Critical Thinking (Textbook) Lapse

I discovered this illustration in a new  textbook I am reviewing for adoption in my Critical Thinking class. Now, most of the books on the subject are pretty obviously left wing biased. This comes out in the examples they use (most pro-liberal and anti-conservative). But this was a new low.

Note that the image is of a man reading a Bible, yet this has nothing to do with the sort of goofy beliefs being contrasted with scientific facts in the article. Christians, in general, are not known for believing in aliens, astrology, or psychic powers (unlike, say, liberals!). So why use it? Clearly the author thought there was some corollary here, but this is plainly false.

I sent this off to Oxford Press to let them know what I think of it:

While I have come to expect some amount of bias from CT textbooks, and often enjoy pointing out errors in critical thinking in them, I was upset by the religion-bashing in this text. The illustration on page 395 is a good example – here the author compares superstitious beliefs in aliens, astology, and psychic powers to scientific facts. Yet the accompanying illustration shows a man reading a Bible. Why? These superstitions are not part of the Christian worldview, nor are they religious in nature. I doubt this lapse in critical thinking would have gone unchallenged had it been a Quran or a book on homosexual rights in the picture. Isn’t this the kind of unreflective, shallow, and intolerant kind of message that religious people are accused of putting forth? I expect better of Oxford.