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A FAILING CAUSE
by Rev. David O. Jones
It has become a popular element of ministry
these days to promote the display of the Ten Commandments in various public
settings. Nearly every County Commission and City Council in Tennessee has
been urged to have the Commandments printed, engraved and/or displayed in
Court Houses, City Halls, and schools.
Tens of thousands of dollars are being raised
and spent in the pursuit of this cause. Christians of every doctrine and
denomination have asserted their support of the cause. But it is a cause
which is doomed to failure. The public display of the Ten Commandments does
not change anything. Rather their posting in a government supported
institution, especially a school, is akin to hanging a Channel No 5
label on a skunk and calling it “fragrant” or advising a heroin addict
to “Just say no” and presuming him clean. If the substance is not
changed, what purpose is served?
Displaying the Ten Commandments in a
government school, is nothing more than affixing a “Christian Good
Housekeeping Seal of Approval” upon corruption. The conduct within the
buildings will not change. Government schools might look good on the
outside, but they would continue to be the habitation of death—perfect
examples of what Christ called whitewashed tombs.
Every word of the Commandments speaks against
the foundations and practices within the walls of the government schools.
Having administrators posting them in a government school is the height of
contradiction and hypocrisy.
#1.You shall have no other gods before Me.
#2. You shall not make for yourself a
carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
#3. You shall not take the name of the
LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who
takes His name in vain.
#4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy
The first four Commandments contain our
duty toward God, but the government schools declare that there is no God.
They then systematically begin to invent their own god—the state. God is
the one we look to for truth, for rule, for order, for provision, for
nurture. Students in the government school are given an alternative to the
Lord God Almighty, the Government Almighty. Where should we desire that
our children look for the solution to all problems?
Within the government schools no word
rules, no entity provides outside the State. Thanksgiving is not a holiday
to celebrate God’s provision, but rather a love-feast between European
intruder and Native American victim. Christmas is Santa’s day and Easter
is a holiday for the spring equinox. But within every government school,
Halloween is a joyous celebration of evil and death.
What we used to call locker-room language
has not remained there. Now it is the common language of student and
teacher, administrator and janitor. It is published in the textbooks. In
the government school only one can determine right or wrong, what
is good or bad, what leads to life or death, and that one is not
the Holy One of Israel.
To call attention to our duty toward God is
just not the purpose of the government school, it is entirely opposed to
their purpose. Their caretakers will resist any such notion.
#5. Honor your father and your mother,
that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is
giving you.
#6. You shall not murder.
#7. You shall not commit adultery.
#8. You shall not steal.
#9. You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
#10. You shall not covet your neighbor's
house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant,
nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is
your neighbor's.
The remaining six
Commandments contain our duty toward man. They expose the corruption
within the government schools to an even greater degree. The 5th
Commandment is called “the first commandment with promise.” It
provides an assurance of continuity within society when the young “honor”
their parents. Yet those within government schools are—with increasing
frequency—advising students not to tell their parents what happened that
day in class. An elementary class researches witchcraft on the internet.
High schoolers are versed that the only way to achieve self-realization is
suicide. But don’t tell mom and dad!
While the Commandments promote obedience
to, respect of, learning from and care for parents, children within the
government schools are taught to recognize their superiority over their
parents.
The 6th and 7th
Commandments address a person’s responsibility toward the life and
person of others, but the government school promotes self over all. They
teach by word and example that each person must live for themselves and
for the fulfillment of their own desires. While the faculty extol the
virtue of a woman’s “right to choose,” the government school’s
nurse advises troubled teens where to go for “helpful advice.”
Promiscuity may not reign supreme, but not
because of a lack of promotion within the government schools. From
questionable reading assignments, to classroom “non-critical”
discussion of “alternative” lifestyles, to readily available condoms,
the student is encouraged to explore their sexuality at the expense of
others (and eventually of themselves).
In order to create the great utopian
society envisioned within the government school, private property must be
denied. Excessive taxation must be promoted. (Taxation is excessive when
the combined levy of all levels of civil government exceeds the 10%
allowed in Scripture. Most would argue for no taxation without the consent
of the governed, but not even the governed can approve of what God Himself
denies.) So the 8th Commandment exposes the government school’s
promotion of theft.
To teach human origin as being evolutionary
fact is a lie. To teach that the moral character of public figures has no
relevance is a lie. To teach that history has no meaning for today is a
lie. To teach that mediocrity is acceptable is a lie. To teach that any
socio-economic group of men is evil is a lie. The 9th
Commandment exposes the government school’s commitment to the perversion
of and denial of truth.
The political and social reforms promoted
by the government school are directed toward equality of result
rather than equality of opportunity. The desire is that everyone
should be able to enjoy the same lifestyle without earning it.
Reason dictates that if a student is told
they should have the same things as Johnny, but is not given the tools or
opportunity to earn those things, the unmet expectations will result in
covetousness. And covetousness will result in theft, whether personally or
by force through taxation. Note that the 10th Commandment
prohibits covetousness in four areas—possessions, family and employees,
as well as means of production. The government schools practice the “politics
of envy.”
After reviewing the Ten Commandments, it
becomes apparent that every one of the ten speak to a false belief and
practice within the government school. In several places of the New
Testament, we are told that salvation is not possible through the Law.
They were given to reveal our sin to us. They do not draw us to the
Saviour, they only confirm our guilt.
Posting the Ten
Commandments in government schools is an act of futility. The cause is
birthed in an admirable desire to present a standard of morality which
would result in a higher ethical performance among our citizens. But the
Commandments will not improve anything or restore anything. Only our Lord
Jesus Christ can save. Only He can improve and restore. It is easy to get
caught up in what seems to be a worthwhile cause, but this one will not
provide positive results. Let us set our labour on real results. Let
Christians concentrate on teaching children truth and virtue in their own
homes and their own schools and let the pagans have the government schools
to themselves.
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