Don’t Confuse Religion, Science in Texts, Honig Urges Panel

For schoolchildren to receive the best instruction in science, they must read textbooks that do not confuse religion and science, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said Wednesday.

Addressing the California Curriculum Commission on a series of proposed guidelines for science textbooks, the schools chief urged commission members to strictly adhere to a new policy that directs that religious theories be excluded from scientific textbooks.

‘Ethical and Moral’

“These (religious theories) are things that are ethical and moral, and they should be addressed too by youngsters,” he said. “But it’s a different way of looking at things or understanding things, and the two really shouldn’t be confused.”

Unless the nation’s textbooks do a better job of teaching science, Honig said, the United States will not be able to maintain its “competitive edge” in the world.

Honig made his comments as commission members began a public hearing on proposed guidelines for science textbooks. The commission is expected to adopt a set of science textbook guidelines Friday and then forward them as a recommendation to the 11-member State Board of Education. The final decision on the guidelines will be made by the board in the fall.

Christian fundamentalists are opposing guidelines proposed by the commission’s science committee because they suggest that evolution should be treated in textbooks as “accepted fact.”

The Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Anaheim-based Traditional Values Coalition, told a press conference Wednesday that the proposal leaves no room for the presentation of competing theories on the origins of man, particularly the theory of creation or sudden appearance.

“I believe it would only be fair to present a variety of viewpoints,” he said. “We don’t want any one theory taught.”

In a separate press conference, People for the American Way, a civil-libertarian group, said it would begin a grass-roots campaign to press the board to accept the guidelines as they have been proposed.

Michael Hudson, western director and general counsel for the organization, said that unless textbook publishers are given specific direction, they tend to be “timid” and exclude any material on controversial subjects, such as evolution.

“What we’re really afraid of is another generation of scientifically illiterate children,” he said. “I think study after study has shown that American schoolchildren rank far below other Western democracies and developed countries in terms of their scientific literacy.”