Why we can no longer just “put God back in schools”

How do you put God back in schools?

This seems to be the knee-jerk response of many Americans to the sad state of affairs in our society today. “Put God back in schools!”

Here’s the thing: this is not your Grandma’s America. It’s certainly not your great-grandma’s America. And God is not something you can easily just “put back in schools.”

In this America, the education system is a top-down government bureaucracy that starts in Washington D.C. and filters its wishes by means of funding to the states and local school districts. The federal Department of Education (an unconstitutional behomoth) controls more than most people realize. Oh, and they’re very woke.

These photos are from their Facebook page. The one on the right is the 2021 version. In case you’re out of the loop, this is the updated LGBTQ+/CRT/i flag. (CRT/i is “criticl race theory/intersectinality). I have written two previous posts that discuss this mess here and here.

So much funding is tied to requirements. During the Obama administration, he made it so that schools would not receive funding if they refused to adhere to new transgender bathroom rules. This is the trouble with a federal department of education (or pretty much anything else). Follow the money.

So, back to how some propose to “put God back in schools.” When asked, these good-hearted Americans say that prayer should open each day, and that the Bible should be taught in schools. Well, I wholeheartedly agree that a child needs the example of daily prayer and Bible reading. And though there once was a time when this was a normal part of American schools, it’s no longer possible today.

Tell me: who would teach these Bible classes? The local pastor? A Bible college graduate? A basic level of common sense will be your guide here. (I’ll give you a second.) The truth is, in a secualar, Marxist institution like the American public school system, the Bible would be presented as a myth, or worse.

Additionally, even though the notion of “separation of church and state” is not anywhere in the Consitution, a large majority of Americans actually believe it is, and use this very line to push for an exclusion of God in every aspect of government (including schools).

John Dewey, remembered for his efforts in establishing America’s current educational systems, was one of the chief signers of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto. It seems the Humanists have been interested in America’s education system for nearly a century. They have been absolutely successful in teaching children that God is imaginary and contrary to “science.”  (source: https://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/secular-humanism.htm)

(Read my related post: Radical Christian Parenting)

Speaking of science, when was the last time you heard of a public school teaching that God created the universe? Did you or your children read Isaac Newton’s incredible writings about God and His magnificence? Is math taught as a part of the perfect order of creation? Are the founders of America presented as the Chritians most of them were? Is biblical history interwoven with ancient world history? Is Jesus introduced as the son of God, or as a historic figure?

Need I say more?

“Putting God back in schools” is a tall order today. It would take a complete upheaval of the public school system, from the Department of Education all the way down to your local school board. There is one correct thing about this statement, and that is the fact that what our children learn in schools (and universities) is directly reflected in society.

Which brings me to the solution.

What we need to be advocating is to “put kids back in the home.” This is, after all, the institution that God designed from the beginning.

Deuteronomy 6: 1-9: “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules —that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It was always the home that God intended for the upbringing of children. When you outsource that duty to the government (!) you get what you pay for.

So I challenge you: take your kids out of the blatantly godless public school system. Disciple them at home. And then go a step further. See who around you needs encouragement to do the same. If you’re a grandparent, volunteer to help your grandkids out of the system. If you’re able, help another family with their home education. Trade tutoring sessions, or child care, or rides to co-op classes. Band together with some likeminded church members to form a small school or private learning cooperative.

Read “5 ways to help someone else homeschool,” my post for Expository Parenting.

With all the gusto that you want the government to do something, step out and be the change.

Have you read my book, Anyone Can Homeschool? It’s the answer to every obstacle that you might think you face! Working parents, single parents, special needs kids, chronic illness…the list goes on. And for every item on that list of circumstances, there are hundreds of families homeschooling anyway.

It’s available on Amazon, Kindle, and here on my website.