{"id":10619,"date":"2011-12-15T19:20:10","date_gmt":"2011-12-16T00:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=10619"},"modified":"2011-12-15T19:33:50","modified_gmt":"2011-12-16T00:33:50","slug":"should-christians-attend-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2011\/12\/should-christians-attend-public-schools.html","title":{"rendered":"Should Christians attend public schools?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Written by\u00a0MARCIA SEGELSTEIN<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Marcia1209\"<\/div>\n
That\u2019s the question tackled by documentary producer Colin Gunn in his new film,IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(see the trailer below).<\/div>\n
\n

The debate is spelled out right at the beginning of the film by two heavyweights in the world of evangelical Christianity. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, makes his position clear: \u201cI am convinced that the time has come for Christians to develop an exit strategy from the public schools.\u201d Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham and president of Samaritan\u2019s Purse, is equally clear: \u201cI want to see a child in every public school in America who is trained as a witness for Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

So should Christians stay and fight from within, or abandon a system they perceive as broken?<\/p>\n

Author R.C. Sproul Jr. addresses the argument many make that Christians need to be salt and light in the public schools: \u201cIf we send out evangelists and they become nonbelievers, we\u2019re not following a biblical strategy.\u201d And that, I think, is the crux of the matter for all parents struggling with this issue.<\/p>\n

Most of us probably know children from Christian households who\u2019ve come through the public school system with their faith and morality intact. It happens. It\u2019s not impossible. But it\u2019s difficult, and in my experience, rare.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a product of public schools, and I never felt that my faith was challenged in the classroom. Nor did I feel peer pressure not to attend church; plenty of my classmates went, too. But one generation later, things are vastly different. Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church, Chicago, also interviewed for\u00a0IndoctriNation<\/em>, points out the moral relativism schools actively promote, teaching children that there\u2019s no such thing as right or wrong. One Christian teacher interviewed describes the culture of public schools as \u201coverwhelmingly anti-Christian.\u201d Maybe in my day, they were at the very least neutral, tolerant in the true sense of the word.<\/p>\n

Can children be expected to spend 13 years of their lives in an environment hostile to their faith and not be at risk of losing it? Parents know their children best and only they can decide. As for me, I\u2019m already encouraging my teenage children to keep my future grandchildren far away from the public school system.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Colin Gunn and his family travel in a big yellow school bus across America shooting a new documentary film that explores the origins of the American education system, the effects of public schools on the Christian family, and the turning of the hearts of parents to their children through home education.<\/p>\n

See the trailer here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.yo<\/a><\/strong>utube.com\/user\/IndoctriNationMovie?feature=watch<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0http:\/\/online.worldmag.com\/2011\/12\/09\/should-christians-attend-public-schools\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by\u00a0MARCIA SEGELSTEIN That\u2019s the question tackled by documentary producer Colin Gunn in his new film,IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America\u00a0(see the trailer below). The debate is spelled out right at the beginning of the film by two heavyweights in the world of evangelical Christianity. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1474,7,1361,1822,1344,3100,256,453,252,435,1367,137,1867,3382,1355,1502,705,1680,1498,168,2836,2756,1354,1620,2792,68,434,1838,108,429,156,1920,101,1159,1384,2838,806,454],"tags":[3816,3814,772,3815,3813],"class_list":["post-10619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abuse-and-abusers","category-america","category-anti-christian-bias","category-atheists","category-attacks-from-the-left-on-the-righteous","category-big-brother-is-here","category-brainwashing","category-children-2","category-christian","category-communism","category-deceptions-and-lies","category-education","category-evil-plot","category-evil-vs-good","category-false-religions-that-claim-to-be-christian","category-godlessness","category-government-2","category-injustice","category-insanity","category-jesus-christ","category-jewish","category-kid-stealing-by-government","category-liberals","category-moral-decline","category-parenthood","category-political-correctness","category-propaganda","category-public-government-schools","category-religion","category-society","category-take-action","category-taking-america-back","category-tea-party","category-the-christian-revolution","category-traditional-marraige","category-wake-up-america","category-warning","category-young-people","tag-christian-film","tag-homeschool","tag-public-schools","tag-school-bus","tag-trailer-documentary"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Christians attend public schools? - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2011\/12\/should-christians-attend-public-schools.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should Christians attend public schools? - Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Written by\u00a0MARCIA SEGELSTEIN That\u2019s the question tackled by documentary producer Colin Gunn in his new film,IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America\u00a0(see the trailer below). 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