RETHINKING DISCIPLESHIP
Christian schooling is about more than education ; it ’ s about discipleship .
By Dr . Alan Pue
Last year the nonprofit Parents Defending Education sued in federal court on behalf of three Massachusetts families over Wellesley Public Schools ’ policies and practices that they said violated the First Amendment , the Fourteenth Amendment , and civil rights law . The courts ruled in favor of the families , and as the WSJ editorial board noted , “ The settlement looks like a solid win for parents .”
That , I am afraid , is more illusion than reality . As the Wellesley school district leaders noted in a press release soon after the court announced its decision , “ bias incidents can include acts of unconscious bias .” That is simply a catchphrase for any action or statement that can be construed by anyone as biased against anyone . As such , it provides a lot of latitude for anyone wishing to pursue a personal or political agenda . Given that reality , what can we as Christ-followers do to protect our rights to educate our children in accordance with our beliefs ? I ’ d like to offer some thoughts in answer to that question .
THE CHANGING REALITY OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
One cannot study the ministry of the Apostle Paul without becoming aware of how frequently he was able to use his status as a citizen of Rome to protect him personally from unlawful acts that would have hindered his efforts to preach the gospel throughout the Roman Empire . Paul knew his rights and wisely used the legal system to a positive end . In so doing , he left us a template to follow in our current cultural moment . We should do the same , using every legal means possible to protect our religious liberties .
In the end , however , Paul , like all of the apostles , ended up a victim of a hostile pagan government . That hostility remained unabated for nearly three centuries until the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine . During those centuries , hundreds of thousands of Christ-followers gave what President Abraham Lincoln called “ their last full measure of devotion ” in service to Christ . From their blood sprang a movement that still impacts the world today .
We , in the USA , have been blessed to live in the most religiously free country ever in the history of the world . We have been free to live as the Scriptures call us to live ( though we have often done so imperfectly ). We have been free to speak truth to the surrounding culture without fear of reprisal ( though we have also often done so poorly at times ). And we have done both while living in the context of a culture that , to some level , has been supportive of what we ’ ve had to say and how we ’ ve chosen to live . That , however , is less true today than ever before in four hundred years of our history . Sadly , we ’ ve not responded wisely and well to that changing reality . Nowhere has that been truer than in our relationship with our state-funded public schools .
THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
I believe it is time for Christfollowers to toss aside the increasingly discredited idea that America ’ s public schools are in any way neutral regarding issues of life and faith . The simple truth is this : While schools and
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