Baptist Parents Encouraged to Investigate
Homosexual Agenda in Public Schools
Presbyterians join the war
Commentary by Jim Day
As readers may recall, our July 2005 issue featured a front cover commentary
regarding the upcoming (at that time) Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) that
was 
to
be held in Nashville, TN on June 21 and 22. The commentary was a plea to Southern
Baptists to support a pending resolution which encouraged Baptist parents
to investigate whether or not their pubic schools were endorsing and promoting
the homosexual agenda and called parents to take action to stop such activities
or consider removing their children from the public education system.
At
the 2004 Baptist Convention a much stronger resolution authored by retired
General T. C. Pinckney and Attorney Bruce Shortt,
which flatly condemned the public education system and called for parents to
remove their children from public schools, failed to make it out of the
Convention’s Resolutions Committee. This year’s resolution (The Baucham-Shortt Resolution, named after the sponsors of the
resolution, Voddie Baucham
and Bruce Shortt) even though it was watered down
from what was originally submitted to the Resolutions Committee, at least made
it out of the Committee, was brought to the floor and, praise be to Jesus, was
passed. At least it’s a beginning point. A beginning point which I pray will
start a mass exodus of Christian children out of the Godless, faith destroying,
public education system.
The
following is the resolution which was passed by the SBC on June 22, 2005.
The Baucham-Shortt Resolution
Whereas, children have been entrusted to parents by the Lord and represent our nation's future and our spiritual legacy; and
Whereas, God has given parents the responsibility for the upbringing and education of our children (Proverbs 22:6; Deut. 6:6-7); and
Whereas, many negative influences are attempting to transform the moral foundation of the culture by reshaping the core values of our children, undermining historical truth, and promoting promiscuity, violence and other immoral behaviors; and
Whereas,
children are vulnerable to marketing and entertainment campaigns that redefine
truth, morality and family relationships; and
Whereas, homosexual activists and
their allies are devoting substantial resources and using political power to
promote the acceptance among schoolchildren of homosexuality as a morally
legitimate lifestyle; and
Whereas, educational institutions are often an effective gateway to children's hearts and minds; and
Whereas, parents have access to textbooks, curricula, special programs, teachers, and other school personnel, giving them tremendous power to effect change in schools; and
Whereas, all citizens have the right and responsibility to participate in local, state, and national elections and to use their influence to effect change; and
Whereas, involved parents are the ultimate influence in the lives of their children; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, June 21-22, 2005, urge parents and churches to research and monitor the entertainment and educational influences on children; and be it further
Resolved, that we urge parents and churches to exercise their rights to investigate diligently the curricula, textbooks, and programs in our community schools and to demand discontinuation of offensive material and programs; and be it further
Resolved, that we urge our churches to assist and support parents as they investigate community schools and as they train and disciple their own children; and be it further
Resolved, that as citizen Christians we commit to hold accountable schools, institutions, and industries for their moral influence on our children; and be it finally
Resolved,
that we urge Christian parents to fully embrace their responsibility to make
prayerful and informed decisions regarding where and how they educate their
children, whether they choose public, private, or home schooling, to ensure
their physical, moral, emotional and spiritual well-being, with a goal of
raising godly men and women who are thoroughly equipped to live as fully devoted
followers of Christ.
Interestingly, the week prior to the SBC’s convention, the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) met in Chattanooga, TN.
At the PCA Assembly a strongly worded resolution
calling for the removal of all of the denomination’s children from public
schools (which was similar to the resolution
Bruce
Shortt and General Pinckney attempted to present
at the 2004 SBC convention) received a hearing by the PCA General Assembly.
Pastor
Steven Warhurst, was the initiator of this
resolution, which had many co-sponsors, most notably Dr. D. James Kennedy of
Coral Ridge Ministries and Joel Belz the founder of World Magazaine.
To have had Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Belz as co-sponsors
of such a strongly worded resolution is both evidence of the progress that Shortt’s message is making and of the growing awareness
that the government school system is destroying our children and our culture.
