Post by Cindy on Aug 17, 2018 10:35:02 GMT -5
(excerpts)
... the bottom line is that many parents adopt an "if/then" rationale (rather than a biblical rationale) for their choice. "If we don't send Johnny to public school, then he'll miss out on..." or, "If Susie isn't in public school, then she won't be able to..." Of course, in a way this is understandable—without consulting the Bible it only makes sense that the decision would come down to utilitarianism.
Having said that, I think most parents recognize the inherent danger in government schools. And, of course, most parents care deeply for their child's spiritual well-being. Therefore, what this also means is that most parents probably have an unstated or subconscious limit to what they will tolerate their children being subjected to in a public school situation. In other words, the question for many parents is not whether or not the Bible actually portrays public school as the normative educational route for children. Instead, the question comes down to "educational limbo"—how low will I go? How far down will I set the bar? What is the worst a school system can get before I have to take action? .....
For some, the bar is set at the transgender issue. As bathrooms and locker rooms have become bastions of gender confusion, some parents have said, "Ok, this is over the line." ....
... Dr. Al Mohler describes educational limbo for one couple as follows:
I mentioned this just the other day; this is the most chilling thing I've heard in a very long time. I was talking to a man and his wife and they were explaining to me why they'd made a radical change in the education of their children just in the last few days. And it is because they were at dinner and their ten-year-old son heard the mother and father talking about issues related to a headline event with the LGBT complex of issues. And the ten-year-old son said, "That's hate speech, dad."
Truth be told, the problem is ultimately not where a parent sets the bar; the problem is with playing educational limbo in the first place.
That's because the purpose of education, like everything else in life, is to glorify God. When we begin with that premise, we see that the bar is not to be set at a particular level of godlessness, nor even supposed neutrality (which does not exist), but at Christ-exalting godliness. Of course, that cuts to the heart of why educational limbo is so commonplace: many people view public school as a morally neutral setting, disrupted only by occasional lapses into godlessness.
Presbyterian theologian Dr. Gordon Clark responds to that line of thinking:
Now, in public schools, children receive a pagan education. ... Obviously the public schools are not Christian. But many people reply, though they are not Christian, they are not anti-Christian, they are neutral. But, let one ask, what does neutrality mean when God is involved? How does God judge the school system which says to him, "O God, we neither deny nor assert they existence; and O God, we neither obey nor disobey thy commands; we are strictly neutral." Let no one fail to see the point: the school system which ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God, and this is not neutrality but the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. Any Christian, it seems to me, should have sense enough to see that subjection to pagan influences works an injustice to the child.
....And here's the stark reality of Dr. Clark's comments: they were made on October 31, 1935! If nothing else, that should put into historical perspective what educational limbo looks like today.
But let's go back even further, circa 1890, in which Presbyterian theologian A.A. Hodge made the following comments:
It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from the public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that believes least, and then he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheistics or agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is consistently and persistently carried out in all parts of the country, the United States system of national popular education will be the most efficient and wide instrument for the propagation of Atheism which the world has ever seen. ...
...It's often said, "Don't worry, we'll definitely pull our kids out of public school if things get really bad." Really bad? By whose standard? God has already set the bar; the Bible gives us normative standards for educating children. Scripture equips us for every good work (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17), and God's Word tells us all we need to know for life and godliness (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3). Everything you need to know for living a godly life, including how to educate your children, can be determined from the Bible. That is the essence of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.
... Far too often, committed Christians profess the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and yet jettison that very doctrine when it comes to schooling. But if the Bible is a transcendent book from a transcendent God, wouldn't it make sense that the normative standard for education would transcend all times and cultures? Surely it's not a game of limbo that lowers with each successive generation. Perhaps the reason why upwards of 85% of parents have abandoned Sola Scriptura when it comes to schooling is because they intuitively know where the bar would be set. With that said, if you search the Bible for answers on how to educate your kids, be careful—you just might find them.
Read the whole article here:
www.expositoryparenting.org/blog/2018/1/16
I noticed that they didn't include the fact that there's more and more school shootings and violence in the schools today too, which should cause parents to start pulling their kids out of the public schools. Those things are happening precisely because of what the children are being taught in school - or maybe I should say what they're not being taught...
I think one of the major problems parents have with homeschooling is the fear that they aren't capable of teaching their children; something most likely picked up when they were in school and since then. They also often feel that by homeschooling their children, their children will miss out on many opportunities, both educational and social. Neither of those things are true, at least they don't have to be true.
What we need is a nation wide campaign that would encourage parents to homeschool, and help them understand how capable they really are. Maybe even have a help line or website for them, along with a way to get in contact with other homeschooling parents in their area. I think we would see a huge increase in homeschooling then. But, as the article says, the first order of business is getting parents to understand what God says about schooling their children, and who He holds responsible for their schooling. After that, the next order of business is teaching parents that they are more than capable of teaching their children, and can do a much better job of it than the schools are doing today!
