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The next salvo in the debate of the origin of species is loaded and ready to fire, and what a bombshell it is. After my screening of Expelled with Ben Stein, my initial reaction was curiosity over how Darwinian supporters would respond, and where this conflict would escalate to next. One thing's for sure, this debate isn't dying down; it's intensifying—and in the midst of the intensity the real issue at stake is being ignored.

Let's start with whether or not Expelled is a good movie. I'd have to answer that question with a qualified "yes"; or a "yes, but" if you prefer. It's an interesting and often entertaining look that the intense conflict between neo-Darwinists and all who oppose them. It shines a bright light on the dark fact that dissenting ideas in science are rarely tolerated and often persecuted, and that the freedoms we hold so dear in this nation may be nothing more than an illusion—at least in the realm of scientific academia. The film uses some clever editing and funny clips to give it a quick, almost light-hearted pace.

Unfortunately, that pace doesn't continue for the duration. Little more than half way through, Expelled takes a very dark, ominous, and even serious turn. Some may feel this is where it gets "profound"; I found this change rather jarring and even a bit heavy-handed. That's unfortunate because I feel the efffectiveness of the film is undermined when it suddenly decides to get "serious." While certainly the issue and what's at stake is very serious, I found the more light-hearted approach very refreshing early on. Still, Expelled is well worth your time if you're even the least bit curious about what all the hub-bub is about when it comes to neo-Darwinism and Intelligent Design.

So what exactly is at stake? Freedom in academia. The freedom for people to hear more than one side of a debate, a theory, a hypothesis, or an argument. I love the freedom of ideas, and in fact one of my biggest problems in life is that I like to ask questions... tough questions... questions about things I'm not supposed to question; so I have a natural affinity for a film like Expelled.

I identify with the struggle of being able to ask questions from a different point of view, for it's one that I have been engaged in most of my life. Are we being dictated what to believe about our origins? Why would there be any fear of other theories that compete with Darwin's theory? Is Intelligent Design a legitimate scientific movement? I'll leave these questions to be answered by the film when you go see it, but let me warn you; you're going to have to think, so if that isn't your cup o' tea, you might as well skip it and just let others do the thinking for you.

Although Expelled does an excellent job of demonstrating the problem with questioning neo-Darwinism, and the problems that theory inherently has to start with, what it doesn't do a good job of is clarifying exactly what Intelligent Design is. There's no denying that there's been a fierce debate about this competing theory, but part of the problem is a lack of understanding of what it is. Let me be very clear; Intelligent Design is not Creationism, it is not Christian, it is not religious—it's science. Intelligent Design is a theory about the natural order that presupposes a designer. It believes that nature is so complex that it's impossible for it to have happened randomly, and therefore there must have been a creator. This creator could have been anything of intelligence, including aliens. Intelligent Design is a scientific movement, not a religous one, a fact stated more than once in interviews in this film.

Unfortunately, those statements are constantly ignored as Expelled continually brings up the question of God's existence and thereby equates the movment with a belief in God. Intelligent Design isn't interested in the identity of the creator, only that there was some intelligence that started the process of life on this planet.

Part of the reason Intelligent Design has faced so much opposition is because it's seen as a cover for Creationism, and the reason for that is because most Christians think the same thing. Repeatedly, the scientists interviewed in Expelled talk about creationists and their theories with the mistaken view that that's what Intelligent Design is. In an interview I did with the local office of Intelligent Design here in New Mexico, it was stated that Intelligent Design would have been better off if Christians hadn't gotten into the mix. Their involvement only confused matters and muddied the waters in distinguishing between Intelligent Design and Creationism, and Expelled doesn't do anything to clear things up.

Let me be clear; I endorse Intelligent Design because the science it does can support Creationism—which is what I believe—but its purpose is not to be a scientific version of Creationism. The two are separate entities, and without clarifying that, little or no progress will be made in the assault (for that is what Expelled is) on neo-Darwinism.

While Intelligent Design and neo-Darwinism duke it out, the real need people have is being over looked. Were we created or not? Were we created by an intelligence or a personal loving God? The answer to those questions lead us to the most important question; why are we here? Neo-Darwinism leads us nowhere; we're simply random products of chance without purpose. Intelligent Design (in its purely scientific form) leads us in a direction; we're the result of the guiding hand of some sort of impersonal intelligence and left to our own devices.

The story of creation in the Bible is the only one that leads us to the answer of our purpose; we were created by a loving God in his image in order to enjoy a personal relationship with him. In fact, he loved us so much that he sent his only son to die on a cross and then rise from the grave in order to pay the price for our sin, to bring us eternal life, and to help us become all that we were initially created to be before sin ruined God's creation.

You see, people need to know that they matter, that they have purpose, and most importantly that they're loved. Only the revelation of the Bible tells us that. Intelligent Design can lend some scientific support to the existence of a creator, but only a Biblical understanding of creation leads us to the discovery of Truth and the meaning of life. The idea of truth is brought up several times in this film, and Intelligent Design is a good start towards discovering truth, but it doesn't deal with issues such as sin, redemption, or a personal loving God. It can point in the right direction, but it's not an ends unto itself. As C.S. Lewis once said in his Narnia books, we need to go further up and further in.

Expelled is a fascinating documentary about an ongoing war. When this bomb goes off tomorrow, it'll be interesting to see what the fall-out is and what sort of counter-attack the other side comes up with. Although I question some of it's heavy-handed imagery and a sharp change in tone in the middle of the film, it is an enlightening look into something most people don't know anything about. So you may want to check it out. After all, your right to think for yourself is at stake, and that's definitely something fighting for. And who knows, perhaps Intelligent Design will help more people come to the intelligent conclusion that the Bible's version of creation isn't just some wacky myth after all.