That's Why We Call It the Big Con

Today's Times:

Two evolutionary biologists — P. Z. Myers of the University of Minnesota, Morris, and Richard Dawkins of Oxford — tried to go to the movies at the Mall of America in Minneapolis Thursday evening. Dr. Dawkins got in. Dr. Myers did not.

On those facts, everybody agrees. After that, things break down.

The movie the two scientists wanted to see was “Expelled,” whose online trailer asserts that people in academia who see evidence of supernatural intelligence in biological processes — an idea called “intelligent design” — have unfairly lost their jobs, been denied tenure or suffered other penalties as part of a scientific conspiracy to keep God out of the nation’s laboratories and classrooms.

...both had earlier complained that they originally agreed to appear in the movie — then called “Crossroads” — because producers told them it would be an examination of religion and science, not a defense of intelligent design, an ideological cousin of creationism. People who have seen the movie say it also suggests that there is a link between the theory of evolution and ideas like Nazism, something Dr. Dawkins called “a major outrage.”

Stripped of its systematic lies, false fronts, and bad faith, the modern conservative movement amounts to nothing.

More:

Last night, I attended a pre-screening event of the documentary “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” at the Mall of America. Also with me was my girlfriend Skatje Myers, her mother, and Richard Dawkins along with three RDF staff members.

Mark Mathis, the associate producer of the film, happened to be there as well. He hosted a Q&A session at the end of the film, and as we all can imagine, it had to be extremely surprising to see Richard Dawkins stand up in the center of the audience and ask, “Why, when he was featured in your film, when the entire theme of your film was free speech and oppression, did you EXPEL my friend and colleague Dr. PZ Myers from the viewing tonight?”

It’s true. Poor PZ was expelled last night. A guard walked up to him and told him that the producer had personally ordered him to be arrested if he attempted entry into the theater. Instead of getting arrested, PZ went down to the Apple store and posted the whole spiel on his blog, Pharyngula. That’s not what I’d like to talk about, though.

What pissed me off wasn’t so much the childish style of the film or the biased audience that cheered for Mathis, but Mathis himself. He had the gall to accuse Dawkins of lying about him, when the whole time he was lying non-stop. Here’s how:

1.) Mathis claimed at the beginning before the showing of the film that “our enemies are trying to sneak in and record our film”; he warned the audience that they ought to look out for people with cameras and such. No one tried to record anything. More importantly, no one, including PZ, ever tried to “sneak in”. PZ was told to leave, and he left.

2.) Mathis and co. tricked Dawkins, PZ, and others into the interviews for Expelled by telling them it would be for an objective film called “Crossroads”. This is not in dispute, but…

3.) When Kristine asked Mathis to tell the audience about a film called “Crossroads,” Matthis explained that Crossroads was actually the working title of the documentary while they were interviewing everyone. He explained that this is common in movie-making, and that titles change all the time. Well, while that last part may be true, the claim that Crossroads was the working title during the interviews is a flat-out lie. The web space for www.expelledthemovie.com was purchased in February, 2007, and the interviews for Crossroads were conducted in April 2007. No web space for Crossroads was ever purchased.

4.) During the Q&A, Mathis said he agreed with an ID proponent featured in the film named Berlinkski when Berlinksi said that Darwinism wasn’t a sufficient condition for the Holocaust, but that it was a necessary condition for the Holocaust. He seriously said that, as though eugenics and genocide and artificial selection were never around before Darwin.

5.) Dawkins pushed his question about PZ being expelled over and over until Mathis finally gave his bullshit answer: He wants Mr. Myers to be in this theater… in April, with 10 bucks. He wants to get paid for this. Is that such a bad thing? Well, it wouldn’t be under different circumstances, but it’s a lie. He doesn’t need $10 from PZ when he paid PZ for the interview in the first place! Moreover, PZ was featured in the film; the credits thanked him for his participation.