With the new edict regarding open bathroom polices in public schools by Emperor Obama….er, um, I mean President Obama, some people have understandably expressed concern about these new policies and the awkward and perhaps even dangerous position that it puts young girls in.
First, in regards to our congregation at Blessed Life Fellowship, I am always encouraged by the passion and enthusiasm that many in our body show. Praise God for that. Donna and I agree with you and others outside of our congregation that this bathroom policy is indeed outrageous. But while there is legitimate concern over the wellbeing of girls who may be preyed upon by those who would take advantage of an open bathroom policy, Donna and I wish to express some different concerns related to this that may provide some food for thought and that may benefit the Kingdom in a broader way, depending on what you decide to do with this information.
I wish to say before I launch into this discussion that this post may be controversial and all Christians may not agree with me here. So let it be known that Donna and I are not opposed to — and, in fact, are in favor of — good and necessary organizations like the Bartholomew County Parents Action Committee who are actively involved in opposing and attempting to overturn the open bathroom policies in and around Columbus, Indiana. I am not drawing lines in the sand here, just offering an alternative viewpoint; one that is hopefully complementary and not divisive.
So with that said, let’s begin.
BandAids on Cancer
Firstly, this new bathroom policy is truly ridiculous on multiple levels, but this policy is only a symptom of the underlying problem; it’s not the problem itself. Attacking this problem head-on without addressing the underlying cause is, in our estimation, like putting a Bandaid on a skin cancer lesion. It only covers over one symptom of many, and puts the bigger problem totally out of sight, making us feel more comfortable with the disease eating us from the inside, lulling us to sleep so as to not address the bigger issues.
The underlying cause is this: the State-run school systems even in the best communities and even in the best schools are under the influence of “Rome,” so to speak. As Rev. Dr. Voddie Bauchman says, “If we continue to send our children to Caesar for their education, we need to stop being surprised when they come home as Romans.”
I hope these bathroom policies are overturned. But if they are, we need to keep something else in mind. What about some of the other problems that no one is talking about, such as:
Revisionist history: American history as it is being taught in the public school systems has been under the process of humanistic revision for the last 50 years. Everything related to our Christian heritage is stripped away. Even false versions of history and our Founding Fathers are being taught. If you are under the age of 60, more than likely you don’t really know true American history unless you have taken it upon yourself to learn what your school did not teach you.
Teachings on “Tolerance“: These teachings on tolerance teach students to tolerate just about everything….except
the Bible. Schools today even bring in Muslim priests, or “imams,” to introduce kids to Islam. Yet the Bible is banned and all mention of it. And these “tolerance” teachings, by the way, are also designed to teach kids to accept homosexuality as normal. And that indoctrination is now being targeted at elementary school ages.
A Culture of Wanton Immorality: A 17-year-old high school girl in Florida was recently video taped having sex with 25 different boys in what was basically a sex orgy in the men’s locker room. Even here in Central Indiana in a respectable community at a well-thought-of elementary school, young kids were caught performing sex acts on each other in the bathroom! In elementary school! And this was before the open bathroom policy, folks. It didn’t take an open bathroom policy for sexual immorality to be rampant in our schools. In fact, it is now encouraged with the passing out of condoms by the school itself. If your kids are in a public school, sexual perversion is so “normal” and so accepted and so encouraged that it is difficult to escape the gravity of that black hole for those who are daily exposed to it.
A Culture of Violence: Physical and mental bullying is bad enough, but today American children face very real threats of being raped, maimed or killed in their schools. Shootings at schools no longer surprise us like they did when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold gunned down 13 of their school mates and injured 24 others at Columbine High school in 1999 in Colorado. Incidences similar to that have happened too many times to keep track of ever since. The very first victim to be shot at the Columbine massacre was Rachel Scott, a devout Christian, who was asked by the shooters if she believed in God. When she answered yes, she was shot in the head at point blank range. Another victim was 17-year-old Cassie Bernall, who was also serious about her faith in Jesus Christ. It was reported that Eric Harris pointed his gun at Cassie and asked the same or similar question: “Are you a Christian?” Same answer, same result. Today our public schools are less safe sometimes than walking down a dark alley in the city at night.
