Sunday, August 28, 2005

UC Lawsuit



Christian Schools Bring Suit Against UC - Los Angeles Times

Amid the growing national debate over the mixing of religion and science in America's classrooms, University of California admissions officials have been accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit of discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other conservative Christian viewpoints

Under a policy implemented with little fanfare a year ago, UC admissions authorities have refused to certify high school science courses that use textbooks challenging Darwin's theory of evolution, the suit says... "It appears that the UC system is attempting to secularize Christian schools and prevent them from teaching from a world Christian view," said Patrick H. Tyler, a lawyer with Advocates for Faith and Freedom, which is assisting the plaintiffs.


Excuse me, Christians, I thought you weren't supposed to be conformed to the world and were supposed to be prepared to pay the price for that, rather than going for all the pomp and glory of the world and places for your kids at elite secular colleges. You pay your money and take your choice if your model is the early Church, its martyrs and confessors.

No one's suggesting serious martyrdom anyway--just the recognition that if you send your kids to schools that teach bogus pseudo-science they aren't going to get into top flight universities.

And why, indeed, would you want them to go to Berkeley and risk corruption? Wouldn't it be better for them to live in trailers, work construction and sell Mary Kaye than lose their souls?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is the silliest thing I have ever heard--I am a Christian AND I went to Berkeley, and both the Berkeley community and myself BOTH benefitted from the free exchange of ideas.

So now Christians are to be excluded from public schools? Last I checked, I also benefitted from the 14th and 1st Amendments...

Besides--if you look at the issue with intellectual honesty, you will see that other students who take classes (with rigor) with other political/philosophical/religious leanings are allowed admissions into these public universities. To deny access of Christians is to deny equal access. Something to consider.

Unknown said...

I didn't propose excluding Christians from Berkeley or from the public schools.

Suppose a state university proposed starting a school of chiropractic. Would you support that in the interest of the free exchange of ideas? Faculty at Florida State weren't enthusiastic. Suppose a student from Marharishi International University applies to medical school. Should they accept undergraduate biology courses where he learnt the theory of chakras? I don't think so.

It isn't "political/philosophical/religious leanings" that are at issue or prejudice against Christianity as such--students from Catholic high schools don't have any problems getting into UCs. It's when the religious package includes empirical claims that are inconsistent with accepted scientific facts--and students from religiously-affiliated schools attempt to get credit for science courses that promote pseudo-science. Religion as such isn't the problem--would you expect UCs to accept courses in astronomy that included the theory of astrology?

The Constitution doesn't guarantee citizens admission to elite public colleges and elite public colleges don't teach science courses that promote pseudo-sciences, like astology or "intelligent design," or represent them as viable alternatives to accepted scientific accounts. And if you want to run the line that evolution is controversial because a significant proportion of the population doesn't buy it and argue for "teaching the controversy" by the same reasoning you should "teach the controversy" about astrology and chiropractic.

Anonymous said...

come on then ya boldys

Anonymous said...

erd ya want me a brawl

Anonymous said...

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