Exactly! I've got 30 years of bible study in my heart and this would be such an opportunity!
My Matthew, reading with me, thinks similarly — and he's 15, having been HSed for ~9 years.
Yes! And there are even the occassional young persons in schools that already have to full armor on and stand proudly for what they believe, knowing they will often be demeaned. I think I was probably one of them...but the tests back then were not so hard.
They want to do this sort of thing starting in elementary schools.
My point exactly. My six year old Matthew is right now in the "green house" if you now what I mean. Before he can go out into the world, he needs to grow in the Lord. Then we'll need to find ways to harden him off (speaking all in gardener terms...we're gardeners you know!) I'm so excited to see what he will become when the process is completed successfully.
Tell your Matthew that I'm delighted he found my post worth reading!
Maybe a better parallel to my life-as-it-now-is would be to think in terms of a seminar at work. I work at a place that does occasional diversity "things." There is a "gay" presence, though it hasn't been too loud or obnoxious in my building.
But I could conceive of something like this being done, and my being faced with a decision. Being singled out like this could conceivably be threatening to my job, a job my family depends on. It would be a hard choice — though I don't believe I'd hesitate. (Peter teaches me not to boast too loudly over trials I haven't yet endured.)
Loss of esteem and friends, at that age, would be comparable. It's a rough go; at any rate, it isn't why Christian parents who use state schools send their kids to school. They just need to understand that the school's image of its mission has changed radically, to the point where it is becoming incompatible with responsible Christian parenting.
Dan