Who am I to tell Christians to stop supporting government education?

RazorMouth ^ | 7/28/02 | Jim Babka

[ppaul]

My recent RazorMouth article on the Pledge of Allegiance was republished in two other venues, and I received a lot of angry email. One Christian mother from Florida wrote to tell me that, because her sister home-schooled her children, she had prayerfully re-evaluated whether she should do the same. Both she and her husband felt that God was clearly leading them to leave their children in the government schools. In her words:

one of the paragraphs in your article really angered and offended me. You stated, "and those Christian parents who insist on deluding themselves about the wonders of public education will remain where they are." Mr. Babka, if I am being "deluded" about the education of my children, then it is God who is doing the deluding, because it is His voice to which we are listening. She “shuddered to think of what our public school system, and the children in it, would be if ALL Christian parents pulled their children out.” She went on to point out the wonderful impact Christian kids have in government schools. Then she asked me, “How can my children be salt and light if they are doing their studies at the dining room table and not in a classroom full of kids who may have never heard the gospel?”

I understand her point, and appreciate her feeling that God is leading her, but we must remember that other parents likewise feel that God is also leading them to abandon the government schools. I would urge her to more prayer, because there are other issues to consider, and more than one way to provide salt and light to the world.

Young children are impressionable. They lack the experience for discernment. And it's a well-established fact that you only get back what you put in. The state has her children for more waking hours than she does. She can’t control whom they associate with, or what they hear, see, and read. Perhaps, because her children are teenagers, they’re already prepared to prosper in an atmosphere antagonistic to her values. But it seems risky to expect the same from an elementary school child.

More importantly, we must consider what would happen if all Christian parents removed their children from the government schools. I believe the system would fold for lack of business. Would this increase or decrease the salt and light we provide to the world? And what would be the state of our nation’s children?

Education would still continue, but now it would thrive—as it did before public schools were created 120 years ago (when having an 8th grade education meant that someone was ready for college). It would also cost far less and teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, and other social ills would almost certainly plummet. I believe this would add a great deal of salt and light to the world.

We also need to remember that schools teach according to their own institutional interests.

Catholic schools teach that the Pope, bishops, and priests, and their moral teachings, hold the answers, and that a sacramental life is pretty important.

Evangelical Christian schools teach that the Bible holds the answers, and that personal salvation and godly behavior are necessary.

Prep schools teach that the elites of science, business, and government hold the answers, and that hard work and academic success are necessary to join that elite.

So, what should we expect government schools to teach?

My thoughtful correspondent from Florida believes she is able to control what goes on at her local government school, because she is heavily involved in it. But she is just one person, and the stories of school districts thumbing their nose at parents are legion. Just because it's never happened to her doesn't mean it won’t. And given the power of teachers unions, does she believe she could force the school board to change its mind (especially in a major city)?

Now I'm not disputing that her children can be a godly example in their government school, but I do believe that the costs and the benefits don’t add up to a net increase for salt and light in the world. Quite simply, I don’t believe children are qualified to be missionaries, and they are therefore more likely to be corrupted by the godless environment of the government schools than to effectively change that environment.

Missionaries must meet certain qualifications before they're sent into a mission field. Children do not meet those qualifications. I would like my Florida correspondent, and other concerned parents like her, to seriously consider whether their children will be able to detect when they’re being brainwashed by environmentalism, drug-war propaganda, relative value systems, sex-ed, and diversity training.

Government schools naturally teach children to trust government, and learning to trust government means learning to question parental authority, worship Mother Earth, worship the state (hence the Pledge of Allegiance), and accept as normal that Heather Has Two Mommies.

It seems clear to me that home-schooled and Christian-schooled children can provide more salt and light to the world than government-schooled Christian kids for the simple reason that they are being trained all day, every day, to do exactly that.

Finally, we need to recognize that government schools are based on compulsion. They confiscate the wealth of people without children, and even worse, those who have kids but who are not using the system. In other words, Christian parents who feel God is leading them to teach their children elsewhere are forced to pay twice! The compulsion and confiscation of the government schools violates everything we Christians are supposed to believe in.

How can we end this immoral system?

If all Christian parents would remove their children then the system would collapse, and the money confiscated by the government schools would instead flow toward private, and godlier alternatives. This sea-change would be a sign that Christians have truly accepted their calling to be salt and light, and that God has jurisdiction over both the rearing of our children and our pocketbooks.

Link to article HERE.

