Saying the University of California system is discriminating against Christians, a lawsuit has been filed against the network of colleges claiming potential students at faith-based private schools have not been given credit for several high-school courses they've taken.

According to the North County Times, the suit was filed on behalf of Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, Calif., five of its students, and the Association of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 religious schools in the state and 4,000 nationwide, court documents state.

The suit, filed Thursday, claims the UC system, which operates 10 public universities serving more than 200,000 students, is discriminating against Christian schools by rejecting some high-school courses for college-entrance credit because they include or are based upon Christian viewpoints.

"They do not have the right to try and secularize a private, Christian education," attorney Robert Tyler, who represents the Murrieta school and its students, told the local paper. "While they are allowing other courses from other secular and religious viewpoints, they will not give credit to courses from a Christian viewpoint."

A statement from the UC system said it is allowed by law to establish "legitimate academic standards for admission" to ensure students who are admitted are prepared and qualified.

Merlyn Campos is UC Riverside's interim associate director of undergraduate admission.

"It's not just Christian courses that are not approved," she is quoted as saying. "There are lots of courses that don't get approved. ... I don't have any reason to believe (the procedure) is not clearly based on content, and what is required for students to prepare for courses in the UC system."

One class UC rejected was "Christianity's Influence on America," which a university-system document cited as "too narrow (and) too specialized" as reasons for not approving the class.

"The content of the course outline submitted for approval is not consistent with the empirical historical knowledge generally accepted in the collegiate community," states the UC document, which was sent to the Christian school in Murrieta last fall. "Students who take these courses may not be well prepared if and when they enter history (or) social science courses at UC."

The North County Times reported another Calvary Chapel course rejected by the UC system was called "Christianity and Morality in American Literature." UC personnel suggested the course be resubmitted as an English course.

The lawsuit claims the course was, in fact, submitted as an English course, but the school resubmitted it anyway, only to receive a second rejection.

In rejecting the course – which includes the study of authors Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin, Henry David Thoreau and C.S. Lewis – UC documents stated: "Unfortunately, this course, while it has an interesting reading list, does not offer a non-biased approach to the subject matter." The rejection also cited "insufficient academic/theoretical content."

The suit cites several courses the UC system has approved from other schools, saying the approval of those classes and rejection of the Christian classes proves bias. They include such courses as "Existential Literature," "Gender, Sexuality and Identity in Literature," "Intro to Buddhism" and "Feminist Issues Throughout U.S. History."

According to the suit, UC also has rejected science classes from the Christian school, saying the textbooks used, which include discussion of intelligence design theory, are "not consistent with the viewpoints and knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community."

Tyler is a constitutional attorney and general counsel of the Temecula, Calif.-based Advocates for Faith and Freedom law firm. His children attend Calvary Chapel Christian School and his wife teaches there, according to the local report.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46027