Ben Stein on Hannity and Colmes
**update– Colmes even linked to this little post of mine at his blog, Liberal Land. It’s only polite to reciprocate, right? Also I just felt like tooting my own horn. :)**
Want to watch an absolutely ridiculous interview with Stein on Hannity and Colmes, full of fallacies and straw man arguments?
Then look no further and feel free to pick it apart in the comments. 🙂
A few comments of my own:
Stein states, “Darwinism gave the rationale for the Holocaust”.
Colmes (who typically gets on my nerves but kudos to him today for putting the smack-down on Stein) then makes it clear that evolutionists do not think this way and do not use evolution to justify things like the Holocaust. He calls Stein out on the movie trying to make a connection between the two.
Stein then DENIES that the film is trying to imply that “Darwinism” leads to things like the Holocaust! He accuses Colmes of coming up with that implication all on his own (to which Colmes replies, “that’s the impression I got from watching the movie”. Ha!) Colmes asks, “Then why even bring it up?”
And Stein says, “because Hitler was a lineal descendant of Darwin”.
WHAT? I don’t even know if that’s true, but even if it is…SO WHAT?
Stein says later, “There’s no evidence that Darwin had anything useful to say or even anything to say period about how life began.” That doesn’t make evolution false. He goes on to say that Darwin had nothing to say about how physics began, how gravity began, how thermodynamics began, etc. WELL OF COURSE HE DIDN’T. Why would he? Stein continues to perpetuate the false dichotomy that one must either believe in an intelligent designer (God) OR believe in evolution.
Stein says, “There’s no reason to believe there wasn’t an intelligent designer”.
There’s also no SCIENTIFIC reason to believe there was one, either.
“To be an atheist, don’t you have to believe that something comes from nothing?” asks Hannity. Again, this has nothing to do with evolutionary theory.
Stein concludes by saying, “People took our God away from us and gave us Darwinism”. No one took anything away from you. You are still, as always in America, allowed to believe in whatever you choose.
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Blog of the Airtightnoodle 
April 13, 2008 at 6:02 pm
I will smack Ben Stein and Hannity if I ever acquire the chance. I swear it upon my grandmother’s grave.
April 14, 2008 at 8:36 am
What the hell is wrong with you?
Ben Stein is a genuine conservative, who somehow also believes in, at least, a half assed form of scientific history. This puts him lightyears ahead of the average neoconservative republican or Fox pundant.
Stein IS a supporter of the intelligent design concept(something I find absolutely repellant), but to assert that he was drawing a direct and relational line between Charles Darwin’s personal beliefs, and more importantly, modern athiesm, towards Nazism, is utter foolishness.
Darwin was a theologan, who could not ignore the observable evidence of change in the natural world. He did not make statements about other areas of future scientific study, such as physics or cosmology, or the origins of the universe. As you stated “of corse he wouldn’t”. Darwin simply explained that with selectional pressure, great changes could occure in biology over time. THIS WAS THE 19TH CENTURY!
The Nazis, MANY years later, took this very basic concept, and applied it to their movement of German nationalism, mostly through anti semmitism. They wanted to breed the perfect German in their empire, and export all those whom they felt disloyal or inferior( for example, they blamed the jews for not supporting the Fatherland in WW1).
Stein does not connect modern athiesm with Nazism. He simply and accurately sites 19th century Darwinism as part of the Third Reich’s rational. Combs, as a loyal Fox showman, creates this distortion, on the spot, to maintain the shows sensationalism, and propigate it’s artifical airs of non partisan, and rational balance.
I am an almost millitant athiest, and despite my near hatred of religion, I don’t understand how anyone could be lucid enough to escape superstitions grasp, but also be so blind as to buy into any of Fox News’s distortions.
In the interview, Stein clearly states that, modern athiests, such as Richard Dawkins (my favorite science author since I was 19), in no way carrys on the traditions or beliefs of the Nazis, many times, but there is no stopping good spin, is there?
Scientific Creationism is a joke, but so is anyone who is a fan of Hannity and Combs, or of Fox News, and their B.S..
Have a nice one,
Charles Lafferty
April 14, 2008 at 11:04 pm
cl…
While your “what the hell is wrong with you” statement is certainly unwarranted and really should simply be deleted, I’ll go ahead and keep it up–for now–in hopes that you may have something TRULY meaningful to add to the conversation.
“Stein does not connect modern athiesm with Nazism. He simply and accurately sites 19th century Darwinism as part of the Third Reich’s rational. Combs, as a loyal Fox showman, creates this distortion, on the spot, to maintain the shows sensationalism, and propigate it’s artifical airs of non partisan, and rational balance.”
Colmes (notice the spelling…it’s not “Combs”) didn’t create the distortion. The movie “Expelled” implies that Darwinism leads to dangerous ideas and movements like Nazism. This is clear when you read reviews and watch trailers all over the internet. Colmes merely pointed it out and is not the first to do so.
“In the interview, Stein clearly states that, modern athiests, such as Richard Dawkins (my favorite science author since I was 19), in no way carrys on the traditions or beliefs of the Nazis, many times, but there is no stopping good spin, is there?”
Yes, Stein does point out that Darwinists today in no way carry on the traditions or beliefs of the Nazis, but again, as Colmes stated…then why even bring up the Nazi connection at all?
Because, as has been cited IN MANY PLACES, the film is trying to convince people that evolution is DANGEROUS, in many ways (not just that it leads to Nazism).
Sensationalism or not, I say kudos to Colmes for pointing out this disgusting implication on tv.
April 15, 2008 at 6:42 am
Hello,
I admit my opening line was over the top, and as subject to your discretion, deletable. Admittedly I also misspelled Colmes name; not good, but isn’t that in and of itself, a little petty a criticism to discredit a detractor(especially one who is really on your side)? I am a little irreverant, and belligerent, and my spelling is never perfect, guilty.
My concern is that; although Stein represents a deeply flawed world view, and perhaps, his work can be manipulated by religious zealots into a specious, and completely disengenuous argument, against rational thought. There might be a decent intention of promoting free speech in there, and taking the reactionary, Fox like, knee-jerk, emotional reaction, to a prima fascia examination of the work, might not help anyone.
I’m Sorry If disrupted the high minded sanctity of your completely professional, scholarly, utterly non flippant, internet discourse.
Have Fun,
C.L.
April 15, 2008 at 9:02 pm
http://copache.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/expelled-exposed/
Instead of typing some long thing out here, I’ll just give you that. Because that’s all that is required to debunk your arguments about Nazis and evolutionary theory.
April 16, 2008 at 3:43 am
I saw a scripture verse in the bible which fascinates me. It says that God is causing the stubborness in some, while showing mercy on some. Could God, if He exists, be causing even His own worse critics? It’s fascinating, people could possibly be conditioned by God to think they are acting on their own empirical and scientific studies, when in reality, they are being clay vessels made for dishonor by God. Afterall the bible also says God makes vessels for honor and dishonor from the same lump of clay. Of course this will get majorly flamed, but it begs the question, perhaps God created/caused atheism and evolution for whatever reason. Scripture also says that God causes all things for His plans. I think science has already proven the cause and effect theory, perhaps God is that cause for everything down to the very decision to believe or deny.