The Satanist After School Club: Follow-Up

The Satanist After School Club: Follow-Up

As a follow-up to our last post on the Satanist Club that is scheduled to begin next week in a Portland, Oregon elementary school, here are some relevant quotes and excerpts from our book, Navigating Public Schools.

Christians Must Understand the Prevailing Cultural Winds

The battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: A religion of humanity—utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to carry humanist values into wherever they teach. The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.

—John J. Dunphy, The Humanist (1983)

Left to the prevailing cultural and intellectual winds in the public school system, most ships (students and parents) that set sail there will be blown along a secular course. If you are a parent, your job is to understand the prevailing winds and then work to stay on course to help your kids have a thriving faith. If you are a teacher or staff person in a public school environment, your challenge is to know your rights and not be ashamed of your faith. If you are someone who simply cares about the future generation, you might work towards empowering students in public schools to stand firm in their faith. The goal of this book is to help all of you in these endeavors.

The Winds of the Past

When I (Stephen) filed the federal court case that dealt with censorship of primary source documents with Christian references, my wife and I got a lot of media attention (much to her dismay) in the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and many more publications.[1] To sum it up, what I heard from the liberal media quite often went along these lines: “Those crazy evangelicals are at it again. They are trying to take over our school system by pushing their Christian agenda!”

Such statements are ironic, to say the least. They show that many people (even intelligent and knowledgeable people) have forgotten their American history. Christians are not trying to force their agenda in public spheres. Christians are simply trying to regain their freedom to publicly exercise their faith, a freedom that has been eroded in the past fifty or so years. Incorporating primary source documents with Christian references into the curriculum is not proselytizing. These documents are part of our country’s history, which includes a strong Judeo-Christian moral influence.

Understanding our country’s history can also help empower Christians to shed some of the sheepish tendencies that are so prevalent. We must realize that our request for schools to respect a Christian worldview is not us promoting some right-wing evangelical plot. We have a rich Christian heritage in our nation, a heritage that the Founders wrote extensively about protecting.

(Adapted from our book, Navigating Public Schools)

 

Endorsements for Navigating Public Schools

“[Navigating Public Schools] is a must-read book for all parents, children, and teachers trying to figure out how to stay true to Jesus Christ while working within the secular U.S. public school system.

“Stephen Williams knows what he’s talking about, having made national headlines when his school principal banned Stephen’s teaching of the Declaration of Independence in his classroom.

“Stephen and Sarah Williams write as a team, and their writing is winsome, practical, and full of wise counsel.They show the reader how to navigate the turbulent waters of teaching about God and living the Christian life in today’s secular public school setting.

“This book will save you a lot of worry and grief, while giving you the confidence to know and defend your God-given rights and beliefs.”

Joel Comiskey, Ph.D., Fuller Seminary

Founder of Joel Comiskey Group (www.joelcomiskeygroup.com)

Author of Planting Churches that Reproduce

 

“We thank God for the ministry that Stephen and Sarah have devoted their lives to all these years. Their devotion to God’s truth, and their love for others, is a true testimony . . . . Stephen and Sarah have taken great care to gracefully provide powerful insights that offer the reader hope and wisdom in the midst of the raging war of ideas within our public school system.”

Jason Jimenez and Alex McFarland of the StandStrongTour.com

Jason Jimenez, Founder/Director of Re|Shift Ministries (http://www.ReShiftMinistries.org

Author of The Raging War of Ideas: How to Take Back Our Faith, Family, and Country

Alex McFarland, Director of AlexMcFarland.com

Author of The 10 Most Common Objections to Christianity—and How To Answer Them

 

 

Learn more vital truths about your rights in our public schools in our new book, Navigating Public Schools.

Order one or more copies of Navigating Public Schools today. Consider giving a copy to the teachers and principal at your child’s school.

[1]Stephen J. Williams v. Patricia Vidmar, Cupertino Union School District et al, Case No. 04-4946, 11/22/2004

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