The De-Christianizing of America by Public Schooling

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Under the guise of the promotion of multiculturalism contemporary progressive education, so dominant now in American public schooling, is developing a subtle rejection of the Judeo-Christian foundation on which our nation was founded, as the religious animosity in our land continues to grow.  This, among many other movements, is evidenced in that the powers that be are increasingly rejecting, ignoring, or disabling the formation of Christian groups in the schools or are failing to recognize Judeo-Christian holidays, which are basic to our culture. Social connections are central in schooling, and as a vital part of education is found in the various clubs, teams, and other groups beyond the classrooms, as well as even the holidays from school.

In the introductory paragraph I used the term “Judeo-Christian” because there is a basic unity between these two world-views. It contrasts to the Islamic, which although it might purport for many to be connected, but there are many irreconcilable differences between them. In Fact, the Koran in Surah 5:54 tells the Muslims: “O believers, take not Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends of each other. Those of you who make them his friends is one of them…”

Chase Windebank is a senior at Pine Creek High School, Colorado and is a devoted Christian who likes to share his faith. For three years he has used a free Seminar period meeting with fellow classmates to pray, discuss their faith and sing Christian songs. Nothing was done to stop the student led prayer and worship until one day he was called into the school office and told that he had to stop the meetings, as they violated the U.S. Constitution. On Sept. 29, 2014 Assistant Principal James Lucas told him the meetings could continue but any religious speech would have to stop because of the ‘separation of church and state,’ an inaccurate shorthand description of the First Amendment, which actually protects private religious expression.”

Back in September 22, 1996, nearly twenty years ago the Good News Club up in Milford, New York applied to use the school facilities for the purpose of serving children who lived too far away to attend church.  The club described themselves in their application as “a group of boys and girls meeting one hour a week for a fun time of singing songs, hearing a Bible lesson, and memorizing Scripture.”  Notice this was not set up to be held by adults!

The school superintendent denied the club permission to use school facilities on the grounds that their activities were equivalent to religious worship.  The club appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  The Second Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision.  The court stated that Milford had properly rejected the club’s application.  The court reasoned that the school’s decision had been based on constitutionally permissible subject matter discrimination (i.e., not permitting religious speech), and not viewpoint discrimination (i.e., permitting moral values speech except that which included religious speech, which would have been constitutionally impermissible viewpoint discrimination).  The court accepted the school district’s argument that by asking children to have a relationship with Christ, the club was not merely teaching moral values, but teaching religion.

Now about two decades later Liz Loverde, a sophomore at Wantagh High School, which has over 30 official student clubs, made application to form a Christian club called “Dare to Believe” back in mid-September of 2014.  When she presented her club proposal to her principal, she was told Christian clubs are “illegal” at school.  Liz explained that: “We just want to study the Bible together and serve our classmates and community by exercising the same freedom that everyone else has at our school,” but she was refused.

When she asked the principle to reconsider, the principal began crossing out any reference to Christianity in Liz’s proposal and ultimately refused to present the club to the Wantagh Board of Education for consideration because the principal feared it would cause too much trouble and parents would oppose a Christian club at Wantagh High School.

The Wantagh High School is the second Long Island high school in the fall of 2014 to violate the Equal Access Act by denying equal access to a Christian student group.  In October, Ward Melville High School refused to recognize Students United in Faith, a Christian club.  That school, however, has now agreed to recognize the club, and it is hoped the Wantagh situation will be corrected, as conservative legal counsel has been addressed to the situation.  But just think of all the other situations that are not being addressed!

The Equal Access Act is a federal Act passed in the year 1984 to compel federally-funded secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular clubs. The Act provides that it shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited open forum on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.

Chuck Norris in a November 17, 2014 article “Neutering Religious Holidays” points out that our country is heading down a slippery slope and we have to stop it before it is too late.  He brings out that at “We haven’t even hit Thanksgiving, and already the war on Christmas is underway. This time, in one of the largest public-school systems in the U.S.A., the Montgomery County Public Board of Education in Maryland has cut Christmas and Easter as well as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah from next year’s school calendar, as it is eliminating every mention of religious holidays on its official calendar.

Norris brings out some very important facts that we should be very much aware of as he wrote how that Brigitte Gabriel, the founder of ACT, the American Congress for Truth, observed that many public schools across the United States have implemented the radical Islamic curriculum, as in some classes students are required to become a Muslim for three weeks, adopt Muslim names, memorize verses from the Quran, and visit a mosque for a field trip.  Along with this although Norris does not mention it, the standard Common Core Curriculum links to a Muslim gear page that includes T shirts bearing the Aqida, the Muslim creed and teaches that that the post crucifixion prophesied events never took place. (“Williamson County, TN Schools Ban Christianity and TEACH Islam” by Victoria Jackson, <victoriaJackson.com> Nov. 5, 2014)

Gabriel brings out that in the name of promoting multiculturalism in some classes the student are taught the so-called errors of Christianity. But in these programs they must recite the Islamic prayer for salvation, which describes Islam as a straight path to God – and Christianity in error. In this curriculum that is being taught in public schools they give students extra credit to memorize and recite prayers such as, “Praise be to Allah, Lord of Creation, the compassionate, the merciful king of judgment day. You alone we worship, and to you alone we pray for help. ”

Norris in summarizing Gabriel’s writing says that, “Although she didn’t say it in these terms, Gabriel in fact explains that the removal of the influence of the Bible, and the long-standing effects of postmodernism and secular humanism in the schools, have paved the way for the present wave of Islamic indoctrination.” That’s not the America our founders created for us.” “That’s not unity in diversity,” Norris said, and “These actions were not examples of true education but pipeline progressivism pumping out another indoctrination camp.”

Shabbir Mansuri, the founding director of the Council on Islamic Education in Fountain Valley, California, published a directive, “How to get religious accommodation in the public school system: a 6-step guide — <Soundvison.com>, August 2011, and the Islamic group is increasingly moving more to its goals.  The Muslim students are being accommodated, while others slighted.

Becky Yeh well observed that “Gabriel well contends that if students in the public schools were to recite Bible verses, adopt Christian names, and learn a Christian prayer for salvation, many Americans would be infuriated, arguing it violates the alleged separation of church and state. But because of political correctness, she says, Islamic indoctrination is allowed in public schools.”  (Becky Yeh, “Schools: Islam…Yes! Christianity…No!” <OneNewsNow>).

Schools all over the U.S.A. are opening more and more doors for Islamic prayer times as Muslims are required by their religion to pray five times daily, facing toward Mecca. Among others, the Tuscon Desert View High School in Arizona has allowed a room to be set up for the Islamic daily prayers, as the district administration decided to make these accommodations for students based on their “Freedom of Expression” policy.  (“Tuscon School Accommodating Islamic Prayers”  –By Liz Harrison on August 29, 2014 in BuzzPo). Other do so, as well!

Christians in our land need to get off our easy chairs and speak out for right before our eyes we are witnessing what could be called the “The De-Christianizing of America by our Public Schools.”  Recall Christ said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea… Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost…. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”  (Matthew 18:6-14).  Could this speak to us?

We are in a spiritual warfare and the battleground is the socio-political-religious underpinning in our land.  Ephesians 6:12-13 is the call that we wrestle “not…against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” We must especially arm our children to stand against the destroyer of souls.  May God help us in this vital area of public education at this time in the history of our nation to see the errors and to seek to correct them.

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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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