[OrthodoxPresbyterian]

Prove to you? Why? I already gave you the reasoning. Take it or leave it. I'm not interested in your self serving morality.

Sorry -- I must've missed it, somewhere in the "ends justifies the means" argument about how "we all benefit and are users of the educational systems that are in place". As I said before, I could not care less about an end-results "distributive benefit" argument like that. You could use the same kind of "distributive benefit" argument to justify Government-mandated Slavery, so I am ruling it out on a prima facie basis.

Ergo, I humbly ask that you would please humor me with your justification for why the Government is morally correct to compel Home-Schoolers and Private-Schoolers to subsidize the education of Government-Schoolers.

Respectfully, I am going to pre-emptively dis-allow any arguments predicated upon "distributive benefits". I do not care if you think that Government Education benefits the "Nation" in its distributive results. Go to the source axiom. Humor me with your justification for why the Government is morally correct to compel Home-Schoolers and Private-Schoolers to subsidize the education of Government-Schoolers.

What about the households with no kids? You don't worry about them being compelled to pay taxes for other people's kids? Your agenda is showing.

I will respond in two parts --

1.) You are correct that Property-owning childless Taxpayers should not pay Property Taxes for the specific benefit of Government Schoolers. In fairness, this is a SIDE ISSUE, as the primary Taxpayers of "education taxes" are family taxpayers with children, many of whom would gladly "opt out" of the Government Schools if you refunded their Tax-share of the subsidies they provide to the Government Schools. But, yes, it is technically Immoral for a Family to steal from a Single Man to subsidize their own children's Government Schooling.

2.) BUT THAT SAID, as one of those child-less single Taxpayers myself, I can honestly say that I do not care if my own Property and Sales Taxes were not reduced one penny. I have "enough" and am thankful as it is. The Government Thieves can keep my own personal Property Taxes and my Sales Taxes; I don't care that much. You Government-Schoolers can take my money, for all I care.

But, as a childless Property-Owner, I am the exception to the Rule of property-taxation. 80% of my own Congregation are Home-Schooling Parents, and the Government is taking their money to subsidize the godless and illegitimate Government Schools.

If the Government Schools would just refund the Tax-money that Home-Schooling and Private-Schooling Parents surrender to the Government Leviathan, I as a "Childless Single" will fight my own battles. Just stop robbing my brethren and their children, give them their money back, and I as a "childless single household" will fight my own battles. Fair 'nuff??

[Concentrate]

bttt.

[ppaul]

Prove to me that the Government is morally correct to compel Home-Schoolers and Private-Schoolers to subsidize the education of Government-Schoolers.

Impossible.

[ppaul]

Come, let us reason together.....
Food for thought and further lively discussion:

Safely Home
A tragedy of the contemporary church is its ineffectiveness in passing on the Faith to the next generation. The children of believers too often abandon the faith of their fathers and blend into an increasingly godless society. This is happening despite a growing smorgasbord of children's programs and family ministries. Church shepherds realize that something is wrong, but are at a loss as to what to do about it. Will adding another program be the key that begins to turn things around? Tom Eldredge answers with an emphatic "no." He shows how the original conflict in the Garden between God's methods and those of the enemy were repeated in the clash of the Greek (humanist) and Hebrew (biblical) worldviews, and how we continue with the same struggle today. The choice has always been: knowledge or relationship, which is more important? Most families, churches, and schools today choose the Greek method of raising children, when only the Hebrew method, with its emphasis on relationships, will prove effective in preserving true biblical faith over time. Eldredge offers practical and biblical hope for those dads who are willing to redirect their priorities and go safely home.

[ppaul]

Oops!
Sorry y'all.

HERE is the correct link.

[patriot_wes]

We homeschool and couldn't agree more. Here's an appropriate quote to think about.....

"As vice president of a large urban school board, here's a message for parents of every public school child in America: Private school choice is one of the best things that ever happened to my city's public schools." Many are surprised to hear that from an elected member of the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Board of Directors. ... Milwaukee's experience with school choice flatly contradicts the claims of its opponents, who misled citizens to think that private school choice harms children 'left behind' in public schools. The exact opposite is true in Milwaukee, where we have the nation's oldest and largest program of tax-supported vouchers for low-income parents."
(Ken Johnson, Vice President, Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors and member of IBEW Local 494, AFL-CIO)

[ArGee]

She went on to point out the wonderful impact Christian kids have in government schools.

