Posted on 07/05/2009 7:36:02 AM PDT by wintertime
A slew of research shows that America is losing the conservative Christian youth in massive droves. These studies show a generation being increasingly won over to a socialistic/secular-humanistic worldview in spite of the American church increasing their apologetic courses, children's programs, youth rallies and books and sermon series on child training.
What is happening? Could it be that we are doing something wrong? I would make the case that we are blatantly sinning in sending our kids to places that are, in fact, causing them to fall away. Let me lay out the case in three simple points.
( SNIP)
2. Is there any convincing evidence that a secular-humanistic public education is causing kids to stumble and fall away from the church?
* 88 percent of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18;
* 83 percent of children from committed Christian families attending public schools adopt a Marxist-socialist worldview;
* Mounting evidence that the public schools are successfully converting covenant children to secular humanism;
* Nehemiah Institute's graph showing the shocking result of a 20-year study on approximately 60,000 youth in 50 states from churchgoing families.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
AND that is a major problem with modern christianity...too many adult babies requiring spoon feeding!
These structures long preceded Christianity, dating back to fertility ceremonies of ancient pagan religions. Pagan priests used an upright stone, pillar, obelisk, or slender tower to represent the male sex organ. Even today, a stylized union of male and female genitals is found in many cultures.
http://thedissidentblog.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/the-origin-of-the-church-steeple-new-motivational-poster/
"Church Steeple Study" opposes the use of steeples in connection with Christian churches on the grounds that incorporating a steeple into a church building plan compromises the proper Christian rejection of paganism and permits the encroachment of apostate attitudes and practices. Its principal argument rests on the following series of major points: 1. A steeple or tower in association with a place of worship was a feature of ancient paganism, oriented to sun worship and fertility cultus. A common form, especially in Egypt, followed the geometric figure known as obelisk, which in places served also as a phallic symbol. Such pagan symbols are inappropriate in Christian churches. http://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/documents/steeples.htm
Scholar Ruth Andersson notes that when Christianity was gaining strength in its early years, priests and practitioners often adopted local traditions and religious symbols and beliefs as a way to convert non-Christians. "Pagan symbols abound within the church," says Andersson. "The steeple probably has its origins in the phallic obelisks or pillars of pagan practice. Particularly in the British Isles," she continues, "phallic imagery---as well as imagery of women represented by large vaginas---is commonplace, both in pagan sites and in churches. Lots of people never notice!"
http://www.ehow.com/about_5052101_origin-church-steeples.html
Please understand, that the steeple upon the roof of your church is an open declaration that the ROMAN BEAST has infiltrated your church, and your church leaders proclaim their acceptance of this filtration by placing the vulgar phallic symbol upon YOUR church roof! The steeple/obelisk is ONLY a symbol of Baal worship! And to allow this symbol to stand erected upon your church roof shouts loudly to all those listening that you are tolerating a Satanic symbol of the sex act to be glorified by your church family. Fact is, Satanists, Roman Catholicism, and Invisible Masons openly depict the obelisk as the erect male organ.
http://www.remnantofgod.org/steeple.htm
Wow...that took about 5 minutes.
I provided excerpts and links although I do not expect you to read the text or follow the links.
And if you suprise me and actually look at those pages, I don’t expect that you’ll take a critical look at yourself or consider for a moment that your past teaching could be wrong.
Geeze! (sigh!)
Maybe we sin because it feels good? Or we are too weak to do better?
A steeple is a sin?
Ping to an interesting discussion. Metmom is away this week so I am babysitting her list. Please freepmail her to get on or off.
I won’t call it a sin, if you have no other option, and many don’t, Public schools are the education of last resort. Sadly though far too many people foolishly treat them as education of first choice.
Public Schools are to education what public housing is to housing. Yes, not all kids and teachers in public schools are problems or bad, most are decent, however just like in public housing, those decent majority are run roughshod over by the indecent minority.
Sending kids to public schools is sin?
Hahaha you haven’t met a parent MIA, until you have met far too many inner city kids in Public Schools. They are so MIA that many, by the time their reach school age their kids are already literally lost of any chance of a life of potential.
