No 'Exodus' for Southern Baptists
The Southern Baptist Convention at its annual meeting this week rejected a proposal to call for "an exit strategy" from the public schools.
Instead, the SBC adopted a resolution commending "the hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women who teach in our public schools" and recommending that Southern Baptists "engage the culture."
The "exit strategy" resolution was offered by Roger Moran and Bruce Shortt, a Houston authority who is the author of "The Harsh Truth About the Public Schools" (available through Chalcedon). The resolution was described in detail in a recent Chalcedon website article (http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=296).
We can't help wondering what some of these Christian teachers do when the school directs them to teach the virtues of evolution, abortion, or homosexuality. We've never heard of a teacher getting an exemption, on religious grounds, from having to present anti-Christian curriculum materials. Could you refuse to teach evolution, for instance, and still keep your job? We'd be interested in hearing from teachers who have been in this dilemma.
Homeschooling advocates can't help being disappointed: for the SBC, America's largest Protestant denomination, to have adopted this resolution would have been a major coup. But we should not be surprised when major institutions, religious or secular, stop short of taking bold action.
What this means is that we must all work harder to convince America that homeschooling is the right choice for families--biblically, emotionally, and academically. Homeschooling has made great strides since R.J. Rushdoony spearheaded its growth into a movement in the 1970s. Now is certainly not the time to give up!
Instead, the SBC adopted a resolution commending "the hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women who teach in our public schools" and recommending that Southern Baptists "engage the culture."
The "exit strategy" resolution was offered by Roger Moran and Bruce Shortt, a Houston authority who is the author of "The Harsh Truth About the Public Schools" (available through Chalcedon). The resolution was described in detail in a recent Chalcedon website article (http://www.chalcedon.edu/articles/article.php?ArticleID=296).
We can't help wondering what some of these Christian teachers do when the school directs them to teach the virtues of evolution, abortion, or homosexuality. We've never heard of a teacher getting an exemption, on religious grounds, from having to present anti-Christian curriculum materials. Could you refuse to teach evolution, for instance, and still keep your job? We'd be interested in hearing from teachers who have been in this dilemma.
Homeschooling advocates can't help being disappointed: for the SBC, America's largest Protestant denomination, to have adopted this resolution would have been a major coup. But we should not be surprised when major institutions, religious or secular, stop short of taking bold action.
What this means is that we must all work harder to convince America that homeschooling is the right choice for families--biblically, emotionally, and academically. Homeschooling has made great strides since R.J. Rushdoony spearheaded its growth into a movement in the 1970s. Now is certainly not the time to give up!
