A civilization is measured by its culture. Civilization’s ability to mete out justice, ensure domestic tranquility and treat its subjects well is dependent on its culture. A culture, in its turn, is shaped by what its members collectively believe about the world. The ancient Romans, as Christian historian Francis Schaeffer pointed out, did not have omnipotent gods in their pantheon. Consequently, there was no underlying sense of truth and right to which its citizens could appeal. Thus, the state was absolute and totalitarian in its rule and there was no argument to be made against its authority to abuse. The weakness of such a platform caused the empire to collapse under pressures from without and within.

Culture is pervasive. It sinks into all areas of the lives of its members. Nowhere is this more telling than how modern culture judges absolutes. For more than 20 years, public education has been in the business of teaching that there is no God, that mankind originated from a primordial soup of chemicals. The logical conclusion of this was not unanticipated. On February 12, 2002, Barna Research released figures on teens and morality. In it, they claimed, “…only 9% of born again teens believe in moral absolutes versus 4% of the non-born again teens.”

These are kids you see every Sunday in church. If you were to round up ten of them, chances are that maybe one of them believes in absolute truth. The rest absolutely believe there is no such thing. This should send shivers down the spines of parents everywhere. A culture of freedom that fails to anchor itself to the concept of absolute truth will invariably crumble under pressure and demand in desperation a totalitarian government.

We shouldn’t be surprised at today’s teens’ hesitance to accept the concept of absolute truth. The couple of hours spent in church and few hours spent weekly in dialogue with parents cannot compete with the 35 – 40 hours teens spend with school teachers. Most of these teachers are hesitant to address absolutes, and those that do typically come down on the wrong side. Against this, parents have little hope. Teens are being taught by those who profess to be experts. Why should they not believe an expert when they say that morals are flexible and that there is no God and no absolute right and wrong? Such a worldview makes our culture ripe for destruction. Given enough pressure, it will collapse.

One bright glimmer remains on the landscape of education. Parents, in the ultimate demonstration of involvement, have begun to educate their children at home. Some have done so specifically to counteract the relativist culture. Others find benefit in helping their children excel unfettered to a classroom environment or for other reasons. Yet all stand a much better chance of imbuing on their children their own worldview. Parents who give their children a view of right and wrong that supersedes governmental and societal rule give hope to the future. Father Joseph Fessio, in an interview with Hugh Hewitt on January 5, 2006, made the comparison between home schooling and the monasteries of medieval Europe. The monasteries were Christianity’s best hope of survival, even while being sacked by Vikings and pillaged by barbarians. He said, “…home schools are the monasteries of the new dark ages. … [Parents are] passing on the faith to their children. They're giving them wisdom and the knowledge of our culture.” By going outside the system, families using home education are this nation’s bright hope to redeem the culture.

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