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By Mary Ann Collins December 14, 2009 |
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“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good
evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)“…know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4)“Sin is a monster of such awful mien,
That to be hated needs but to be seen,
But seen too oft, familiar with face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
Alexander Pope
(“Mien” means appearance)
We live in a world where
multi-culturism, secular humanism, and occultism oppose God’s ways
and God’s moral standards. This can make it difficult for Christian
parents to pass their faith and Biblical values on to their
children.Public schools can
undermine the Biblical morality of Christian children, using
manipulative techniques such as values clarification.1 They can also
teach children to do things that are associated with pagan religions
or New Age practices. For example, some school children have been
taught to make “worry dolls” to ward off evil spirits, and to make
representations of Hindu gods. One Earth Day assembly taught
students that their mother is the earth and their father is the sun.
Some public school children were instructed in New Age teachings
about crystals.2In addition, today’s
children live in a world that is filled with movies, music, toys,
and video games that promote a worldview that is diametrically
opposed to Christianity.
UNGODLY ENTERTAINMENT
There are video games, TV
shows, movies, and music that glorify violence. Do such things
actually promote violence? They can.Recently a 17-year-old
boy murdered his 10-year-old brother because he had a craving to
kill somebody. He said that he was inspired by the TV show “Dexter,”
which features a serial killer. Last year, a Canadian man committed
a murder that was inspired by the same TV show.3The Virginia Tech
massacre was inspired by a violent movie that the killer watched
over and over.4 (For more information about such things, see “Toying
with Death: Learning to love evil & crave violence.”5)There are video games
that have players torture people, watch the gore, hear the screams,
and get rewarded by the game for doing it. According to the Medical
Foundation for the Care and Victims of Torture (U.K.), such games
demonstrate “a dangerous decline in social attitudes towards
inflicting suffering.” Players become “desensitized to torture.”6We live in a
sex-saturated culture. For example, the Bratz Babyz are dolls of
babies with bottles. And they wear thongs instead of diapers or
training pants.7 What kind of message does that give to girls?The regular Bratz dolls
are overtly sexy and immensely popular. Some have described them as
being “Hooker Barbie.”8One mother reports that
her seven-year-old daughter was crying while she was taking a bath,
saying that she wasn’t sexy enough. Her daughter liked playing with
Bratz dolls with her friends.9Popular entertainment
promotes occultism. The Harry Potter books introduced children
world-wide to the world of wizards and sorcery.10 “Charmed” is a
soap opera about three sisters who are witches. It is so popular
that it had both the current show during the day and reruns at
night.11Popular role-playing
games such as Dungeons and Dragons “open doors to forbidden realms
and spiritual seductions.”12 A new breed of children’s games is
“training kids to love evil more than good.13For Christian children,
one week of Sunday school is not enough to counteract the constant
bombardment with worldly ideas and ungodly examples. As a result,
Christian children need to have praying parents and praying
grandparents. They need to be close to Biblically knowledgeable
family members who live according to Biblical principles.
JUDGE VERSUS CHRISTIAN
HOMESCHOOLER
A ten-year-old girl from
New Hampshire has been homeschooled all her life by her Christian
mother. But a judge has ordered her to go to public school because
she “vigorously” defends her Christian faith.14The girl is “well liked,
social and interactive with her peers,” and participates in a number
of extra-curricular sports activities. The girl is also
“academically promising and intellectually at or superior to grade
level,” and she attends some public school classes in addition to
being homeschooled. Her homeschooling curriculum meets all state
standards.Unfortunately, her
parents got divorced in 1999, and they disagree about how she should
be raised. As a result, the courts got involved in the girl’s
personal life, and it appointed a “guardian ad litem” (a person who
is supposed to represent her best interests during the legal
proceedings).This “guardian” said
that the girl “appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on
questions of faith.” And she said that it would be in the needs
“exposure to a public school setting” and “different points of view
at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple
systems of belief.” The guardian told the girl’s mother that he
could have her put in public school if he wanted to.The case was heard by a
“marital master” (a woman) who reports to the judge. She considered
the girl’s “vigorous defense of her religious beliefs” to be a
problem. This court official said that the girl “has not had the
opportunity to seriously consider any other point of view.”
Therefore, this official recommended that the girl be ordered to
attend public school. The judge followed the official’s
recommendation.So the stated purpose of
forcing the girl to attend public school is to expose her to beliefs
that are contrary to her Christian faith.14The girl’s mother has
appealed the case. A lower court judge refused to reconsider the
order, but the New Hampshire Supreme Court has agreed to hear the
case.15Many of the people who
first came to America did so in order be able to practice their
Christian faith without interference from the government. Our
Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. And here is a court
ordering a Christian girl to go to public school in order to
challenge her Christian faith. Is this America?
