Education, The Bane Of This ‘Enlightened’ World

 

“The LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.  By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.  Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air;  Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.  (Hosea 4:1-3).

 

Year 2004 began with an intense debate about the teaching of values in education in Australia.  It all started when the Prime Minister made a statement that public schools have become “too politically correct and too values-neutral”, that parents wanted schools to impart values as well as the three Rs, and that that is why they were taking their children away from public schools and moving them to private education (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Jan. 2004). 

As one might have expected, advocates of both public and private education went to the parapets, each extolling the virtues of their kind of education.  A day later, the same newspaper wrote:

 

“Australia is moving towards a national charter for values education after federal and state ministers agreed that going to school is “as much about building character” as learning academic skills.   A draft values education framework will be sent to school principals “to guide debate in this important area” ahead of a national forum on April 28 – 29 in Melbourne, a spokesman for the federal Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, said yesterday.

The Values Education Study, released in November, was commissioned by Dr Nelson and was supported by all state education ministers.  It found confusion in schools about what constituted values and said research showed that a partnership between schools and parents could help reinforce attributes as tolerance, social justice, inclusion, and freedom.”      

 

Pardon?  Reinforce attributes as tolerance, social justice, inclusion, and freedom?  Have we reached the stage in which our people need ‘attributes’ that totalitarian regimes deny to their peoples?

The next day, in a nationally televised current affairs program by Australia’s national broadcaster, (ABC, TV, 23 Jan. 2004), the headmaster of a top private Anglican school was asked what values his school was teaching to the students.  He couldn’t list a single one.  He prevaricated and avoided giving a direct answer, saying only that he was happy that the PM had raised the issue so that both private and public schools could ‘explore‘ the values that they need to teach.  

Three days later, again in a nationally broadcast program, the Prime Minister himself was asked about the values he complained public schools were not teaching.  It was his chance to set the record straight, but he too prevaricated and changed the subject.  He spoke of the need for ‘cooperation‘ between parents and educators in deciding the values that all schools ought to teach.

Now isn’t that extraordinary?  People complain that schools do not teach values, yet when asked about them, they change the subject and invoke the need to ‘explore’ ‘cooperate’ and ‘decide’ on the values  that schools ought to teach.  In other words, we are going to invent the wheel once again. 

After two thousand years of Christianity you’d think that people would instinctively know the values that make for good character.  Isn’t this what religion is supposed to be all about?  It only shows what happens when religion is relegated to the back burner: the entire society is thrown into confusion about the values it ought to live by.

One of the best commentaries on the merits of public versus private education came from a local community newspaper. 

 

“Prime Minister John Howard sparked a debate over schools last weekend when he suggested parents were shying away from public schools because they had become “too politically correct” and “values neutral”. In the days that followed there was an angry and justifiable backlash from teachers and parents.  Many people would argue the only positive result of Mr Howard’s comments was it put the issue at the forefront of public debate.

How is it possible to be too politically correct?  The Macquarie Dictionary defines correctness as “conformity to current beliefs about correctness in language and behaviour with regard to policies on sexism, racism, ageism, etc.” Aren’t these the values children should learn?  Private schools do not have a monopoly on values.

According to NSW Education Minister Andrew Refshauge, public schools strive to impart values such as inclusiveness, tolerance, diversity, striving for academic excellence, democracy and a “fair go”. 

Why is it almost 40 per cent of teenagers attend private secondary schools and one in three children do not go to a public school? It is a misconception a child will get a better education solely because he or she attends a private school, but it is something increasing numbers of parents including the Prime Minister appear to believe. 

Many seem to think private schools have higher academic results, but the 2004 HSC results clearly show seven of the 10 performing schools were State schools. 

Better discipline is often given as a reason why parents send their children to non-government schools.  But private schools cannot be judged to have better discipline simply because they can more easily expel troublesome students or they have a stricter uniform code.  Government schools turn out many fine well-rounded young adults who go on to make productive and honourable contribution to society.” (Central Coast Express Advocate, 27 Jan. 2004).       

 

The State Education Minister touched somewhat on the values schools should ‘impart’, but even his list is not definitive.   

