Wayne Walker here with the lead article for the 12/05 issue of Homeschool Educators on Active Duty Sending Upward Praises free monthly e-mail newsletter with the theme of how different religious organizations view homeschooling. Two other articles of my own from the issue will follow, but the other articles in the issue were written by other people, so you will have to ask for the newsletter to be able to read them.
HOMESCHOOL EDUCATORS ON ACTIVE DUTY, SENDING UPWARD PRAISES
Monthly newsletter of general interest, encouragement,
and information for homeschooling Christians
% Wayne S. Walker, 9024 Amona Dr., Affton (St. Louis), MO 63123
E-mail: wswalker310@juno.com; phones: (314) 638-4710 home, 544-1612 office
December, 2005; Volume 8, Number 5
##############################################################################
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Part 1)
1. HOMESCHOOLING AS VIEWED BY DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS by Wayne S. Walker
2. PUBLIC DIVIDE: Southern Baptists are about to take up a crucial debate over Christian children and state schools, by Joel Belz
3. CHRISTIAN FAMILY GRAPPLES WITH PUBLIC SCHOOL QUESTION by Rebecca Grace
4. COMMENTARY: THE BAPTISTS BLEW THEIR FIRST SHOT by Mary Pride
5. CHRISTIAN ED ADVOCATE: SBC PUBLIC SCHOOL LOYALTIES SHIFTING by Jim Brown
6. CONVEYING VALUES TO A NEW GENERATION by J. Michael Smith
7. RESEARCH ON VIEWS IN DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS ON HOMESCHOOLING by Wayne S. Walker
8. A LETTER FROM A FRIEND by Wayne S. Walker
9. PUBLIC EDUCATION by John Clayton
10. A CLEARING HOUSE FOR HOMESCHOOL INFORMATION by James P. Needham
11. WASTING MONEY ON EDUCATION by Cal Thomas
##############################################################################
1. HOMESCHOOLING AS VIEWED BY DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
by Wayne S. Walker
Last year, a resolution was introduced at the Southern Baptist Convention that was very anti-public school and very pro-homeschooling. It did not pass, but it did produce a lot of discussion and receive a lot of media attention. Reference was made to it in the Oct., 2004, issue of this newsletter, which actually contained the text of the resolution. This year, a similar, though somewhat toned-down, resolution was to be introduced again, but since I am not a Southern Baptist, I do not know what happened to it and I have not really seen any more news about it. However, the furor over the SBC resolution prompted me to wonder what various religious organizations in this country think about homeschooling. So that becomes the theme for this issue.
First, let me make sure that everyone understands from whence I am coming. I am a preacher or minister, but I am not a part of nor am I affiliated with any denominational organization. Rather, I am a member of the Church of Christ. Jesus promised to build His church (Matthew 16:18). Those who were saved were added by the Lord to this church (Acts 2:47). This church is referred to in the scriptures as the body over which Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22-23). The Church of Christ has no earthly headquarters, universal leadership, or man-made creed but accepts Christ as its only head and the inspired word of God as its only guide. So far as my religious connections are concerned, I intend to be identified with nothing other than the church that Jesus established and is revealed on the pages of the New Testament. Those who are members of the Church of Christ seek to be nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else than Christians (Acts 11:26 and 26:28).
These non-denominational, New Testament Christians organize themselves as local congregations in the various communities where they live, and as such they assemble together to worship God and work together to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Such congregations were known in New Testament times as "churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16). We strive to identify ourselves in the same simple way today. Each congregation is independent and autonomous. There is no hierarchy and there are no organizational, denominational-type ties that bind these congregations together. They simply have a common faith, love, and hope based upon the teachings of the Bible.
A growing number of people in such churches are choosing to educate their children at home, seeing all the moral and educational problems that have developed in the public schools and wishing to have more control over the influences that enter their children's minds so that they might do the best job that they can do in passing on to their children the faith once for all delivered to the saints (2 Timothy 1:3-5, Jude verse 3). They take very seriously their job of bringing their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Yet, many of them, especially in earlier days, faced opposition by some members of the congregations where they worshipped and other brethren whom they knew. This seemed especially strange since a lot of those same opposers were lamenting about how churches were losing so many of their young people.
The April, 1999 (Vol. 1, No. 9) issue of this newsletter (when it was still a monthly support group newsletter in Dayton, OH) carried an article entitled "The Early Days" written by David Pratte, a good friend and fellow gospel preacher, chronicling some of the strong objections that he experienced from members of the church when he and his family started homeschooling in 1982. The August, 2000, issue reprinted three articles about homeschooling, one against and two for, from a couple of subscription journals published by people associated with churches of Christ. The February, 2002, issue had as its theme "A History of Homeschooling Among Churches of Christ." And the February, 2005, issue dealt with "Attitudes Towards Homeschooling" that many of us have found expressed by those with whom we worship and work in local churches. Since churches of Christ are independent and there is no official "statement of faith" or anything like that, attitudes have varied. Let me illustrate.
