Posts
I was alerted to the Deace-Minnery interview by E. Ray Moore -- founder of the South Carolina-based Exodus Mandate, an initiative to encourage Christian education and home schooling. Moore, who considers himself a member of the Christian right, thinks the movement is imploding.I know and respect Mr. Moore, and his criticism of James Dobson, et al., is dead on target. In 1999, I interviewed Mr. Moore after he published a book called Let My Children Go, in which he argued forcefully -- based on sound Bible teaching -- that Christian parents should get their children out of government schools. Having pulled our oldest child out of public school after kindergarten (our five youngest have never attended government schools), I was of course sympathetic to Mr. Moore's argument, which he summarized in a simple phrase, "Every church a school, every parent a teacher."
"It's hard to admit defeat, but this one was self-inflicted," he wrote in an e-mail. "Yes, Dr. Dobson and the pro-family or Christian right political movement is a failure; it would have made me sad to say this in the past, but they have done it to themselves."
But Dobson and other Christian Right leaders had spent decades pushing a different argument, which might be summarized, "Let's take back our schools!" To which the obvious response is, "How?" If Christians can't be persuaded to teach their own children, where are you going to find this Christian army of government-certified teachers who will "take back" those schools from the secularists?
Dobson & Co. never had an answer to that, and it is thus scarcely surprising to see the recent declining level of faith among young people who spent 180 days a year for 13 years being indoctrinated in the secularist cult taught in modern American public schools.
Here's a video from Mr. Moore's ministry:
I am not Christian, and home school my children. The collectivist cult that is the California public scruel system is not for me and mine. Rather sad as my parents and 2 grandparents were teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe American Taliban are retreating to their American Madrassas for their Koran, er, Bible memorization. Fine, just don't start growing domestic terrorists too.
ReplyDeleteAMEN AMEN AMEN!
ReplyDeleteI am a catholic who from day one decided that my children were going to be catholic educated. My wife and i managed to pull this off on Long Island where on top of a ridiculous cost of living you have hideous property taxes. Add the cost of tuition and you have a pretty monstrous challenge. Over the years we've spent tens of thousands of dollars in tution books etc etc. We probably could have bought 3 or 4 new cars, a few vacations..maybe even another house!
I do not regret for a single moment keeping my kids out of government schools. I have seen first hand there what passes for education. My wife is now a substitute teacher in the public schools and she comes home with horror stories. It is a godless secular enviornement completely sterile. No creativity. Just politically correct crap that does nothing but produce stepford children programed to shout the liberal aethist philisophy.
You are correct. It was foolish to think that the christian right would ever "take back" the public schools. Pull your kids out. Its never too late.
I attended religious schools (Catholic, mostly) for more than a decade. Nothing did more to destroy my faith and dissolve my interest in organized religion. I know for certain that many of my peers were similarly disillusioned.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'.
R.S.,
ReplyDeleteI thought for a moment that you were talking about Raymond S. Moore, another home school advocate, hero of mine, but he died in 2007.
John,
The original 'American Taliban;' the Pilgrims, then the Puritans, were fundamental in the settling of this land as well as the Revolutionary War. In your terms, America is a madrassa.