... the bottom line is that many parents adopt an "if/then" rationale (rather than a biblical rationale) for their choice. "If we don't send Johnny to public school, then he'll miss out on..." or, "If Susie isn't in public school, then she won't be able to..." Of course, in a way this is understandable—without consulting the Bible it only makes sense that the decision would come down to utilitarianism.
Having said that, I think most parents recognize the inherent danger in government schools. And, of course, most parents care deeply for their child's spiritual well-being. Therefore, what this also means is that most parents probably have an unstated or subconscious limit to what they will tolerate their children being subjected to in a public school situation. In other words, the question for many parents is not whether or not the Bible actually portrays public school as the normative educational route for children. Instead, the question comes down to "educational limbo"—how low will I go? How far down will I set the bar? What is the worst a school system can get before I have to take action? .....
For some, the bar is set at the transgender issue. As bathrooms and locker rooms have become bastions of gender confusion, some parents have said, "Ok, this is over the line." ....
... Dr. Al Mohler describes educational limbo for one couple as follows:
I mentioned this just the other day; this is the most chilling thing I've heard in a very long time. I was talking to a man and his wife and they were explaining to me why they'd made a radical change in the education of their children just in the last few days. And it is because they were at dinner and their ten-year-old son heard the mother and father talking about issues related to a headline event with the LGBT complex of issues. And the ten-year-old son said, "That's hate speech, dad."
Truth be told, the problem is ultimately not where a parent sets the bar; the problem is with playing educational limbo in the first place.
That's because the purpose of education, like everything else in life, is to glorify God. When we begin with that premise, we see that the bar is not to be set at a particular level of godlessness, nor even supposed neutrality (which does not exist), but at Christ-exalting godliness. Of course, that cuts to the heart of why educational limbo is so commonplace: many people view public school as a morally neutral setting, disrupted only by occasional lapses into godlessness.
Presbyterian theologian Dr. Gordon Clark responds to that line of thinking:
Now, in public schools, children receive a pagan education. ... Obviously the public schools are not Christian. But many people reply, though they are not Christian, they are not anti-Christian, they are neutral. But, let one ask, what does neutrality mean when God is involved? How does God judge the school system which says to him, "O God, we neither deny nor assert they existence; and O God, we neither obey nor disobey thy commands; we are strictly neutral." Let no one fail to see the point: the school system which ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God, and this is not neutrality but the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. Any Christian, it seems to me, should have sense enough to see that subjection to pagan influences works an injustice to the child.
....And here's the stark reality of Dr. Clark's comments: they were made on October 31, 1935! If nothing else, that should put into historical perspective what educational limbo looks like today.
But let's go back even further, circa 1890, in which Presbyterian theologian A.A. Hodge made the following comments:
It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from the public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that believes least, and then he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheistics or agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is consistently and persistently carried out in all parts of the country, the United States system of national popular education will be the most efficient and wide instrument for the propagation of Atheism which the world has ever seen. ...
...It's often said, "Don't worry, we'll definitely pull our kids out of public school if things get really bad." Really bad? By whose standard? God has already set the bar; the Bible gives us normative standards for educating children. Scripture equips us for every good work (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16-17), and God's Word tells us all we need to know for life and godliness (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3). Everything you need to know for living a godly life, including how to educate your children, can be determined from the Bible. That is the essence of the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.
... Far too often, committed Christians profess the doctrine of Sola Scriptura and yet jettison that very doctrine when it comes to schooling. But if the Bible is a transcendent book from a transcendent God, wouldn't it make sense that the normative standard for education would transcend all times and cultures? Surely it's not a game of limbo that lowers with each successive generation. Perhaps the reason why upwards of 85% of parents have abandoned Sola Scriptura when it comes to schooling is because they intuitively know where the bar would be set. With that said, if you search the Bible for answers on how to educate your kids, be careful—you just might find them.
Read the whole article here:
www.expositoryparenting.org/blog/2018/1/16
I noticed that they didn't include the fact that there's more and more school shootings and violence in the schools today too, which should cause parents to start pulling their kids out of the public schools. Those things are happening precisely because of what the children are being taught in school - or maybe I should say what they're not being taught...
I think one of the major problems parents have with homeschooling is the fear that they aren't capable of teaching their children; something most likely picked up when they were in school and since then. They also often feel that by homeschooling their children, their children will miss out on many opportunities, both educational and social. Neither of those things are true, at least they don't have to be true.
What we need is a nation wide campaign that would encourage parents to homeschool, and help them understand how capable they really are. Maybe even have a help line or website for them, along with a way to get in contact with other homeschooling parents in their area. I think we would see a huge increase in homeschooling then. But, as the article says, the first order of business is getting parents to understand what God says about schooling their children, and who He holds responsible for their schooling. After that, the next order of business is teaching parents that they are more than capable of teaching their children, and can do a much better job of it than the schools are doing today!