I don’t know if this website works anymore but I tried to reply weeks ago and it didn’t post.

Here are a couple other articles for your reading:

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83469

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87264

Peace,

-D

By the way, can anyone prove to me that education is not a religous/spiritual issue? And, how many of you are aware of Public Law 97-280 (Stat 1211) that congress declares the Bible the Word of God? This was a senate joint resolution 165 and passed on 4 Oct 1982. Shouldn’t this whole educational issue and parenting issue be a separation of church and state issue to command the government to stay out of our business? I ask for a response to this last paragragh.

One more thing – as I reflect back on your argument, I only see two references to Scripture:Proverbs 13:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:33.

I can just as easily fling back to you the charge of making a subjective argument. The verses you quote are not iron-clad against public schools or for home schooling. In the rest of your article, you quote scary statistics and make generalizations. Just because you have a statistic doesn’t mean it is worth anything …

I read your article and while you have some points worthy of consideration, I must differ with you on your conclusions.

First, I don’t know what you think of God’s sovereignty, the work of the Holy Spirit, or “decisional regeneration.” But you certainly sound like a determinist, believing that if you just do the right things, your kids will turn out OK. There are examples of children going to public school and having a strong faith and examples of children going to Christian schools and being home schooled and rejecting the faith (and vice versa). Doing “all the right things” does not determine your child’s choice. Whether or not the “culture” is going to pot has no direct bearing on whether my kids will do the same.

Second, not every public school is in the heart of San Fransisco. Each area has its own flavor and distinctives to it. Some really are better than others. While it is true that no school in our country can be set up to affirm or endorse Christianity, it is possible to have a school open to parental influence, morals, and avoid prejudicial behavior.

Third, it is never the governments ultimate responsibility to educate your children. Parents are held responsible for the choices they make. However you decide to do it is between you and the Lord. The Biblical prooftexting is unconvincing.

Fourth, Christians are not supposed to be isolated from the culture. Yes, don’t be of the world – but be in it. Yes, bad company corrupts good morals, but don’t hide your light under a bushel. Monastaries never worked because they still let sinners in. Sin is everywhere, and whether you deal with it from outside influences or inside influences, it will be there.

Fifth, James tells us that we are led into sin by our own desires – not by the external temptation. The temptation is just the opportunity to show what is already in your heart. Isolation doesn’t solve this.

And sixth, the “causing another brother to stumble” argument you use is overused by those with strict consciences to bully others into doing things their way. If I know my child and have trained them and continue to train them, and I believe their faith will be strengthened, not hurt, by entering a more vigorous worldly environment while still under the care of parents at home and the church, who are you to say otherwise?

Isn’t it odd that it is often the weaker brothers who think their position is so defensible by their logic?

I’m afraid that you see conspiracies everywhere. God has not given us a spirit of timidity and fear …

Do what you believe is best for your kids. Respect Christians who disagree as a matter of conscience.

I stumbled across your reply in doing some research for my next article and I find quite troubling your “subjective” argument and conclusion. I have laid out very succinctly a Biblical argument based on reason as to why a government education” is unbliblical today.

http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80738

I am looking for my Erasmus in this debate but instead only hear deafening silence. You know some say that “silence is consent.”

This is the challenge before the Church today. Can you not see it?

Peace,

David

I went to a public high school, a secular private university, and taught in a Christian High School. My children go to a local Christian School. I have thought a while on this, though not as much as some have.

My issue tends to be one of quality. I taught in a Christian high school that was, for many students and their families, just a way to avoid the public school system of a major city. I would have a hard time sending my kids to that Christian School (though to be fair, I doubt I would send them to the public schools there either).

The curriculum we used (I taught science and math) was OK – not great, but not horrible. In some instances, “faith” was tacked on like an appendage to the lesson, seemingly out of character.

But, if all truth is God’s truth, and if every profession can be done to the glory of God, why don’t I see more Christian kids entering professions that can highly impact the world. Christians love to moan and complain about the “wordliness” of politics, of medicine, of science, of philosophy – but how many consciously equip their kids to enter these fields on the offense?

I’m tired of the retreat of the church into isolated huddles – people, monastaries were never the answer! Yes, we need to protect our children – but don’t let them be naive. And don’t characterize those “evolutionists” as one-eyed purple monsters that eat students for breakfast – some of them are actually quite nice, friendly, warm, and learned. When they learn that reality does not match the picture you have painted for them – guess whose credibility suffers?

We like to say that we do not believe in things like “regenerational baptism” – but “life” will come “easier” if you only do “X.”

