13 December 2005
With yesterday’s hearing on the motion to dismiss a case brought by Calvary Chapel Christian Schools against the University of California, over the university’s refusal to accredit several of the Christian high school’s courses, Mike Weiss of The San Francisco Chronicle investigates the background of the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, Wendell Bird, a veteran of the culture wars since his education under Robert Bork, and a long-time advocate of furthering conservative Christian goals through litigation concerning public schools. Bird’s involvement in the case, writes Weiss, is an indication of how seriously Christian conservatives are taking it, as was the decision of Calvary Chapel to take the offensive in the case: bringing the lawsuit against the school without any of its six student plaintiffs having been denied admission, and arguing solely on the grounds that UC’s course-accredidation standards are hampering the school’s religious freedom and its mission to teach, first and foremost, a biblical worldview, by insisting that its courses be nonbiased and comprehensive.