PUBLIC EDUCATION: TIME TO PULL THEM OUT
by Brad Harrub
Not many weeks pass without me asking my children a question that I have been asking them since they could talk: “What is your number one goal in life?” Their response is always, “To get to heaven.” I suspect most Christian families are instilling a similar goal. But what happens when something threatens that number one goal? What happens when our children face an obstacle that could hinder their journey toward heaven? Are we willing to stand up and fight for our families, oftentimes swimming upstream against the current? Or do we simply follow blindly the masses, and “hope” our children turn out alright?
The topic of schools and educating our children is one that often causes emotions to run high. Almost every congregation has faithful Christians who have dedicated their lives and do a tremendous job educating children. Additionally, many people feel a strong allegiance to their alma mater. Others are old enough to remember that a good education used to be reserved only for the privileged. In fact, there are still many countries of the world in which the majority of citizens are denied a public education. Truly, public education is one of the greatest concepts and achievements this country has developed.
But make no mistake about it; ungodly people have hijacked the public education system. Blackboards once covered with chalk have been thrown out and replaced with white dry-erase boards, and with that replacement, values like integrity, honesty, hard-working, and reverence towards God were also thrown out. Children no longer learn how to learn. Most are not encouraged to think critically. In many instances, students are filled with trivial facts and expected to regurgitate them on a standardized test. This is not education, but instead a mentally bankrupt form of indoctrination. Rather than focusing on training young people to be upstanding citizens who have common sense and can learn from books, we are creating generations of students whose level of success is based purely on standardized tests. We are spending more on public education, and yet literacy levels continue to decline. Textbooks continue to recycle mindless rubbish—much of which purposefully teaches humanism or contains evolutionary arguments known to be false, such as Haeckls embryos or the peppered moths. Add to this that many pitiable parents are using the public school system merely as a baby-sitter for their undisciplined children and you end up with the perfect recipe for failure.
In 1983, the federal government released a scathing report of our educational system titled “A Nation at Risk” (http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html). This exhaustive study noted:
“Our Nation is at risk…. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves.”
In his book, “The Philosophy of Christian Curriculum, “John Rousas observed, “At present, the state schools are an establishment of humanism. They teach and propagate a philosophy of life which does more than omit Christianity: it is radically at war with biblical religion.” Samuel Blumenfeld wrote a book titled N. E. A.: Trojan Horse in American Education in which he declared: “The NEA has remained remarkably faithful to the Humanist Manifesto since 1933. For all practical purposes, the public school has become the parochial school for secular humanism.” An honest person would be hard pressed not to see the problems with our current public school system.
But should we really pull our children out? Since for years public schools have been “center stage” in the American home, many have forgotten that education is simply a tool. Should this tool be allowed to subvert our children’s faith? Ultimately, what is more important: a piece of parchment that will not matter in 200 years, or spending an eternity in the presence of the Creator? That is not to say children should not be educated. But maybe the time has come to question how our children are educated. Placing our children in public schools may appear “normal” because the vast majority of Americans are doing it. However, we must consider the cost! It may be financially free, but it can bankrupt your children spiritually. Isn’t it time we rethink what is “normal?”
Several leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention have proposed a resolution that asks members of that denomination “to remove their children from the government schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education, for the glory of God…” They have asked Baptist churches to develop an exit strategy from the public schools that will give particular attention to the needs of orphans, single parents, and the disadvantaged. Their ultimate goal is to pull their children out! They recognize that government schools are undermining the faith of their students.
What is your number one goal for your children and grandchildren? Are you ready to take action to see that goal come true? Even if it means pulling them out?
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