Back in 2007, the Christian apologetics organization Institute for Creation Research set up shop in Texas in order to teach a master’s level science education course from “a Biblical scientific creationist viewpoint.” To be recognized, it needed the state of Texas to grant it accreditation. But the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board turned down the application for a “certificate of authority” to offer the degree.
As Raymund Paredes, the Texas commissioner of higher education, wrote, “It seemed clear to me upon reading the various evaluation documents that the central issue of whether the proposed program met appropriate standards of science education had been insufficiently addressed.”
In 2008, ICR cried not fair and filed suit against the state, essentially saying on one hand it’s not right for a bunch of science educators to tell them what’s science. And on the other hand, the denial amounts to religious discrimination and a violation of the First Amendment.
I love it how these folks are always trying to have it both ways. By the way, to quote York Daily Record columnist Mike Argento, I intend to start a course that “teaches that cows think in Spanish.”
On Friday, the U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks agreed with Paredes and granted summary judgment to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and threw out ICR’s case.
Sparks wrote, “Essentially, the panel reasoned much of the course content was outside the realm of science and lacked potential to help students understand the nature of science and the history and nature of the natural world.”
