The Wit and Wisdom of Ben Stein

"I had long thought," says Ben Stein, "that Darwinism had a huge role to play in the mindset of the leaders of the Nazi party, and consequently a huge role to play in the Holocaust."

Ouch. What is he implying? That the fact that scientific knowledge may have led to evil actions somehow disproves it? I wonder if the Japanese are similarly skeptical of the possibility of nuclear fission, after Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Later, in the same Toronto Star article, in response to the decision by a Dover, Pennsylvania court to exclude Intelligent Design from the science curriculum, I read this pearl of wisdom from Stein:

"You cannot tell me for one minute that a court is competent to tell me what is science and what is not. A court is not divinely inspired. It's just some guy in a black robe."

*Jaw drops*

Does this guy really think only a divinely-inspired authority is capable of deciding what should and should not be taught in a science class?

Dear Mr. Stein: maybe you are unaware of this, but "science" has a definition. It's too complicated to get into, but empirical verifiability is a major criterion -- which, unfortunately for you, excludes "Intelligent Design" right off the bat. If you want to get more sophisticated, you might also consider that "falsifiability" is another criterion. In other words, it would have to be possible to demonstrate that a theory is false if, in fact, it was. "Intelligent Design" fails that one, too. That's why it shouldn't be taught in science classes. It's not that it's bad science. It's that it isn't science at all.

You don't have to be "divinely-inspired" to make that judgment; you just have to know what "science" is.