Satanists Everywhere!

Delusional people would be a lot more fun if they weren't getting elected to school boards and other public offices.

Texas has a shining example of greater wingnuttia. Observe:

To show you just how ridiculous Texas Board of Education chairman Don McLeroy is, take a look at this report from the Texas Freedom Network on a book he recently endorsed.

[snip]

Dr. McLeroy - noting his position as board chair - recently wrote a glowing recommendation of Sowing Atheism: The National Academy of Sciences' Sinister Scheme to Teach Our Children They're Descended from Reptiles by Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr. (The new book is self-published.)

I'm sure it is. After all, most Christian publishing houses want to retain at least one small scrap of credibility. John Pieret was kind enough to skim the screed so we don't have to. Here's what Don McLeroy is so very excited about:

You can download Sowing Atheism here. As the blurb at the download site says:

Robert Bowie Johnson, Jr., who holds a general science degree from West Point, wrote SOWING ATHEISM in response to the book published by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January of this year, Science, Evolution, and Creationism. The NAS sent its book to educators, school boards, and science teachers throughout the United States, falsely affirming that molecules-to-man evolution is a "fact" when in reality it does not even meet the minimum conditions for a valid theory.

Science, Evolution, and Creationism was the NAS's attempt to address the relationship between science and religion that has been criticized by some atheists for being too conciliatory to the latter. Be that as it may, if this "report" (more of a marketing ploy, I suspect) is true, it says much about the nature of McLeroy's position on the Texas science standards and his claim that he isn't seeking to have religion taught in the state's public schools. If he has recommended the book, it may well bear on any court challenge later on. Some quotes from Johnson's book:

[T]he NAS hierarchy, in order to bolster and "prove" its atheism, has constructed a closed, sacrosanct, counterfeit philosophy of science which completely eliminates the valid God hypothesis, along with any possibility of bringing it up again. (p. 12)

Science, Evolution, and Creationism is anything but an appeal to open-minded readers to use their powers of discernment to carefully consider the evidence. It is a cleverly disguised all-out, direct attack on the authority of the Word of God, and on all other challenges to their philosophical and religious dogma of evo-atheism (evolutionist atheism). (p. 13)

It continues, as far as a very quick skim reveals, in the same vein for another hundred pages or more. Included are the usual creationist talking points: the elitism of scientists, argumentums ad populum, and presuppositionalism.

Now, people with a tenuous grip on reality would realize that recommending such a book might be somewhat akin to wearing a billboard, complete with glowing neon lettering and a blaring loudspeaker, proclaiming "Frothing Fundie Freak! Too stupid to even be an IDiot!" But McLeroy isn't one of those people:

You can see McLeroy's glowing recommendation here.

In the current culture war over science education and the teaching of evolution, Bob Johnson's Sowing Atheism provides a unique and insightful perspective. In critiquing the National Academy of Science's (NAS) missionary evolution tract--Science, Evolution and Creationism, 2008, he identifies their theft of true science by their intentional neglect of other valid scientific possibilities. Then, using NAS's own statements, he demonstrates that the great "process" of evolution--natural selection--is nothing more than a figure of speech. These chapters alone are worth the reading of this book.

Next he shows how the NAS attempts to seduce the unwitting reader by providing scanty empirical evidence but presented with great intellectual bullying--both secular and religious. He actually embarrasses the NAS with a long list of their quotes where they make the obvious claim that evolutionists believe in evolution. He then shines light on the Clergy Letter Project, again showing the obvious--theistic evolutionists believe in evolution.

I'm not even sure what that last bit is supposed to mean. It's somehow a bad thing that advocates for evolution believe in evolution? It is, of course, precious how he defines as "scanty" the massive edifice of evidence which has convinced the overwhelming majority of scientists that evolution is a fact. By his standards, of course, the evidence is scanty - as it is bound to be when you rely solely upon the scribblings of ancient goat herders.

All of this, however, is merely a sampling of the stupid supreme McLeroy's serving up. This is the intellectual caliber of the man whose book he so enthusiastically endorses:

The Texas Freedom Network blog has more on the guy whose book Don McLeroy endorsed. He appears to be a real wingnut's wingnut. This is from a press release the guy sent out last fall:

In a series of essays published at www.solvinglight.com/blog/, author Robert Bowie Johnson Jr. presents evidence that Barack Obama is directly linked to Satanic teachings through his close association with Oprah Winfrey, who parrots and relentlessly promotes, worldwide, the anti-Christian doctrine of her guru, Eckhart Tolle.

This calls for a very special Dramatic Chipmunk moment:

That's right. Oprah Winfrey is a big ol' satanist!

It's a very sad, paranoid, utterly pathetic life these people lead. They see Satan everywhere. Especially in mushy-gushy woo-woo sorts like Eckhart Tolle, who apparantly is in cahoots with Winfrey to satanize the whole wide world.

This is the sort of shit that keeps them awake at night. And they're overheating their brains trying to figure out a way to get it into our classrooms. Methinks it is time to take more interest in schoolboard elections.

Brethren, let us parody: