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Starve the dragon

By David d'Escoto December 13, 2008

Legends tell of a time when beasts preyed on poor townsfolk, such as the Piasa Bird of the Illiniwek Indians or, from literature, Smaug, the dragon of Tolkien's "The Hobbit." The people often felt helpless, and, sadly, many of these folk accepted the loss of their possessions and progeny as a necessary evil, in some cases willingly sacrificing their children to maintain their own security, personal peace and affluence.

The Old Testament records a time when the Israelites – God's chosen people – did in fact offer up their children to other gods (2 Chronicles 33:4-6, Ezekiel 16:20 and 20:31). Such are unspeakably tragic stories, for children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5). They are, in fact, His children and not ours, lent to us for only a short while. The church has understood this truth for centuries. Prominent early 18th-century Bible commentator Matthew Henry expressed it as follows: "The children of parents that are members of the visible church are to be looked upon as born unto God, and his children, as such, and under that character, we are to love them, and pray for them, bring them up for him, and, if He calls for them, cheerfully part with them to him; for may He not do what He will with his own?"

Our Lord not only gives us children but also the instruction manual. We are to raise, train, educate and disciple them according to His ways, not the God-forsaking world's way, vanity's way or some synergistic blend thereof. Where in Scripture does it say that it is fine for believers to mix worldly (today, humanistic) teachings with Christ's teachings? Scripture teaches the exact opposite: 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 5:7-11; and Jeremiah 10:2. Again quoting Matthew Henry on Jeremiah, "Faith learns these blessed truths from the Word of God; but all knowledge not from that source, leads to doctrines of vanity."

The church needs to stop "marrying Christ and Belial" and the practice of sending His children to secular-humanistic indoctrinating centers – today's public schools – for their training and "education." The result has been the decimation, the destruction, the ritual slaughter of millions of children's Christian worldviews. Most Christian leaders, national ministries and pastors have actually turned a blind eye to this modern-day child sacrifice. Some out of fear, some out of ignorance, but most out of indifference. Some highly influential leaders and ministries who would never hold a pro-choice position on abortion would nonetheless fight tooth and nail when it comes to their cherished "pro-choice" position on secular-humanistic public schooling. Is the comparison between sending Christian children to public schools and modern-day child sacrifice an exaggeration? I would think not. The church's loss rate is currently about eight out of every 10 children.

If things are so bad, why do millions of parents choose to keep their children in these government schools? One possible reason is simply fear. Parents who themselves have been influenced by years of peer dependency in the public schools are afraid to be different from the rest of the world, afraid of ridicule if they choose not to follow the pack, afraid they won't be able to afford to pull their children out, afraid of the prospect of training them up without help from the government. Every single one of those fears can and has already been addressed in Scripture and by hundreds of thousands of Christian parents who do not have their children in public schools. The Bible tells believers not to live in fear and trepidation. God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power (2 Timothy 1:7a). It is God's power working through parents' obedience that gives them the ability, the wisdom, the patience and the fortitude to pull their kids out and train them up themselves. Could the real reason be that it is not a fear issue but actually a faith issue? Do you have faith in God's power? Raising children is like working your own little mission field, and as one famous missionary, Hudson Taylor, said, "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply."

Thankfully, many Christians are finally beginning to understand the error of sending their kids to public schools. Yet many more wrongly believe that approximately 14,000 hours of secular-humanistic training in a child's life will not adversely affect them emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Therefore, they rationalize that these godless institutions can actually be reformed. Remember, the architects of public school ideology envisioned them to be exactly what they are today: godless, humanistic, social- engineering indoctrination centers.

We know full well that the "founding fathers" of today's public schools did not use the Bible as the foundation for shaping young minds. In 1837, Horace Mann knew that if he was going to make some real headway he would have to pry children from their parents' influence. Mann wrote, "I am about transferring my efforts to the next [generation]. Men are cast-iron; but children are wax. Strength expended upon the latter may be effectual, which would make no impression upon the former." Mann's twisted dream of re-educating the next generation has now entered the bloodstream of America as public schools – considered as common as apple pie and hot dogs today.

The other "founding father," John Dewey, co-author and signer of the Humanist Manifesto, took Mann's warped dream to next level. Dewey had great disdain for religion, especially Christianity. He wrote, "There is no God and there is no soul. ... There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes." Every Christian person reading these words needs to know that Mann and Dewey's ideas have arrived, and they would be very pleased with the results. Strangely, Christian parents send their impressionable children to schools that not only teach their founders' godless ideologies, but that actually bear their names.

Christians are not called to reform the depraved public schools. We would have about as much success in trying to wean a dragon of its appetite for human flesh.

Parents, we do have a serious dragon problem today, and it is feeding off half a trillion of our tax dollars every year – but more tragically, our children as well. Let's stop the nonsense of trying to refine the dragon. Let's be rid of it. It is time for the church to come together and starve the dragon.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83469

NOTE: At the original source the article has multiple “hot links” for key words.

Also see: Why Christian Education Is Important.