Dark Times in CA Part II-Christians Need Not Apply
Last night I wrote about San Francisco’s proposal to legalize prostitution in that city, and the horrible effects it could have there. Tonight, I would like to report on an issue related to education which effects the entire state. If you are in high school and are an in-state resident of California wanting to attend one of the Universities of California, you must achieve one of two things. Either you must graduate in the top three percent of your class, or you must pass a set of college preparatory classes which have been approved by the University system. This means that even if you are not one of the best students in high school, you still have an opportunity to attend these universities which are, at least in the secular world, considered some of the finest.
Since these college prep classes must be approved by the University, it also means that the textbooks must be approved as well. This makes sense, until you observe the criteria that is used. Last year, the Universities of California excluded all textbooks for science, history and literature published by Christian publishers or that feature a Christian perspective. This means that Christian schools in California have to make a choice between using textbooks that teach from a Biblical perspective, or use the same type of textbooks as secular schools in order to assist their students in getting into these schools.
We have several problems here. First is the fact that these books are not being excluded based upon their facts, but on their Christian perspective. Now I could understand (though I would not agree) with a secular university excluding a science book that taught Creationism instead of Darwinism. Most scientists still believe the lie that Darwinism is correct, therefore it makes sense that they would use that type of book. But the University officials said the facts were not the issue, merely that the beginning of each chapter featured a Bible verse, and that if these verses were removed from the books they would probably be approved.
Can you believe it? because a textbook, printed by a Christian publisher, has verses of Scripture, it cannot be used for admission to the University of California. Now you may be thinking “well as a secular university they probably excluded all textbooks with a religious viewpoint.” Sadly, this is not true, and brings us to the second problem.
Books that featured the teachings of other faiths as part of their perspective were approved for use in these courses. These included Jewish, Buddhist, Women’s Studies, and African Studies (the latter two examples are not religions but merely other biased perspectives that were allowed to be used). So I guess it’s okay to be inclusive and multi-cultural, as long as those principles do not allow the perspective of Christianity. Never mind that Christianity is still the dominant religion in this country. Apparently that wold view is not welcome at the University of California.
A third problem is much more fundamental. Are not universities supposed to invite the thoughts, opinions and cultures of a multitude of people, for the purpose of sharing knowledge, and taking that knowledge back to your community for it’s betterment? If you chose to ignore one group, aren’t you preventing that free flow of ideas and prespectives?
But wait! Here is a possibility! For years, Christian students have lamented having Secular Humanist teachers, who criticize and try to destroy their faith, thinking that they are introducing them to the great secular world, which is so much more intelligent than that ancient religion they brought with them from their ignorant homes. Maybe these professors are afraid that if high school students are taught the scriptures, they will be better equipped to defend their faith before the class, and may even be able to witness to their non-Christian fellow students, denying them that wonderful secular Utopia the professors and schools promise!
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. I would be very interested in starting a dialog about this issue, exploring other people’s opinions, or discussing the problems of this policy with other Christians. If you would like more information on this issue, please check out this article from world Net Daily.
Also, be sure to check back for part III of this series, which will feature some good news about the sad state of California.
UPDATE: The judge in this case has dismissed the case in summary judgment. This means that the judge looked at the briefs and paperwork from each side and decide their was not enough to have a trial. This is extremely disappointing, as it not only makes it difficult to appeal (the plaintiffs have nothing to argue constitutionally), but it says a minor precedent. This case should be taken VERY seriously, as it could put all Christian education in jeopardy. We need to pray for the protection of our right to raise our children in Christian schools with Godly teaching. If we don’t fight for it, we will lose it.
