Friday, January 02, 2009

Christians encouraged to leave public school system

Christian parents are being encouraged to remove their children from public schools and enroll them in Christian or home schools.
Critics of America's public school system have launched a new effort highlighting the need for Christians to exit the system.

The initiative -- dubbed The Call to Dunkirk (video link) -- was launched by Dr. Bruce Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools; Rev. Voddie Baucham, author of Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God; and the founder and director of the Exodus Mandate Project, retired U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. E. Ray Moore.
Why name it "The Call to Dunkirk"?
The Call to Dunkirk gets its name from the historical WWII event when the Allied forces of England and France were run out of Europe, but ordinary citizens rallied to their aid and used their own boats to help more than 300,000 soldiers escape safely in order to return again on D-Day.
I began teaching my children at home in 1990, not for religious reasons, but for educational reasons.

However, throughout the 16 years I taught them, I watched as the attacks on Christians picked up. The Ten Commandments came under assault ... Christmas symbols were removed from more and more public schools ... prayer, which had been banished, seemed to be replaced in some schools with violence as we lived through Columbine and other school shootings ... Bibles were discouraged while other books and theories such as global warming were introduced.

I found myself absolutely certain and satisfied with our decision to educate our children at home. While in leadership with our home school group, I talked with many parents who disagreed with the public schools on a daily basis and who were looking for another avenue of education for their children.

It will be interesting to see if this call to remove Christian children from public schools gains traction. While some families would like to join in, they are financially unable to do so because both parents must work which essentially eliminates home schooling, and private schools are expensive alternatives. Others are simply not cut out to be with their children 24/7 as part of the demand of home schooling. A number of former public school teachers are those who have their children in private, Christian, and home schools.

Public education may continue to see an exodus of students as parents tire of the indoctrination of their children and take back responsibility for their education.

Stay tuned....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

One of the problems with taking Christian children out of public school is the loss of their witness in our schools. The second problem is the unspoken truth that for many so called Christian parents, the move out of public schools is about prejudice and not about Christ's love for all people. Our children sing in church "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white they are precious in His sight" but are taught that Jesus only loves White kids when it comes to school. Work for better public schools that honor our Christian values is better than building walls that divide us.