August 25th, 2008
Blog Roundup 8/25/08: The Role of Religious Education
In a big step forward for secular education (or a step back for religious schools, depending on your point of view), a federal judge ruled recently that the University of California system may refuse to grant credits for certain history and science courses from religious high schools.
Judge S. James Otero agreed with UC’s contention that science courses which deny evolutionary theory and history courses which focus only on Christian interpretations of events do not teach critical thinking, and ignore major scientific consensus. The LA Times reported:
In a final ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge S. James Otero said UC demonstrated a rational basis for rejecting Calvary Christian’s English, history, government and religion courses and did not display any “animus” toward the school or its Christian doctrines.
More on this topic later in the week.
Meanwhile, if you think Christian schools are controversial in the U.S., try running one in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country. The Chronicle of Higher Ed reports that the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology in Jakarta will relocate after facing violent attacks from locals. As with many conflicts that are religious or cultural on the surface, the real culprit may be economics: some observers suspect that the attacks were staged by local developers who want to take over the site.
