The 95 Theses… more dialogue

Hi, friends!  I probably didn’t send this along to everyone in the cc, but oh well….
My thoughts on the sending children into the “battlefield” is this–  I heard it said that (and this is a paraphrase)  countries where they send children to war only indicates the sad and horrific state of affairs in that nation.  Rwanda comes to mind, where children were forced to take up arms or be shot.  Several years ago, there was a special on about the genocide/ “civil war” in Rwanda  in the 90s, and it was awful to watch.  A 12- year old girl talked about being put in the circumstances I just described above.  She became a “killing machine.”  Looking back, she says it was like being possessed of a demon.  And I don’t doubt it.  The public school system is not the same type of battlefield, but a battlefield it is.  Ideas always have consequences.  If what we are in is truly a spiritual warfare, and it is, I could never in good conscience send my young ones off “to battle”  unprepared, unarmed, unwise.  Wisdom takes time– often lots and lots of time.  Years.  I wouldn’t dream of sending my 12-year old off to battle, and I would not encourage another family to do so either.  Jesus went to speak with the elders in Jerusalem when he was 12 or so, but he was GOD!  He spoke with authority because he had it!
Just some thoughts….   I really enjoy the discussion.
James 4:17 says “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”
Karen

JESUS IS LORD!

Great stories.  I guess my question is about the word “sin.”  Is it a “sin” to send your kids to public schools?  I do think it is very risky to send your kids to public school.  My answer to people who say, “We need to have Christian kids in public school so we can have a Christian influence in the system.” is, “Great, using the same logic and strategy, lets encourage all the church members to spend 6 hours 5 evenings per week in the local bars and strip clubs so we have more Christian influence in those places.”  :)  Do I think it would be a sin for church members to do that?  If it was done with good strategy, accountability, lots of prayer support and, most importantly, at the prompting of Jesus, that approach could have amazing evangelistic impacts on our communities.

I really appreciate this conversation because you are forcing me to solidify my beliefs in this area.  It just dawned on me what does not settle well with me about calling it a “sin” to send kids to public school.  I have met some families who truly think Jesus has called them to the mission of the public schools.  They strategically prepared their kids every day, gave their kids accountability and prayer supper, and the parents maintained an active presence in the school system.  Those families felt Jesus required them to take that approach.  For us homeschoolers to judge their actions as “sin” puts us at risk of being in the same boat as the Pharisees.

We look at missionaries who take their families into closed pagan countries where every element of the family’s well being is at risk as great heroes.  Why can’t we give Christian parents who knowingly and courageously involve their family in the battle of public schools the same way respect?

Having said this, I think most Christian parents make the decision to send kids to public school as a default easy choice as opposed to a carefully considered eternal decision.

Grace and Courage,

David Freeman

good dialogue!

Something that has stuck in my mind………….

through a comment from Eugene.

Russ and I ask (due to Eugene’s teachings) - where in God’s Word can you find an example of God’s people turning their children over to heathen / and or  gov’t authorities   to instruct them, teach them, affect them?

There are really great, Christian people that teach in the gov’t schools. Many in my family are there,and

(I used to be one of them! hee hee — not sure how ‘great’ but you know what I mean)

However, in most cases, their hands are tied by beauracracy, state mandates, tests tied to funding, ACLU nonsense, etc etc

And, experientially, school becomes a part of a young person’s life that is sadly — very anti-God.

And thus, life can become easily cordoned off into “church life”  home life     “school life”
When we did the TRUTH PROJECT with Dr. Del Tacket  it became so apparent to us how duped we’ve been.

(even we  who now have a pro-home education mindset.)

IF you haven’t sat under the teaching of the Truth Project………DO, definitely do!

MY LAST 2 CENTS:

Something I’ve noticed and have heard other mom’s testify to:

Public School children - segregated by age

have great difficulty playing, sharing, caring, mentoring, and loving thier siblings or others who are not IN THEIR GRADE!!!

It is a phenomenon.

Home Educated children play in large multi-age groups, and siblings tend to get along and care about one another for the most part.

Public Ed. re-inforces this mentality of upper classmen, and segregation, and separation.

My friend who first called this to my attn. had 5 children in public school.

She said it would take about all summer to get her girls over the “mind of age segregation”, and by the end of the summer they’d be playing well together and very happy. Alas, all but to return to the age segregated school system.

She began homeschooling while her husband was in Iraq, and really noticed the difference in her daughters’ attitudes toward one another.  They became less stressed about petty peer pressures and more loving and accepting of one another as siblings. She actually saw “RELIEF” in their eyes and minds to not be under such influences.

Not sure how you want to term this…………  age segregation breaks down relationships and opportunities for growth

If I can share one more quick story……………..A coach came into our office this week and was talking about how he is thankful to be able to gear his team toward the STRONGEST PLAYERS.

In other words,      “we teach a difficult offense, and basically we always teach to the highest level, the top players, and then everyone else pulls up to that level — because they want to play, and they are inspired to reach for their best.

We asked him if the same applies in the classroom.  And he said,

THIS IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHat HAPPENS ACADEMICALLY = UNFORTUNATELY.

The p.s. classrooms are forces to TEACH TO THE LOWEST LEVEL of ability…………….. and they have been for some time now.

which we already knew, but thougth this was a great example.

that’s my two cents,

Amy S.

 

Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 8:39 PM

Subject: Re: The 95 Theses

Christian,

I appreciate the thoughts behind the e-mail you sent.  You caused me to think for a while about what I believe and then formulate it in a way that makes sense..  I look forward to having a good dialogue about this topic.
I disagree that it is a sin to send your children to public school.  There are pros and cons to public school, home school, and private school.  I do think it is a sin for parents to take little or no responsibility for their children’s education.  There are negligent home, private and public school parents.  There are also highly involved home, private and public school parents.  The problem with public schools is that most parents now expect the government to completely train their children, and the government has gladly taken that responsibility and run away with it.  The key to a child’s success is not the mode of formal education, but rather the reinforcement and life skills training that the parents give at home.  The most important aspect of training that parents give is the life the parents live.  If children see hypocrisy between the parent’s home and public life, the children will be much more inclined to ignore what the parents are attempting to teach at home.  Parents do bear a heavy responsibility for educating their children.  That responsibility does not require home schooling.

Having said that, I do believe that sending kids to public school today requires more effort on a parent’s part for raising children with an accurate world view and character than it did a generation ago..  I think instilling an accurate worldview in children while they are in public school requires more time and effort on the part of the parents than home schooling.  I also think the overall standards in the public school keep lowering so that in order to give a good formal education parents would have to teach at home anyway.  So, I think home school is the most efficient and rewarding way for parents to fulfill their training obligations.

Grace and Courage,
David Freeman

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