Thanksgiving not credited?
Imagine the following conversation between a homeschooled student and his mother:
Sound: “So mom, according to the book we’re using, we should be grateful for family and friends. But what about God?”
Mom: “Well, of course we should be grateful to God. The pilgrims had a hard time the first few years, but God was with them and they were grateful. Their life centered on him.”
Sound: “Well, if this is true, and God was such a central part of your life, then why isn’t it mentioned in our book?”
Mom: “We’ve talked about this before.” We are not allowed to use Christian textbooks or books that refer to God or Jesus. Not if we want to receive credit.
And so the conversation continues …
Some time ago I got a call from one of the directors of a local self-employed homeschooling program. He and one of his staff members wanted to come visit me. It seemed like some of our students were transferring from our program to theirs in order to access the local community college for free. There seemed to be a problem giving credit for some courses taken in our program.
When they arrived, we grabbed a private office. The conversation was light and the tone friendly. Then we got down to business and one of the men asked a question. Was it true that we used and recommended a science textbook that argued that the origin of the universe found its source in God and that evolution was simply a theory? I said yes, that’s correct. I thought my answer would have been a “no-brainer” to them, since our school’s name was New Covenant Christian Academy.
The question reminded me of the time I spoke at an Elks Club meeting and was asked what I saw as a basic difference between public schools and private Christian schools. I replied, thinking that I was simply stating the obvious, that the difference between the two was that one taught and supported evolution while the other did not. My comment sparked a strong outcry from some of the government employees in the room, stating that the public school “doesn’t teach evolution, it teaches’ about it.” Accepting the challenge, I replied “yes, they actually teach it,” and then the tension really increased. The moderator wisely saw what was unfolding and rang his little bell announcing that the meeting was over and that it was time for all of us to get to work …
Back to my meeting with the director and his staff. The next question went something like this: “Is it true that some of our students take a class entitled Classical Literature, and that the subtitle for this course was The Triumph of Christianity in the Ancient World?” I asked why that should be a problem as Christianity, under Constantine, became a dominant religion in the fourth century. After all, it was a historical fact that nobody disputed. There was a strange silence as if my point was not clear to them. They wondered why the subtitle was necessary. I think if we had been willing to change or remove it, the course would have been “approved.”
What was becoming very clear was that students transferring from our program to their charter homeschool program would not receive credit for any class in which God was part of the curriculum. I thought there were families here who, with the help of our teaching and advisory staff, were doing an extraordinary job in educating their children. Unfortunately, because Jesus was involved, no credit was to be recognized or extended to protect the “credited status” of the letter.
After they left, I thought I thought to myself, who do these people think they are? Talk about censorship!
So, during this Thanksgiving holiday, don’t shy away from studying and presenting the whole story. And, if you are thinking of breaking out of the state system, I will give you some suggestions in a future article.
Thank you for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE