Religious Skeptic Becomes Faith Lightning Rod In Textbook Controversy

08 January 2011

Don McLeroy, Longtime Texas Gadfly In U.S. Education Policy Debate, Not Re-elected

By Raymond Billy
ResonateNews.com

Secularists across the United States had extra reason to celebrate the dawn of 2011. On Jan. 1, one of the chief objects of their ire relinquished his post on what has become one of the most powerful committees in the country.

Don McLeroy — who runs a dental practice in College Station, Texas — had served on the Texas State Board of Education for 12 years. His tenure ended on New Year’s Day as a result of his Republican primary defeat last March. Though disappointed with the way his term ended, McLeroy said his dozen years on the board were gratifying.

“I’m very pleased with what I was able to accomplish,” McLeroy said during an interview with ResonateNews.com on his last day as a board member. “The last three years were especially rewarding.”

It was those three years that were perhaps the most nauseating to McLeroy’s adversaries in the education community — which is predominantly a left-leaning constituency, he said.  From 2008 to 2010, the State Board of Education pushed through sweeping curricular changes in the subjects of English, history and science that critics claim impose a Christian worldview on Texas schoolchildren and by extension, students across the country. Textbook publishers have financial incentive to tailor their content to meet Texas criteria because the Lone Star State — which has the second largest student population in the U.S. — makes such a large volume of purchases.

Critics claim Texas’ new science standards — which point to gaps in evolutionary theory —undermine scientific consensus. McLeroy makes no apologies for the new standards.

“One of our best-known scientists was a Christian monk named Gregor Mendel who conducted empirical research as opposed to Darwin, who could not test his theory,” McLeroy said. “Darwinism is more of an attempt at historical analysis than scientific analysis. All we’ve done is restore scientific integrity to the teaching of evolution.”

McLeroy was equally unequivocal in his defense of the new history guidelines, which critics say overly emphasize the influence of Christ on America’s Founding Fathers.

“People are mostly taught that secularism drove the founders to ‘tame’ religion. But, the truth is their faith is actually what inspired the desire to protect religious freedom,” he said.

Listening to McLeroy speak, one would hardly guess he was once a religion skeptic who had a difficult time embracing the concept of spiritual faith.

RAISED IN THE CHURCH

John Donald McLeroy was born in 1946, the son of Otto and Theta McLeroy. Don McLeroy describes a childhood in which he was a “good ‘B’ student,” who never got in trouble. During his formative years, McLeroy — who has a twin brother named Ron — enjoyed playing tennis and participated in choir and band. Residents of the Dallas area, the McLeroys were members of Highland Park United Methodist Church. While citing the church as a source of many fond memories, McLeroy said he failed to receive the kind of Christian discipleship there that would later change his life.

“The church didn’t really have a sense of urgency about making sure people were saved,” McLeroy said. “It was pretty much assumed that people knew the Gospel.”

Having not trusted Christ as his savior at an early age, McLeroy said he developed a number of “intellectual hang-ups” that would retard his spiritual growth for years. But, he said he now sees that throughout his 20s, God was working to draw him to Christ.

After graduating from Texas A&M University in 1969 with a degree in engineering — following in his father’s footsteps both in terms of his major and his alma mater — and following a two-year stint in the Army Signal Corps, McLeroy decided to broaden his horizons, traveling throughout the U.S. and Europe.

During his time on the road, McLeroy had several encounters that challenged his biblical skepticism, including a visit with an aunt in Virginia who showed him the accuracy of Bible  prophesy regarding Israel’s reconstitution as a nation — which occurred in 1948.

McLeroy’s expedition ended in 1972 when he began attending a University of Texas dental program in Houston. It was during that time that he met Nancy Fleming, a Christian with whom he shared a romantic attraction. But Fleming was apprehensive about dating someone who had not committed his life to Christ. In deference to her feelings, McLeroy began attending Bible studies, but made no qualms about his unbelief.

“She kept telling me to just have faith,” he recalled. “I kept asking ‘how do you expect me to believe in something I don’t believe in?’”

Although he was a skeptic, McLeroy said he was open-minded enough to explore the reasons behind his unbelief to determine whether his questions could be answered. He kept a booklet listing dozens of doubts he had regarding the Gospel.

“I had a huge problem with the supernatural,” McLeroy said.

