It is interesting of course that many if not most \u201canti\u201d public school advocates are products of the very system that they criticize.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIndeed. I should think that puts them in a position to know a few things about the matter. Having been brought up in that thoroughly secular milieu (I attended all Detroit public schools), those of us with that experience would be in a very good place to know firsthand how damaging such an education can be, as it included no spiritual or religious element whatsoever, and very little even in the way of moral or character formation (and was deliberately planned to be such: going back to Horace Mann and John Dewey, who designed the American public school system).<\/p>\n
My parents were nominal Methodists, so I didn\u2019t receive any particular theological or spiritual formation at home. The public schools, of course, have gotten much,\u00a0much<\/i>\u00a0worse, since 1976 when I last attended one. With all that secular rot that I learned, is it any wonder that I emerged as a good little, secularist, pagan? What else would you expect if that was the main input of learning in one\u2019s life? You are what you\u00a0eat<\/i>, after all . . .<\/p>\n
My wife, by the way, was raised Catholic, and went to a very liberal Catholic high school (which is another whole discussion). We are just as opposed to being taught religion badly, as to not being taught it at all. In fact, I would contend that the former is even more harmful than the latter, because mocking various Christian doctrines and beliefs is worse than being ignorant of them. At least if one is totally\u00a0ignorant<\/i>\u00a0they are in a better place to hear both sides of an argument, if they ever get to the point where they encounter them, whereas the one brainwashed with liberal \/ secularist bilge is already predisposed to accept that viewpoint.<\/p>\n
Are we to believe that they are among the few that have escaped without damage\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nI was\u00a0severely\u00a0<\/i>damaged (in the larger sense: not simply the three \u201cr\u2019s\u201d, etc.) by my early education. If I hadn\u2019t undergone an evangelical conversion and studied on my own, and sought some different, more \u201ctraditional\u201d or \u201cconservative\u201d or religious opinions on my own, by God\u2019s grace, I would have continued on as a political and social liberal for my entire life, as multiple millions do and did. Majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology in college did nothing to change this bad trend, either.<\/p>\n
or is it possible that this debate is prejudiced from the beginning?<\/span><\/p>\nIf you wish to argue that there is nothing wrong enough in the public schools to justify some folks pulling their children out of them (on the basis of both a superior education obtainable elsewhere, and the demands of raising Christian disciples), if they are able to provide an alternative of homeschooling or parochial or private Christian schools, then please do so. If I am \u201cprejudiced\u201d against public schools, it is the same kind of \u201cprejudice\u201d I have against secularism and atheism. Some things are negative influences and deficient, and ought<\/em> to be opposed. Therefore, it is rational to reject them if one is in a place to provide a much better alternative for one\u2019s children.<\/p>\nThere is nothing in the Bible that tells us that a Christian education is merely about the schooling a child receives from 8am to 3pm.<\/span><\/p>\nI agree.<\/p>\n
The Bible\u2019s view of education is much more comprehensive than that and I would argue that it does in fact include having normal contact with the community and culture that Christian children find themselves in.<\/span><\/p>\nOf course. That doesn\u2019t mean, however, that we\u00a0must<\/i>\u00a0expose our children to all sorts of harmful, deleterious moral and ideological influences (as if that helps them). Some will be able to handle it (I never got into serious trouble, despite all the bad influences I received), but many won\u2019t. I don\u2019t criticize good friends of ours who choose to do exactly this: their children attend public schools, but they are also extensively taught good morals at home. That\u2019s one option, and I have no problem with it (as long as it\u2019s actually\u00a0done<\/i>).<\/p>\n
So why is it that we homeschoolers get a lot of unjust criticism from our friends who\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0<\/i>homeschool? Why can\u2019t y\u2019all live and let live? We have a disagreement here, but there is no need to get legalistic about it. Above, you seem to pit the Bible against homeschooling, as if it is intrinsically inferior to a public school education. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I submit that you either don\u2019t know much about homeschooling and those who undertake it, or that perhaps you may have your\u00a0own<\/i>\u00a0\u201cprejudices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeschooler advocates seem to assume a certain culture should be in place to effect their optimal understanding of education\u2013Father works, mother educates children at home while she stays at home, etc.<\/span><\/p>\nPlenty of even secular research shows the high benefits of mothers staying at home with their children. That\u2019s the ideal situation. We also know the harmful effects of daycare, from many scientific studies of that unfortunate phenomenon. Not everyone can do this, but that doesn\u2019t mean that it isn\u2019t the\u00a0ideal<\/i>\u00a0family setup. Historically, usually\u00a0both<\/i>\u00a0parents were at home all day, doing their work, with children around. And most children were homeschooled. It wasn\u2019t the case that both parents went away to work. So if anything, having one at home is closer to the historical (and ancient Hebrew) norm than having both work, or sending the child off to some public school.<\/p>\n
