Bon soir, mes amis! It's a beautiful, cool evening here at the cabin. Aggie's lain at my feet and I'm watching Ben Stein's "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed". Have you seen it? Ben Stein produced and directed this documentary exposing and exploring the lack of academic freedom in secondary education, particularly in the science classroom.
Did you know that many different Molecular and Cellular Biology, Astronomy, Physics, and even Neurology Professors from American Universities have been disciplined by their superiors for simply mentioning the possibility that Darwin's theories regarding the origin of life may lack sufficient evidence? I show this film to my students every semester and they write a response that reveals how shocked they are to find out about the science 'sin' of teaching anything besides evolution.
One professor that Stein interviews was fired from George Mason University because on the first day of class, she showed her students a slideshow previewing the class material. One slide showed the textbook definition of neo-Darwinism versus the textbook definition of Intelligent Design. Apparently it made one of her students so upset that he or she ran straight to the Dean of her department and complained. Three days later, the professor was asked to vacate her office because they claimed she had taught Creationism.
Freedom of speech is something we Americans take for granted, but if my predictions are right, it will not be long before our freedom to teach, preach, show, or say anything that might point to our moral, ethical, and religious beliefs will be 'too offensive' for some. The Ten Commandments apparently have no place in American courthouses anymore as one or two of them just don't line up with American laws. We wouldn't want to force our children to have to say the word "God" so we let them skip the Pledge of Allegiance. And we certainly don't need any religious symbols like crosses to be displayed in public. What would people think? No 'Merry Christmas'. No 'God bless you'. No 'I'll be praying for you'. God help us stay strong in our faith and our boldness for Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Mark 8:38 that "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
One day every single person who denies that Jesus is the Son of God in this life will open their eyes and behold Him, but it will be too late. For those of us who have asked Christ to take away our sins, we must continue to show Him boldly in this world of darkness and corruption. I know the risk I've taken every time I've showed "Expelled" to my classes. Yes, I've had students who disagreed with Ben Stein's thoughts on academic freedom and who have made their own opinions quite clear in class, but I won't let it keep me from warning my Freshmen students of what they will face in the next four years of their lives. I may not be able to give my own opinions in the classroom, but I will show the love of Christ. I hope you'll do the same at your school or at your work. Don't be afraid to share the love of God! If someone gets offended, it's their problem, not yours!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Go Dawgs!
Right ON!!! I want to try showing this film in my classes, too. And who says you can't express your opinion?! The professors in the English Dept. graduate classes never hesitated to express theirs! I remember being told that every Bible in the world should be burned. And another time being told that the idea of a real Hell was archaic. I spoke up and said that I believed in a literal Hell, at which the Dr.'s jaw dropped. And then you spoke up and said you believed in Hell, too!
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