Are Christian Parents Sinning by Sending Their Chilren to Public Schools?

 There has been much debate on whether or not a Christian parent should send their children off to be educated by the state in the public schools. With any debate there are differing opinions. Some say it is permissible under certain circumstances, while others proclaim that it is a good thing because we can send our Christian children into the corrupt school and "take it back for Jesus." In this post however, I am only interested in what God's word tells us on how to govern our lives and what we are to do in this age of public education. II Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." This is the source of all that governs life and faith.
     Let us begin by first defining our terms:
1.) What is Sin?
Taken from "The Second Helvetic Confession"" Q. 14. What is sin? A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God." (Referenced: I John 3:4; James 4:17; Romans 3:23) In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible it states:
Sin-disobedience of God's Law Defined as: Transgression I John 3:4; Unrighteousness I John 5:5:17; Omission of known duty. James 4:17; Not from faith. Romans 14:23; Thought of foolishness. Proverbs 24:9. So the doing of what God has said we ought not do or the omission or not doing of what God said we ought to do is sin. The law of God is not restricted to the Ten Commandments only. The Bible is the source of truth and what God has said. The Decalogue is merely summation of the other hundreds of specific commands that can be applied to any situation concerning them. In any environment and in any age. Consider this: The reformers cried with one voice the Five Solae. One of them being Sola Scripture or Scripture alone. This scripture is the "Whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27) and any disobedience of any point is sin or transgression.
     Many would wish for a specific command such as "Thou shalt not send thy children to public school" otherwise they refuse to listen, and though the Bible has no such specific command, one should consider the entirety of the spirit of what it teaches about how we are to train our children. When we study it out, we will see that it sends forth a doctrine that resound as clear as the doctrine of election and predestination. There is a plethora of information in the Bible on how we would deal with worldly entities such as public school and God is surely not silent on the subject.

2.) What is Public School?
  Public education was not mandatory until 1852 when the state of Massachusetts passed the first compulsory school laws. Before that it was the parents who taught there children. " Hundreds of years ago, most learning happened at home. Parents taught their children or, if their families could afford it, private tutors did the job. The Puritans were the first in this country to point out the need for some kind of public education. They established schools to teach not just the essentials-reading, writing and math- but also to reinforce their core values." 
 "How public schools work" by Stephanie Watson"
     We see that in it's early beginnings it's purposes were noble. To teach and educate the poor and ignorant to read , write, mathematics , and to reinforce the Puritans core values which were founded upon scripture. The early Readers(reading textbooks) used scripture to teach reading and writing. This however is no longer the case. With the erroneous judicial ruling in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education. The court said "The First Amendment has erected ‘a wall of separation between church and state.’ That wall must be kept high and impregnable."The Origin of "The separation of church and state" by Fr. Bill McCarthy, MSA
    This decision has been used over the years to completely separate God and His word from the state public schools. When God and His word were removed it had to be replaced. What was true religion replaced with? Secular Humanism: humanism, with regard in particular to the belief that humanity is capable of morality and self-fulfillment without belief in God. http://www.secular-humanism.com/ 
Consider  that "in his first press conference (Feb. 11, 1985), Secretary of Education William Bennett said in answer to a query on the subject that "there is something called secular humanism - it's not mysterious, it's not something that one has to wonder about its meaning . . . read the Humanist Manifesto."
     "Not only did  John Dewey, "the father of progressive education," sign the manifesto, but so did C.F. Potter, who wrote Humanism, A New Religion (1930), in which he wrote that "Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism and every American public school is a school of humanism. What can the theistic Sunday schools, meeting for an hour once a week and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?"
     "The title of Potter's book is appropriate, because in Torcaso vs. Watkins the Supreme Court listed secular humanism as a non-theistic religion. Furthermore, the American Humanist Association's (AHA) own description in the Encyclopedia of Associations says the AHA "certifies Humanist counselors, who enjoy the legal status of ordained pastors, priests and rabbis."
     So since the 1930's do we really think things have gotten better? Consider this quote: by Author John J. Dumphy which occurred in the AHA magazine :The Humanist" (Jan.-Feb. 1983) in an essay (which won a third place in their North American Essay Contest) in which he proclaims that "the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom . . . between the rotting corpse of Christianity . . . and the new faith of humanism . . . (and) humanism will emerge triumphant." (The Humanist tried to distance itself from the essay after Phyllis Schlafy criticized it.)

  Is it a sin?   

