Why do these people continue to ignore the obvious fact that genesis was allegorical???? It boggles the mind.
There are certain “slants” . . . and then there are other “slants.”
I don’t understand the problem in the first place.
If they want to give a degree in “Puppydog Kissing” they can.
That doesn’t mean that the state must accredit it, but they can grant a degree in anything and some fool will pay for it.
Without questioning either side in this suit, if the education enterprise who offered the degree is unable to, because someone, anyone, does not think it is “science”, then that same judge should take the exact curriculum descriptions of thousands of social science degrees and tell us why he thinks THEY are both rational and understandable to anyone but their creators.
But sometimes science is religious belief, eh? Such as, say, Global Warming. Or the descent of mankind by evolution.
As a free-speech matter, I don't understand how you can get a masters in theology, or in delusional Women's Studies, but somehow not a masters in theologically based scientific theory.
If you read Newton, you find that he considered his theories based on theology. Are today's edu-mication commissions better than Newton? . . . Er, no.
Let there be controversy Darwinism vs. Creationism. But NEVER let there be censorship as there exists now when leftist so-called universities will not even allow the teaching of the ‘creationist theory’. That’s a travesty to not even recognize a popular ‘theory’ in the realm of education.
Sparks is an interesting character, evidently quite colorful and entertaining. Appointed by Daddy Bush. Interestingly he did find in August of this past year that race based admissions are constitutional based upon the 14th Amend.
“On August 17, 2009, Judge Sparks ruled that the University of Texas system can use race as a factor in admitting students into universities that are part of the UT System.”
Religious beliefs are not science. Creationism is not a scientific theory, it is a religious belief.
Can you issue a master’s degree in man-made global warming sciences?
How about in abortion medicine that posits a fetus is not alive?
How about in psychological study that says homosexuality is normal?
Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
What did they do - hire Orly Taitz as their attorney?
Since when do we allow judges to set academic disciplines?
He can do that in his own spare time, off the clock, but when acting in his guise as a mild mannered Constitutional scholar it is a tad beyond his authority to determine what is or is not truly religious belief.
We've been having this problem with both the Executive and the Judicial branches of government, at both state and federal levels, ever since the first guy thought up the idea of New York state public schools having the exact same prayer said at the same time every school day. That was the "Regent's prayer" that became subject of the USSC decision in "Regents v....." also known as the School Prayer ruling.
First of all the Regent's had no Constitutional authority to write a prayer. Secondly the Supreme Court had no authority to determine if it was truly religious. Things have gone down hill ever since.
Now we have Sam Sparks, whose knowledge of religion is unknown, and is probably incomplete at best, telling everyone what is or is not a religious belief.
I reject Sam's authority as a government employee to tell me such things. He can tell me the time of day, or whether or not I'm on or off one of his juries, or something else in his competence, but not the religious items. Not his job.
It necessarily follows, then, that evolution, which is a religious belief, is not science.
Another reason for the separation of School & State.
Thank God!
The logic is simple.
If anything is biblical based, it is therefore not true and only a fairy tail because it is impossible for God to use man to communicate truths.
And
The only things that are true are those that are not biblical based and those which have been accepted as true by the people whose knowledge is limited to what they all agree on.
There is no reason the state should accredit them for this degree. If some one wants to attend and get a degree from them, then by all means, do so. The state isn’t stopping anyone from doing that.