Ron’s Blog

UC sued for discriminating against idiots

So, it’s come to this: “Christian Schools Bring Suit Against UC“. Sounds like the University of California system is not treating the anti-science and non-accredited “educations” given to kids via fundy and home-schooling with the honor and respect they think they deserve.

Christian Schools Bring Suit Against UC

…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. Other courses rejected by UC officials include “Christianity’s Influence in American History,” “Christianity and Morality in American Literature” and “Special Providence: American Government.” … UC’s board of admissions also advised the school that it would not approve biology and science courses that relied primarily on textbooks published by Bob Jones University Press and A Beka Books, two Christian publishers.

…(UC) spokeswoman Ravi Poorsina said she could not comment on its details. But she said the university had a sound legal right to set course requirements for incoming students. “What we’re doing is really for the benefit of the students,” she said. “These requirements were established after careful study by faculty and staff to ensure that students who come here are fully prepared with broad knowledge and the critical thinking skills necessary to succeed.”

P.Z. Myers over at Pharyngula, as usual, gets this right. As he puts it in “There ain’t nothin’ there!“,

…creationists are demanding that legitimate universities accept transfer credits from Christian schools’ “science” classes that use substandard textbooks and don’t meet the standards of the University of California. You really must take a look inside one of these Bob Jones University-quality textbooks: “The people who prepared this book have tried consistently to put the Word of God first and science second…If…at any point God’s Word is not put first, the authors apologize.”

Case closed.