The stealth mode of creation

I meant to post about this on Friday, but things got crazy and I never got around to it. Now others are on the case and are poking holes in the weasle-worded statement issued by Texas State Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy. Who is McLeroy? Check out my earlier post on this fiasco.

McLeroy is an avowed creationist, but is suddenly sounding conciliatory and rational where science curriculum is concerned, just as 10 of 15 board members seemingly come out against the teaching of Intelligent Design:

In interviews, 10 of the board's 15 members said they wouldn't support requiring the teaching of intelligent design. One board member said she was open to the idea. Four board members didn't respond to requests for interviews.

Proponents of intelligent design contend that life is too complex to have occurred by chance, requiring instead the guidance of an unnamed supernatural being. Critics say it's a ploy for introducing creationism — the biblical account of the origin of humans — into science classes.

"Creationism and intelligent design don't belong in our science classes," said Board of Education Chairman Don McLeroy, who described himself as a creationist. "Anything taught in science has to have consensus in the science community and intelligent design does not."

The trouble is, ID proponents have a history of making fallacious arguments, ie if A is false, then B is true. They habitually misstate the science behind evolution, then claim that these shortcomings "prove" ID, aka creationism (check out the wedge strategy they use. Definitely worth a look).

McLeroy, R-College Station, said he doesn't want to change the existing requirement that evolution be taught in high school biology classes. But he joined several of his colleagues in arguing that biology textbooks should cover the weaknesses of the theory of evolution.

McLeroy and three other socially conservative board members voted against the current biology texts in 2003 over the evolution issue. The textbook debate comes up again in 2011.

Does anyone else smell a lack of honesty and sincerity coming from this man? I wonder if he's a religious Machiavellian, in which committing sin is acceptable if comes in serving God? Isn't this a lesson we learned about through the Crusades? One wonders what McLeroy's reaction would be if school districts started offering up classes that covered the "weaknesses of religion." I'll bet that would make his hair stand up on end.

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