Christian Cowardice (I’ll Pray On It)

Last week
I saw a story in the local paper that made me
squirm. It seems that a public library was putting up a fight
over the placement of sexually-suggestive books in the
children’s section of the library. When a politically
incorrect parent complained about the placement of such materials
in an area that was open to the perusal of young eyes, it seems
that the local librarian got all bent out of shape over the
attempt of the parent to "censure" from children
"educational" materials that the library board had
deemed "appropriate."

Somewhere along the line, some God-hating humanist had made
the determination that if any material had
"educational" value, then the material should be made
available to all children regardless of the concerns of the
tax-paying clientele. How long are we going to put up with this?
Is it just me, or does it seem that the God-hating progressives
love to take our money and promote their agenda? It is becoming
abundantly clear that anything labelled "public" in
America is becoming increasingly decadent. Public schools, public
library, public restrooms, public beach, public streets, public
radio, public television and public opinion, are all just
curtains that the God-denying secularists hide behind.
"Public" is rapidly coming to mean "you pay for
what I want to do. Give us your money and we’ll tell you
what is best for you and your family."

Well it just so happens that I had recently been at a
gathering where the discussion of such "public"
indoctrination had come under inspection. A group of parents had
invited me to come and listen as they privately aired some
concerns that they had about what was taking place in their
"public" schools. "What should we do,
Coach?" they inquired of me. "We think it is
horrible what they are exposing our kids to at such a young age.
Somebody is going to have to do something about it?" I
had been here before. As a guy with a reputation of being a bit
"edgy" as far as Christianity is concerned, I knew that
the "somebody" they wanted to do something was me. They
didn’t come right out and say it, but I knew they wanted to
hire me as a mercenary, free of charge of course, because I had
experience in this type of thing. In other words, they wanted me
to go fight their fight for them, a sort of a Christian
hired-gun. Let me take the fire as they hide in the pews and
watch.

"What do you think we should do?" I queried
them. "What is it you would like to see
happen?" They did not appreciate my questioning; they
had invited me for answers. I didn’t let them hide in their
silence. "Let me ask you a few questions. Who pays for
the schools, whose children are being educated there, and who is
responsi- ble for training the children?"

All eyes immediately dropped to the floor as mine panned the
crowd. "Until you answer those questions there is no
need to proceed." After a long pause I said,
"Let me help you out." I knew someone in the
room was in trouble for inviting me to the meeting.
"Here it is in a nutshell. The schools are paid for with
your tax dollars. The teachers, school board, and superintendent
all work for you. You buy the books, the buses, pay the
utilities, the salaries, and build the buildings. In many cases,
you ‘tithe’ more to the schools than you do your
church. Yet you have no say. Some ‘expert’ in
Washington knows what is best for your kid, even though they
don’t know him, his parents, or his community. The children
belong to the Lord; He has merely put them in the care of earthly
parents. They do not belong to the teachers, the school board,
the superintendent, the National Education Association, or the
Gay and Lesbian Task Force. George Bush doesn’t own them,
Congress doesn’t own them, and the Supreme Court is not
their family. If you have children it is because God has
entrusted them to you. The responsibility for training children
falls to the parents. You will live with the conse- quences of
what your children are taught. To turn the education of them over
to people who will teach them things that are in opposition to
everything that you as the parents believe is to abandon them.
They have your genes but someone else’s values. What more
defines a child as yours? Is it the fact that he looks like you,
or is it because he thinks like you? If you believe in your
values, why wouldn’t you want your children to be taught
them? Why would you pay the freight for your school to teach your
children things you don’t believe?"

The room was uncomfortably silent. "You want a plan?
Well here you go. Call everyone that you know. Every pastor,
every elder, every church member, every Sunday school teacher and
ask them to join us at the school board meeting next Monday. If
you do that, if you rally a crowd, I’ll go speak on your
behalf. We will demand that the homosexual agenda be removed from
our schools, that comprehensive sex-education be aborted, that
abstinence education be the ONLY thing taught, and that every
student be taught creationism as the origin of the species. We
will make it clear that until our demands are met, not a one of
us will ever vote for a school levy again, and we will encourage
everyone we know to also oppose government indoctrination of our
kids. They work for us. The school board will never see the light
until they feel the heat. I say it is time we turned up the
temperature." It was pretty clear to everyone. Now was
the time to fish or cut bait.

In the back of the room a cowardly man stood up and cleared
his throat. "This seems pretty radical stuff to me.
There are a lot of good people working in the schools. They do
the best they can to educate our children, with all of the
restraints that are put on them" And then he hid behind
his skirt. "I’ll have to pray about it. I’d
have to be led by the Lord to do that."

"Really?" I said as the steam rose off of my collar.
"What is there to pray about? Let me sharpen the picture
a bit for you, sir. If someone was breaking into your house to
rape your daughter would you have to pray about your response? If
you found a predator online trying to make a rendezvous with your
12 year old would you have to pray about it? If your neighbour
was window peeping into your bedroom would you have to pray about
it? If a drug dealer was standing on the corner giving marijuana
to children would you have to pray about it? If your baby-sitter
were feeding your child poison, would you seek the Lord about
what to do?"

Do you pray before you go fishing? Do you pray before you play
golf? Do you seek the Lord about going to a football game? Do you
seek the Lord’s guidance before you put your kids on the
yellow school bus from hell? As I once heard Zell Miller say,
"Silence isn’t golden, it’s
yellow." Sorry to sound so judgmental, but that guy was
a male, but he was not a man. He was more a coward than
Christian. So here is where I left it.

I told them that I am more than willing to lead a fight to
reclaim our schools, but that I was not interested in falling on
my sword. If they want to fight, and fight to win, then I am
willing to help organize the troops. But there is a contingency
attached. My next step into the battle will only be initiated
after I have heard from ten local pastors/church leaders who are
willing to reclaim the education of our children. Just ten men
who truly understand the importance of education and the role it
plays in the perpetuation of our Christian culture - Just ten
Godly men who believe the future of Christianity demands action
and will go stand with me at the meeting. I’m still
waiting. No calls. No men.

Our children continue to be pummelled by the ungodly in the
government educational system. Where are the watchmen? Where are
those who love their children more than they love their comfort,
who love truth more than a lie, who love the Lord more than their
possessions? James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin". I
won’t hold my breath. Besides, my grass is getting higher,
and the weeds are taking over my garden. What should I do? I need
to seek the Lord and ask him if I should mow. I think I’ll
call a meeting of my neighbours to see if any of them "feel
led" to tend to my yard. I think I’ll have to pray on
it.

© 2007 Dave
Daubenmire
Printed by permission.