The Inversion of Morality in the Public Schools

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There has been an inversion of morality in the public schools, calling what was once immoral moral and what was once moral outdated.  Our land is threatened by the inversion of morality! The dogma of secularism rejects Christian morality, and it is reiterated in textbooks from grade school through graduate school.

Yes, progressive thinking has and is indoctrinating public education. They must admit the Christian foundation was once important, but they wish to instill in the learning of our youth that America is a comprehensively and irreversibly a secular society, that we have grown beyond the biblical morality of the past. This is much in tone with our president’s call for change, and this is being shaped out in all areas of public education.

One of the vital segments of education in America in the early days was to cultivate a moral society. In fact, Noah Webster said:  “Education, in a great measure, forms the moral character of men, and morals are the basis of self-government.” He argued that it,  “should therefore be the first cause of the legislature, not merely the institution of schools but furnishing of the them with the best teacher…I shall almost adore that great man who shall change our practice and opinions and make it respectable for the first and best men to superintend the education of youth.” (Noah Webster, The Education of Youth).

Ben Franklin who was not a Christian, at least in the Reformed and Evangelical sense, said, “As to Jesus of Nazareth…I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see…” This observation from Franklin I feel points very much to that teacher that Noah Webster suggested as the “best teacher…that great man who shall change our practice and opinions and make it respectable for the first and best men to superintend the education of youth.” (The Great Thoughts by George Seldes, p.142)

Dr. Ben Carson observed that:  “Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized Euro-Atlantic countries, including the United States, of becoming godless and moving away from Christian values. Some may bristle at such an accusation, but when you consider that many Americans are hesitant even to mention God or Jesus in public, there may be some validity to his claim. We also casually have tossed out many of the basic principles espoused in the Bible, basic to our laws and the foundation of America and have concluded that there’s no authority greater than man himself.” (Still One Nation Under God – Dr. Ben Carson—February 12, 2014, Townhall)

Groups such as the ACLU, Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Atheists, and other progressive organizations have led the fight against biblical and Christian morality.  These groups have led the vanguard against the teaching of Judeo-Christian morality and values in the classrooms.  However, the political choice is not whether schools should engage in moral education, but in what sort of moral education they should be engaged, even the immoral.

Beginning in the first half of the 20th century and accelerating in the aftermath of World War II, many thinkers simply ignored “the religion factor” in American life, and this took place in American education at an accelerating rate.  They could not totally ignore history, and had to teach America had some Christian influences in the foundation, but that now it had evolved past that to what these progressives call the Post-Christian age.

There are many areas where this inversion can be observed in respect to the public schools, but two in particular I wish to address—one being the acceptance even applauding of homosexual behavior as desirable, another the legalization and even promotion of the use of marijuana.

At one time I taught sex education in the public schools, and I taught the negative factors involved in homosexuality and why the Bible condemned it. Historically there are many examples of how homosexuality has been central in the decay and fall of many nations.   Sodom is the classic example in history where the town was obliterated for practicing the homosexual lifestyle. American education should not ignore this!

One of the key targets of the homosexual activists is the public school, and this includes not only tolerance of their lethal lifestyle but acceptance with privileges as a special class, as a minority group.  And The Journal of the American Medical Association reported, fifty percent of male AIDS victims reported had sex with an adult male by the age of sixteen, and that twenty percent of male AIDS victims had sex with an adult male by age ten.

According to the highly respected conservative Family Research Council from “sifting of evidence from four separate databases support the conclusion that homosexual activities may shorten the person’s life span by as much as 30%” In addition…”Median age of death for homosexuals was 45, with only 2% surviving past 65 [while the median age of the ‘normal’ population was over 70 with more than 60% living past 65].” Further, “Causes of early death included murder, accidents, and drug abuse, but primarily sexually transmitted diseases [STDs}.  Homosexuals were 116 times more apt to be murdered, 24 times more likely to commit suicide, 18 times more likely to die in traffic accidents.”

There is an inversion of morality taking place.  When gays come out of the closet, or affirm their gay life styles, many of our leading politicians applaud it, as a most positive affirmation, and this is sad.  How do you monitor four feet in a school rest room cubicle?

Think about this: The “gay revolutionary” Mark Swift wrote in the February 15, 1987 issue of Gay Community News:  “We shall sodomize your sons, We shall seduce them in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms, in your youth groups, Your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding. They will come to crave and adore us. All laws banning homosexual activity will be revoked. Instead, legislation shall be passed which engenders love between men. Our writers and artists will make love between men fashionable…. We shall raise vast, private armies…to defeat you. The family unit….will be abolished. Perfect boys will be conceived and grown in the genetic laboratory….All churches who condemn us will be closed. Our only gods are handsome young men. All males who insist on remaining stupidly heterosexual will be tried in homosexual courts of justice and will become invisible men.”

The second illustration of demoralization taught in our public schools is legalization of marijuana, the drug I taught back in my days as a public school teacher as not only illegal but very much harmful to the health.  In the context of the Scripture from I Corinthians 3:17 it says, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” It in some cases provides relief medically, but it does not provide true healing.

The decriminalization of marijuana use will trigger a substantial increase in use, with foreseeable increases in social, economic, and health costs. It was observed, “The significant neuropharmacologic, cognitive, behavioral, and somatic consequences of acute and long-term marijuana use are well known and include negative effects on short-term memory, concentration, attention span, motivation, and problem solving, which clearly interfere with learning; adverse effects on coordination, judgment, reaction time, and tracking ability, which contribute substantially to unintentional deaths and injuries among adolescents (especially those associated with motor vehicles); and negative health effects with repeated use similar to effects seen with smoking tobacco.” (Legalization of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth-Pediatrics, Vol. 113- June 6, 2004)

The message of Christ speaks to both the secular and spiritual worlds, to the non-regenerate and the regenerate, as the Scripture says I Timothy 4:10 that Christ is the “Savior of all men, especially those that believe.” The teachings of Jesus give guidance for living, while the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives gives the teachings vitality! As the Logos, Christ is the manifestation of God’s wisdom and substance of reason.

The biblical message stresses cultivating morality in the education of the youth. Proverbs 1:7 sets the tone for all learning, as it says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…”   Proverbs 22:6 says to “Train up a child in the way that he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Proverbs 23:12 give the guidance to “Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge, and understanding.” Galatians 6: 6 underscores this as it says, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things.” And finally, II Timothy 2:15 echoes back a covering for it all, as it says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) said, “As the moral precept is at the same time my maxim, reason commanding that it should be so, I inevitably believe in the existence of God, and in the future life, and I feel certain that nothing can shake this belief, because all moral principles would be overthrown at the same time, and I cannot surrender them without becoming hateful in my own eyes.” (Critique of Teleological Judgment))

Kant perceived God only from teleological reason, but when individuals come to know God personally through revelation in Christ, there develops a common bond with reason through Christ, as the Logos (John 1:1,1).  This corrects the moral conflict in learning!

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by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Educational Columnist, Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, 5931 West Avenue, Lavonia, Georgia 30553,  706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net

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