Perhaps he was inspired by the turnout for Young People Fucking, or maybe he misses all that media attention he got after taking credit for getting C-10 through the House with nary a peep over the controversial changes to the film tax rebate. Whatever the reason, Reverend Charles McVety is headed back to the capital to co-host a private screening of a very different kind of film: Expelled: The Movie, the controversial anti-Darwin documentary that purports to expose a sinister anti-creationism bias within the mainstream scientific community.
Interestingly, in his come-one-come-all invite to the film – which was forwarded to all MPs and staffers via parliamentary email by Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott – McVety doesn’t even mention the religious aspect of the debate; instead, he accuses Darwin of “overt racism”, and calls on Canadians to “blot out out this terrible scourge in our society.”
Oh, and before anyone asks – no word on whether staffers from any party will be fired for going to see it.
UPDATE: According to Expelled Exposed, this isn’t the first time that the producers have held a private screening for political types:
There have been at least two private screenings for state legislatures that have anti-evolution bills on the docket. One was held to drum up support for Florida’s Senate Bill 2692: the so-called “Evolution Academic Freedom Act”, which aims to encourage the teaching of creationism by providing legal protection to educators who present “alternatives to evolution” (i.e., intelligent design and/or creation science ). Another screening was held in Missouri, where two similar bills, House Bills 2554 and 1315, aim to promote “academic freedom” and “protect intellectual diversity”; the latter bill was introduced by a legislator who previously introduced a bill that would have fired teachers who didn’t give equal time to intelligent design.
I hope they won’t be too disappointed to find out that there are no anti-evolution bills before the House at the moment.
UPDATIER: Apparently not willing to rely on word-of-MP alone, Premise Films has put out a media advisory inviting MPs, staff and “credentialed members of the media” to the screening, which seems a little less “private” than McVety made it sound. Unfortunately, someone apparently forgot to check the date, and scheduled the event for the same day as the Residential Schools Apology, which will take up most of the evening.
Full text of McVety’s invitation after the jump:
From: Vellacott, Maurice – Assistant 1
Sent: June 10, 2008 4:49 PM
To: – BQ DÉPUTÉS/MEMBERS; – BQ: ADJOINTS; – CONSERVATIVE ASSISTANTS CONSERVATEURS; – CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS CONSERVATEURS; – INDEPENDENT MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS INDÉPENDANTS; – LIBERAL MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS; – LIBERAL ASSISTANTS; – NDP MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS NPD; – NDP/NPD ASSISTANTS
Subject: Private Screening of “Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed”
From: Charles McVety
Sent: June 10, 2008 4:32 PM
Change of Venue
Perhaps he was inspired by the turnout for Young People Fucking, or maybe he misses all that media attention he got after taking credit for getting C-10 through the House with nary a peep over the controversial changes to the film tax rebate. Whatever the reason, Reverend Charles McVety is headed back to the capital to co-host a private screening of a very different kind of film: Expelled: The Movie, the controversial anti-Darwin documentary that purports to expose a sinister anti-creationism bias within the mainstream scientific community.
Interestingly, in his come-one-come-all invite to the film – which was forwarded to all MPs and staffers via parliamentary email by Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott – McVety doesn’t even mention the religious aspect of the debate; instead, he accuses Darwin of “overt racism”, and calls on Canadians to “blot out out this terrible scourge in our society.”
Oh, and before anyone asks – no word on whether staffers from any party will be fired for going to see it.
UPDATE: According to Expelled Exposed, this isn’t the first time that the producers have held a private screening for political types:
There have been at least two private screenings for state legislatures that have anti-evolution bills on the docket. One was held to drum up support for Florida’s Senate Bill 2692: the so-called “Evolution Academic Freedom Act”, which aims to encourage the teaching of creationism by providing legal protection to educators who present “alternatives to evolution” (i.e., intelligent design and/or creation science ). Another screening was held in Missouri, where two similar bills, House Bills 2554 and 1315, aim to promote “academic freedom” and “protect intellectual diversity”; the latter bill was introduced by a legislator who previously introduced a bill that would have fired teachers who didn’t give equal time to intelligent design.
I hope they won’t be too disappointed to find out that there are no anti-evolution bills before the House at the moment.
UPDATIER: Apparently not willing to rely on word-of-MP alone, Premise Films has put out a media advisory inviting MPs, staff and “credentialed members of the media” to the screening, which seems a little less “private” than McVety made it sound. Unfortunately, someone apparently forgot to check the date, and scheduled the event for the same day as the Residential Schools Apology, which will take up most of the evening.
Full text of McVety’s invitation after the jump:
From: Vellacott, Maurice – Assistant 1
Sent: June 10, 2008 4:49 PM
To: – BQ DÉPUTÉS/MEMBERS; – BQ: ADJOINTS; – CONSERVATIVE ASSISTANTS CONSERVATEURS; – CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS CONSERVATEURS; – INDEPENDENT MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS INDÉPENDANTS; – LIBERAL MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS; – LIBERAL ASSISTANTS; – NDP MEMBERS/DÉPUTÉS NPD; – NDP/NPD ASSISTANTS
Subject: Private Screening of “Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed”
From: Charles McVety
Sent: June 10, 2008 4:32 PM
Change of Venue
Fairmont Chateau Laurier
Canadian Room, 1 Rideau Street
Ottawa, OntarioAt 7:30pm
The writer and Executive Producer of Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed, Walt Ruloff, wants to personally meet you and invite you to privately screen his new film Wednesday evening, June 11th at 7:30 pm at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Canadian Room, 1 Rideau Street, Ottawa, Ontario.
In a time when an African-American can win the nomination of the Democratic Party to be the President of the United States of America, you would think that our educational system would be free from racism, and open to freedom of thought, expression, and inquiry. Nothing could be further from the truth. North America’s Universities do not allow academic freedom–if you question the orthodoxy of “Darwinism”. The last vestiges of the horrible scourge of racism remain firmly entrenched in the science classrooms of our society. This new film cuts to the heart of racism. In the United States of America, this film opened in 1,100 theatres, and was number 10 at the box-office. Over 1.3 million people have paid to see the film, and now it is coming to Canada opening on June 27th.
How could a film, created by a Canadian, Walt Ruloff, cause so much controversy? Walt Ruloff, is a very successful entrepreneur. By thinking outside of the box, he developed complex computer systems to optimize logistics for large organizations. A majority of Fortune 2000 companies use his logistics systems to control the movements of millions of products and goods around the world. Walt wanted to apply his ingenuity to the biological world to help find cures and treatments for troubling diseases. He quickly found that the scientific community would not allow you to think outside of the box of Darwinism, thereby restricting the advancement of knowledge. Instead of bowing to the high priests of Darwinism, Walt made a movie to challenge their “supremacy”.
Many people do not realize how overt racism is in Darwin’s writings. The full of the textbook found in every science classroom is The Origin of Species Through the Process of Natural Selection of the Preservation of the Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. On page 178 of Darwin’s book The Descent of Man, he states, “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world…The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, instead of as now between the negro or Australian (Aboriginals) and the gorilla.”
Racism must be countered and I believe this film will mobilize millions of Canadians to blot out this terrible scourge in our society.
Please clear a couple of hours this Wednesday to meet Walt and view his film. www.expelledthemovie.com
Please call 416.391.5000 RSVP.
Dr. Charles McVety
President, Canada Christian College
P.S. An anti-Racism Rally will follow at the Darwin exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Thursday, June 12th at 12:30. Please invite your friends.