Going back to the Federal Minister’s Report on Vales in Education, one may be tempted to ask what is wrong with the ‘attributes’ of ‘tolerance, social justice, inclusion, and freedom’ that he listed?  Nothing wrong, except that these are the very ‘attributes’ that Canadian and American Courts have invoked to demand the legalisation of homosexual marriages.  It is the kind of ‘attributes’ feminist and homosexual lobbies have used from the beginning of their campaign all over the world. 

Politicians do not make statements they know are going to be controversial unless they have a certain aim in mind and want to channel the discussion in a certain direction.  Can you see where this whole debate is heading and what purpose it serves?  Can you see the mire and stupor into which the whole world has fallen?  And see how easily these lobbies have entrapped both the Education Minister and the Prime Minister?  After declaring these to be desirable attributes for character building they cannot now turn back and repudiate them.  And the mass media has fallen headlong for this trap too.

Our politicians know the storm that the notion of homosexual marriage has caused in Canada and America and that before long this storm will reach these shores too.   It helps them to be seen to be on the right side of this vocal lobby, without them saying so.  Talking about such ‘attributes’ in the context of education is their way of doing it, but a very dangerous way.  It is absolutely deadly for any society to embark upon this road.

When we discovered that our leader was listed among the wicked spirits that came up on the River Euphrates from the East, we were greatly surprised (‘Another End Time Prophecy Unveiled’, in TCH 12).  Not any more.  God know people’s minds, hearts and intentions, better than we do.  He does not condemn them for freeing the people of Iraq from tyranny, which the United Nations should have done long ago, but for delivering them the ‘freedoms’ that they do not want or need.   

It is an extraordinary fact that it should be the Liberal Party, the party of lawyers, that is being used as a Trojan Horse by homosexual lobbies to introduce their agenda into public life, not the Labour Party, which is more sympathetic to its cause. 

So what are the values that every child should be taught in school, and every parent should teach at home?  We will come to them shortly, but first let us look at what we wrote as early as 1995.  We pick up the story at one of Jesus’ lessons to His disciples about His return to this earth and the end of this age.

 

Mat 24:3  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you.

Mat 24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.

Mat 24:6  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mat 24:7  "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines,

Mat 24:8  pestilences, and earthquakes in various places."  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  "Then they

Mat 24:9  will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

Mat 24:10  "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Mat 24:11  "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

Mat 24:12  "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

Mat 24:13  "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  "And this gospel of the kingdom

Mat 24:14  will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

 

Mat 24:32  "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth

Mat 24:33  leaves, you know that summer is near.  "So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near; at

Mat 24:34  the doors! "Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

Mat 24:35  "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Mat 24:36  "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

Mat 24:37  "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

 

“How could the world be taken by surprise by these events, as it was taken by the flood of Noah, if everyone is aware of the work of the two witnesses? Something isn’t right.  Could it be that we have been sold another fib by those who tell us to keep our eyes on Jerusalem?  There is only one way to find that out, and that is by going back to the Bible.  Here is the entire story of the two witnesses from the book of Revelation:

 

Rev 11:3  "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days,

Rev 11:4  clothed in sackcloth."  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the

Rev 11:5  earth.  And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if

Rev 11:6  anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.  These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

Rev 11:7  When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them,

Rev 11:8  overcome them, and kill them.  And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 

Rev 11:9  Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

Rev 11:10  And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another,

Rev 11:11  because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.  Now after the three-and-a-half

Rev 11:12  days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.  And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 

Rev 11:13  In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Rev 11:14  The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

 

 “Did you notice that the word “Jerusalem” is not found anywhere in this passage?  But what about “Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified”, doesn’t this refer to Jerusalem?  Herein lies another of the great biblical mysteries:  this sentence does not refer to Jerusalem.  We cannot have Jerusalem referred to as “holy city” in one place, and as “Sodom and Egypt” in the next.