      Now that we understand the current system of education is at its core a religion of humanism, let's consider the first commandment of the Decalogue.
       Exodus 20:3-4 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. .Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me"
    The parent who willingly sends their child into this system is complicit if or when the destruction of their children occurs. Not only are they complicit, but they are also accomplices in the disobedience of the first commandment. Why? Because knowing that the system worships another god (man) then their education would come from those who bow down and worship themselves. We see its effects rampant today in the utter selfishness of American society. Generations of children have learned to worship themselves. So as Exodus 20:4 says this iniquity will visit future generations.

    On the other hand the Bible tells us in minute detail about how we are to go about training our children.
 Deuteronomy 6:6-7 " And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently (carefully, with vigor) unto thy 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."  
    So we are to teach our children diligently, with carefulness and vigor the whole counsel of God!  Every subject declares the glory of God. Every subject must have its foundation in the God of knowledge and who created history, who made logic for math and who created science to study through the created universe.  Public school teachers are not allowed to teach in this manner. If they did, they would be fired in short order. So to send a child to a public learning institution where it's not allowed to teach in the way God commands children to be taught would indeed be sin. It would be a transgression of the words he has commanded us to teach.
 Again we see:
Proverbs 22:6 "Train(catechise) up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old , he will not depart from it." 

There was no state school at the time of the new testament church but we can see how serious it was taken by many concerning their duty to learn in the scriptures..
2 Timothy 3:15 " And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Oh that parents could see the utter importance of this. Nothing is as important as the spiritual well being of the child God has placed under your care.

Proverbs 19:27 "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."  
What are the words of knowledge? The whole counsel of God in His word!  This is an emphatic command not to listen to lies and error because they will cause us to turn from God's true word! This is for our children also! If we are to follow God's word, are our children exempt? No, not at all! So how can we justify sending our children into a system that denies His very existence and teaches self worship?
     Many will counter with a belief that they can undo many things taught in school when the child gets home. It would be confusing at best for one to think this
"God is not the author of confusion." I Corinthians 14:33
     We are to" bring up our children in the nurture(training) and admonition of the Lord" Ephesians 6:4
      No parent can do this by sending them to be taught by a system that must by it's own admission deny God! The teachers themselves may not hate nor deny God, but those who set the curriculum certainly do and most teachers obey what they are told to teach for the sake of keeping their jobs.

In Closing:
     We are to lead our children to the very God of the Bible not discourage them! Matthew 19:14 "But Jesus said, Suffer(permit, allow)little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven."  Satan knows how important it is to corrupt the minds and hearts of our children and professing Christian parents are complicit in his tactics! So not only are professing Christian parents not "fighting the good fight" I Timothy 6:12 , we are doing the devils work for him! In Luke 11:23 Jesus said "He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."
     My prayer dear readers is that with conviction to follow and obey God's word and not the useless traditions of men, Mark 7:6-8 , that you would prayerfully seek the whole counsel of God's word and yield your hearts to what He says.  Your children need you to!

By Steve and Kathryn Skinner

For a great DVD tool filled with truth of the consequences of Secular humanism
Of Man and Beast: Secular Humanism's War on God

I am back! After 5 years I have finally found my way back to my blog! A lot has happened since then so I will quickly give an update.  Hubby and I have seen both of our kids marry and we have 4 grandsons, 3 that are born and 1 awaiting to be born! I started another blog because my computer crashed and I did not have my log in information for this blog. I know! So now I try to write down every password down in my address book. My other blog is where I peddle the soap that I started making after my kids married and moved out.  www.kathrynsgarden.com go check it out it is really good soap! O.K. commercial over now. :)
    Hubby and I are nearing the end of our Foster Care classes through Life Line and I am very anxious to see what the Lord may do! Fostering is something that has been on my heart for as long as I can remember. I wish that the church would be the means to care for orphaned children but instead it is the state. DHR or CPS needs to be closely regulated with laws in place that state that a child can only be separated from their family if a crime has been committed against them or if the parents of the children abandon them to the state or church. Not because some bureaucrat or social worker was in a bad mood that day or because they have quotas that they have to fill. I think that all of us should be constantly writing our lawmakers and request that laws be put in place to strengthen parental rights. That being said, there are however thousands of children who do in fact need safe fostering family's to care for them and I would be thankful to be able to minister to them. 
    Well that is it for now, two of my grandsons are calling my name... literally. They are standing in their backyard and calling for me because they can see that my front door is open to let in fresh air.
Until next time! Many Blessings, Kathy