expelled, the nazis and the jews

One of the most controversial things about Expelled is its claim of a connection between the Nazis and Darwinism. The film asserts that, while Darwin himself wouldn't have supported the Nazis, much of the Nazi philosophy and policy towards the Jews and other "inferior" races came straight out of Darwinism. Darwinism, the film says, wasn't "sufficient" for the beliefs of the Nazis, but it was "necessary." (For more about the connection between National Socialism and Darwinism, see this article by David Klinghoffer).

It occurred to me while I was watching the film that this might be a dangerous tactic, amounting to almost an ad hominem attack. After all, don't many of religion's foes say things along the lines of, "All the major wars have been fought because of religion" and "All terrorists are religious," etc.? They righteously cite the Inquisition, the Crusades and the Salem Witch Trials in their attacks, assuring us that we'll all be nicer to each other if we rid ourselves of religion.

But then I realized that what Expelled does is actually a brilliant tactic. Before the section of the film about the Nazis, we see scenes of protesters with picket signs protesting "religion" (i.e., intelligent design) being taught in schools, many using words like "terrorist," and then we see Bill Mahr saying that it is not drugs or alcohol that should be regulated, but religion, since religion is the source of most wars and terrorism. Soon after, Ben Stein visits Aushwitz.

The point? We often do horrible things in God's name, but we don't need religion to be able to treat people like animals. The Nazis only needed the philosophy of Nietzsche and Darwinism. Stalin and Pol Pot only needed Communism (an anti-religion philosophy) and a certain obsession with power. History has a list of horrors committed in the name of religion, but it has an equally long list that has nothing to do with religion.

Evil parading under the guise of religion doesn't say something about religion; it says something about humanity. We'll use whatever is available to justify our wrongs, large or small.