All analogies have limits; I'm not saying that they were mistaken for the same reason, merely that smart people can (and often do) support dumb ideas. This doe

All analogies have limits; I'm not saying that they were mistaken for the same reason, merely that smart people can (and often do) support dumb ideas. This doesn't make their good ideas any less good. Creationism is almost by definition dishonest, as it a thinly veiled attempt to replace science with dogma, and so any pursuit in support of creationism-as-science is guaranteed to be intellectually bankrupt. That said, in the modern world, being deeply religious often comes with a great deal of cognitive dissonance, and it is not uncommon for people, like Ben Stein, to genuinely believe that what they are doing is not only correct, but honest and good, no matter how much their efforts fly in the face of logic, common sense, or good taste. Doesn't mean that said people are fundamentally dishonest; just that their view of the world doesn't entirely coincide with reality.