Given the recent resurgence in the age-old debate between
creationism and evolution, it was probably only a matter of time
before it reached the University of California, and it did last
week ““ in the form of a lawsuit.
On Thursday, Christian school administrators filed suit against
the UC, claiming the UC discriminates against high schools that
teach creationism.
As evidence, the suit, which was filed by the Association of
Christian Schools International and Calvary Chapel Christian School
in Murrieta, points to a UC admissions policy that refuses
certification of high school science classes that use textbooks
which challenge the theory of evolution. According to the Los
Angeles Times, one lawyer for the plaintiffs goes so far as to say
the UC’s policy poses a “threat” to all
religions.
First of all, the UC (and, for that matter, this editorial
board) is not necessarily disputing whether creationism should be
taught in schools.
But it’s clear the UC is not “discriminating”
against religion, and it certainly is not posing a threat to it. UC
campuses have burgeoning communities of all faiths. UCLA has an
interdepartmental program on the study of religion, including
Christianity, Islam and Judaism. And the Bible is routinely taught
in classes as a foundation of Western culture, history and
literature.
Instead, the UC policy is effectively saying that students who
are not taught what the vast majority of the scientific community
accepts as true and uses in its research will simply not be able to
compete with those who are.
In fact, administrators at Calvary Chapel might be doing a
disservice to their students by trying to get them onto a UC campus
without first ensuring they understand evolution and why it’s
universally accepted. Because a student in any UCLA biology course
without at least a basic understanding of the theory will have a
hard time getting something out of the course, let alone passing
it.
And along similar lines, any student who graduates from UCLA
with a science degree and does not apply evolution to his or her
way of thinking will be a step behind every other scientist in the
world ““ and so will have more difficulty in contributing to
scientific thought.
What it comes down to is a question of rights: just as certain
schools ““ such as Calvary Chapel ““ have a right to
teach from whatever curricula and textbooks they choose, so does
the University of California have a right to set expectations of
what its students should know before they set foot in its
doors.
Ultimately, it is the duty of a school to ensure its students
are prepared for the road ahead. Administrators at Calvary Chapel
apparently believe they are best preparing their students by
teaching them about the Book of Genesis and Adam and Eve.
Meanwhile, UC administrators believe they best prepare their
students by teaching them about vestigial limbs and Darwin’s
cruise through the Galapagos.
Same pedagogical principal, different approach. That sort of
difference might not be easy to settle, but regardless, it is not
discrimination ““ and it should not be settled in a court of
law.