I'm not sure if there are any examples of such impact. Mostly Christian kids in the state schools are derided or ridiculed. However, if she really believes this is how her kids are to be used, she should sign them up for military duty. If they are prepared to handle this spiritual battle they must be prepared to handle a simple physical firefight.

Shalom.

[TomSmedley]

Sure. I was thinking that this should be done in cases of single parents or those who are financially incapable of doing so. For example, the church should provide scholarships for these families.

We are singing from the same page. A privately-funded "voucher" program would also go far to making things right.

R.J. Rushdoony told of a billionaire who consulted with him on how to make an impact for God's glory. RJR suggested that he set up and fund a few hundred high-quality Christian high schools. The man, however, got sucked into a sequence of "win the world overnight" schemes, and blew his discretionary income. In the twilight of his life, after his family had wrested away control of his fortune, the formerly rich man agreed that RJR had been right.

Truett Cathy, the bald, beaming, benevolent Baptist founder of Chik-Fil-E, has set up several educational foundations. He also teaches a sunday school for 13 year-old boys. One of the happiest speakers I've ever heard.

[TomSmedley]

God gives us his law and his precepts. These precepts give direction for every area of our lives including the education of our children.

See Deut. 6. The first and greatest application of the first and greatest commandment is -- home schooling. Raising our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to understand every detail of life in the context of His transcendent purposes.

[TomSmedley]

The federal government has no business in education, but I cannot say the same for local and state governments.

The bottom line question is, Who Owns the Children? (That's also the title of a nifty book you can download free at http://www.freebooks.com). Who is ultimately responsible for the care, feeding, raising, and education of our children? Families, or civil government? Consider the results of the "war on poverty." Before it started, black teenagers had lower unemployment rates than white teenagers. Black families were solid. Bastardy was around 4%. (now around 60+%). Then, Caesar stepped in "to help." Using a series of assaults modeled after the successful means the Bureau of Indian Affairs pioneered to subdue an unruly minority, the "war on poverty" generated a perpetual underclass, which provided good middle-class jobs for the young professionals who soaked up 90+ cents of every dollar directed towards "poverty."

Government "help" cripples people by sapping their initiative, robbing them of self-respect, removing the sharp spur of necessity that catalyzes personal growth.

God wants us to be whole, not crippled. Caesar's "free" gifts cost too much. Of our neighbors, and of our own souls.

[George W. Bush]

• If you advocate that Caesar levy taxes to punish Murder, it is not "theft" but rendering that which is Caesar's -- to Punish Murder. (Rom. 13:1-10)
• If you advocate that Caesar levy taxes to punish Adultery, it is not "theft" but rendering that which is Caesar's -- to Punish Adultery. (Rom. 13:1-10)
• If you advocate that Caesar levy taxes to punish Theft, it is not "theft" but rendering that which is Caesar's -- to Punish Theft. (Rom. 13:1-10)

Et cetera. Render unto Caesar that which is his.

Sounds like Theonomy 101. But it is a historical argument nonetheless, of the sort which promoted constitutional and republican government and introduced representative government to replace the despotism of monarchy.

Orthodox Pr-r-r-r-r-rotestants do well to base their argument on these grounds.

[TomSmedley]

Are you being asked to render unto Caesar that which is Biblically his, or are you being asked to render unto Caesar that which is NOT Biblically his??

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the convenient benchmark given in I Samuel 8 -- whenever Caesar demands as much as God (the tithe), then Caesar is attempting to supplant God, and Caesar is too big for his britches.

During the Babylonian Captivity, the land had 70 years to catch up on its neglected sabbatical years. 70 times 7 = 490. Count the years backward, and you discover that the sabbatical years ended when Saul was anointed King. The burden of a centralized state robbed the people, and the land, of their sabbatical years. (I would not mind taking a whole year off every 7th year, would you?)

Another point to ponder: the average American evanglical gives God 1/4 of a tithe, and pays Caesar 4 times the tithe. A successful tax reduction program includes (a) tithing your money to God, and (b) withholding your children from Caesar.

[Jerry_M]

A simple rule that has always worked for me:

If you believe that God is instructing you to do something which is contrary to His revelation as contained in His Word, then it is not God speaking to you, but a spiritual power of darkness.

God will never blow an uncertain trumpet, He will never act contrary to His revealed Word.

[TomSmedley]

Home school and private school vouchers in the proper amount is what you should be striving for.

No way Jose! Why would I want to help myself to my neighbor's money? Why would I want to employ those who "wield the sword," who apply coercion, as my personal shake-down agents? What has my neighbor done to me, that would make me so hostile towards him, so willing to inflict real harm upon him?

