First, a disclaimer is needed. The following paragraphs are not intended to be a slam of the public school system. It is acknowledged that many outstanding students, parents, and teachers that are Christian exist within the public school systems. Many parents are emotionally attached to their own public educational background, or their local public high school. This article is not meant to disparage those feelings. The intent of this article is to give Christian parents one simple message: your children deserve better.

Scripturally speaking, the message or worldview espoused by any school CANNOT be neutral. A worldview is either Christian or non-Christian. Christ himself put it this way:

"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters." (Matthew 12:30)

Do we honestly believe that when Christianity is removed from a school that it leaves . . . “nothing?” More to the point, in the words of a philosopher: In the absence of religion, one is inevitably left with . . . religion.

If the worldview of a school isn’t centered in Christ, then it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what (or whom) it is centered in. If God is not the reference point for truth and learning (and He is not in the public high school), then something else must assume that role. That something is most definitely religion – the religion of secular humanism.

Simple research into the philosophy of those who “founded” the concept of the public schools in America will expose men like John Dewey and Horace Mann for what they were – secular humanists who were dedicated to removing God from educational philosophy. In humanistic public high schools, your son or daughter will be told in some fashion that Biblical principles are irrelevant, absolute right or wrong do not exist, and that their ancestors were monkeys. Secular education officially and deliberately excludes God from the classroom. By doing so, public high schools will inevitably promote, consciously or subconsciously, non-Christian philosophy and worldview.

At best, a Christian student in this environment will fight the constant battle of discernment – every day dissecting what is being presented and avoiding the influence of the humanistic worldview. At worst, a Christian student will entertain non-Christian thought, often mixing it with his/her Christianity, or worse yet – become influenced away from the truth of Jesus Christ altogether. Consider the words of George Barna, author of Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions:

"Because our lives are played out on a spiritual battlefield, in which a war rages around us and within us at all times, there are a wide variety of agents of influence that seek to persuade us to embrace one approach to life or the other; that is, to live for and in obedience to God, or to live for and in obedience to Satan. These are the only two sides at war and the only two choices we have, even though few people would ever characterize being oblivious to God or being disobedient to Him as meaning they are serving Satan. It is politically incorrect to make such statements, but every human being has decided to be on one side or the other, whether the choice was intentional or not."

Granted, much of the life of a Christian is spent in environments that are very non-Christian in nature. Discernment of right and wrong while in the world is indeed an important spiritual discipline. Is your son or daughter ready for 35-50 hours a week of a message that says, “Your worldview is wrong, intolerant, and old-fashioned.”? Again, they deserve better:

"A family can benefit from the help of a supportive community, especially when that community is grounded in the Christian faith – a faith that is genuine, unchanging, readily accessible, focused on what matters to God and based on love and truth. Imagine the power that would be available to a family – any and every family – in which the parents are godly, biblically literate, responsible advocates of God’s ways and supported by a godly, Bible-driven body of Christians who share the same spiritual goals for every believer’s children." (Barna)

Christian parents have the opportunity to help shape the worldview of their children for Christ – that opportunity exists at VCHS.