I link these articles here because I believe the issues are important for Christians to be mindful of and to carefully weigh out. Some articles are of a controversial nature, and their inclusion here does not necessarily express my agreement with either the political or theological views of the source. I simply find these articles worth discussing and bringing to the attention of my fellow believers (or worth reminding about).
Washington Times: Chick-fil-A versus Chicago Values: I love hyperbole. Apparently tongues run faster than brains in Chicago. Among other things, this article points out the inconsistency and incoherence of “tolerance” as defined by modern liberals. Tolerance from the Christian perspective is well put in the Christian cliche, “love the sinner, hate the sin.” No sinful behavior from anyone lets us off the hook from our obligation to love, evangelize, and forgive. But loving, evangelizing, and forgiving do not amount to tolerance for continued sinning so that grace may abound (Romans 6:1-14). In the case of homosexuality and other sexual sins, they run so deep that people become nearly defined by them, the solution is not simple, no matter how much heterosexual and sexually pure Christians might want it to be. See also: Highlights 201207027 and Right of Refusal vs Loving Your Neighbor.
Life News: First Plaintiff Beats Obama HHS-Abortion Mandate in Court: Take note of the common thread between this and the Chick-fil-A issue, political opposition against Christian views expressed and exercised outside the Church and home. In the case of the contraceptive mandate, it is past the point of oppositional rhetoric, and has reached the point of law. To me, this thread is a write-your-representative level issue, because the First Amendment promises that the government will not restrict the exercise of religion. But Evangelical Christendom demands action and a God-glorifying lifestyle outside the home. A law like this is exactly what the First Amendment protects religious practices against. Attitudes like those in Chicago (and elsewhere) towards Chick-fil-A are also the type of attitudes that bring laws like this into fruition. See also: The Foundry: Religious Freedom Is Not Just for Churches.
The Foundry: Louisiana Teachers Union Threatens to Sue Voucher Schools: Soap box warning. Call me paranoid, but I know I am not the only one who thinks this way… There are several different political and moral worldviews that hold values utterly contradictory to those of traditionally evangelical Christians, and those political and moral worldviews account for a probable majority among public school teachers. The result is that Johnny and Suzy go to Sunday School once a week and learn that God made the world, deserves to be obeyed, and loves them; then they go to public school five days a week and learn that the world just spontaneously showed up, there are no rules because there is no god, and if there was a god who made rules then he wouldn’t be loving. Christian private schools open up the opportunity to change that balance, and charter schools and voucher schools open that same opportunity to less economically endowed Christian families. But because of an over-literal understanding of Separation of Church and State, anti-evangelical and anti-capitalist thinking demands that charter or voucher schools cease to exist. Ironically, and hypocritically, they demand a state monopoly on education and curriculum. How should carefully thoughtful Christians respond? There are three basic responses: homeschooling, where (usually) the child is insulated and “protected” from all non-christian thinking, and probably from important social development; private Christian schooling, where the child learns better social skills, but is again insulated and “protected” against non-christian thinking; or heavily parent involved public schooling, where the child learns from a young age how to be in the world but not of it, and experiences “normal” social development. Admittedly, I have presented the choices in such a way to make it clear where I come down on this issue, but I’ll also mention that my own educational experience was a mix of these three options, depending on which academic year we’re talking about. I’ll also say that I learned more about the world outside the Church when I joined the Marine Corps, and that I was probably not as prepared for it as I could have been if my educational experience had been different. I would liken that experience to being dropped in the middle of a river at flood-stage without knowing how to swim. Fortunately, in my case, there were spiritual and moral lifeguards present.
Anyway, as it pertains to school choice, and method of education, I don’t see any glaring reasons for Christians to take one position or another. Economically, educational choice is a critical issue that needs to be moved forward. But for Christians, those who come down hard and dogmatically on one educational choice are probably not making that choice in a carefully thoughtful manner.
Related articles
- Nation of Islam can open a restaurant in Chicago, but not Chick-fil-A? (legalinsurrection.com)
- Evangelist Billy Graham defends Chick-fil-A (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
Think Rhema 