The Cover-Up of Humanist Philosophies with Catastrophic Consequences: Speaking of the Columbine Massacre, one of the two Columbine killers, Eric Harris, wrote in his journal dated April 28, 1998 that he and his friend would “kick natural selection up a few notches.” The two young killers believed in evolution, in Natural Selection, survival of the fittest. They believed that by killing off certain undesirable members of the human race, their less desirable traits would be eliminated in the gene pool and the more desirable traits of the survivors would be “kicked up.” This is also what Adolph Hitler believed, the Nazi German maniac leader who Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were heavily influenced by. But this connection to the Columbine massacre has not been widely publicized. The sad truth is that part of the motivation of what Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did was influenced in part by their belief in what the public school system had taught them about evolution. Evolutionist philosophy also fuels racism, by the way, which was very much displayed in Nazism.
I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. Public schools have for decades already been assaulting morality, American ideals, and Biblical values. Why are we all the sudden up in arms about a bathroom policy? It’s simply a symptom of the moral decay and humanist philosophies that are already there. Even 24 years ago when I worked as a substitute teacher at a Job Corp for high school students, it was in that environment where I was sexually propositioned by 5 female students and 1 teacher, and where I was physically assaulted by students on two different occasions and threatened multiple other times. It was at this same school where violence was nearly a daily occurrence and where one student was life-lined by helicopter to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis after the back of his head was caved in by another student who struck him with a brick. Yes, it was in that same environment where I was reprimanded by the administrators for writing inspiring Bible verses on the chalk board. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so pathetically tragic and sad. That was in 1992.
But while all of this has been going on in public school for a very long time, and while it seems a little curious to Donna and me why everyone is suddenly sounding the alarm over an open bathroom policy, the other side of it is that if an open bathroom policy is what it takes to finally wake up the Church, so be it. And if the Church is now truly awake, allow me to provide a little more fuel for your inner fire.
In the documentary, “IndoctriNation” (a play on words, as if to say, we are a nation of indoctrinated people), the film shows how State-run schools are utterly under the control of godless secularists with an atheistic socialist agenda. And it’s been this way for a long, long time.
Here’s the movie trailer. PLEASE take 3 minutes to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JJW-JgHVac I hope that everyone reading this post will also watch the entire movie. You won’t think the same about public education after you do.
Where our Energies Should be Spent
So am I suggesting that we shouldn’t speak out on social issues and uphold righteousness? No, not at all. Quite the opposite. In fact, even if you homeschool or private school your children, that does not exonerate us as Christians from responsibility in being involved in addressing social issues in the public school systems that affect other people’s children. Parents who homeschool or private school their children still pay taxes to support the public school systems, after all, so your voices are still part of the community voice. So yes, get involved in the things about which you are passionate.
But we must also choose our battles strategically. While there is merit to addressing troubling social issues such as abortion and open bathroom policies, to name just two of many, we must also be aware of the bigger picture and take the fight to the heart of the beast. If more Christians were more serious about living out their faith and were a lot less like the world, and if we were more diligent to take the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to the streets and use whatever other means of communication we can muster, more people might get saved. And if more people got saved, then policies like this open bathroom policy would change naturally with no angry protests. I guess my question — and it’s only a question, not a statement — is why has it taken a bathroom policy to get people in churches energized enough to rise up and begin to raise their voices? But again, if this is what it takes to mobilize God’s people, perhaps God will use it.
The Bigger Underlying Agenda and What to Do about It
Why I am saying is all this? Well, to quote Dr. Charles Stanley, when you send your kids to a secular school system, you are sending them to a totally “PAGAN SOCIETY.” (See movie trailer.) He’s correct.
Fixing the bathroom policy, while important in some respects, won’t change that; it won’t change the philosophy of the State-run schools nor the culture of the schools. It won’t change the fact that the school systems in Columbus are heavily influenced by Cummins, who has a strong “diversity” agenda, which includes, I’m told, diversity in sexual orientations. (No disrespect intended to our fine BLF members who work for Cummins. Cummins is an excellent organization, and I applaud them for their position on encouraging racial diversity, but some of their other policies are not always in keeping with a Biblical worldview, and a revised bathroom policy in the schools won’t change that.)
