William O. Douglas

“ If the board resists, then the battle line between church and state will have been drawn and the contest will be on to keep the school board independent or to put it under church domination and control.
Whatever may be said of Everson, there is nothing ideological about a bus. There is nothing ideological about a school lunch, or a public nurse, or a scholarship. The constitutionality of such public aid to students in parochial schools turns on considerations not present in this textbook case. The textbook goes to the very heart of education in a parochial school. ”

“ The initiative to select and requisition 'the books desired' is with the parochial school. Powerful religious-political pressures will therefore be on the state agencies to provide the books that are desired.
These then are the battlegrounds where control of textbook distribution will be won or lost. Now that 'secular' textbooks will pour into religious schools, we can rest assured that a contest will be on [16] to provide those books for religious schools which the dominant religious group concludes best reflect the theocentric or other philosophy of the particular church. ”

“ The challenged New York law leaves to the Board of Regents, local boards of education, trustees, and other school authorities the supervision of the textbook program.
The Board of Regents (together with the Commissioner of Education) has powers of censorship over all textbooks that contain statements seditious in character, or evince disloyalty to the United States or are favorable to any nation with which we are at war. New York Education Law § 704. Those powers can cut a wide swath in many areas of education that involve the ideological element. ”

“ It is as much a part of man's nature as the will to self-preservation.' (At 560) .
'The broadest definition of socialism is government ownership of all the means of production and distribution in a country. * * * Many, but by no means all, Socialists in the nineteenth century believed that crime and vice existed because poverty existed, and if poverty were eliminated, then crime and vice would disappear. While it is true that poor surroundings are usually unhealthy climates for high moral training, still, man has the free will to check himself. ”

“ But certain it is that once the so-called 'secular' textbook is the prize to be won by that religious faith which selects the book, the battle will be on for those positions of control. Judge Van Voorhis expressed the fear that in the end the state might dominate the church. Others fear that one sectarian group, gaining control of the state agencies which approve the 'secular' textbooks, will use their control to disseminate ideas most congenial to their faith. ”

“ The New York Legislature felt that science was a non-sectarian subject (see n. 5, supra) . Does this mean that any general science textbook intended for use in grades 7-12 may be provided by the State to parochial school students? May John M. Scott's Adventures in Science (1963) be supplied under the textbook loan program? This book teaches embryology in the following manner:
'To you an animal usually means a mammal, such as a cat, dog, squirrel, or guinea pig. The new animal or embryo develops inside the body of the mother until birth. ”

“ The proposed new Constitution, as a whole, is so closely related to our lives that it must command our careful consideration. This document addresses itself to values basic to the fulfillment of our lives as citizens. ”

“ As a result of several spirited discussions in the Academic Senate, a resolution was passed by that body that a self-evaluation be made of the effectiveness with which we are achieving in our classrooms the stated objectives of the University. * * * The primacy of the spiritual is the reason for a Christian university. Our goal is not merely to equip students with marketable skills. It is far above this-to educate man, the whole man, the theocentric man. ”

“ Many Socialists, however, denied free will and said that man was a creation of his environment. * * * If Socialists do not deny Christ's message, they often ignore it. Christ showed us by His life that this earth is a testing ground to prepare man for eternal happiness. ”

“ The fertilized egg becomes an embryo or developing animal. Many cell divisions take place. In time some cells become muscle cells, others nerve cells or blood cells, and organs such as eyes, stomach, and intestine are formed.
'The body of a human being grows in the same way, but it is much more remarkable than that of any animal, for the embryo has a human soul infused into the body by God. Human parents are partners with God in creation. ”

“ Those who were rich wanted to hold on to their property. These people thought that Francisco Franco, a Fascist, could help them.↑ The purpose of the parochial school in the beginning is clear beyond peradventure. ”