If Christians don't have faith in God, they will have your attitude. Think about the mustard seed. It is happening in one school district. The guy heading the school district used to be a principal at the Christian school my daughter attends.
Regardless of how many prayers around the flag pole there are, inside the government school the students will be fed a bowl of godless potage. ( Remember the story of Esau?)
Yes, I do. I am also familiar with Moses and Isaac, are you? It is you that has little faith. YOU have given up! Your faith is weak.
Parents who send their children into schools where they taught to view everything from a godless perspective are selling their children's Christian birthright for a bowl of potage!
It is PARENTS that keep up with their kids that combat the nonsense and stand up. YOu’ve given up. You see a glass half empty. The GOP sees it this way too and why we are becoming Demoncrats.
I have my daughter in a “Christian” school. It used to be conservative but it is veering to the left. We follow what she does. We fill her head with godly principles and good books. She’s in John Hopkins Talented and Gifted program. The top 5% of kids in the U.S. and internationally are in it. She uses them for math. Their science is ungodly.
Yes, she will be exposed to the ungodly but I yes *I* the PARENT will supplement and give her the other side that agrees with her faith. It is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to do this. We ACCEPT that responsibility. We sacrifice to do this. I don't work. We do with less. I don't mind. She is the most valuable asset we will leave behind. Other parents have NO CLUE on what their kids are being taught or what they are doing. They don't care. They are chasing the $$$$ and showering them with material things and not making them WORK or be RESPONSIBLE.
You need an attitude adjustment. There are other parents like us. We socialize with like minded parents. They are out there. It takes effort to find them. Again, MOST parents don't take the time.
click here to download pdf tract version of this document
by E. Ray Moore, Jr., Chaplain (Lt. Col.) USAR Ret.
from _St. Louis MetroVoice_, July 2004
One of the foremost criticisms from Christians who oppose the Exodus Mandate's agenda of encouraging Christian parents to remove their children from the public education system is, “Christian children should not be taken out of public schools because they are serving as ‘salt and light’ to their classmates and carrying out the Great Commission.” (See Matt. 5:13-14 and Matt. 28:18-20)
It goes without saying that ALL Christians have a responsibility to be “salt and light” and help fulfill the Great Commission as commanded by our Lord. However, the salt and light theological argument is being grossly misapplied to children at the K though 12 level.
The fact is children at the K-12 levels are not mature enough nor are they properly equipped apologetically to exist in a _humanistic religious environment_ that is hostile and contrary to their Christian faith. Some may question the validity of calling public education a “humanistic religious environment,” but according to Joe R. Burnett, the editor of _The Humanist_ Magazine in 1961, “Public education is the parochial education for scientific humanism.”
The fact is ALL EDUCATION IS RELIGIOUS. There is no such thing as neutrality in education and the public education system has been _officially_ godless and humanistic in both design and practice for a long, long time.
If you question these facts, then I suggest you consult the dozen U.S. Supreme Court cases since the _Everson_ case in 1947 that have expelled Christian doctrine, practice and now, moral behavior, from our public schools. If that's not enough to convince you that what I am saying is the truth, then take a look at the curriculum in your local government school. Even the most cursory review should be enough to prove that public education is decidedly anti-Christian and designed to “indoctrinate” as opposed to truly “educate” children. Add the fact that the great majority of public school educators are non-Christians who bring their anti-Christian bias to the classroom and what you have is an environment that is not only anti-Christian, academically counterproductive and morally bankrupt, but sometimes even physically unsafe for a child of God.
Any semblance of a Christian worldview which parents have instilled in their children at home is under constant attack every hour their child sits in a public school classroom. And, whether they realize it or not, the same goes for teachers and administrators who are Christians in the public education system whose witness is suppressed as well as their Constitutional right of free speech.
Christian parents are _commanded_ to place their children under godly and Christian teaching, not neo-pagan or humanistic instruction. Like it or not, there are only two choices — obedience or disobedience to God's commands. (See Col. 2:8; 2 Cor. 10:3-5; Deut. 6:1-9; Mal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 6:14-19 along with Luke 6:40. Matt. 22:37-38 and Eph. 6:4)
Kindergarten through grade 12 education, either by Christian home schooling or through a solid, biblically based Christian day school, conforms to the overall responsibility for Christian families to engage in biblical parenting. Placing a child in a public school does not!
|| Children Missionaries? ||
The same basic justification for Christian parents keeping their children in the pubic education system is made using the Great Commission. (See Matt. 28:18-20) The thrust of this argument is that Christian children at K-12 levels are or can be missionaries in public schools.
Christian adults bear this responsibility, not their children. Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is it remotely suggested that Jews or Christians are permitted to have their children educated in a pagan institution. In fact, the Bible is quite clear that children require nurturing, training, and, yes, even being “set apart for a season.” In other words, childhood is a time of discipling.
