Quality Education Wins Again in the California Creationist Case

By Mike Dunford

The initial phase of the California Creationist Lawsuit is over, and quality education is the decisive winner. Kevin Vicklund has Judge Otero's [decision](http://missingthepoint.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/acsivuc-ruling.pdf), as well as [a very nice analysis of the ruling](http://missingthepoint.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/2nd-summary-judgment-in-acsi-v-stearns/) up over at his blog. If you've been following the case closely, you can probably jump right over there for the details. If you haven't been tracking the events closely, or want a quick review of the case, keep reading. I'm going to go over the history first, then I'll talk a bit about what Friday's decision means, and what is likely to happen with the case in the future.

The [lawsuit](http://www.acsi.org/webfiles/webitems/attachments/007875_2.%20ACSI%20CA%20Complaint.pdf) (_ACSI v. Stearns_) [was filed](http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/27/local/me-christian27) in federal court in August of 2005 by the Association of Christian Schools International, Calvary Chapel Christian School, and parents acting on behalf of their children, who were students at Calvary Chapel. They were challenging the University of California's decision to refuse to accept several of their courses as fulfilling UC's admissions requirements. The rejected courses covered the academic spectrum, with English, history, and science classes all failing to meet UC's scrutiny. The common element in the rejected courses was that they did not actually teach the material that UC requires from incoming students. Instead, the rejected courses taught a radically wrong "Christian perspective".

For most of us, the rejection of the courses was nothing more than the natural consequence of the Christian schools' decision to reject reality and teach fantasy. From their perspective, it represented an unconstitutional attack on their freedom of religion. The court, obviously, did not agree. To see why, we really need look no farther than [the introduction to the biology textbook](http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2007/08/more_on_the_california_creatio.php) used in one of the rejected courses:

[Read more at The Questionable Authority, where comments may be left.](http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2008/08/quality_education_wins_again_i.php)