Ideally, yes, I would love to have a Christian school in our area that is of high quality academically, has a variety of enriching extracurricular activities, is affordable, and yes, understood what a god-centered worldview is. But few of us have that around us. So, we try to figure out what is best for our children in our situation. I find far too many homeschoolers and even Christian schoolers who believe in the “absoluteness” of their choice that there is no possibility that they might be mistaken – and that they need to convert and confront others who do not agree. To me, that sounds a lot like pride and a divisive spirit. Have your conviction, stand by it – but look at the issue long enough to know that this is rarely an easy decision in real life. Be open to the possibility that your choice may not be the only correct one – for lots of reasons. And consider how much guilt you pile onto, say, a single mother with a very modest income and 4 kids, or someone who just can’t handle information above a 6th grade level and has 2 exceptionally intelligent students but has no “Christian Schools” around them. Or an orphan being raised in a group home who is a believer. If it’s an absolute, then you have to say to these people, it doesn’t matter, do it anyway. I hope there are few that would say this …

The original article (remember that?) almost seemed to be making this point: The Bible does not specifically mandate homeschooling, therefore it is a matter of individual choice whether to send our children to a public school.

While the fingers are pointing at those who choose to homeschool— “You can’t use Deuteronomy 6 to say homeschooling is the only way”; “Your kids are locked away, not being salty or shiny”; “You want to produce super-students and feel all holier-than-thou with the rest of us”—a very simple issue is being lost.

WHY ARE WE DEFENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

God bless those dedicated, godly teachers who try to function within the state system; God bless those conscientious parents who try to reform the system, who diligently “debrief” their children each and every day to dig up whatever unbiblical seeds have been planted. But can’t we just admit, the state school system is working just as it was intended, to produce servants of the state, not servants of the Lord. Yes, the shining examples of those who come through with their faith intact are inspiring, but they should not be used as excuses to send our own little lambs into a machine that is designed to release them as atheists, humanists at the end of the production line.

Why are we defending public schools?

Yes, you can certainly argue that some Old Testament Jews were sent to synagogues to be instructed (note: not to Babylon to be instructed). You can argue that, technically, homeschoolers shouldn’t be relying on mom to do the majority of the teaching—it should be dad. It’s dodging the core issue.

Maybe this quote from the article strikes closer to the core:

“Thus, the question of whether or not one should home school is outside the direct command(s) given in Deuteronomy 6. Obedience to this passage demands that a parent consistently teach his or her children the things of the Lord as a regular part of life. Whether that parent teaches his children algebra or English grammar is not the point.”

Because whether the parent teaches his children these things is exactly the point. Public school can only appear acceptable if you consider it “religiously neutral”—a place where my kid learns the religiously neutral disciplines of math, grammar, etc.

But there is no such thing as religious neutrality. If you believe that homeschooling is just academics with the unbiblical stuff pulled out and lots of God stuff thrown in (and don’t feel bad, lots of people do think this, even lots of homeschoolers), then public school would be just fine—all you have to do is make sure your kids don’t absorb the unbiblical stuff, and throw in your own God stuff at home.

Public schools are not neutral. We’re just supposed to believe they are. I urge you to investigate further. As one wise person put it, we as Christians shouldn’t even be arguing the “homeschool vs. Christian school vs. public school” debate. Get the Christian kids home or in Christian schools. Then we can get all debate-y about which of those is the best. In love, of course.

I think however, that the church and Christians have a misconstrued view of homeschooling. It’s either 2 extremes. 1: People think that homeschooling is the only way to go and that it’s what God wants for all Christian families. 2: Homeschooling is a weird thing to do, that produces socially challeneged children who may be smart but can’t deal with people around them.

I personally was surrounded by both of these views. The church I went to in highschool, which I eventually left for many different reasons, was not “homeschool friendly.” it was really rough growing up like that. My brother and I felt like outcasts in our youth group sometimes.

I agree 100% that it is not Biblically mandated as the way to teach children. I also feel it is a “wisdom” decision and choice. As Christians we need to respect those who do and do not homeschool. We need to be in prayer for our school system. It is going downhill with the liberal, pro-gay, pro-abortion, pro-”free sex” philosophies. Soon with the downfall of the PS system homeschooling may become “the only way to teach our children.”

God bless,

Chad

You said, “So the Old Testament is not God’s Word for us.”

WOW! I hope that is not what you meant to say. That is so utterly false that I am at a loss for words at the moment. Every part of scripture is God’s Word for US. Both the Old and New Testaments are for all people of all faiths of all ages.

Questioning God is a time honored tradition with the People of God both Old Testament and New. From Abraham having a Son with Hagar, to the present day deception that Jesus or anyone in the New Testament tells us to tithe, we get in to tricky waters when we seek to justify in the Old Testament, what is clearly stated or not stated in the New.

The Bible is God’s Word, the Old Testament the Christian version of His word to the Jewish people, and the New Testament his Word to Christians. Most Christians are not Jews by birth and none are Jews by faith. So the Old Testament is not God’s Word for us. We have much better than that we have Jesus.