Fixing the bathroom policy won’t change the other horrendous influences that kids in public schools are exposed to. It won’t change the humanistic worldview that is rammed down the throats of our kids and redirecting their worldviews.
Folks, it’s time to get our heads out of the sand and wake up. Donna and I are passionate about this issue because far too often we have seen parents — godly parents, even pastors — send their kids off to public schools expecting them to rise above their surroundings, only to find that their kids have been assimilated and have rejected the faith entirely, even becoming atheists. It’s heartbreaking!
Statistics now show that nearly 90% of kids raised in Christian homes but educated by the State will deny their Christian faith by graduation day. And even many of the kids who do come out of a public school education with their faith intact are nevertheless often fairly worldly and lack passion for God. It’s the rare, rare occasion that an impressionable child can be taken through a public school education in this corrupt age and maintain a passion for God and walk in His ways and have a love for the Bible.
I acknowledge here that even Christian schooling and homeschooling is no guarantee that certain children will turn out as passionate Christians for the rest of their lives. People are people, and all people have sin, and all people have free will to do as they please. And I know even homeschooled children who have gone off the deep end. Homeschooling is also not necessarily a reflection of how children are being parented otherwise. But parents, we also need to acknowledge the obvious, that public school today is nowhere near the way it was when we were in school. As bad as it was back then, it is 10-fold worse now. And in this post I’m referring to kindergarten through 12th grade. I’m not even going to address here the cess pools of most secular colleges and universities, which are even worse.
Yes, I know that there are those reading this who have been educated by secular schools and universities and have come out with your faith intact. Praise God for that. Be thankful that God’s Hand is on your life. But statistics show that you and I are in the minority. If you feel comfortable allowing your children to be educated by a system that now discourages free thought and practically demands conformity to humanist philosophy, well, do what you feel is best. You’re braver than me. While alternatives like home education are no guarantee of anything, it at least gives Christian families a MUCH better chance compared to public education of ensuring that the Christian faith of children are intact and solid when they graduate.
Which leads me to my main point in writing this post:
The answer to all this, we believe, is not to try and fight Rome. The early Christians changed Rome one soul at a time until it was conquered from within. They didn’t do it by trying to change Rome’s policies.
Again, I’m not suggesting that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics or social issues. I think MORE Christians should care enough to get involved, in fact. We have to let our lights shine and not hide it in the comfort of our homes. But to reiterate, the ultimate answer, we believe, is two-fold: 1) finding ways to reach the lost and change how people view life one person at a time, and 2) raising up a new generation of children who have not been indoctrinated by Rome, and the only way to do that is to get our kids OUT of “Roman” schools if we want them to maintain a Christian worldview. And the only options for protecting our godly offspring are either Christian schools — TRUE Christian schools — OR, the better option, in our view, is homeschooling.
Some of you may disagree with us on these issues, and that’s okay. We’re not judging anyone who sends their kids to public schools. We are, however, providing a different viewpoint to consider.
For us, the fight should be directed in a different way. The secularists have been very successful in changing our culture not by fighting little skirmishes on fringe issues like what the Church so often does. They have done it very patiently by changing the way people view life, one issue at time, until now the corruption in our government, school systems, Hollywood, and the media is so complete that it touches every part of society.
As for the people of God, our battle as Christians is not against flesh and blood. It is against principalities and powers of the kingdom of darkness. People, while enraging at times, are not our ultimate enemies. The spirits who control them are our enemies. So prayer combined with a Holy Spirit-directed plan of action needs to be in place; a plan that is more strategic than raising angry voices of protest against policies installed by people whose minds are darkened and who have no revelation about the things that concern us “intolerant” Christians. We need a plan of action, one that is patient, one that understands the concept of multi-generational change, not necessarily immediate change. We must learn to wage a strategic fight during our entire lifetime, passing the torch on to our offspring who have the same vision, and knowing ahead of time that the radical change we desire may not come in our lifetime through some bolt-of-lightning waive of God’s hand like we would hope. So often we as Christians, especially the charismatic camp, pray and do little else, hoping for painless and immediate transformation. But this is not the way the early Church operated. The early Christians prayed, yes, but they also rolled up their sleeves and got to work changing the society by expanding the Kingdom of God through evangelism, service, signs and wonders, and LOVE. They knew that Rome would not be conquered in a day. They knew it would take multiple generations. And in the case of Rome, it took over 300 years for Rome to bow to Jesus Christ. But it DID happen, thanks to the tireless efforts of people who understood multi-generational work for the Kingdom.
