Thought-Provoking Thoughts that Provoke Thoughts About Secularism, Schools, and Christianity

Over a week ago, I received a probing response to my June 8 post, “From Trans to Trans: Getting Involved in the Transformative Activity of the Gospel.” This kind of response in the comment section of the blog requires an entire post or series of posts in reply. So, please read Amanda O’s thought-provoking contribution below. You may need to read or re-read my June 8 post before reading the rest of this post. I’ll break down my response to Amanda in a series that I’ll publish closer together in the next weeks, so you can follow the conversation without being overwhelmed.

From Amanda O:

This is thought-provoking.

Regarding the quote “I am … sure … that a comprehensive and centralized system of national education, separated from religion… will prove the most appalling enginery for the propagation of … atheistic unbelief.”  I remember in a previous comment thread on a previous post you communicated that you (and the author of this quote) are not desiring a public education system which is run by Christians and teaches only Christianity, but instead you are desiring a public education system which allows Christianity (along with all other religions/worldviews) to be faithfully presented. Is this correct?

If so, I was wondering if you could share the current state of things? What are the restrictions and freedoms generally allowed in our public schools when it comes to religions and worldviews?

Regarding “promoting practical atheism”, I have sadly realized that many Christian lives (includes my own) are frequently exactly that. We are practical atheists when we deny Jesus’ fundamental ideals.

I look forward to your response!

Regarding Mr. Hodge’s claim “the United States’ system of national popular education will be the most efficient and wide instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen”, I doubt this. Atheism is very rare in our country and, as best as I can tell, it is very unnatural. Most people want a transcendent explanation of our world. I haven’t looked it up, but I would bet Atheism is very rare globally for exactly this reason. Instead, I think Mr. Hodge’s statement would be far more potentially accurate if he simply substituted the word “secularism” for “atheism”.

Thank you, Amanda, for your excellent interaction and serious thoughts.

Yes, you are correct about my “desiring a public education system which allows Christianity… to be faithfully presented.”  Regarding your parenthetical remark in that sentence, “(along with all other religions/worldviews)”, my position is that it is necessary that other religions and worldviews have their platforms, if people who espouse them desire spaces in the public school. It is necessary that truth, wisdom, and beauty be sorted out by each generation, and we are responsible to nurture, lead, and help the next generation.  In another conversation, it would be important to discuss the role of religions and worldviews within school curriculum, and as a retired Christian school curriculum developer, I would love to pursue this topic, but let’s move on for now.

No, Dr. A. A. Hodge (1823-1886) would not desire that other religions and worldviews be taught to American children in public schools, that is, as the cultural norm, for he believed Christianity to be the proper, cultural norm, but he lived in a different culture and context.  Dr. Hodge wanted schools to stay in the hands of families, churches, and local communities and out of the hands of civil authorities (the government), which he believed would necessitate a progressive removal of Christian teaching that would lead to the propagation of atheism. We’ll discuss this in another post.

You made a poignant observation regarding many Christians living as “practical atheists”, and you admitted that you struggle with this yourself. I feel this too, more so as a practical secularism (but is secularism in reality a “soft atheism” or “practical atheism”? Hmm.). I recognize the pull of a lazy secularization in me. And now we’ve plunged into a deep well. We need to explore this in one or two posts. You’ve touched a significant wound. Ouch. But we don’t want to be divided people, unprofitable to God’s kingdom. Even through such reflections, we recognize that He is doing something in us and through us.

“Repent and believe in the gospel,” said Jesus in Mark 1:15. “Follow me…,” Jesus says in Mark 1:17.

Regarding the opportunities to present faithfully Christianity in the public schools today, you asked if I could share the current state of things. “What are the restrictions and freedoms generally allowed in our public schools when it comes to religions and worldviews?”

I have read that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1952 under the Zorach versus Clauson case that the practice of “Released Time Religious Instructions” is constitutional and legal in all U.S. states.

Justice William O. Douglas concluded, “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being. When the State encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it then follows the best of our traditions, for it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public services to their spiritual needs.”

How interesting. Written in 1952, this reveals a different cultural posture toward religion than we tend to experience today.

Over half of U.S. states have laws regulating “Released Time Religious Instruction.” Ohio, for instance, has specific laws pertaining to “Released Time Religious Instruction” requiring three conditions under which such instruction operates: 1) parental permission is required; 2) programs must occur off school premises; 3) no government funding can be used.

Paul and I are a part of a church that is getting involved in the released time program that is being pursued here in Fort Wayne, Indiana called Lifewise Academy. Indiana must have regulations similar to Ohio’s. Ben Ruprecht, a Lifewise representative for Indiana spoke to a large group of us during the Sunday school hour at church over a week ago. He showed us how Lifewise is being used successfully in Ohio. His team thinks it will take this whole school year to prepare to start programs here in Fort Wayne for the following school year.

Paul and I were hoping to be involved in some way this year, and maybe we can, but it will be prep work. Right now, public school administrators must approve the program (building relationships, working through red tape and such), so prayer, work, and time are needed. Then, there is the building of teaching teams and training them, the accessing of locations close to schools (often churches) to house the off-site classes, and the raising of funds. Lifewise Academy oversees all of this, working through people from local churches.

Here is the Lifewise Academy website: https://lifewise.org/virtualtour/. Run around the website and learn more. The videos are encouraging.

If I gain new information about Lifewise Academy or make some connection there, I’ll update you in the coming posts. In the next one, let’s discuss secularism and atheism. They aren’t the same, but there is a relationship. How common is atheism today? It was on the increase in the last twenty years, but I hear it is on the decline. What’s up? We’ll see what I can come up with. We’ll explore “Christian secularism” and “practical atheism” in a separate post (although it may come up in the next post).

In the fight against patterns of practical secularism or atheism controlling our lives, Colossians 2:6-7 encourages us: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.”

I find the Apostle Paul’s mixing of metaphors to be so humorous and the mixture so rich. I picture myself “walking” while being “rooted” while being “built up”. I’m a walking tree with long, deep roots made out of living stones or bricks, or something.  Each metaphor contributes to the idea of growing in Christ and being Christ-formed.

This is the path that leads away from secularism and toward sacred wholeness, true health. Multiply this and as we are transformed, the culture will change. After all, “culture” comes from the same root as “cultivate” and “cult”. Culture is the sum total of what we worship.

Romans 10:14-17. I was so intrigued by the man in the following video. What do you think? How does this relate to Lifewise Academy? How many public school children know as little about the New Testament and Jesus as this precious man did? How can people make informed decisions when they aren’t informed?