Post by RPankn on May 6, 2004 17:25:43 GMT -5
Southern Baptists Hear Proposal to Pull Children From Public Schools
By John Gerome Associated Press Writer
Published: May 6, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A prominent Southern Baptist is asking the national convention to consider a resolution recommending parents remove their children from what he calls "godless" and "anti-Christian" public schools.
The resolution, co-authored by T.C. Pinckney, publisher of a Baptist newsletter in Alexandria, Va., urges parents to homeschool their children or send them to Christian schools. [Or move them to Florida where Jeb will give them vouchers to pay for "Christian" schools]
"God gives the responsibility for education of children to the parents, not to the government," Pinckney said in an interview Thursday. "And parents should be taking responsibility, primarily through homeschooling."
His proposal has been submitted to the convention's 10-member Resolutions Committee, which will decide whether to present it for a vote when the convention meets June 15-16 in Indianapolis.
John Revell, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, declined to comment on the resolution or its chances of passage. But he noted that many resolutions submitted to the Resolutions Committee are not presented to the convention for a vote.
Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptists' public policy arm, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The proposal, which was also written by Texas attorney Bruce Shortt, says the public school system claims to be neutral, but it is actually opposed to Christianity and provides an education that is "godless." [Dang that God-less heathen Thomas Jefferson saying the Establishment Clause erects a 'wall of separation' between church and state! Seriously though, its one thing for lawyers and Supreme Court justices, like Scalia, to have personal religious beliefs. But it's quite another for them to inject their personal religious beliefs into their interpretation of the law. We do not live a theocracy (yet)]
"Just as it would be foolish for the warrior to give his arrows to his enemies, it is foolish for Christians to give their children to be trained in schools run by the enemies of God," the resolution states.
The resolution also says public schools are "adopting curricula and policies teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable."
Pinckney, a retired Air Force pilot and former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said public schools are "harmful not just spiritually and worldview-wise, but terrible academically. The U.S. has been going down on the roster of nations around the world in academic achievement of its students for 20 or 30 years now."
If Baptist parents were to comply with the resolution, the public school system probably would collapse, said Pinckney, who publishes "The Baptist Banner."
"I think that would be one of the finest things that can happen for the United States," he said. [Finally, the SBC starts coming clean about its true political, Dominionist agenda]
With 16.3 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's second-largest denomination. But resolutions approved by the convention are nonbinding, and all member churches are autonomous in their ministries.
In some years, the Resolutions Committee receives more than 30 proposals, and it typically presents only eight to 10, Revell said. Last year, the committee presented eight resolutions, and the convention approved all eight.
A resolution that fails to make it out of the committee can be brought up for a convention vote if two-thirds of the "messengers," or qualified members, agree to consider it.
The convention already has passed resolutions supporting homeschooling (1997) and Christian education (1999).
But the Pinckney-Shortt resolution goes much further by making it a Christian duty to abandon public schools, said Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, an independent organization that provides ethics resources and services to Baptists.
Parham called the resolution inflammatory and a violation of the Ten Commandments.
"There's a clear commandment that says 'Thou shall not bear false witness,' and this resolution bears false witness about school teachers and schools when it says they have an agenda other than education and that agenda is godless," he said.
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On the Net:
Southern Baptist Convention: www.sbc.net/
AP-ES-05-06-04 1640EDT
Link: ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAMZ1RBXTD.html
By John Gerome Associated Press Writer
Published: May 6, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A prominent Southern Baptist is asking the national convention to consider a resolution recommending parents remove their children from what he calls "godless" and "anti-Christian" public schools.
The resolution, co-authored by T.C. Pinckney, publisher of a Baptist newsletter in Alexandria, Va., urges parents to homeschool their children or send them to Christian schools. [Or move them to Florida where Jeb will give them vouchers to pay for "Christian" schools]
"God gives the responsibility for education of children to the parents, not to the government," Pinckney said in an interview Thursday. "And parents should be taking responsibility, primarily through homeschooling."
His proposal has been submitted to the convention's 10-member Resolutions Committee, which will decide whether to present it for a vote when the convention meets June 15-16 in Indianapolis.
John Revell, a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, declined to comment on the resolution or its chances of passage. But he noted that many resolutions submitted to the Resolutions Committee are not presented to the convention for a vote.
Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptists' public policy arm, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The proposal, which was also written by Texas attorney Bruce Shortt, says the public school system claims to be neutral, but it is actually opposed to Christianity and provides an education that is "godless." [Dang that God-less heathen Thomas Jefferson saying the Establishment Clause erects a 'wall of separation' between church and state! Seriously though, its one thing for lawyers and Supreme Court justices, like Scalia, to have personal religious beliefs. But it's quite another for them to inject their personal religious beliefs into their interpretation of the law. We do not live a theocracy (yet)]
"Just as it would be foolish for the warrior to give his arrows to his enemies, it is foolish for Christians to give their children to be trained in schools run by the enemies of God," the resolution states.
The resolution also says public schools are "adopting curricula and policies teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable."
Pinckney, a retired Air Force pilot and former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said public schools are "harmful not just spiritually and worldview-wise, but terrible academically. The U.S. has been going down on the roster of nations around the world in academic achievement of its students for 20 or 30 years now."
If Baptist parents were to comply with the resolution, the public school system probably would collapse, said Pinckney, who publishes "The Baptist Banner."
"I think that would be one of the finest things that can happen for the United States," he said. [Finally, the SBC starts coming clean about its true political, Dominionist agenda]
With 16.3 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is the nation's second-largest denomination. But resolutions approved by the convention are nonbinding, and all member churches are autonomous in their ministries.
In some years, the Resolutions Committee receives more than 30 proposals, and it typically presents only eight to 10, Revell said. Last year, the committee presented eight resolutions, and the convention approved all eight.
A resolution that fails to make it out of the committee can be brought up for a convention vote if two-thirds of the "messengers," or qualified members, agree to consider it.
The convention already has passed resolutions supporting homeschooling (1997) and Christian education (1999).
But the Pinckney-Shortt resolution goes much further by making it a Christian duty to abandon public schools, said Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, an independent organization that provides ethics resources and services to Baptists.
Parham called the resolution inflammatory and a violation of the Ten Commandments.
"There's a clear commandment that says 'Thou shall not bear false witness,' and this resolution bears false witness about school teachers and schools when it says they have an agenda other than education and that agenda is godless," he said.
---
On the Net:
Southern Baptist Convention: www.sbc.net/
AP-ES-05-06-04 1640EDT
Link: ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAMZ1RBXTD.html