[George W. Bush]

Onward Christian children
Marching as to War!!
Your Parents will cower behind you
And hope that you survive the storm.

Never heard this verse before. Maybe not in the Baptist hymnal...

But a good point. I've always had much the same objection to hearing people consider young children to be missionaries to the public schools.

[Jerry_M]

Your "distributive benefits" argument, even if morally right (and it is not), falls to pieces based on reality.

Are you honestly going to tell us that we benefit from the current state of "publik edumacation"? What a waste of dollars, billions thrown down a rathole!

[Marysecretary]

Two of my daughters-in-law (one an ex-daughter-in-law) homeschool their children. I'm all in favor of that. I have no problem with homeschooling at all. We have a christian school in our church and have had as many as 100 students at a time but it's crowded (we're putting in another modular this year to accommodate them) and they can't pay their loyal teachers as much as public schools can. It's always a struggle but its needs get met somehow. It's expensive to run and we live in a rural area where good jobs are hard to come by at times. Many parents really can't afford to send their kids to a private school. That's why I wish they would be able to get vouchers to help them. These parents really struggle to make payments. When you have four or five kids, that can be a real burden as far as payments go. We try to accommodate them with some kind of scholarships from time to time, but it's tough. M

[Kevin Curry]

Church shepherds realize that something is wrong, but are at a loss as to what to do about it. Will adding another program be the key that begins to turn things around?

The modern church tries too hard to entertain and please--to "pay" people to come and stay within the sheepfold. But personal sacrifice has always been and always will be the key. A man will love what he willingly sacrifices to know. If he wants to know Jesus Christ, there is a sacrifice that will bring that about. Not just any sacrifice will do, either.

When Jesus Christ laid it on the line, many of his followers grumbled and abandoned him rather than make the necessary sacrifice. He didn't prevent them from abandoning him. He didn't water down his message to make it more man-pleasing and easy. Nor did he consider his mission a failure because they rejected the sacrifice as "too hard" and he was left with just a few followers.

But a man who has made that sacrifice and tasted the Holy Spirit will never require entertainment or self-pleasing doctrines as conditions of discipleship.

[RGSpincich]

Humor me with your justification for why the Government is morally correct to compel Home-Schoolers and Private-Schoolers to subsidize the education of Government-Schoolers.

You have it backasswards. It would be immoral to refund tax money to home and private schoolers. Many citizens attempt to improve upon or replace other services provided by government. Unless you are prepared to refund monies to those people, it is immoral to single out home and private schoolers only as deserving of such consideration.

Taxpayers who have installed state of the art security and fire systems and may not require police and firefighter services at their home. They should receive refunds. Taxpayers who are infirm or not mobile should receive refunds because they don't utilize the park systems. Taxpayers who install their own recreation systems at home such as swimming pools and such should recive a refund because they opt not to use the public pools provided. The list can go on. Choices to opt out of the "system" of government services provided and qualify for refunds should be extended to all, not just home and private schoolers. It would be immoral to offer this choice to home and private schoolers only.

This issue has nothing to do with slavery, adultery, theft or Caesar. You have overstated your case. This is a thread that should be in hot pursuit of justifying vouchers or other such funding. Charter schools are becoming popular and I suspect school districts will link up with the total private sector at some point. But probably not to the satisfaction of those who are pre-disposed to reel against government programs.

Home schoolers and private schoolers enjoy the luxury of having a fallback position if their personal situation changes. Public schools. Many families cannot successfully home school because of mechanics and/or the aptitude in the family is not adequate to homeschool. Some try and some fall back to public schools. Private schooling is not available to many because of the limited space. You may not like the public schools but they provide a safety net for many who attempt the private and home schooling route.

[Kevin Curry]

In truth, the greater part--the best part--of my own children's education has come from my wife and me, even though they have all attended public schools. The public schools have merely supplmented what we have taught them. Our greater concern has not been focused on this supplemental teaching but with the social poisons that many of the unionized teachers and administrators stand ready to dose them with. Our state is not nearly as bad as Massachussets, Connecticut, or California. If it were, our children would have been pulled from the public schools long, long ago.

Vouchers for homeschooling or private schooling are an important part of the strategy that all good conservative parents should stand ready to follow. If they have the means to bail out of a leaky boat and keep their children from drowning in an ocean of taxpayer-supported atheism, gay indoctrination, and liberalism, there may yet be a future for this nation.