a backlash against creationism in texas?
After flirting with creationism long enough, the state of Texas appears to be thinking about purging the head of its Board of Education, Don McLeroy. A former dentist who’s efforts in making creationism part of the state’s official curriculum prompted heated debate and a backlash from state legislators, McLeroy is being grilled during his confirmation hearing as to why students are being made to study what scientists emphatically reject, and whether he’s trying to impose his religious beliefs on pupils. His answer? That his goal has never been religious indoctrination.
Really? You don’t say? Well, let’s have a look see on his official website where he empties a whole lot of very passionate and vacuous anti-evolution rhetoric before descending into Bible verses in a call to action against “Darwinism.” No… There’s no way someone who writes that “we as a church must take proactive steps in combating” whatever he brands as “scientific nonsense” could possibly get himself into a job where he could push his religious beliefs down people’s throats in absolute confidence that the Earth is just 6,000 years old and everyone who thinks otherwise is being irrational. That’s just impossible. When was the last time people who passionately ranted against science tried to make us throw away our textbooks?
See, this is the problem with the interwebs. Anything you choose to put out there just lies in wait, ready to be brought out when you try to deny an agenda so transparent, we can see its innards in a dark alley.
I know there are plenty of creationists out there who think they’re being really shrewd in using school boards and appeals to popularity or debate. But all they’re really doing is trying to hide an elephant behind a napkin, and tell us that the elephant is just a figment of our imagination and a bunch of badly strewn together fallacies built with virtually no conception of the topic being discussed make for valid arguments. Sooner or later, someone will call their bluff and for McLeroy, that time has come.
Interestingly enough, this development comes after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board swiftly rejected an application by a creationist think tank to issue science degrees, and isn’t budging even after it filed a legal complaint. Are the powers that be in Texas starting to take serious steps to keep creationism out of the classrooms?
Texas media is starting to catch on, and that’s good news for the majority of us. We’re definitely going to demand more from the Texas Education Board. Bastards. Religion stays out of the classroom. Science is secular and non-denominational. Any Christian in their right mind would denounce Creationist fundamentalism.
I came across this article after finding your web site from a science link on the Carnival of Space #105, of all things! But being from these parts (and a supporter of the wacky idea of teaching our children actual SCIENCE rather than narrow religious viewpoints in science classes), I found this topic of interest, and looked through that TFNBlog site you linked to for more recent information.
A lot of interesting reading about what has been going on lately at SBOE! Most directly relevant to the issue of this article, however, is an updated blog entry with a blow-by-blow description of the state senate debate on his nomination here -
http://tfnblog.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/senate-takes-up-mcleroy-nomination/
Some of the statements made by elected officials in support of him seemed just plain ridiculous! Examples – A theory is just a theory / if this isn’t about what the bible teaches, what is it about? / Religion is foundational to education / This is an inquisition / “In God We trust” is good for sometimes, but not in science?
While the vote was along straight party lines, you will be happy to hear that he failed to get the 2/3′s vote needed to confirm his nomination!
My understanding is that while this ousts him as chairman, he is still a member of the board. So you may ALSO be happy to hear about this little tidbit of news here -
http://tfnblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/mcleroy-gets-gop-challenger-for-sboe-seat/
An article quoting his challenger’s entire press release (along with various comments pro & con) can also be found here -
http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/burkablog/?p=4045
I found it interesting to read that the most populous area in his SBOE District 9 is Colin County. Just north of Dallas, this county includes the large, college-educated, very high-tech city of Plano, so this district may not be as backwards as some believe – against another republican, so no party-line loyalty issues to contend with – this could make for a VERY interesting race! ;)
Dave,
Actually, details on what’s been going on with Don McLeroy and where his ouster as the chairman of the board leaves the Texas SBOE are detailed in this post and my interview with TFN’s Dan Quinn about the history of the creationist faction which makes up almost half of the Texas school board.
gfish:
Hmm, I did a Topic Search under your Category “evolution” (in which this article appears) before I posted this here, to see if there was a more recent article on this topic, but could not find one. The new articles you mentioned do not appear under evolution, you may want to fix that.
But in any event, I am pretty sure that your newer articles mentioned (dated 5/28 & 6/1) do not cover the information in the second half of my post above, as those last two links in my post reference articles that were just published today!