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Ben Stein Quotes (1944-)
Actor, Author, Writer
About Ben Stein
Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born 25 November 1944) is an American lawyer, economist, law professor, actor, comedian, author and former White House speechwriter. He is best known as host of the Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money, his deadpan portrayal of the history teacher in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off and as spokesman for Clear Eyes brand eye drops. He has recently gained notoriety as the star of the controversial intelligent design film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.
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βGod bless the devout Christians of this country. They are Israel's best friends on the earth.β
βThe scientific community says that if you even mention God as causes of anything scientific, you're gone.β
βLove of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place- science leads you to killing people.β
βI hope it wonβt come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.β
βThe indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want.β
βNeo-Darwinists ask us to believe in things not seen. Weβre not supposed to have an established religion in America, but we do, and itβs called Darwinism.β
βDarwinism is still very much alive, utterly dominating biology. Despite the fact that no one has ever been able to prove the creation of a single distinct species by Darwinist means, Darwinism dominates the academy and the media.β
βBut when I talk to people who are Darwinists or evolutionists and say, 'Well, how did life begin' -- they're...they don't have an answer. I mean, they have an answer, but it's a BS answer. It's an answer that wouldn't make sense to a small child.β
βThe prosecutors say that Mr. Strauss-Kahn "forced" the complainant to have oral and other sex with him. How? Did he have a gun? Did he have a knife? He's a short fat old man.β
βThere's no evidence whatsoever that Darwin had anything useful to say or anything to say period about how life began or how the universe began or how gravity began or how physics began or fluid motion or how thermodynamics began. He had nothing to say about that whatsoever.β
βWell, the first cause is not...it's lightning striking a mud puddle. See, and this is what the evolutionists say. And by the way, they may be right -- you know, I'm not a scientist, they could be right.β
βI'm still not that familiar with it [Intelligent Design]. I'm more familiar with it than most people, but nowhere near as familiar with it as a genuine expert in the subject. I don't pretend to be a scientist. I'm the person who moderates the discussion between and among the scientists.β
βEvolutionism, as taught by Darwinism, has nothing - nothing - to say about how life originated. Has nothing to say about how the governing principles in the universe - gravity, thermodynamics, motion, fluid motion - how any of those originated. It's...it's got some gigantic missing pieces.β
βMy feeling is that Darwinism is only at best a partial solution, and an extremely dangerous partial solution. I would say, based on the little I know, Darwinism explains microevolution within species quite well. As to its broader consequence and implications, I don't think it explains individual species evolution at all well.β
βYes, it [making Expelled] has made my belief in that [Intelligent Design] much stronger. It has pointed out something which haunted me ever since I learned about Darwinism, which is, Where did it all start? How did life start? Darwinism has nothing to say about that--nothing useful, anyway--but I think Intelligent Design has a great deal to say about it.β
βI went in thinking: "I'm not going to find out that Darwinism is a fraud. I'll probably find out these (intelligent design proponents) are frauds." But I wound up knowing a lot more than when I started. I learned that Darwinism is being overhyped, and that it doesn't really convey what's going on. Sometimes if you follow a "truth" far enough, it becomes a lie.β
β[I did] Some [reading to prep for Expelled]. I read one book cover to cover, From Darwin to Hitler, and that was a very interesting book--one of these rare books I wish had been even longer. It's about how Darwin's theory--supposedly concocted by this mild-mannered saintly man, with a flowing white beard like Santa Claus--led to the murder of millions of innocent people.β
βIn todayβs world, at least in America, an Einstein or a Newton or a Galileo would probably not be allowed to receive grants to study or to publish his research. They cannot even mention the possibility thatβas Newton or Galileo believedβthese laws were created by God or a higher being. They could get fired, lose tenure, have their grants cut off. This can happen. It has happened.β
βWhen we just saw that man, I think it was Mr. Myers, talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed β¦ that was horrifying beyond words, and thatβs where science β in my opinion, this is just an opinion β thatβs where science leads you.β
βYou can only say Darwinian causes -- random mutation, natural selection -- even gravity is supposed to be done by that! And I would say to these people, well, how did life begin? We don't know, but it had to be by Darwinian means. Well, how did gravity begin? We don't know, but it had to be by Darwinian means. Why did it have to be that way? Why couldn't there have been an intelligent designer?β
βIn life, events tend to follow patterns. People who commit crimes tend to be criminals, for example. Can anyone tell me any economists who have been convicted of violent sex crimes? Can anyone tell me of any heads of nonprofit international economic entities who have ever been charged and convicted of violent sexual crimes? Is it likely that just by chance this hotel maid found the only one in this category?β
βFor any exam in history, here is the answer: all human history is the struggle between systems that attempt to shackle the human personality in the name of some intangible good on the one hand and systems that enable and expand the scope of human personality in the pursuit of extremely tangible aims. The American system is the most successful in the world because it harmonizes best with the aims and longings of human personality while allowing the best protection to other personalities.β
βYes, [I spent] two long years, traveling all over the United States, all over Europe, interviewing many, many, many people who had been thrown out of their academic jobs because they taught that there was a possibility of life coming from something other than Darwinism, who thought that possibly random selection and mutations didn't account for the universe, didn't account for gravity, didn't account for why nobody had ever seen an individual species evolve -- no one's ever seen an individual species evolve!"β
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Ben Stein on Darwinism 3 quotes
βNeo-Darwinists ask us to believe in things not seen. Weβre not supposed to have an established religion in America, but we do, and itβs called Darwinism.β
Ben Stein on Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
β"Stein puts to Dawkins a simple question, 'How did life begin?' ... Dawkins, however, frankly admits that he has no idea. ... Evolution has no explanation for how life got started in the first place. Darwin was very clear about this.... In order for evolution to take place, there had to be a living cell. The difficulty for atheists is that even this original cell is a work of labrynthine complexity. Franklin Harold writes in The Way of the Cell that even the simplest cells are more ingeniously complicated than man's most elaborate inventions.... "β
About Ben Stein
Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born 25 November 1944) is an American lawyer, economist, law professor, actor, comedian, author and former White House speechwriter. He is best known as host of the Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money, his deadpan portrayal of the history teacher in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off and as spokesman for Clear Eyes brand eye drops. He has recently gained notoriety as the star of the controversial intelligent design film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.