In July of this year, I was asked to deliver a lecture, as part of a series on "The Sheathed Sword," with the assigned topic, "What Has Happened to the Battle Against Evolution?" at a local church of Christ in Indianapolis, IN. I pointed out studies which show that some 85% of young people even in conservative religious organizations who graduate from public schools no longer believe in creation and other important Biblical truth. In my last point, during which I made some suggestions of what Christians can do to unsheathe the sword, I said the following. "Let me conclude with one other suggestion. Some of us, in our attempt to unsheathe the sword in the fight against evolution, have chosen to homeschool our children. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I do not necessarily preach, or even believe, that all Christians MUST homeschool their children to be faithful to the Lord. Many children of Christians have gone to public schools and still believe the truth. However, many do not come out of public schools holding to the faith. Whatever route we choose, we need to take to heart what God told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 6.6-7. 'And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.'
"There are those who are convinced that the best route is to teach our children at home ourselves and present everything from a Biblical worldview rather than having constantly to correct and reteach everything that they learn in school. Some people criticize this as hiding our children's light under a bushel, not letting them be the salt of the earth, and over-protecting them from the world. However, I know a lot of homeschooling families, and this is not the aim of most parents who educate their children at home. Rather, our aim is to make sure that our children are protected from unnecessary moral evil and wholly immersed in the truth during their most impressionable years so that when they are more mature and do go out into the world they will be fully equipped to stand up for creation and fight against evolution. Again, I cannot tell anyone that he or she has to homeschool, but many find it a useful weapon in warring against the militancy of the evolutionists. We just want to do everything possible in making it more likely to keep our children from being part of that 85% and raise up warriors who are prepared to join in the battle against evolution."
This was on Tuesday. Following the last afternoon lecture, there was an open forum, where anyone could suggest a Biblical topic for discussion, drawn from either one of the lectures or any other source. My good friend Ronny Milliner, whom I have known from over thirty years ago in college and respect greatly, made some very interesting comments. He said that he too once thought that homeschooling was an overreaction. His daughters went to public schools, and they have turned out quite well. His wife has taught in public schools, and he himself is now working in a public school system as a computer administrator. However, he also said that the more he sees of the public schools, the more he is changing his mind about homeschooling. He concluded that while he knew that his daughter and son-in-law would do a good job with his grandchildren, there are some public schools where he would NOT want his grandchildren to go and asked what others thought.
There happened to be a couple of other homeschooling fathers in the open forum. The first said that he and his wife were having to spend so much time "deprogramming" (his word) their children when they came home from school every night that they just decided that they could invest that time better simply teaching them at home. The second said that when he and his wife decided to homeschool their children, they made no statements about what others were doing but began getting comments that other members of the church were feeling threatened and starting to get defensive because of it. He concluded that the decision to homeschool was one that he and his wife made for their family and was not intended to be a reflection on anyone else.
Someone else said that he certainly views homeschooling as an individual choice but wondered if that by keeping their children home parents might not be limiting their children not only in their own potential but also their ability to influence others for good. My response is that the aim of most homeschooling parents is to increase their children's ability to influence others for good by doing everything they can to make sure that the children during their most impressionable years are immersed in the truth and not drawn away from the Lord by seducing influences in public schools. One other person said that he attended public schools in the 1990's and remained faithful, so parents really have nothing to fear from the public schools. My response is that while I agree that faithful Christians who are seeking to train their children in the way that they should go have nothing to fear, it is also true that the devil still goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). I am personally convinced that in many places he is using public schools as a tool to poison the minds of young people, and I am very apprehensive of that. Therefore, I have chosen to fight him by educating my children at home.
One of the questions that seemed to tie those who either had or previously had had objections to homeschooling was wondering if homeschooling was "retreating" from the "real world" in which we as Christians must learn to live. The word "retreat" is an interesting one. As I have thought about this question since, I have two answers. First, there are times in warfare when a general finds his army in circumstances where the enemy has the upper hand and so, knowing that his army is outnumbered and out gunned, he decides that rather than risking further loss he needs to retreat to a safer place where he can regroup and rally to pitch the battle at a time and place more conducive to victory for his troops. I believe that Satan and his humanist allies have basically won the battle for the public schools, so in that particular arena it might be wise to retreat. However, I certainly do not advocate "retreat" as hermits and monks from the world in general. We need to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12)! Yet, for the most part generals do not send in raw recruits to fight important battles, but seasoned soldiers. Until our children are well trained, are they really ready to face evolution, the pro-homosexual agenda, abortion advocacy, and sex education that promotes promiscuity (IN THE FIRST GRADE!)? Yes, I want to train them for fighting the good fight of the faith when they are prepared to do so, but in their most formative years I simply am not willing to sacrifice them upon the altar of "salt and light."
I do not cite any of this to be critical. All of the individuals to which I have referred in the paragraphs above are people whom I consider to be good friends and faithful Christians. I simply cite what they have said to show the different kinds of attitudes towards homeschooling that can be found in churches of Christ. The same kinds of attitudes have been experienced by people in various denominational churches as well. In doing the research for this issue, I sent letters to all major religious organizations in the United States asking if they have any official position on homeschooling. My records show that I tried to contact 51 different groups as listed in the 2001 issue of the World Almanac (the last edition that I have). I received fifteen responses. After some articles dealing with the Southern Baptist Convention issue, I will share with you what the different denominations told me. I hope that you will find it interesting and enlightening.
########################################################################### |