Expel the Wind

Well, that title ought to get somebody's attention! While an ill wind may be blowing, it's not what you think. But it is about WHAT you think. Confused? Let me try to explain.

This all started when I went to see a local (Raleigh, NC) production of "Inherit the Wind," a fictionalized re-telling of the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. A friend from work was in the play and my wife and I went to see her. While I'm familiar with the main idea of the play and 1960 movie, it had been YEARS since I had seen it.

The theater was wonderfully intimate, but it was soon very apparent that we were on "enemy territory." Of the 150 people in attendance, we may have been the only Christians there. Let's face it, the battle between Creation and Darwin rages hot and heavy into the 21st Century.

Once the play began, the plot took an unexpected turn...well, at least for me. While the script is clearly anti-Christian and anti-Creation, the argument for evolution is a curious one. Bertram T. Cates faces prosecution for teaching evolution in his science class. In doing so, he breaks state law that prohibits the teaching of anything except biblical creation.

His attorney, Charles Drummond, doesn't argue that Creation is necessarily wrong, but that evolution should be allowed into the marketplace of ideas. Students should be presented with more than just one theory and allowed to make up their own minds.

Note this quote from Drummond from the play, "Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers."

Hmm. It's 83 years since the Scopes trial and everything is upside down. Now it's illegal to teach Creation/Intelligent Design in our schools. Proponents of evolution refuse to allow any idea contrary to their own into that same marketplace of ideas.

Suddenly, it hit me. Someone could rewrite the script and turn everything around. A teacher could be on trial for teaching Intelligent Design in the public schools. The town and school board would be in a uprage. This man must be punished! Yet, the defense would argue that we must be open to all valid theories. A 21st Century re-telling of the story would be most appropriate.

Apparently, someone is doing just that. That person would be Ben Stein. He's promoting a new movie called "Expelled." It's a documentary based on how evolutionists are persecuting and black-balling scientists and teachers who don't share their views. While I haven't seen the movie, I have seen the trailer. I'm curious to see what Stein has to say.

A closing thought...Christ followers must not be afraid of science. We don't have to check our brains at the door when we enter the sanctuary. While there are certainly mysteries and unanswered questions regarding our faith (hey, that's why they call it "faith!"), we worship a God who invites us to "Come, let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18).

Let us "Expel the Wind!"