My mother graduated high school in 1982, having been a product of elite Northern Virginia gifted and talented programs. She has said many times since that she learned far more homeschooling us than she did in her schools. History was neglected or redacted; mathematics were not taught well; science was a joke. But they taught lots and lots of “values clarifications” classes!
Sometimes it would be better for a child to be completely illiterate and innumerate than to ever set foot in their government K-12 school. There are schools that are that bad.
I accept the fact that there will always parents parents that are MIA but this percentage is GROWING, by CHOICE. It is happening in homes where it should NOT be happening. The materialistic, narcissistic parent is becoming the norm ... .
1. Often it is.
If you don’t have a clue about how sinister the schools are and how harmeful they are to children, then it could be that you are sinning by neglecting to be a vigilant informed parent.
If you are aware of the sinister nature and harm of these government schools, then you could be sinning by negelcting to protect your children from such harmful influences.
2. If you simply cannot afford to exercise any other option (singles moms might face this situation) for your child’s education and you have explored all possible alternatives, you are likely not sinning. This rationale would not typically apply to a family with both parents working in order to afford a large home, new cars, expensive hobbies-clothes-vacations.
My 3 cents.
Most definitely, parents should be the primary educators of their children and control all aspects of it. They, after all, care most about the future of their children.
I was thinking the model of co-op non-profit nursery school where the parents hire the teacher, rent a place, and also sit on board of directors and decide the curriculum.
Actually, I looked at those exact same cherry picked links yesterday.
I also saw several links explaining they were where the church bells were, AKA bell towers, used to call people to worship, and/or to be visible along the sky line or “watch towers” in a military function, which is obvious to a normal person when thinking about the crusades and knights, etc; without a liberal anti-Christian agenda or a liberal obsession with a phallus...
“The Encyclopedia Britannica states this of the spire: [it is] a symbol of the heavenly aspirations of pious medieval men (1979). The earliest of mans heavenly aspirations is recorded in Genesis 11:4: And they said, Go to, let us build a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven
Now, my church has no steeple, no bell tower, no bells that I’m aware of, but when I DO see an old church with a steeple, I certainly don’t think of paganism or phallic symbols, but I think of Charleston S.C. where no other building is allowed to be built higher, or even Paul Revere:
http://www.oldnorth.com/hist.htm
*Sigh*...To each his own I guess.
What’s clear is it’s impossible to know one way or another a single purpose existed or a single narrow definition excludes all other possibilities in each and every case, let alone any case.
I get so tired of liberals saying Christians shouldn’t celebrate Christmas or put up Christmas trees because of some pagan practice thousands of years ago.
Or we shouldn’t have steeples or Hitler was a Christan merely because he quoted scripture to the masses in Nurmeberg, blah blah blah.
Projecting about another’s laziness while proudly cherry picking liberal anti-Christian definitions in all of what? 5 minutes?? ... helps you HOW exactly on a Christian conservative site?
I believe that some posters are paid to be here.
sheesh, you’re probably right and not only that but on our dime!
My point with the Progressives is ONLY their ideas that go expressly against the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. They believe in a "living" Constitution. They believe that the separation of powers created in our Constitution should be abolished. They believe in a powerful central government and redistribution of wealth and social justice.
The most evil and flawed progressive idea, I think, is that "rights which (an individual) possesses are, it is believed, conferred upon him, not by his Creator, but rather by the society to which he belongs. What they are is to be determined by the legislative authority in view of the needs of the society. Social expediency, rather than natural right, is thus to determine the sphere of individual freedom of action." [American Progressivism-Goodnow]. I could go on and on.
My suggestion is read the book American Progressivism which has all the major speeches and/or essays by Wilson, TR, Goodnow, etc., that define the Progressive Era.
I quite liked TR because he genuinely believed in his (progressive) ideas as being the best for mankind. I think he was a moral man from reading about him and his life. He came to power at a time of vast corporate corruption and deplorable, immoral working conditions. He did things that did improve society, no doubt. Also,there was a lot of ignorance as to what progressive ideas would produce. Now there is no reason for that ignorance.
Cherry picked? Only in your mind!
Bell towers and landmarks are excuses for continuing pagan symbolism and you are just another apologist for baal worship with a Christian name.
Steeples, Easter Eggs, Christmas Trees...make excuses and justifications to ease your conscience I don’t care.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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