SEX EDUCATION IN
KINDERGARTEN
The United Nations is
promoting sex education beginning at age five. One of the goals of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) is to promote “worldwide curricula reflecting UNESCO
values.” It is presently writing a sexually explicit curriculum for
children beginning at age five.16The United Kingdom has
announced that by 2010, England will have mandatory sex education
for five-year-olds. This is a compulsory program beginning in
kindergarten, and becoming more sexually explicit in higher
grades.17Could this happen in the
United States? There are people in high places who want to make this
happen in America. Back in 2007, Obama told Planned Parenthood that
“age-appropriate” sex education should be done in kindergarten.18
WHAT
CAN WE DO?
Never has it been more important to
train children to see reality from God’s perspective. The truths
about our sovereign God, His creation, the world, our own human
nature, the spiritual war that rages behind the scenes all have been
turned upside down by the new global paradigm.It’s up to parents to teach children to
see everything through the filter of His Word. So, while public
school children are immersed in myths and experiences that promote
the global paradigm, we must immerse our children in God’s truth.
That takes time, and Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says it well:“You shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your
strength. And these
words which I
command you today shall
be in your heart. You shall teach
them diligently to your children, and shall talk
of them when you sit walk, lie down, and rise up.”Does that sound like homeschooling to
you? Keep in mind, unless we teach our children to know and follow
His Word, they will not be ready for the spiritual battles ahead.Education leaders are fighting hard for
control over all children,
not just those in government schools. Curfew laws, national
standards and tests, work certificates, requirements for teacher
certification that would include parents who teach at home these are
some of the threats to our freedom.We don’t know what our earthly future
holds, nor how long we may freely train our children to love and
follow God. But we can trust the One who holds the future in His
hands. One day-maybe very soon-He will come for His own. Between
today and that glorious day, we may be tested in ways we can hardly
imagine. Will our children be ready? Will you and I?Now is the time to prepare. We can trust
our Shepherd to provide all the time and strength we need to follow.
Remember,“He who calls you is faithful,
who also will do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24
NOTES
1. “Schools and Values
Clarification,”
http://www.crossroad.to/Books/YourChildNewAge/YCNA-3.htm2. David Limbaugh,
“Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War against Christianity” (Regnery
Press, 2003), pages 81-82.3. “Andrew Conley Says
He Was Inspired by ‘Dexter’ to Strangle Brother,” December 4, 2009.
(The news story mentions the man who committed a similar murder in
2008.)http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=92526204. “Copycat: Killer
Re-Enacted Violent Film,” August 20, 2007.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806412615635. “Toying with Death:
Learning to love evil & crave violence,” April 19, 2007.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/toying-with-death.htm6. “Medical Foundation
Urges Retailers to Boycott Violent Video Games Promoting Torture,”
July 26, 2006.
http://www.torturecare.org.uk/news/latest_news/2967. “At Least One Bratz
Babyz Has Abandoned Her Thong ,” January 4, 2006. (One mother was
dismayed when she discovered the thong and replaced it with training
pants.)
http://www.commercialexploitation.org/news/bratzthong.htm8. “Over-sexed and over
here: The ‘tarty’ Bratz Doll,” October 20, 2006.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-411266/Over-sexed-The-tarty-Bratz-Doll.html9. “Grade-school Lolita:
So Sexy So Soon’: The sexualized childhood and how it affects kids
younger than you think,” August 6, 2008.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26037851/10. “Harry Potter Lures
Kids to Witchcraft with Praise from Christian Leaders.”
http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/Harry&Witchcraft.htm11. “Charmed.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmed12. “Role-Playing Games
& Popular Occultism Open doors to forbidden realms and spiritual
seductions.”
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/occult-rpg.htm13. “The Rising Darkness
in Children’s Games: Training kids to love evil more than good,”
October 22, 2009.
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/009/bakugan.htm14. “Court orders
Christian child into government education: 10-year-old’s ‘vigorous’
defense of her faith condemned by judge,” August 28, 2009.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=10808415. “Hearing for
homeschooler forced into gov’t system: Judge: ‘Lost opportunity’ if
child’s Christian views not challenged in public setting,” November
26, 2009.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=11702316. “UNESCO Gets off the
Track Again” by Phyllis Schlafly, October 9, 2009.
http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2009/oct09/09-10-09.html17. “UK Announces
Mandatory Sex Education for Kindergarteners,” October 24, 2008.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08102406.html18. “Sex Ed for
Kindergarteners Right Thing to Do,’ Says Obama,” July 18, 2007.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2007/07/sex-ed-for-kind.html
See also Is
this America – Part 1 | Part 2
| Part 3 |
Part
4 | Part 5See also
God’s Warnings for
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