Southern Baptists consider public school exodus

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Southern Baptists should remove their children from public schools and find Christian education alternatives. At least that’s what two Southern Baptists are saying in a resolution they submitted for consideration at the denomination’s annual convention in June.

The resolution—co-authored by Thomas C. Pinkney, an Alexandria, Va., man who was once second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Bruce Shortt, a Houston lawyer—makes two main points: Christian parents are responsible for the education of their children, and the education public schools offer is the antithesis of what Christian children should be learning.

The measure begins by citing several biblical passages that admonish parents to teach their children, and points to the Bible’s instruction that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

The resolution then makes a case for why public schools are unacceptable for Christian children.

“Government schools are by their own confession humanistic and secular in their instruction, and the education offered by the government schools is officially godless,” it reads.

The prevalence of evolutionary theory with contempt for creationism, and the widespread acceptance of homosexuality in public schools also make the schools a hostile place for Christians, the measure says.

And the measure cites studies that it says proves that public schools have an adverse effect on children.

“The Nehemiah Institute has discovered through extensive surveys of student attitudes and beliefs that acceptance of a secular humanist worldview by Christian children attending government schools has increased dramatically over the last 15 years,” the resolution says.

The authors of the measure say public schools are “anti-Christian”—and they say it is time for Christians to get out.

The resolution specifically proposes that: “The Southern Baptist Convention encourages all officers and members of the Southern Baptist Convention and the churches associated with it to remove their children from the government schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education, for the glory of God, the good of Christ’s church, and the strength of their own commitment to Jesus…”

Pinkney acknowledged the worth of some public schools, but said the system as a whole is in a downward spiral.

“Some public schools are doing a good job, as are some teachers who are Christians,” he told Associated Press. “But they are in a system that is officially and legally godless.”

It is impossible to gauge how many Southern Baptists agree with Pinkney. The denomination is the largest in the country, reporting some 16.2 million members. And Pinkney said “hundreds of thousands” of Southern Baptist families send their children to public schools.

So far, the denomination hasn’t taken a position against public education. Barrett Duke, vice president for public policy for the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told The Washington Times, “We have suggested parents make sure their children are receiving appropriate instruction in public schools and that they remain engaged in all of their children’s education.

“We are also concerned about what happens in public schools, some of which is contrary to Southern Baptist faith and sensitivities. But we’ve never said public education is incompatible with Christian life.”

The SBC Resolutions Committee will decide whether to present the resolution to the full convention during the June meeting. If the non-binding resolution makes it to the floor, it will need a simple majority to pass.

Published, June 2004

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