Why Is Ben Stein Talking About Darwin?

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But the fact is that Darwinism did what it did. It's a different Darwinism today. But the fact is that in its day when it was riding high and there were no humane theories to counteract it, it did incredible, unimaginable damage.

I know of scientists who subscribe to Darwin's theory of evolution but also are people of faith, who believe in God, and don't find the two mutually exclusive. In the movie, I didn't see that perspective there, of people who might be both.

There are definitely people who are people of faith and have no problem with Darwinism. To tell you the truth, up to a very large point, I have no problem with Darwinism. I think Darwinism as a theory explaining evolution within species is incredibly brilliant, just unbelievably incredibly brilliant.

But,as a theory that explains everything in terms of evolution--in terms of development of life, it explains very, very little. Darwinism doesn't explain where gravity comes from. It doesn't explain where thermodynamics comes from. It doesn't explain where the laws of physics come from. It doesn't explain where matter came from. 

Would you say that for you the central point of the movie is about academic freedom?

To me, it is an extremely important claim. Academic freedom is being lost by a great many people who dare to challenge Darwinism. That's a terrifying situation. That's contrary to the principles of science. It's contrary to the principles of the first amendment, like the freedom of speech and freedom of inquiry. It is dangerous to anyone who believes in the vitality of the Constitution and believes that science cannot possibly flourish in an atmosphere of economic suppression. 

Did Michael Moore come to mind when you were making this film?

Oh, very much so. Michael Moore revolutionized documentaries and made people know that you could make a documentary on a fairly serious subject that would attract a mass audience. And that was a big inspiration to us in terms of our being willing to take on this big project. And, yeah, we owe a huge debt to his pioneering work. We're not fans of his politically, but we are greatly impressed with what he did in terms of showing the path forward for documentary filmmakers. His contributions were tremendous.

If there's one thing that you could say to people about this film, if they haven't seen the movie and they're reading this interview, what would you want them to know?

I'd say they better watch it because academic freedom is very, very, very much in danger and it's much later than they think. We're much farther down the road to losing academic freedom than people realize.