I read an
interesting article that discusses a lawsuit filed against the University of California system. The university apparently rejected a few Christian school courses for not meeting the UC admissions standards. One one side, the UC system simply wants to make sure that it admits students who are prepared for the rigors of college. On the other side, the Christian schools are claiming that the UC system is practicing religious bias.
Clearly, I don't know all of the facts. It would be interesting to see, for example, what aspects of the curriculum do not meet the required standards. Is it the absence of certain authors in the literature courses? The emphasis on creationism over evolution? Or is it American History from a Christian perspective? If the courses are lacking subject matter that the UC system would like its admitted applicants to have studied, I don't see how there could be a problem. The Christian schools are free to teach creationism, but perhaps they ought to include a bit about evolution if they want their students to be admitted in the UC system. But if the UC system objects to the subject matter being taught, that might pose a problem.
Can the UC system reject, in the name of academic freedom, an applicant because they have been taught that the United States is a "Christian" country, that evolution is a wacky conspiracy theory, or that Emily Dickinson is an unfit author? Or are they truly exercising bias against religious curriculums simply because they are religious?
Perhaps the intelligent design debate will resolve itself if students graduating from schools that teach it find themselves denied admission from preeminent public institutions. I went to Catholic school and I took religion classes and learned from the Christian perspective. But my biology teacher taught me evolution. My history teacher taught me about the horrible way the settlers treated the Native Americans. And, we read works by Shakespeare and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Would the curriculum of my high school pass muster, now? It certainly did in 199[x].
I think that the UC system should be able to admit only students who meet certain requirements. If the addition of religious education to your high school curriculum automatically disqualifies you, however, I think these Christian schools may be on to something.