I think that many would be able to do this, if they would live a simpler lifestyle, and order their finances and priorities differently. Many women\u00a0want<\/i>\u00a0to stay at home, whether they have children or not, or whether they homeschool or not. They are often forced to go and work outside the home for financial reasons, but if the budget could be changed so that a family can make it on one income, I think that is much better and to be preferred. If\u00a0my\u00a0<\/i>family can do it, on an apologist\u2019s and author\u2019s income, I think most folks could. We\u2019re paying our bills here. Not that it is always a piece of cake, but it is well worth it to make sacrifices in order to have more quality family time and closeness together.<\/p>\n
The problem is that this isn\u2019t necessarily reflected as the biblical model<\/span><\/p>\n. . . which would be (as an ancient agricultural society)\u00a0both<\/i>\u00a0parents being home. If you want to go that route and talk of \u201cbiblical model,\u201d then you have to understand that the current widespread situation is only about 140 years old: since the industrial revolution. Most of us have to go elsewhere to work (by the nature of cities, since we can\u2019t work our own farm or sell some product from home \u2014 though the Internet is helping to make that more possible), but we can try to maximize time with family, by all means possible. The \u201cbiblical model\u201d is also that parents are responsible for making sure that their children are Christian disciples, able to eventually go out and make a real difference in our fallen world.<\/p>\n
nor is it necessarily in line with today\u2019s cultural model in terms of how Christian parents should run their home and educate their children.<\/span><\/p>\nThe Bible is not against 1) parents spending as much time with their children as possible, or 2) parents being involved as much as possible in their children\u2019s education, whether it is homeschooling, supplementary Christian education (through Sunday schools, Bible reading, videos, etc.), choosing good private or parochial schools, or a high involvement in parent-teacher conferences, and so forth.<\/p>\n
Daniel and his friends didn\u2019t object to the education they received at the hand of the pagan Babylonians (though they did the diet!)<\/span><\/p>\nSince they were in no place to have any\u00a0alternative<\/i>, they made the best of what they had. This is a rather weak argument.<\/p>\n
and were obviously used of God because of it.<\/span><\/p>\nGod can use anyone. But again, that doesn\u2019t mean that we choose the \u201cleast common denominator\u201d because God can use kids who were taught in public schools. Of course He can. He also chose to talk through a donkey once. That doesn\u2019t make \u201cdonkey-talking\u201d His normative way to communicate to man. Children are children. Often, they don\u2019t yet have the discernment, wisdom, and maturity to avoid bad knowledge and influences. There is the issue of peer pressure, which is huge, and of personal safety in some environments.<\/p>\n
Part of the parents\u2019 job is to shelter children from harmful influences. Once they are older, then it is a different story. We certainly need good Christian kids (and teachers) in public schools, to exert a positive influence. But that will be the exception. Most kids aren\u2019t strong enough to resist all the overwhelming sinful influences in public schools. They would have to be very confident and quite educated in a Christian worldview to be able to resist all that.<\/p>\n
It appears that they not only took advantage of the education but they excelled beyond their peers in \u201call kinds of literature and learning\u201d (Dan 1:17). Moreover, this is an education, by a pagan state, that the text of Scripture says \u201cGod gave them\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\nThis proves too much. We don\u2019t just sit back as parents and say \u201cGod will teach my children while they are subject to lots of stuff in the public schools which run contrary to our Christian faith.\u201d Our responsibility is to provide our children with the most Christian education we can give them. That could be homeschooling or private Christian schools or parochial schools, or public schools with a serious supplementary religious education.<\/p>\n
It may be wiser to take a step back and consider\u00a0all<\/i>\u00a0the Bible has to say about education, the family, and its relevance to our day and age instead of relying on the handful of overly simplistic arguments coming from either side of the fence.<\/span><\/p>\nHere we go with the \u201csimplistic arguments\u201d charge again. If my arguments here are so \u201csimplistic,\u201d Kevin, then why don\u2019t you respond<\/em> to them and we can make this a truly substantive discussion, between a homeschooling advocate and a critic of same? I would be more than happy \u2014 delighted \u2014 to make my case on this score and to interact with yours. You can have equal space and time on my blog anytime you like. And that goes for\u00a0any<\/i>\u00a0critic of homeschooling out there. There are all kinds of myths and ignorance surrounding homeschooling. Whatever I can do to counter that is fine with me.<\/p>\n[Kevin didn\u2019t take me up on my offer]<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0our family in November 2007.<\/p>\n***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(7-12-05) *** This is a reply to a blog post by Reformed Protestant Kevin Johnson, entitled, \u201cThe education God gave\u2026\u201d His words will be in\u00a0blue. I have cited his article in its entirety. My wife homeschools our four children, and has done so for the last ten years [now, 22 years], since our oldest child […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":14215,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[4599,4398,4593,4595,4594,2772,4598,4597,4596,4592],"class_list":["post-14212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy-science","tag-davearmstrong","tag-education","tag-home-schooling","tag-homeschool","tag-homeschooled","tag-homeschooling","tag-parochial-schools","tag-private-schools","tag-public-schools","tag-schooling"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Homeschooling: Response to Kevin Johnson's Criticisms","description":"Response to very critical remarks about homeschooling. 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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