Top Atheist and Christian Reasons to Home School Children

Is public school  anti-human?

Our family is presently living in Ukraine, where home schooling is technically legal but very rare. Now that my wife and I are planning to move our family to the United States, the question of education is a big one for our young children. I'd like to offer some of the top reasons for home schooling I've found in my research offered by both atheists and theists and then offer my own opinion.

I. Homeschooling as advocated by atheists

John Holt

A majority of home schooling parents choose to home school for religious reasons, but people may not be aware of the secular reasons atheists choose to do so. An in depth article by by Isabel Liman describes how John Caldwell Holt (A 1923 - 1985), who was apparently an atheist, opposed institutionalized schooling in favor of home schooling and the philosophy of unschooling. He mainly opposed the authoritarian nature of institutionalized education.[1]

Based on school observation studies, Holt's three books detailed his philosophy of education. Holt offered that there were three main reasons why children did not learn in school: 1. fear of getting the wrong answers, 2. fear of being ridiculed by the teacher and classmates, 3. fear of not being good enough. The following are some of John Caldwell Holt's quotes:

    "... the human animal is a learning animal; we like to learn; we are good at it; we don't need to be shown how or made to do it. What kills the processes are the people interfering with it or trying to regulate it or control it."

"Education... now seems to me perhaps the most authoritarian and dangerous of all the social inventions of mankind. It is the deepest foundation of the modern slave state, in which most people feel themselves to be nothing but producers, consumers, spectators, and 'fans,' driven more and more, in all parts of their lives, by greed, envy, and fear. My concern is not to improve 'education' but to do away with it, to end the ugly and antihuman business of people-shaping and to allow and help people to shape themselves."

"the things I'm supposed to know so much about I never learned in schools."

"To return once more to compulsory school in its barest form, you will surely agree that if the government told you that on one hundred and eighty days of the year, for six or more hours a day, you had to be at a particular place, and there do whatever people told you to do, you would feel that this was a gross violation of your civil liberties."

The Moores

II. Homeschooling as advocated by Christians

Raymond Moore and his wife Dorothy were early pioneers of home schooling. Their books,  Home Grown Kids and Home-Spun Schools, are written from a Christian perspective. However, interestingly enough, they advocated home schooling mainly for psychological and physiological reasons. "In the process of analyzing thousands of studies, 20 of which compared early school entrants with late starters, the Moores began to conclude that development problems, such as hyperactivity, nearsightedness, and dyslexia, were often the result of prematurely taxing a child's nervous system and mind with continuous academic tasks, like reading and writing."[2] Their advice? "The bulk of the research, which overwhelmingly supported distancing young children from daily contact with institutionalized settings, convinced the Moores that formal schooling should be delayed until at least age 8 or 10, or even as late as 12."[3]

Reasons Christian parents typically choose to home school

According to statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the top three reasons were as follows:

1. 31% environment of other schools
2. 30% religious/moral
3.  16% dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools[4]

In reviewing Christian evaluations, I found that "religious reasons" were generally at the top of the list. One parent noted a top reason, homeschooling helps children grow into disciples of Christ.[5] Another noted,
1. The salvation of your children is important to you. 2. You care about your kids character. [6] Another stated, "Religious reasons: This was one of my biggest reasons. We didn't have a decent Christian school in my area and I would not even consider a public school these days."[7]

III. Personal reasons I would prefer to home school

Though home schooling would be a major commitment, I tend to agree with the increasing numbers of parents who are choosing to home school, at least in the early years. I agree with the reasons offered by both secular and Christian pioneers in home schooling I mentioned. Though I believe some of the aspects of totalitarianism mentioned by John Holt do apply to public schools and not to private ones. One of the main reasons why I believe public schools are considered to be increasingly failing, and a a major reason why I would prefer home schooling, is that students are not given an opportunity to fairly consider different perspectives. The atheist hegemony not only forces one view upon students, it also teaches them how not to think for themselves.

True critical thinking is not allowed in public school

John Dewey, the so-called "father" of modern education, offers an interesting case of irony. Dewey personally and outwardly advocated true critical thinking, but actually helped to intellectually emasculate society. As noted, "In his book How We Think, John Dewey defined critical thinking as 'reflective thought'-to suspend judgment, maintain a healthy skepticism, and exercise an open mind."[8] In a historical perspective, however, an accurate summary John Dewey's book, "How We Think" would be, "We're not allowed to," when we are forced to accept and abide by only one view and perspective in the education process.

In helping to author the Humanist Manifesto I 0f 1933, and committing to the plan to enforce atheist hegemony in the secular school system, Dewey has helped to ensure that students and teachers accept what they are taught without asking any deep or important questions, banning the effective use of critical thinking in schools and ultimately helping to eradicate it from popular culture. Note how Dewey's manifesto includes the plan for totalitarian secular-atheist hegemony:

"THIRTEENTH: Religious humanism maintains that all associations and institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. The intelligent evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of such associations and institutions with a view to the enhancement of human life is the purpose and program of humanism. Certainly religious institutions, their ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical methods, and communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly as experience allows, in order to function effectively in the modern world."[9]

Dewey's present totalitarian education system is anti-intellectual. Whether the subject is science, sociology, history or what ever else, public schools today forbid the open discussion of deeper questions related to the most-important hows and whys of life. It basically trains students to regurgitate narrowly regulated politically correct information that has been spoon fed to them without learning how to analyze or debate foundational ideas and presuppositions.