Enough with the Picketing Christians!
Another one of the primary problems with the modern church is how we fight our battles. The world has grown to 
loathe Christians because many have caused the Church to become known as loveless, hateful people who stand outside abortion clinics with hateful picket signs, who post confrontational things on Facebook, and who hold up banners that declare that God hates certain people. (Let me just insert here that while God does indeed hate certain sins, He does not hate people. Otherwise, all of us who were once far from Christ and who have sinned in various ways would be doomed to hell with no hope of salvation.)
While the hate-filled picketers may be the minority, I have now seen way too many churchgoers use Facebook in a very condescending and unChrist-like way. I believe this grieves the heart of God, and it turns the opposition against us with even more vigor and disdain. People should know us by our LOVE expressed in SERVICE to mankind, not our judgment-filled Facebook posts or our self-righteous banners.
So should you decide to hit the streets with action against the bathroom policies, good! But remember that the bathroom policy thing is simply a symptom of a godless system – a system that a growing number of Christians don’t believe we have any business sending our impressionable kids to in the first place. For Donna and myself, part of our energies will be spent educating people on the importance of Christian homeschooling, and how that can change a nation one household at a time, ultimately for generations to come.
Challenges and Objections to Public School Alternatives
Yes, we are already aware of the objections and challenges to pulling one’s kids out of public schools, and perhaps at some point we would be happy to discuss those with any interested parties. This already-long post isn’t the time to discuss those, except to offer two suggestions for single parents who face unique and seemingly insurmountable challenges along these lines:
First, Christian schools like Columbus Christian School is a good alternative if finances allow. Private Christian schooling is not perfect, of course, but it offers a far better alternative compared to most public education. While private school is a significant financial commitment, my wife and I have always said that we would rather live in a shack than to send our kids to public school, and we are serious about that. Donna and I have made many financial sacrifices to homeschool our children, but God has blessed both us and our children for our diligence along these lines. I don’t know if private schools offer any kind of scholarships or discounts, but it never hurts to ask.
Secondly, single parents might contact one of the homeschooling organizations listed at the end of this post and try to partner with a generous homeschooling family who might be willing to integrate your child/children into their own homeschooling efforts. This would require a very unique family who would be willing to do this, as homeschooling families, of course, normally keep their own unique schedules and calendars that may not necessarily match up with the schedules of single parents. Plus, homeschooling parents are also normally very protective of the outside influences of other children. So this second suggestion might be a challenge, but not necessarily impossible.
Let Love Continue to Unite us, Even if we Don’t Exactly See Things Eye-to-Eye
I’ll end by saying that Donna and I love and respect everyone who has taken up the cause of the open bathroom policy. Your passion for upholding standards of righteousness and sensibility in this age where reason is no longer desired is admirable. So do what you feel is best.
If you feel compelled to get involved in the efforts to overturn the open bathroom policy in Bartholomew County, I think this is a noble cause if done properly. There is some good people getting involved in this issue at the Bartholomew Country Parents Action Committee (BCPAC) who I think can address it in a loving and Christ-like way in order to try to protect females who might otherwise be victimized by people who would use open bathrooms to take advantage of someone. Go here for the BCPAC’s Facebook page.
Feel free to contact Donna or myself if you desire more information about how to get started schooling your children yourself, as was the standard in ancient Israel in Bible times. You may email us at BLFcolumbus.info@gmail.com, or go to one of these website to learn more:
Go here for Homeschool.com’s Top 100 Educational Websites.
Go here for the Indiana Foundation for Homeschooling.
Go here for the South Central Indiana Homeschooler’s Association located in Columbus, IN.
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