Christian Parents Asked If 'Godless' Schools Are Best for Their Children
by Jody Brown
June 1, 2005
(AgapePress) - A Texas pastor and a Tennessee minister of education are warning their fellow Southern Baptists about what they consider the "toxic spiritual nature" of public schools in America. The two men hope their proposed resolution to the denomination's Resolutions Committee will cause Christian parents to seriously consider if government-run schools are the best place for their children.
When messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Meeting gather in Nashville later this month, among their agenda items will be consideration of resolutions proposed by Southern Baptists nationwide. Those resolutions are screened by a Resolutions Committee that determines which proposals are presented before the Convention for adoption or rejection.
Rev. Grady Arnold pastors an SBC church in Texas and heads up an organization called GetTheKidsOut.org. Along with fellow Baptist David Scarbrough, Arnold has submitted a resolution that calls on the denomination's churches "to lovingly warn all of their members concerning the toxic spiritual nature of the government school system."
Arnold says the vast majority of Christian children (88 percent) who attend public schools leave the church once they graduate. "Southern Baptists have been playing the 'ostrich with its head in the sand' routine long enough," the Texas pastor laments. "The time is way overdue that we acknowledge the devastating effects public school is having on the faith of our children."
He notes that while some in the SBC leadership maintain that sending their children to public schools is equivalent to being "salt and light" in a secular environment, data gathered by the denomination indicates just the opposite is happening.
"The public school system is officially godless," Arnold tells Associated Press. "Jesus Christ is divorced from history, from science, from every subject. We want an integrated faith where you can quote the Bible, talk about the Bible freely in any class and any subject."
A similar resolution last year called for the immediate pullout of children from public schools. That proposal failed to pass. The Arnold-Scarbrough measure stops short of that and, instead, calls on churches to become aggressive and pro-active in starting Christian schools and in supporting home schooling.
"Last year's resolution called for the immediate withdrawal of children from public schools. Ours simply calls for them to warn their members about public school and the dangers toward their faith, and to start Christian schools and encourage home school," the pastor explains. "It's not quite as radical, so I think it has a better chance of being accepted."
The proposed resolution also applauds Christians who are currently working in the government-run school system, recognizing them as "missionaries."
The SBC Resolutions Committee has before it another education-related resolution that was proposed in early May. That resolution, submitted by attorney and author Bruce Shortt and black evangelist Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., calls on SBC churches to investigate whether their local school district has a "gay-straight alliance" or other homosexual clubs. Unlike the Arnold-Scarbrough resolution, it calls upon churches to encourage parents' removal of their children from schools that have curricula or programs that treat homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.
The Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention will take place in the Tennessee capital on June 21-22.
