It’s no secret that religion – Christianity specifically – is a hot topic on campus right now. In March, The Insurgent published cartoons that were extremely offensive to Christians. At the end of May, preachers spewing “confrontational evangelism” offended many non-Christians and Christians alike. These debates, fought in the halls of student government and the EMU Amphitheater, thankfully left the classroom relatively unscathed.
But a California Christian school has dragged the religious debate into academia, suing the 10-campus University of California for not giving students credits for courses taught with an evangelical slant.
The civil rights suit alleges that the UC is infringing on the right of “a religious school to be religious,” according to a January USA Today article. Classes rejected by the UC include “Christianity’s Influence in America” and “Christianity and Morality in American Literature.”
The schools also uses books by Bob Jones University Press. One biology book from Bob Jones University Press presents creationism, intelligent design and evolution, according to the article, and its introduction says, “The people who have prepared this book have tried consistently to put the Word of God first and science second.”
The plaintiffs argue that the UC policy is unconstitutional because it discriminates against Christians students. A judge may rule by July 6 on the UC’s motion to dismiss some of the lawsuit’s claims.
This suit should be thrown out on its head. Universities are charged with instilling all students with a common base of standardized knowledge. In order to gain entrance to universities, students should know a certain set of concepts and theories that will underpin their future learning; it is each university’s right to determine for itself what constitutes this knowledge base. It is also each institution’s right to determine which high school classes contribute to that knowledge.
When religious ideas, however morally sound or well meaning, replace scientific knowledge, it is a detriment to the students because it does not prepare them for higher education.
Here at the University, administrators and science instructors thankfully have the power to vet classes. The University accepts some science classes from religious schools, and it rejects courses from some secular schools, said Karen Sprague, a molecular biologist who teaches at the University.
While the University’s Diversity Plan rightfully now includes religion among the range of factors that contribute to diversity on campus, religion and science should be kept separate. Creationism and its thinly disguised counterpart, intelligent design, are not scientific theories because they do not describe the world based on experiments that can be repeated. That does not mean they are false; they cannot be proven either way.
Moreover, Christianity is based on faith, not logic or fact. According to the Bible, Jesus will reward those who have faith above those who physically saw him. It should not be necessary to attempt to prove religious points inside the classroom.
Students and teachers in favor of teaching creationism and intelligent design at the university level would do well to remember the words of Donald M. Erb, namesake of the Erb Memorial Union, that are inscribed on a plaque inside the building.
“… do not be tolerant of misrepresentation, of superficiality, of the parading of false issues as though the were real issues. Tolerance does not extend to intellectual dishonesty or ineptitude.”
While practicing religion is not dishonest or inept, trying to force unscientific theories into scientific courses is. Class dismissed.