The word “Sodom” refers to homosexuality – no question about that.  The word “Egypt” refers to idolatry – no question about that either.  Which means that the city in which the bodies of the two witnesses will lie for three and a half days is a city given to homosexuality and idolatry.  Jerusalem, in its present condition, may not be exactly a holy city, but it is by no means one given to homosexuality and idolatry as are New York, San Francisco, Sydney, and a dozen other major cities around the world.  But what about the sentence, “where our Lord was crucified”, could that refer to any other city than Jerusalem? This astonishing mystery had thrown everyone off the right track for nearly two thousand years.  Take a look at this:

 

Heb 6:4  “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have

Heb 6:5  become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age

Heb 6:6  to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”

 

“Those who have fallen away after they have “tested the good word of God... crucify again for themselves the Son of God”.  They could be anywhere in the world, not just in Jerusalem.  Which means that if we want to find the city from where the two witnesses will take the Gospel of the Kingdom to all nations, we must look for a city in which homosexuality is rampant, idolatry is widespread, and Jesus Christ is being “crucified again” by those who ought to know better. 

“There are a number of such cities around the world, but we can’t speak about them.  We can, however, speak of the city of which we have first hand experience, from where we have been sending these magazines to the world, and that is Sydney.  

“Our readers would know about the homosexual festival called “Gay and Lesbian Mardi Grass” which takes place in this city annually, and of which we have written in the past.  It is an open display of vulgarity and obscenity that would make any decent person sick just by watching it.  This is only one aspect of a wide range of homosexual activities that take place in this city all year round. 

“Regarding idolatry, Sydney resembles Egypt more than any other major city in the world.  Those who have visited Sydney may have noticed a figure, like the Sphinx of Egypt, in the very heart of the city.  Flanking one side of the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, the ugly face of a woman more then four stories high – the Luna Park mascot – stares wanly towards the city center.  In other parts of Sydney and around Australia there are similar monstrosities in the shapes of humans, animals, fruits, and other things.

“As for those who crucify Christ, all our leaders – political, religious and academic – have done it.  The political leaders have done it by turning this State from Christianity to paganism.  The official religion of New South Wales is now homosexuality.  One can say anything he wants about Christianity, or blaspheme against God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and nothing will happen to him.  But if he speaks in public against homosexuality, if he “vilifies” homosexuals, he could loose his property and spend twenty years in jail.

“Earlier this year we had an election in this State.  The Coalition government, formed by the Liberal and National Parties, lost the election.  That is the good news.  This was the government that gave New South Wales the “gay anti-vilification law” which in effect turned Christians into outlaws.    

“The bad news is that Labor Party won the election.  This party has been described by a Member of Parliament as the homosexual party.  One of the first acts of Parliament, signed by the new Premier, enshrined into legislation the “right” of gay couples to be regarded as families.  Then on June 22, 1995,  the Sydney Morning Herald carried the following headline: “Hayden backs euthanasia and gay marriages”.  It went on to say that, “In a radical and wide-ranging speech, the Governor-General, Mr. Hayden, last night declared his strong support for active euthanasia and the right of homosexuals to marry and adopt children.”  Hayden, our current Governor-General, is Her Majesty’s representative in Australia.  He is a former Foreign Minister in a Federal Labour Government.  He wants to extend this law to all of Australia, not just in NSW.  Any wonder that the monarchy is in such deep trouble.

“The “right” of homosexuals to marry and adopt children? Who gave them this “right”, the United Nations? The Creator says that this is not “right” but wrong, so wrong that they will pay with their lives for it.  Unfortunately, other people suffer as a result of their abominations too.  Our leaders would never accept that the current disastrous draught, the astronomical national debt, the unemployment, the epidemic of youth suicides, the decay of cities and many other social evils, have anything to do with their policies, their attitude to, and especially their legislation on, homosexuality.

“First, it was the law against homosexual “vilification”.  Then gay couples received the ‘right’ to be regarded as normal families. Now, our highest office demands that homosexuals have the ‘right to marry’ and adopt children too.  What next?  Are they going to pass a law that everyone become a homosexual?  Thank God they won’t have time for that.

“Those who want children should exercise their ‘right’ to conceive and rear children, not adopt them after other people have labored with them, then inculcate them with their vile ideas.  All those ‘rights’ are being granted to homosexuals while Christians are being denied the right to speak against such abominations and against the offensive vulgarities that pass as cultural events in this city.  This is how our political leaders ‘crucify again’ for themselves the Son of God.”  (“Would The Real Witnesses Please Stand Up”, The Christian Herald No 5). 

