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Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al. 

Association of Christian Schools International v. Roman Stearns was filed in spring 2006 by Association of Christian Schools International against the University of California. The suit alleged the university system that the rejection of several Christian science courses was "viewpoint discrimination" which violated the constitutional rights of applicants from Christian schools whose high school coursework is deemed inadequate preparation for college. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of six children who had not been rejected from the university. In August 2006, the case was allowed to proceed against the university while lawsuits against individual school officials were thrown out.[1]

The National Center for Science Education noted, "One of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs is Wendell Bird, a former staff attorney for the Institute for Creation Research. As a special assistant attorney general for Louisiana, he defended the state's "equal time" law, which was ruled to be unconstitutional in Edwards v. Aguillard. He is the author of The Origin of Species Revisited, which compares evolution and a version of creationism he called "abrupt appearance."[1] The National Center for Science Education works in collaboration with National Academy of Sciences, the National Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association, which consider creationism and intelligent design to be pseudoscience.[2]

The Association retained leading intelligent design proponent Michael Behe to testify in the case as an expert witness. Behe's expert witness report claimed that the Christian textbooks were excellent works for high school students and he defended that view in a deposition.[3][4]

On March 28, 2008 the defendants won a legal victory when their motion for partial summary judgment was granted, and the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment was denied.[5] In part of the judgement, the court focused on several creationist/intelligent design texts and quoted Behe's testimony against the plaintiffs:[6]

Plaintiff's evidence also supports Defendants' conclusion that these biology texts are inappropriate for use as the primary or sole text. Plaintiffs' own biology expert, Professor Michael Behe, testified that "it is personally abusive and pedagogically damaging to de facto require students to subscribe to an idea. . . . Requiring a student to, effectively, consent to an idea violates his personal integrity. Such a wrenching violation [may cause] a terrible educational outcome." (Behe Decl. Para. 59.)

Yet, the two Christian biology texts at issue commit this "wrenching violation." For example, Biology for Christian Schools declares on the very first page that:

  1. "'Whatever the Bible says is so; whatever man says may or may not be so,' is the only [position] a Christian can take. . . ."
  2. "If [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong, no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them."
  3. "Christians must disregard [scientific hypotheses or theories] that contradict the Bible." (Phillips Decl. Ex. B, at xi.)


Biologist PZ Myers wrote "the judge pointed out that the books which Behe approved flatly state that Christians must accept creationist conclusions—unlike our biology books, which don't demand any religious litmus test of their readers—and were therefore perfect examples of exactly the problem he was complaining about."[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Creationist lawsuit against UC system to proceed", National Center for Science Education (August 10, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  2. ^ See: 1) List of scientific societies rejecting intelligent design 2) Kitzmiller v. Dover page 83. The Discovery Institute's Dissent From Darwin Petition has been signed by about 500 scientists. The AAAS, the largest association of scientists in the U.S., has 120,000 members, and firmly rejects ID.
  3. ^ Behe, Michael J. (April 2, 2007) Expert Witness report in Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al.
  4. ^ United States District Court for the Central District of California (May 30, 2007) Deposition of Michael Behe in Association of Christian Schools International et al. v. Roman Stearns et al.
  5. ^ "Interim victory in California creationism case", National Center for Science Education (April 1, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 
  6. ^ Association of Christian Schools International, et al. v. Roman Sterns et al: Order denying plaintiff's motion for summary judgement and granting defendant's motion for partial summary judgement, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. CV 05-6242 SJO (MANx); Case 2:05-cv-06242-SJO-MAN Document 164, filed 03/28/2008. Access date 04/04/2008
  7. ^ "Mike Behe, friend to evolution", Pharyngula (blog) (April 2, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 

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