June 16, 2004

1. An Historical Mandate to Defend Christian Education
   
   1. Country founded by those seeking religious freedom (though they often persecuted the Baptists). Our movement is a continuation of their desires.
      
   2. How did we get public education?

      First 50-75 years education was done mostly by parents. Some private schools sponsored by churches or private individuals. During this time we had the highest literacy rate in our history. "The Federalist Papers", now despised by high school and college government classes, were published as a series of newspaper articles intended for general reading. A survey in Boston in 1818 revealed that over 90% of the school age students were attending private or community sponsored schools, and this without any compulsory attendance or free education laws.

      1825: Robert Owen, "father of socialism", started a commune in Indiana. It failed within 2 years. He concluded that his concepts were sound, but that the members of the commune were not properly trained to live in a communistic system. He envisioned a government-funded, mandatory educational system where children could be freed from the prejudices and moral values of their parents.

      1829: Frances Wright, follower of Owen, said:

      "That one measure, by which alone childhood may find sure protection; by which alone youth may be made wise, industrious, moral, and happy; by which alone the citizens of this land may be made, in very deed, free and equal. That measure -- you know it. It is national, rational, republican education; free for all at the expense of all; conducted under the guardianship of the state, at the expense of the state, for the honor, the happiness, the virtue, the salvation of the state"

      They found their atheistic ideas hard to sell to a God-fearing country. They came up with a plan. One follower described it as follows:

      "But the more immediate work was to get our system of schools adopted. To this end it was proposed to organize the whole Union secretly.... The members of this secret society were to avail themselves of all the means in their power, each in his own locality, to form public opinion in favor of education by the state at the public expense, and to get such men elected to the legislatures as would be likely to favor our purposes. How far the secret organization extended, I do not know; but I do know that a considerable portion of the State of New York was organized, for I was myself one of the agents for organizing it."

      So as early as 1829 the socialists had adopted covert techniques to further their ends in the United States. This effort continued for decades.

      Georg Friedrich Hegel, German philosoper (1770-1831): Developed the idea of "moral progress," that man was getting morally better and better. This idea caught on with the Owenites, and especially the academic elite at Harvard University. They looked to the German system of education and liked what they saw: compulsory education, truant officers, graded classes, and uniform curriculum (sound familiar?). They also had one other thing the socialists liked: state control of teacher training and state certification of teachers.

      Horace Mann, first Secretary of the newly created Massachusetts Board of Education (1837): Mann was able to break down the barriers of public opinion and establish the "normal schools" in Massachusetts. In 1845 he even managed to get legislation requiring state control of teacher training. Mann called these schools "a new instrumentality in the advancement of the race."

      So the public schools have their beginning in socialism and communism. These small groups gave their entire lives to set up a system that they knew their descendants could use to indoctrinate entire generations.

      Did it work? Yes. The acceptance of the public school system is so inbred in us that most of you probably think I'm nuts. But that's the way it's intended to be. From the very beginning, the public school system was a bad bill of goods sold by deception to the people of the United States.

   So historically, we see that we have an obligation to defend Christian education. We need to have an alternative for our kids. Those who want to send their children to a public school should do it by choice, not by compulsion.
   

2. Constitutional Mandate to Defend Christian Education
   
   1. Believe it or not, we have no constitutionally guaranteed right to a free public education. In fact, the constitution says just the opposite:

      Amendment I (1791)

      "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

      Amendment X (1791)

      "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
      

   2. The Supreme Court has always found in favor of parents when deciding whether the state or the parent has the responsibility to educate children:

      Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972): "Thus a State's interest in universal education, however highly we rank it, is not totally free from a balancing process when it impinges on fundamental rights and interests, such as those specifically protected by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and the traditional interest of parents with respect to the religious upbringing of their children so long as they.... prepare them for additional obligations.... This case involves the fundamental interest of parents, as contrasted with that of the State, to guide the religious future and education of their children, The history and culture of Western civilization reflect a strong tradition of parental concern for the nurture and upbringing of their children. This primary role of the parents in the upbringing of their children is now established beyond debate as an enduring American tradition."

      Pierce v. Society of Sisters: "The act of 1922 [which forbade parental selection of religious schools, private schools, or home education] unreasonably interferes with the liberty of parents and guardians to direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.... The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations."

   So we have a constitutional mandate to defend Christian education. The courts have ruled in our favor. We need to challenge those laws which we feel violate the freedoms guaranteed us in the Constitution.
   

3. A Qualitative Mandate to Defend Christian Education

   Is the public school system so good that we want to say it should be the only alternative?
   

   1. The United States is last among industrialized nations in basic skills.
      
   2. Standardized test scores continue to drop, even in the face of increased spending and decreasing class size.

      Private and home schools, on the other hand, consistently produce children who score in the top 10 percent on standardized tests.

      Christian schools, on the average, are more highly integrated than the public schools, where racial integration is mandatory. In addition, there is less difference in achievement between the races in Christian schools.

   So we see that we would hate to have the public schools be the only choice parents have in which to educate their children.
   

4. A Biblical Mandate to Defend Christian Education
   
   1. Arguments from the biblical concept of "family"
      
      1. Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward."

         sacred trust - a stewardship

         given to parents, not church or government

      2. Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right."

         children are under the authority of parents

         parental authority is important for developing  respect for authority in children

      3. Ephesians 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

         parents are to be the primary source of  education

         nurture - discipline - building Christian  character

         admonition - gk. "a putting in the mind"  instructing all to be "of the Lord"

      4. Proverbs 29:15 "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."

         parents to use both physical and verbal  discipline to build character and wisdom

         Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

         don't let the child go in the way HE wants

      So we see that God has set up the family to be a unit for the upbringing of children. He has not given that ministry to the church or to the government. The biblical concept of family shows us that we need to defend the option of Christian education.
      

   2. Arguments from the characteristics of biblical education
      
      1. Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge...."

         Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."

         knowledge - general knowledge

         wisdom - application of knowledge - gained by  practical experience.

         both start with the fear of the Lord. An  educational system which does not develop a  healthy respect for God does not even BEGIN  to teach children anything.

      2. Proverbs 1:8 "My son, hear the instruction of they father, and forsake not the law of they mother."

         education to be directed by parents

         parents should have intimate oversight of  instruction

      3. Deuteronomy 6:6,7 "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto they children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

         education to be centered on the word of God

         example: Weaver curriculum

      4. Proverbs 19:27 "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."

         education to be far from error

         evolution

         no moral absolutes

         no God

      So we see that God has established certain principles which the Christian education setting meets up to. From these we see that we must defend Christian education as an alternative.

1. You are ultimately responsible for your child's education

   	not the church
   	not the state

2. You may discharge that responsibility in any way God directs.

   it will be consistent with the Biblical principles we've discussed.

3. You can't ignore this decision. To determine God's will you must pray, study, pray some more, etc.
4. Once you know what God's will is, do it!

The same padlocks that locked Pastor Everett Sileven's church in Nebraska may one day padlock the doors of this church for standing true to the word of God. Won't you decide today to start to be concerned about what's happening in our state and country so that your children will have the freedom to give your grandchildren a Christian education?