 

The expressed desire of our Governor General in 1995 has been overtaken by events in the USA and Canada.  It looks like Australia was caught napping, because after passing legislation against homosexual ‘vilification’ it did not do much to legalize homosexual ‘marriages’.  But now it is determined to catch up, and go further: it will ‘explore’, ‘debate’, ‘cooperate’ and teach the ‘attributes’ that make ‘good character’ to the whole of the education system. 

If you get the impression that this ‘exploration’ is nothing more than the back door by which they can introduce more un-Christian, anti-God, concepts and laws, you are not wrong. 

The efforts of the homosexual lobby has shifted from the United Nations and the Courts, which they have largely conquered, to the churches, some of which are still opposing their practices.  Now do you think that they want to become priests and ministers because they love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and want to preach righteousness, truth and holiness?  Or rather because they want to neutralise and silence this institution too.  Churches and religious institutions are still allowed to speak on this matter, and condemn homosexuality without penalty,  but not for long.  The United Nations will see to that.    

 

“The U. N. Human Rights Commission is scheduled to meet March 15 to April 25 in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss "a historic opportunity to advance [homosexual] issues in international human-rights law.". "This would be the first United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution to connect the full range of human rights to sexual orientation, and to condemn discrimination on its basis," said Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC's executive director.

IGLHRC [the San-Francisco-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission] called last April's introduction of the resolution by Brazil "unexpected."  After prolonged debate, the 53-member commission, chaired by Libya, voted to postpone further discussion on the resolution to this year's session.

“At the 2003 session, Pakistan distributed a memo to commission members on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference which stated the "resolution directly contradicts the tenets of Islam and other religions," and its approval would be "a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world."

“Last year's resolution, according to the IGLHRC, had the support of Canada, New Zealand and several European Union countries.  This year, key countries the homosexual-rights groups are urged to lobby include South Africa, India, Costa Rica and the United States. (. . .)

“The resolution, IGLHRC asserted . . . would "provide activists with another tool to hold states accountable to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered] people."

However, some opponents contend the remedy proposed by the resolution will have worse societal implications than the alleged disease, "homophobia." "It is highly likely that gay-rights advocates will use this resolution, if it passes, to advance their agenda to legalize gay marriage and to create hate-crimes legislation," contended A. Scott Loveless, associate professor of law at the World Family Policy Center at Brigham Young University.

"In their quest to legitimize homosexuality, many of these countries have actually limited some of our most fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech," Loveless said.

In Canada, provincial human-rights commissions already have penalized people for discrimination based on sexual orientation. A court in Saskatchewan upheld a 2001 ruling that fined a man for submitting a newspaper ad containing citations of four Bible verses that address homosexuality. Three years ago, the Ontario Human Rights Commission penalized printer Scott Brockie $5,000 for refusing to print letterhead for a homosexual advocacy group.  Brockie argued that his Christian beliefs compelled him to reject the group's request. (. . .)

The draft resolution presented last year by Brazil . . . stresses that human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright of all human beings, that the universal nature of these rights and freedoms is beyond question and that the enjoyment of such rights and freedoms should not be hindered in any way on the grounds of sexual orientation.” (WorldNetDaily.com, February 4, 2004) 

      

Isn’t it extraordinary?  It was a Muslim nation, Pakistan, which objected to those ‘fundamental freedoms’ being inserted into the UN charter, because “the resolution directly contradicts the tenets of Islam and other religions," and its approval would be "a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world." 

American evangelists never tire telling their followers that Islam is a religion of the Devil.  We are not quite sure that that is how the Almighty sees it.  When we pointed out that Islam is as much a religion of Abraham as is Judaism and Christianity, each with its own role and purpose, we received some of the most virulent criticism ever.  They forget that individual acts of suicidal madness, by the kind of minorities that all religions have, do not invalidate the basic tenets of a religion.  They have also forgotten what God had told Abraham about Ishmael, his son by Hagar, who became the father of the Arabs and of Islam.

 

Gen 16:10  Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."

Gen 16:11  And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

Gen 16:12  He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

 

Gen 17:18  And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"

Gen 17:19  Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

Gen 17:20  "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.”

 

These are the words of God, of the Holy Spirit, not of the Devil. Those who say otherwise commit an unpardonable sin.