Being a missionary is not kids play — it's adult work and certainly not for children who are not yet prepared or trained apologetically to defend their faith and beliefs. Christian parents who send their children as surrogate evangelists to public schools may sincerely believe they are doing the right thing and I certainly don't believe they are willfully or consciously being disobedient to God. Rather, I believe they are doing so for any one of a number of misguided reasons. It could be a case of not taking the time to really investigate what the Scriptures have to say regarding their responsibilities to protect their children; they're unaware of the facts regarding public education as mentioned previously above; they haven't taken a long hard look at the potential consequences of their actions or perhaps they're following the advise of someone or some misguided program. Regardless of the reason, the fact remains that they are either being deceived or deceiving themselves if they believe their children can be successful as missionaries in the public education system. It is only by the grace of God that in some cases He protects their children from harm.
|| Who's Converting Whom ||
The reality of the situation is that very little Christian witnessing is ever done by children in public schools to begin with. As with everything else in life, there are of course some exceptions to the rule.
Without question, the lion's share of converting and witnessing is accomplished through the public education curriculum, peer pressure from other children — most of whom are non-Christian — and educators who implant (either subtly or obviously and conscientiously or unconscientiously) their humanistic, neo-pagan or new age doctrines within the minds and hearts of Christian children. These children, I might add, are a captive audience with little or no chance to speak up or opportunity to rebut their teachers.
The research data on the success of the public schools in indoctrinating Christian youth with humanistic or neo-pagan worldviews is overwhelming. The Nehemiah Institute’s worldview PEERS test shows that 83-percent of the children from committed Christian families in public schools adopt a secular humanist or Marxist socialist worldview. At the SBC’s 2002 annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life reported, among other disturbing things, that 88-percent of the children raised in evangelical homes leave church at age 18. Barna Research reports that only 9-percent of born-again teens believe in moral absolutes, and more than half believe that Jesus sinned while He was on earth. We believe the fact that 80-percent of Christian families send their children to public schools is a prime reason for this lost legacy.
|| Conclusion ||
For 2,000 years, the Christian Church has based all its preaching, teaching and educational enterprises such as Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, AWANA, seminary education, higher education, pulpit ministry and Bible studies on text like Matt. 28:20 where Jesus says “Teaching them..” This text along with many others is the basis for all Church educational and teaching programs.
Very simply we want to put K-12 education BACK INTO THE GREAT COMMISSION. We believe Jesus assigned the teaching or the education mandate to the family and Church, not to the state or government. The state or government has usurped the role of the family and Church in running K-12 public schools. We don't want government offering the sacraments or ordinances of the Church, preaching the Gospel, taking over the pastoral role, and we don't want them teaching children at the K through12 levels either. The state shouldn't run our Sunday Schools and neither should they run our Monday through Friday day schools.
Our case is as much religious and theological as educational and academic. In Christian theology it is improper to compartmentalize or separate areas of knowledge or disciplines such as teaching and education from the anchor or foundation of God's Holy Word.
The above article appeared in the July 2004 issue of the _St. Louis MetroVoice_ - St. Louis’ Christian News and Events Publication. The MetroVoice is a non-denominationally and non-politically aligned monthly newspaper that serves the greater St. Louis Missouri metro area and outlying communities which approaches everything from a Christian worldview perspective. For more information regarding the _St. Louis MetroVoice_ visit their web site at www.metrovoice.net or call 314-965-5757.
“........MOST parents don’t take the time. “
Bingo! On the mark.
You have summed it up nicely. MOST parents are lazy, and uneducated themselves. Does anyone expect different results than what we have with such a situation?
Sometimes I think it’s unfair to blame the parent, but in this case it is quite appropriate.
You are right, but one thing the progressives did (John Dewey) is to lower the ages for compulsory education and there is a big move to make preschool universal....it is all to indoctrinate children into the progressive (moral relativist) view. Parents are being undermined in all aspects--through media, music, esp. and schools. As they are being undermined they are told it is as good to have young children raised in day cares as in the home--again to break the family bond and create good little marxists who are conformists)
Absolute values are being constantly attacked if you go outside the home, Christians especially. The attack is as ruthless as it has been on Palin but is more covert and couched by "nice" language. Tolerance, multiculturalism, pro-choice, equal rights, etc., etc. Progressives have painted moral people as bigots and haters and have control over all media but a few outlets. It is extremely hard to buck the system--Palin is a good example. Children are NOT strong enough to fight the progressive system in place (emotionally or intellectually) and most adults have trouble identifying it even if they are against it. Putting children in public schools is like throwing them to the wolves. Like I say, it was covert for years and now, with O, it is seeing the light but most people still can't understand what is happening. To think children will be immune to the intense indoctrination is ignorant.