them creationists...they can't even lie about the fact that they're going to lie!

[acroyear]

Infamous atheist and biologist PZ Meyers was filmed for what he was told by a producer for Rampant Films was to be an open, objective documentary on the ID vs science debate.  Well, there was the BIG lie.  He's actually going to be featured and effectively targetted in a documentary with fictional add-ons called "Expelled" which is a pro-ID propaganda work trying to paint the same stupid picture of this big bad scientist conspiracy, a "darwinist cult", striving to kick religion out of schools and blacklist religious scientists.

In short, by lying to him about the actual theme and intent of the work, they made him, along with Richard Dawkins and Eugenie Scott, stooges for their "message".

I'm not saying, say, that Moore's tactics are any better, but it does go to show that as much as the opposition will bitch about his approach, it won't stop them from using it.

In fact, their own publicity is full of lies.  It says this film "confronts" scientists, yet as PZ describes, this was anything but a confrontation.  It was an open, civil, and generally emotionless discussion with no hint to PZ that it was being directed to produce quote-mine-able material.  PZ and likely Dawkins would have welcomed a confrontational stance, but that's not what happened.

The film's supposed to be out in February.  I don't intend to actually see it, but I do intent to bittorrent it and pass it around so everybody can see it without giving those "lying-for-Jesus-again" bastards a dime.  Why bother watching?  It'll just be (if the trailer was anything close to the final product) a huge pack of lies, unsupported assertions, and distorted quote-mining of the counter-claims.

BTW, it's already been reported that most pro-science and anti-ID comments on the movie site's official blog are being regularly deleted.  Par for the course for those assholes.

On the bright side, it moves PZ to being within 2 degrees of Kevin Bacon...

Comments

[kmusser]

Wow two post about PZ on my friends lists today, another friend posted http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/lifecode_from_egg_to_embryo_by.php which is rather entertaining book review by him.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

oh, the two reviews that are getting him sued for $15 million?

go fig. that one even made /. today.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I weep for humanity sometimes. Isn't there a commandment about false witness?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

yeah, just like murder, but if you do it "for Jesus", then God must approve, right?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

(I hate when a good joke comes to mind too late...)

I want a t-shirt that says, "fuck your neighbor's wife for jesus!"

(corrected - the brother thing came 'cause of thinking of faire and henry viii)

[rsteachout.livejournal.com]

I can sympathize with how you feel: this is pretty much how I felt about the Moore docu-fictions. At least these guys are not likely to be fete'd around the globe and garner awards and award nominations, so you'll be spared that craptacular experience.

I don't intend to actually see it, but I do intent to bittorrent it and pass it around so everybody can see it without giving those "lying-for-Jesus-again" bastards a dime.

I'm very surprised at this. Just because these people have abandoned their integrity and violated the principles they (allegedly) espouse, why should you?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I've always said that the world would be a better place if the people who want to wallpaper it with the Ten Commandments would just follow them.

[eiredrake.livejournal.com]

I used to figure we were about 50 years away from a sectarian war in this country. Now, I think we're about 5 years. Maybe 10 tops. The more I see what these right wing assholes are doing the more I see it as an inevitable outcome. They have the numbers, they have the money and they've been maneuvering into all aspects of civilian, military and government life for the last twenty years. But they're getting impatient and that's how they've come into the public eye. Because when you get impatient you screw up.

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

hard to tell but i was actually kidding about that. i have no intention of hogging up my network lines and bandwidth limits with anything more than a summary of that garbage.

i rarely torrent anything i'm not going to pay for eventually. really, all i get are the doctor who's 'cause i'm not willing to wait the 5 months before they get around to releasing them in america straight out (and I pay for the american dvds as soon as they come out).

[rsteachout.livejournal.com]

*whew* Thought someone had left a changeling there, for a minute.

[tomh1138.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't like it when my fellow Christians lie, and most of what passes for "Christian" filmmaking is genuinely repellent. But I'm missing what's so alarming about this production in general. It was an open and civil discussion, and this merits frothing anger?

Of course, the end product may be worse. Who knows? *shrug*

Also, something that always puzzles me: why do atheists get upset when someone lies? If there is no God and hence no morality, what difference does it make anyway? I hate lies, even when Christians make them, because I believe it's un-Biblical to lie. Why does an atheist care either way?

I'm really not trying to attack your view. You wrote an awesome post about the Muppets recently, so I added you as a friend. Now it's Friday and I just felt like posting. I'm more bemused than anything else.

I know Christians can be jerks sometimes. I'm not really defending the makers of this movie. I don't know anything about it. I'm just not getting the vibe of what's so bad here from your post. Some people made a documentary that supports creationism (just as every documentary supports some perspective) and they invited in some people of the opposing viewpoint to get votes. Doesn't seem worth all the sturm and drang.

I agree with the guy who said that a war is brewing in this country, but for opposite reasons. Seems like Christians can't make a move in this country without someone jumping down their throat and trying to take away their freedom of expression. If a war ever comes, I likely won't be with the knee-jerk "Christians" who drive everyone else nuts, or the extremists on the other side. Put me down as a seperatist, someone who says: this is not the way. People of opposing viewpoints can live and get along in the same country.

It's late, so I'm not sure if I'm being coherent at all. Take it or leave it. And keep up the awesome posts, dude.

[tomh1138.livejournal.com]

P.S. In the fifth paragraph, I meant to type "quotes" instead of "votes." Sorry. Told you I was tired!