The Americans would never admit that the Almighty would allow the kind of devastation they suffered on September 11, 2001 at the hands of Muslim extremists.  They cannot say they have not been warned, for we told them on more than one occasion, beginning with our very first edition. (“What Is The USA’s Vital Interest?” TCH 1, 1990).  Unfortunately, since they have not learned the lesson, worse things will come upon them, and upon the whole world.   

It should not be left to Muslim nations to oppose resolutions on homosexuality at the United Nations, for they are an insult not only to them, but to true Christians and to the whole civilized world.  If a foreign body imposes such abominable resolutions upon any nation, it should be mercilessly thrown out of the country without delay, and never be heard of again. 

Rumours have it that the United Nations considers moving its headquarters to Baghdad.  Good! Let them try to bring out such resolutions there and impose them upon the Muslim countries, beginning with Iraq.               

Ishmael was a mirror mage of Jacob, each with twelve princes, but on opposite sides of the fence.  Isn’t this what is evident in the world at present: a wild man, with wild descendants, against the whole world, and the world against them?  

Those American ‘evangelists’, blinded by their hatred of Islam, betray their own ignorance of the Scriptures by failing to see the hand of God and prophecy at work in their own nation. 

These then are the ‘freedoms’ that our political leaders would like to ‘impart’ to our students, freedoms that the United Nations regard as ‘the birthright of all human beings’.  Of course, the United Nations was there when God created the first human beings and heard Him say, ‘your fundamental birthright freedom’ is to debauch yourselves with all sorts sexual perversions?  They have forgotten the lessons of history and what happened to those who abandoned themselves to these kind of ‘freedoms’.  Sodom and Gomorrah mean nothing to them anymore.  Until they learn the lesson at their own expense. But this is not a topic that people want to hear these days, even in churches.  Do their preachers cry aloud the sins of their people, informing them and the world of the unavoidable consequences a life style that demeans, degrades and profanes the ‘temple of the living God’? If they do, we do not know where they are.  If they were honest about it they would have joined us long ago, for that is what we have been doing from the beginning of this work, with our limited resources.  On the contrary, they are angry with us for not keeping silent, for reminding the world what is in store for it if it does not mend its ways.  

Over the years, we have not spared other religions either, making our voice heard in their lands too. Yet, we have never had a word of condemnation from these people, only from Christians, and from the Jews. 

Our message to the people of the world is that they are God’s people too, only that they follow a wrong path and worship wrong gods, just as Christians did before they turned to Jesus Christ. 

 

1 Cor 8:5  “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many

1 Cor 8:6  lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord

1 Cor 8:7  Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.  However, there is not in everyone that knowledge;  

 

1 Cor 10:19 “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?

1 Cor 10:20  Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons;

1 Cor 10:21  You cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.”

 

What then are the values that create good character, which all peoples should teach to their children? 

For thousands of years, the God-given standard that has formed the back bone of western civilisation until it started falling apart under the onslaught of modernism, was the Ten Commandments.  It is from this standard that all other character building values proceed – diligence, honesty, respect for the law, honour for the elders, charity, humility, love, and faith.  These are the forgotten values in our society today.    

You cannot have ‘attributes’ outside these parameters.  You cannot ‘tolerate’ law breakers, you cannot ‘include’ deviant, anti-social, elements, you cannot have ‘social justice’ by justifying the unjustifiable, and you cannot have ‘freedom’ without responsibility, freedom beyond the limits of decency and common sense.  

The Judeo-Christian Scriptures have proven over and over again that they are divinely inspired and provide the best practical solutions for true character building. The problem is that religion today suffers from a massive crisis of credibility.

Since the beginning of time, religion has played a crucial role in education and in people’s lives, but with the advent of modernity this is no longer the case.  In the last couple of centuries religion has been continuously undermined and subjected to attack from what has wrongly been called science and enlightenment.  The great educational institutions of our time are no longer centres of discovery and honest quest for truth, but hotbeds of radicalism, negativity, dissent, and ridicule.

Years ago, I was overjoyed when a top Anglican school in Sydney offered me the position of audio-visual librarian.  I was given a generous budged and told to stock the library with the best I could find.  Before long, I had a collection of several thousand educational programs from all over the world that became the pride of the school.  Among these were a few creationist materials.  Being an Anglican school, I assumed that teachers would jump at the opportunity of introducing students to such thought provoking materials.  To my dismay no one showed any interest in them.  When I inquired why, I was bluntly told that these materials were not part of the curriculum studies, and that introducing students to them could only confuse their minds and disrupt their preparation for the final exam.  Academic results take precedence over character building in these schools too. 

