Talk:Ronald McNair
I would like to open a discussion regarding the assertion in this article that Dr. Ronald McNair was a member of the Bahá'í Faith. While this claim has circulated online for years, a review of the primary and secondary historical records indicates that Dr. McNair was a lifelong, active Christian, and his immediate family has explicitly requested the removal of the Bahá'í designation from his public biographies.
In March 2020, his brother, Carl McNair, submitted a formal clarification on Wikipedia (see link below) requesting the removal of the Bahá’í category, noting it to be inaccurate.
The documented biographical record across his life extensively details his involvement in Christian churches:
- **Childhood:** Raised in the Church of God movement in South Carolina, attending the local church where his grandfather served as a bishop. (Source: [The New York Times, Feb 9, 1986](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/09/us/two-pathes-to-the-stars-turnings-and-triumphs-ronald-mcnair.html))
- **Graduate School:** While at MIT, he actively attended St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Cambridge, MA. (Source: [The New York Times, Feb 9, 1986](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/09/us/two-pathes-to-the-stars-turnings-and-triumphs-ronald-mcnair.html))
- **NASA Career:** After moving to Houston, he was a member of the Antioch Baptist Church. (Source: [The New York Times, Feb 9, 1986](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/09/us/two-pathes-to-the-stars-turnings-and-triumphs-ronald-mcnair.html))
- **Funeral Services:** Following the Challenger tragedy, his official funeral services were held at the Wesley United Methodist Church. (Source: [The Washington Post, May 18, 1986](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/05/18/astronaut-ronald-mcnair-eulogized-as-role-model/664ad36d-ac9d-49b3-8451-02592b4042ff/))
Most definitively, Dr. McNair’s own self-identification is permanently inscribed on his public memorial monument in Lake City, SC (viewable on the [Historical Marker Database](https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=238136)):
"I do not profess to be a preacher nor one possessing profound knowledge or insight, but I do claim to be a Christian and I do know that the God we serve has a strange way of using anybody or anything to convey his message."
Given his family's explicit statements (documented in this [Wikipedia Permanent Link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:PermanentLink/948527884)) and his clear public record of Christian faith, I recommend the community review this page's text to ensure it accurately reflects Dr. McNair's true personal identification.
- After searching through our periodicals and other books, I think this article would not meet the inclusion standards for Bahaipedia even if he *were* a Baha'i: Bahaipedia:Project scope#Articles about individuals. The possibility for inclusion would fall on either 1) "notable for their relationship to the Faith" which doesn't seem to exist here or 2) "Individuals who have made impacts across many different fields or localities" which I can't find any evidence for. Unless there is an objection from someone else, I'll delete this article in the next few days. For reference, here is what I found:
- Excluding the two books by Venters mentioning him, I can't find much in the way of association between McNair and the Faith, aside from this: After the program, the McNair family expressed genuine interest in what the Bahá’ís were doing and appreciation for their prayerful support of the family after Ron McNair's death in the Challenger disaster. (here, very end of page 19) which implies to me they (the family at least) had no real relationship with the Faith. The closest non-Venters source stating he was a Baha'i is another issue of The American Baha'i (Vol 26, issue 9 pg 24) "...an annual event honoring native son Ronald McNair, a Bahá’í who was one of the astronauts..." Sarah (talk) 16:20, 11 July 2026 (EDT)