dawkinses of the world tell us. Let's think about it critically."

Rush: It so illustrates the close-mindedness, the arrogance, and the fear of people who don't think they have to debate what they believe.

Hypocritical idiots.

 

[Empress]

To be fair, Richard Dawkins talks about "Darwinism" all the time.

Really? Wow. I've never read any of his stuff, so I appreciate your pointing this out. In my experience it's only Creationists who use the term, so I was unaware that anyone who accepted evolution ever used it. Learned something new today.

 

[AStone]

Do you think Limbaugh got any meat-drippings on Stein?

 

[fuelair]

I tried to find a link to this, but unfortunately there isn't one at the moment.

In the May edition of The Limbaugh Letter Rush limbaugh interviews Ben Stein about the film Expelled. If you can get your hands on a copy, check it out.

BTW, I'm neither endorsing nor defending any of this. I'm just putting it out here for discussion. I know it's lengthy, but I wanted to show some of the (in my opinion) more interesting quotes. Hope you don't mind.

Here are some highlights (Any mis-spellings are probably mine):



They speak of a "Darwinist scientist". I wonder of whom they speak?



Note how many times Stein says, "I think", I believe", and so forth through the interview.









Does anyone else find irony in the next quote?



That's it. The whole interview is several pages long. thanks for reading.

I await comments.

I openly declare my absolute belief that Ben Stein has been struck dumb.
And, that Rush Limbaugh was born an anal orifice and will die an anal orifice.

 

[Wowbagger]

"Expelled" is about the Darwinists, who say that random mutation and random selection explains everything, and who believe that it is their right to fire anybody from any university job if that person even slightly questions the Darwinist worldview.

First of all, selection is NOT random.

Second of all, mutation might not be random, either, depending on how you define it. it might be better to substitute "undesigned", or perhaps "indifferent", or some other word, 'cause "random" just confuses people.

Third of all, single-point mutations aren't even the only form of variety selected from. There is also recombination, transpositions, etc., etc., etc.

Forth, Darwinian evolution does NOT explain everything. It explains the wide variety of life the planet has, at least. But, not necessarily all of physics. The Big Bang is NOT part of Darwinian evolution.
And, it might be worth mentioning that there could be other algorithms, related to self-organizing networks, at play in life forms, that are not Darwinian, but that is still open to investigation.

Given that there might, possibly, be other natural algorithms relevant to life, it is NOT true that people are fired for questionin Darwinism. It depends on if those alternatives are testable or not.

I don't know why I wrote this response. Maybe for lurkers. Maybe, if I am lucky, either Ben Stein or one of his interns/cohorts/henchmen will read this and show it to him. But, it's here if anyone cares.

 

[Nogbad]

I haven't heard of this - I take it we are being spared this silliness on this side of the pond?

 

[UnrepentantSinner]

If you'd like, I'll bring a copy or two to TAM. That way, any of you that think you can stomach reading the whole interview, can.

Please do. I won't get a haircut before then so I'll have plenty to rip out as I read it.

To be fair, Richard Dawkins talks about "Darwinism" all the time.

Really? Wow. I've never read any of his stuff, so I appreciate your pointing this out. In my experience it's only Creationists who use the term, so I was unaware that anyone who accepted evolution ever used it. Learned something new today.

I really wish he wouldn't since it plays into the hands of Creationists who try and attach metaphysical baggage to the word it doesn't warrent, but he uses it in the context of "Newtonian physics" or "Euclidian geometry", not in the context of "Marxism" or "Jacobinism".

Personally, I never even refer to "evolutionists" since it lends credence to the ideological warfare model that Creationists would like to frame the debate within. Just keep in mind the speaker when you hear the word "Darwinist". When it's spoken by someone like Dawkins, he's referring to advocates of evolutionary theory within the social, political and scientific debate. When it's spoken by C/IDers, they're referring to atheists.

 

[Bob Klase]

Rush: I know you have a theory about this...it seems they have a paranoia about the whole concept of God. What do they fear about God?

Stein: I think they fear - and this is just a guess, Rush, I haven't psychoanylized them - that if there is a God, they are going to be judged at some point either in this life or the afterlife, if there is one, and that they will have been found to been violating moral codes.

I really can't stop laughing at that one. "They don't believe in our big boogey-man in the sky-closet, but they're afraid he might get them anyway.

Of course there seem to be many, many christians who don't seem to worry about the number of times they violate their own (or their gods) moral codes.

 

[AZAtheist]

From all of this I've determined that Ben Stein is not an intelligent man; he just plays one on TV.