The irony of Dewey's life work is also manifested in the life and work of Vladimir Lenin. Lenin was an intellectual's intellectual, a member of the intelligentsia. The statues of him in Ukraine where I live almost always show him holding a book in his hand. The irony is that he outlawed the intelligentsia when his totalitarian regime took full control.[10] The freedom of ideas and debate had now suddenly become illegal.

Was Dewey aware that his plan was ultimately anti-intellectual? It's hard to say. But, the fact is, he did travel to the Soviet Union and was so enamored with the Soviet schools that he saw them as a model for the US.[11] And the attitude in US public schools today reflects the attitude of Vladimir Lenin, as described by Marcu, the biographer of Lenin:  "...nothing in thought or aspiration seemed to Lenin more incomprehensible than tolerance. For him it was indistinguishable from a lack of a guiding principle. It was the beginning of contemptible surrender."[12]

True biblical teaching promotes free-thought and critical thinking

Any atheists reading this might want to consider why it is that atheist education always seems to end up in a totalitarian no-questions-asked ant-intellectual condition. The scriptures offer a higher standard for education, the continual use of critical thinking and logic in all aspects of life: "but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NLT). The Old Testament encourages critical thinking, as shown in Isaiah 1.18: "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."(NIV) Also, as shown in Acts 17.11, Christians are encouraged to test all ideas in a larger context and not simply trust someone based on their assumed position of authority: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."(NIV)

Charlotte Iserby

Public training for a modern slave state

Charlotte Iserbyt has thoroughly outlined and documented how present globalist organizations have explicitly stated, and directed countries, to teach globalism and the acceptance of specific political agendas as priorities over teaching children basic skills and how to think independently.[13] Her book, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, is available free online as an e-book, by the way. As atheist John Caldwell Holt stated regarding modern education, "It is the deepest foundation of the modern slave state..."

The globalist government being formed is not a representative democracy, but an elitist caste system. People must be subtly steered into it because most people would not willingly advocate such a system if they realized the ultimate loss of freedom that most people will experience. Many home school parents are trained teachers who saw how the education system works (or fails to). They are some of the strongest advocates for home school education today. Greg Sherman, Ph.D, states,

"As a classroom science teacher, I noticed that too many of my students had difficulty learning some of the important critical thinking skills associated with being able to act like scientists. Many were happiest when they had the correct answers told to them, rather than really thinking for themselves about scientific problems and their possible solutions. I may have been over-generalizing, but I attributed their noticeable lack of intellectual creativity to bad habits developed and reinforced in school."[14]

Contemporary public school systems are not training students to be creative, free-thinking individuals. They are helping to train and prepare people to passively accept whatever they are told to think and to do. How effective has the school brainwashing and indoctrination been? Consider that today, simply questioning government policy is considered a radical extremist attitude in mainstream culture. This kind of attitude and environment would have been unheard of in generations long past. Especially during the years shortly after America was founded as a free republic in response to political tyranny. A global, modern slave state is exactly the type of state the Bible predicted would eventually come about in the book of Revelation. But even many Christians do not want to acknowledge this encroaching reality:

"Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,1 to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666."(ESV)[15]

Notice the spiritual text says, "This calls for wisdom." The modern secular education system is opposed to logic, wisdom and understanding. When a person seeks to develop logic, wisdom and understanding, he or she will posses true critical thinking skills. He or she will recognize the encroaching NWO slave state. And he or she will ultimately recognize the truth of scripture.

As a final remark, I'd like to ad that some communities will likely have a more conservative approach towards education where Christian parents can have more confidence in the system. And, on the other hand, it may very well be that God will call certain teachers and students to work and study in an 'eduction hell' simply to be a positive influence for a time. You can't put God in a box, though the secular education system may try. 

References

[1] Education Atlas, Home Schooling: Back to The Future?, Read more: http://www.educationatlas.com/home-schooling-information.html#ixzz1sS4NULZ9
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Homeschool-living, Homeschooling Statistics, (published in 2006 covering the year 2003. ) http://www.homeschool-living.com/homeschooling-statistics.html
[5] Examiner, Roanoke Homeschooling, http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-roanoke/top-5-reasons-to-homeschool-for-christian-parents-reason-3#ixzz1sQ8fQcQs
[6] Heart of the Matter Online, http://heartofthematteronline.com/15-right-reasons-to-homeschool/
[7] Bright Hub, The Top 10 Reasons Most Parents Homeschool, http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homeschool-methodologies/6132-top-10-most-popular-reasons-to-homeschool/
[8] GSU, GSU Master Teacher Program: On Critical Thinking, http://www2.gsu.edu/~dschjb/wwwcrit.html
[9] American Humanist, Humanist Manifesto I, http://www.americanhumanist.org/humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_I
[10] Library of Congress, Revelations from the Russian Archives, ATTACKS ON INTELLIGENTSIA: RENEWED ATTACKS, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/attr.html
[11] ARI Watch - the  ‘Ayn Rand Institute’  under review, Impressions of Soviet Russia and the revolutionary world by JOHN  DEWEY, http://ariwatch.com/VS/JD/ImpressionsOfSovietRussia.htm
[12] The Later Works of John Dewey, Volume 5, 1925 - 1953: 1929-1930, edited by Jo Ann Boydston, p. 358, see Google Books for quote source.
[13]  Iserbyt, Charlotte, The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America, Online version, http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/
[14] Home Educator, Family Times - Ten Good Reasons to Homeschool, http://www.homeeducator.com/familytimes/articles/10-3article1.htm
[15] Revelation 13.16-18 (ESV), The anti-christ system, http://www.esvbible.org/Revelation+13.16-18/

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