So Discovery Institute does, indeed, support Expelled.

Dear Discovery Institute,

Judging from a recent article on your website (http://www.discovery.org/expelled/whyitmatters.php), titled "Expelled, Why it Matters", it appears that you support the film Expelled. Judging from that fact, I assume that you accept the many inaccuracies within the film as well. As the inaccuracies with the film have been touched by both this blog and other sites (see also www.expelledexposed.com and http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/08-04-17.html#part1 , both of these sites show the movie to be extremely flawed with regards to accuracy), I will not deal with those inaccuracies here. However, your support of this film raises even more questions about your integrity as an institution; how can one trust anything that comes through your press machine, especially with all the inaccuracies we've already discussed throughout the course of this blog? Let's discuss "Expelled, Why it Matters". We'll begin with your question:

"Why is Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed so important to the mission of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture and how can you join in our work to defend academic freedom?"

The answer to this question is obvious; it supports Wedge Strategy by pitting science against religion, makes it appear that all scientists who accept evolution are atheists, and compares scientists to Nazis. This serves to visually smear the scientific community in general, regardless of the fact that many of the claims made in the film are either flawed or dead wrong.

"Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed documents the plight of scientists and scholars who dare to question the claims of Darwinian evolution. Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture exists to support research and writing by scientists who are questioning Darwin, to defend their academic freedom, and to expose efforts by Darwinists to shut down free speech. "

But the scientists that the film claim were "expelled" for anti-evolution actions were actually fired for other reasons (see http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/08-04-17.html#part2 ) for discussion of this. If scientists are punished for arguing against "Darwinism", then why do Lynn Margilus and William Schopf still have jobs? Oh yeah, I forgot...they're doing science, not psuedoscience. Think ID is science? It invokes supernatural causation, which science cannot do; science can say nothing of the supernatural, either in favor or against supernatural causation. ID is not science. That is beside the point, however. The scientists that "Expelled" claims were fired for supporting ID were canned for other reasons; for example, Gonzalez did not recieve tenure due to a heavy decline in papers published and graduate students attracted. Sternberg was fired for violating peer-review policy at his journal when he personally reviewed a pro-Intelligent Design article focusing on paleontology that he was not qualified to review. Are these people being persecuted? No. They weren't doing their jobs, so of course they got fired. Would you keep a guy on staff that you hired to clean your toilets if the only thing he does is re-organize your book collection? Of course not!

"We need your help to continue and expand our efforts as persecution increases. A donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated and will help us as we work on behalf of persecuted scholars and scientists"

So you're turning this into an attempt to recieve donations. Would this money truly fund efforts to protect "persecuted scholars and scientists", or would it be used to attack the firing of people that aren't doing their job? Are these scientists persecuted, or were they fired because they did not fulfill job requirements? I believe you'll find that the 2nd possibility is the correct one.