Don McLeroy

{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|Am I a religious fanatic? Absolutely. You’d have to be to do what I do.|||Don McLeroy}}

'''Don McLeroy''' is a [[Texas]] dentist, ignorant [[creationist]], and former chairman of the [[Texas Board of Education]]. McLeroy was a member of the state board of education for more than a decade (1998-2011), and was appointed chairman by governor [[Rick Perry]] in 2007. During his leadership, the board did a thorough job of removing [[science]] and what McLeroy perceived as [[liberal bias]] from textbooks used in public schools in Texas. Even though Perry reappointed McLeroy as chairman in 2009, saying that “Texas is a national example of how to best prepare our children for higher education and the workplace,” the reappointment was rejected by the Texas senate.<ref>Kate Alexander, [https://archive.is/p2CT McLeroy confirmation blocked]. Archived from statesman.com, 30 April 2009.</ref>

==McLeroy on evolution==
{{cquote|The culture war over science education, the teaching of evolution, is going to be there, no matter what. Education is too important not to politicize.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091227101225/http://tfninsider.org/2009/12/21/the-year-in-quotes-science/ The Year in Quotes: Science]. Archived from ''TFN'', 21 December 2009.</ref>}}

McLeroy is a 
bloviating douche
 known champion of creationism and a loud opponent of evolution. In 2005, he received some attention for a sermon he conducted in his church. In relation to his work for the Board of Education, he declared that [[naturalism]] is “the enemy” and that “[[Intelligent Design]] [is] the big tent [… b]ecause we’re all lined up against […] naturalism. Whether you’re a progressive creationist, recent creationist, young earth, old earth, it’s all in the tent of Intelligent Design.”<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150415042631/http://www.tfn.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_public_schools_sboe_mcleroy_lecture Don McLeroy Science, Evolution and 'Intelligent Design']. Archived from ''TFN'', 15 April 2015.</ref> He has also said: “I think what we’re doing is destroying America’s soul in science.”<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2009/04/22/texas-again-don-mcleroy-wants/ Texas again: Don McLeroy wants to save students' souls]. ''Science Blogs'', 22 April 2009.</ref> Nevertheless, his mandate was how best to teach Texas’s kids about science.

In 2009, he campaigned ardently to insert the [[Discovery Institute]]’s “strengths and weaknesses of evolution” propaganda in the curriculum standards, and he succeeded in inserting language focusing on “sudden appearance” and “stasis”, as well as the complexity of the [[cell]], standard creationist talking points that may facilitate the selection of creationist-friendly textbooks for science education. On the scientific consensus regarding evolution, McLeroy said “Scientific consensus means nothing. All it takes is [[one single proof|one fact]] to overthrow consensus,” though one would think it mattered to what materials one should use in public education. He continued “[e]volution has a status that it simply doesn’t deserve. People say it’s vital to understanding biology. But it’s genetics that’s the foundation for biology. A biologist once said that nothing in biology makes sense without evolution. Well, that’s not true. You go into the top biology labs, and it makes no difference if evolution is true or false to what they’re doing and studying. It makes no difference.”<ref>Gordy Slack, [http://www.salon.com/2009/03/28/texas_evolution_case/ Texas on evolution: Needs further study]. ''Salon'', 28 March 2009.</ref> He also wrote a glowing recommendation<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100317104902/http://tfninsider.org/2009/03/18/what-does-don-mcleroy-really-want-to-teach/ What Does Don McLeroy Really Want to Teach?] Archived from ''TFN'', 18 March 2009.</ref> for Robert Bowie Johnson Jr.’s self-published book “Sowing Atheism: The National Academy of Sciences’ Sinister Scheme to Teach Our Children They’re Descended from Reptiles.” According to the book, “NAS has stolen true science; they are sacrificing our children to their atheism, and at the same time, destroying our children’s faith in God,”<ref>Ed Brayton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140911070830/https://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/03/20/mcelroy-endorses-idiotic-anti/ McLeroy Endorses Idiotic Anti-Evolution Book]. Archived from ''Science Blogs'', 20 March 2009.</ref> and “What kind of monster parents teach their children that they’re descended from rodents and reptiles?” (Presumably it's more dignified to be descended from dirt; who knew?) McLeroy has also argued that evolution is not testable,<ref>Ed Brayton, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150415042625/http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/03/26/mcleroy-shows-his-ignorance-of/ McLeroy Shows His Ignorance of Evolution]. Archived from ''Science Blogs'', 26 March 2009.</ref> apparently because it presupposes [[methodological naturalism]].

==McLeroy on history and social sciences==
Controversies surrounding McLeroy’s work on the board of education motivation are not limited to evolution. According to McLeroy “… we are a [[The United States as a Christian nation|Christian nation]] founded on Christian principles. The way I evaluate history textbooks is first I see how they cover Christianity and Israel. Then I see how they treat [[Ronald Reagan]] – he needs to get credit for saving the world from communism and for the good economy over the last twenty years because he lowered taxes.” You can facepalm now.

McLeroy’s efforts concerning social studies standards have been particularly noteworthy, especially his efforts to undermine work done by real experts concerning the education standards in favor of the work of his own heroes, such as the [[dominionism|dominionist]] historical revisionism of [[David Barton]].<ref>Mariah Blake, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100105212354/https://washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1001.blake.html Revisionaries: How a group of Texas conservatives is rewriting your kids’ textbooks.] Archived from ''Washington Monthly'', January/February 2010.</ref>

In his position as chairman of the Board, McLeroy also attempted to reject advanced placement environmental science textbooks because they, in McLeroy’s "mind," contained errors that were not found by any serious scientist.

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd NCSE video] on McLeroy’s statements

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Creationists]]
[[Category:Dentists]]
[[Category:Fundamentalists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory promoters]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:War on science]]

Categories: Christians, Creationists, Dentists, Fundamentalists, Living people, Physicians, Pseudohistory promoters, Pseudoscience promoters, Racists, Right-wing activists, Texas, War on science