Posted on 07/28/2002 3:29:38 PM PDT by 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.
What far too many Christians don't understand is the family relationship that is Christianity.
Although there are some House Rules, I have a distinct relationship with each of my kids and treat them accordingly. The each have different capabilities and vulnerabilities and I take that into account when assigning tasks. I also don't expect the same quality of work from the youngest as I do the oldest, and the rewards for a good job may vary.
And most importantly for this discussion, each child has a unique set of guidelines and demands. I know which one gets more leeway and which gets the tight leash. I also know which one gets more priveledges than others based on the ability to handle themselves properly.
God doesn't call everyone to be a hand or foot. Unfortunately too many feet are saying that if you aren't a foot then you are not part of the body.
Perhaps God called my children to go to public schools because they were strong enough to be there, or perhaps because they would become too complacent in a homeschool situation. I don't know that for sure.
Nor do I know why some very good parents I know have sensed God's leading to homeschool their children. Perhaps those children will be called to a different function in the body of Christ, and homeschooling will prepare them more aptly. Only God knows why He leads us in different directions......for HIS purpose.
In any case, the wholesale condemnation of all parents who send their kids to public schools which has occurred on this thread can be summed up in one word.......sin.
It has been an eye opener for me to participate in threads of this type. You find out where the genuine Christianity and conviction lies; those with legitimate differences of opinion, and you find out the phony blowhards with a narrow political ideology who systematically and cynically mow down anyone who doesn't agree with them.
It's pretty obvious, isn't it?
um, ohio? isn't the point what is best for your kids? you are trying to "save" the school system? I can go along with "God's calling" and "witnessing" (sort of, don't think its appropriate for children, but that MO), but the whole concept of forced, socialistic, lowest common denomitator public schooling is very ANti-Christian in istelf and becoming more so. So if Saving Public Schooling is your goal, PLEASE DON'T.
A workable solution? Home Schooling, and yes it is possible for everyone, as will be proven in the next era, wait and see. :-)
Are you losing the argument, or just your cool? Awfully judgemental words from someone criticizing other for supposedly doing so . . .
I understand from where you are coming, but your assertions that I challenged are not supportable.
As Moses, Joseph, David, Samuel, Mary, Daniel, and others have demostrated, children and youths can walk with God with might and power, God can and does protect those who believe, and God is not limited by chronological age as we too often assume He is.
Those that do not think children capable place artificial limits on what God can do.
So what?
You are just repeating the same slurs in my private FReepMail box, as you are here on the thread. Since you have already publicly voiced your "Christlike" slanders, you may as well continue to insult me publicly, rather than attempting to hide your False Witness from the eyes of those whom you are trying to publicly impress with your "personal holiness".
Let's go back to the real issue.
That is the real issue.
By supporting the Government Schooling system, you have stolen money and created great financial hardship for many Home-Schooling and Private-Schooling fellow Christians, so that you can force them to subsidize your choices. That is the "difference" which you have made.
I have not called you immoral; I have not called you arrogant; I have not called you pathetic; I have simply pointed out that compelling your neighbor to furnish his monies to subsidize your child's education (and thereby degrading his financial capacity for his own children's education) is a violation of the Eighth Commandment. For this simple (and, to be blunt, blatantly-obvious) theonomic observation, you have responded with insults and ad hominem vitriol.
How very Christ-like of you.
I'm gonna ask this again:
God did not call your children to Public School any more than he called them to steal apples from the local Home-Schooler's apple tree.
Now, if you steal apples from the local Home-Schoolers apple tree, and use them to bake a very fine apple pie for your children, and God is pleased thereby to nourish their bodies... thereby we see God working together Evil to accomplish Good.
But your choice to steal from your home-schooling neighbor is still theft, and God DOES NOT lead you to commit theft and Sin against His Eighth Commandment.
Rather, you like to tell yourself that "God led you" to steal from your neighbor, and thereby rationalize the fact that you forcibly take money from fellow Christians and from their children for your own personal benefit... because you want to.
(And what a loss for children to not experience the joy of sharing the love of Jesus with others! Witnessing to that love builds them up spiritually, and it is certainly not something they need to be 'protected' from).
If I were to interpret your rant about socialist schools, I could easily come to the conclusion that your motivation is purely political, and that the welfare of America's children did not enter your mind at all. That's what it looks like, but that's not the case, though, is it? Or is it? Don't grab onto a piece of what someone says, take it out of its context, and draw inappropriate conclusions. I haven't with you. Please don't do it with me.
One of the worst things about continuing to hang around threads of this nature, is being subject to the ugly accusations that we do not love, or appropriately care for our children (or are not smart enough to know what's really going on.) I don't imagine you would like it much if a group of people said you do not LOVE your children or "want what's best for them" if you homeschool them, would you?
We want God's best for our children, and it has been found in public schools, as it has been with many others, whether you understand and accept that or not.
I'm afraid I may not have a leg to stand on at this point -- we put our son in public school last fall, a place called NC State University. IOW, bouncy offspring A is getting a good ride at taxpayer expense. This is an imperfect solution, in a fallen world, but I guess we'll need to work and pray for college-level equivalents of the home school adventure.
Poor opie..things are not well at the market..perhaps we can help out.
I hear Jerry is doing very well (where did I hear that?)
And you are known for your generous spirit..
Can the self help efforts of man overcome sin..that is the question?
This is an apples to oranges comment.
You cannot prove your assertion of God's calling or lack thereof. You simply cannot do it.
Your assertion that sending kids to public schools is stealing holds as much water as saying that all taxes are theft. Jesus paid taxes. You might not like the taxes, but taxes are not inherently evil. The tithe was a tax to support the Levites so that they could minister to Isreal.
You are a prime example of one who falsely purports to represent God to the people and in doing so misguides them.
Whether my or my children are called to do anything that is not specifically prohibited is really none of your business and making it your business flirts with sin.
I disagree. I believe that one may justly accept Election to an illegitimate Office for the purpose of eliminating that Office. Assuming, for example, that the ultimate goal is either Abolition of Government Schooling or its restructuring into a tuition-based system which did not penalize home-schoolers and private-schoolers, someone has to vote for such changes, no??
In the meantime, I am a Purist on Principles, but an Incrementalist in Policy. Voting for a 1% Cut in a Government Program is not a "betrayal" of theological purity; it's a one-percent victory, ninety-nine more to go. Same for this issue, and for your own Votes on the school board.
I am simply amazed that you, alone among men, know the mind of God, and His will for everyone in the world. Wow.........it must be lonely at the top.
Suggestion......read Scripture beyond the 8th commandment. You might learn how Christians are really supposed to live......and love.
Peace be with you as you strive to chastise and correct the rest of Christendom, and seek to conform them to your narrow and simplistic way of thinking. In the meantime, you have amused me.
Unless we happen to meet in glory (I'll be there), I won't be chatting with you again. Bye! :o)
2) I never I claimed to be other than politically motivated, you did
3) I didn't say you didn't love your children, I merely pointed out an inconsistency in your argument
4)Don't grab onto a piece of what someone says, take it out of its context, and draw inappropriate conclusions.
I promise, I won't . . .
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