Although
the Kennedy/Belz/Warhurst Resolution was not adopted,
the treatment of the resolution was remarkable. The PCA resolution was introduced
as a personal resolution from the floor of the General Assembly. For such
a resolution to get a hearing the General Assembly must vote to “receive the
resolution.”
The
committee ultimately voted not to recommend adoption of the resolution.
Nevertheless, the roughly 25% of the committee that was in favor was able to
present a minority report to the entire General Assembly, which then debated
and voted on the resolution. Consequently, the Kennedy/Belz/Warhurst
Resolution received full and fair consideration in a process that was
completely transparent. It is particularly notable that many of those who voted
to receive the resolution were opposed to it but nevertheless must have
believed that even things with which they disagree should have a hearing. This
is evidence of a largeness of spirit of which the PCA may be rightly proud.
The Kennedy/Belz/Warhurst Resolution and its reception made it plain that concern over the failure of Christian parents to provide their children with a Christian education is not merely a concern among Baptists. Moreover, it raised the problem of educating Christian children in the government’s schools to a much higher level of visibility within the PCA.
Both the SBC and the PCA have now confronted this issue in a very public way, and undoubtedly there are also stirrings of concern regarding how Christians educate their children in other denominations as well.
Lest anyone think that this ground swell is not serious business, consider the fact that the Baucham-Shortt Resolution was endorsed by well over 60 Christian organizations. Included in that list were roughly 16-17 state affiliates of Focus on the Family, 11-12 state affiliates of Concerned Women for America (CWA), 8 to10 state affiliates of Eagle Forum, and 10 to11 state affiliates of the American Family Association (AFA). These organizations represent families across the spectrum of Christian denominations.
In terms of Baptist national leadership, General Pinckney was the first of SBC leaders to step forward to speak about Baptist’s obligation to provide their children with a Christian education, first with his 2001 address to the SBC’s Executive Committee and then with his co-sponsorship of the Pinckney/Shortt 2004 Resolution. Subsequently, Dr. Paige Patterson and Judge Paul Pressler provided some words of warning to Christian parents about the public schools and this year Dr. Rick Scarborough (Vision America), who is considered by many to be the leading grassroots activist among SBC leaders, and Dr. Al Mohler, who is generally regarded as the leading SBC theologian, spoke out on this issue as well. In fact, in an article he wrote just prior to the 2005 convention, Dr. Mohler stated point blank, “I believe that now is the time for responsible Southern Baptists to develop an exit strategy from the public schools.”
On top of the aforementioned organizations and Baptist leaders, we now have the powerhouse voices of Dr. D. James Kennedy, World Magazine’s Joel Belz and Pastor Steven Warhurst for the PCA who have joined the battle.
Conclusion
In
July 1916, the British general, Sir Douglas Haig, commenced
an offensive against German lines that came to be known as the Battle of the
Somme. The battle, which lasted nearly 5 months, was planned and executed by a
high command that had little or no understanding of modern warfare. British and
French troops were sent out of their trenches time and again directly into the
face of withering German machine gun fire. They fell by the thousands in lines
reflecting the arc of the machine guns’ fire, often being shot down as they
first stepped up to leave their trenches.
The
Battle of the Somme resulted in roughly 620,000 British and French casualties.
In all, a failure of leadership both preceding and during World War I resulted
in the destruction of a generation and more of young men. Later, surveying the
carnage wrought by blind, stubborn, and uninformed generals, Sir Winston
Churchill described the British servicemen who, despite all odds, repeatedly
went forward from their trenches as “lions led by donkeys.”
For
far too many generations we have been sending Christian children into an aggressively
anti-Christian public school system that has inflicted spiritual casualties
far greater than the physical casualties suffered in the Battle of the Somme.
Fortunately Christian leaders such as Attorney Bruce Shortt, General Pinckney, Dr. Patterson, Judge Pressler, Dr. Baucham, Dr. Scarborough,
Dr. Kennedy, Joel Belz, many grassroots family organizational
leaders, and others are beginning to speak out against the destruction of
our children and our culture being wrought by the government’s schools. We
should rejoice that our “lions” are stepping forward to lead.