McLeroy pledged that if he ever quenched all of his doubts, he would commit his life to Christ. When he was 29, the day arrived when he checked the last doubt off his list. Shortly after that, he and Nancy were married. McLeroy’s declaration of faith was the beginning of a glorious ride, he said.

“The first year of my Christianity was exciting,” he said. “I began to really study the Bible and go to Christian seminars. It was then that I began to see that Christian principles were true. I also became convinced that we can trust every aspect of the Bible — including creationism.”

McLeroy would soon begin to share his enthusiasm as a Sunday school teacher at Grace Bible Church in College Station. He would later conclude there is an erroneous exclusion of the Christian worldview in American public life, fueling his interest in politics.

EDUCATION POLITICS

McLeroy said he first became interested in politics after the eldest of his two sons, Luke, was born 32 years ago. He said he realized that public policy would largely shape the kind of society in which his children lived. In the mid-1990s, McLeroy ran for a seat on the school board in Bryan, Texas — where his family resided at the time — and won.

But a short time later, State Board of Education member Randy Stevenson — in whose constituency district the McLeroys resided — decided to resign his post because he believed he could no longer devote the time necessary to the job. McLeroy hesitated to vie for the seat because he had only recently joined the Bryan school board. But a group  recruited him to replace the like-minded Stevenson and McLeroy was elected to the state board in 1998. It has only been the last few years, however — a time in which the board has been voting on curriculum standards that will remain entrenched for a decade — that McLeroy has become a lightning rod in the culture fray.

McLeroy was appointed chairman of the State Board of Education in 2007 by Texas Gov. Rick Perry. McLeroy used his power — in concert with others on the 15-member panel — to enact standards that he said will force students to think critically and allow them to gain a broader perspective on the world.

Owing to Texas’ influence on the textbook market, the board of education’s departure from many academic norms gained the attention of national media outlets as well as education experts across the country. The scrutiny led to a campaign from the left to remove McLeroy from power.

In 2009, McLeroy faced a vote by the Texas Senate to be reconfirmed as education board chairman. He needed to win the votes of two-thirds of the 31 senators to retain the post. McLeroy said he was close to being confirmed when his bid unraveled.

“All 19 Senate Republicans were in my corner. I only needed two Democrats, and I thought I had the votes,” McLeroy said. “But, Democrats who were leaning toward voting for me were pressured and backed down.”

McLeroy was removed as chairman in early 2009. It was largely a symbolic victory because his replacement, Gail Lowe, is said to hold similar views to McLeroy. Meanwhile, McLeroy remained a voting member of the education board. His opponents turned their attention to his 2010 re-election campaign.

McLeroy faced a Republican primary contest last March against moderate Thomas Ratliff. No Democrat filed to compete for the seat in the heavily conservative board of education District 9 — which stretches from North Texas to East Texas — so McLeroy’s critics pinned their hopes on the GOP contest. It was clear from the outset of the campaign that voting would be close, with the office seekers running neck and neck in fundraising. In the end, Ratliff pulled out the race by 800 votes. McLeroy believes that it wasn’t only civic-minded parents who orchestrated his defeat.

“I lost because of the evolutionists who campaigned for Ratliff,” McLeroy said. “The educational political lobby also lined up behind him.”

McLeroy also took responsibility for his loss. He said he wasn’t as energetic in his fundraising activities as he should have been. He also believed that Tea Party support would buoy his chances, making rigorous campaigning unnecessary.

McLeroy also said Ratliff likely received substantial crossover support from Democrats.

McLeroy said he hopes his time off of the board won’t last a long time. He plans to file in June for election in District 9 and continue his bid to reshape the Texas public school curriculum. In the meantime, he won’t be idle. He will be a speaker at the conservative Eagle Forum’s Education Policy Conference later this month in St. Louis. McLeroy wants to encourage traditionalists in the philosophical struggle to shape America’s future.

“There are two basic worldviews contending for hearts and minds in America: secular humanism and conservative Christianity,” McLeroy said. “Leftist ‘religion’ is big government. They’ve taken over media and academia as well.”

However fierce the battle, McLeroy said he tries to maintain his Christian integrity.

“Rest assured, Christians in high profile positions will be mercilessly attacked. But, I’m gratified that through all my political battles, no one could ever say I’m a bad person,” he said.