Teachers careers in those schools are determined by exam outcomes.  Parents, who pay exorbitant sums of money for their children’s education, want to see tangible results.  Character is not as easily measured as are curriculum subjects.  Any wonder that so many good students end up as unscrupulous, greedy, professionals.  They lack moral education, and true character building values.  No subject teaches these values, not even scripture lessons.   

Even the Priest, who was taking religious instruction classes, would not touch creationist materials that extolled biblical values.  Being a librarian, I had the chance to observe him at work.  His lessons were a joke to say the least.  He had a horrendous time controlling his classes and motivating students to take him seriously.  He was paying the price for his own convictions, for he was an evolutionist too.  Students did not expect that from him.  They respect a man of conviction who stands up for his principles, not one who vacillates between two positions that are incompatible with each other.

I don’t think he had proper teaching qualifications either, for his lessons were unstructured and poorly prepared. For all intents and purposes, he did not quite seem to know what he was talking about either.  Students are not stupid; you can fool them once or twice, but if they perceive that you keep going before them without much of an idea what you are going to talk about, they tear you to pieces.  Heaven help you after that, because even a school management with the strictest code of discipline can’t help you anymore. 

It is wrong to assume that a preacher is naturally a good teacher too.  A class full of students is not a church congregation that listens quietly to nonsense for an hour or so, then thanks the preacher for it.  

The Bible tells us that there are many people in the world who ought to do anything but preach Scriptures. 

 

Rom 16:18  “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

Phil 3:17  Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.

Phil 3:18  For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the

Phil 3:19  enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is

Phil 3:20  in their shame; who set their mind on earthly things.  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we

Phil 3:21  also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

 

For two thousand years impostors and incompetent hypocrites have wreaked havoc with the Christian Gospel, giving people a sour taste of what religion is all about. The Apostles saw it coming and warned their followers about it in the strongest terms. That is why they spoke of the need for a restoration of all things before the return of Jesus Christ.

 

Acts 20:29  "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Acts 20:30  "Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

Acts 3:19  "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing

Acts 3:20  may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to

Acts 3:21  you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has

Acts 3:22  spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.  "For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says

Acts 3:23  to you.  'And it shall  be that every soul who will not hear tat Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'

 

For a long time I wondered how such people could preach from the Bible on Sundays, then teach students during the week that the story of creation is a myth and the book of Genesis is not to be taken seriously.  And they still wonder that when children grow up they do not believe in God and would have nothing to do with the church.   

Many of the problems in today’s education can be traced directly to the intrusive government legislation that forbids any kind of corporal punishment.  They say that they do it for the good of the children, but evidence is mounting that children brought up without discipline become adults without discipline too.     

No corporal punishment, no rote learning, no speaking harshly to students, no external examinations, no lowering the students’ self-esteem, nothing that might incommode our ‘little angels’.  The problem is, we are not dealing with ‘little angels’, but with many intrinsically disruptive elements that do not know the meaning of discipline anymore.   

After a few years in private education, I moved to a public school that was more easily accessible for me.  That school introduced a laudable program of 20 minutes quiet reading for all students first thing in the morning.  I had year 11 in the library’s instruction room.  That was supposed to be a more disciplined and diligent class, as all senior student classes are supposed to be.  Yet even in that class there was a group of four students who did their best to live up to their fame as bullies and trouble makers.  After trying every method at my disposal to quiet them down, without success, I wrote a memo to the Deputy Principal, who was in charge of discipline in the school, inviting him to come down to the library to discuss their case with me, or tell me when I could go and discuss it with him in his office.  He did not answer me; he knew their case very well, and that nothing more could be done with them short of expelling them. But expelling students from a school does not look good on the school administration record, and so they let the staff grapple with unruly students the best they can.  

However, I did not give up for I could see the disruption they were causing to other students.  I wrote two more memos, and when the Deputy Principal still did not answer me, I expelled them from the library and sent them to the Principal to deal with them.  It was only then that the Deputy Principal reluctantly made his way to the library.  A heated discussion followed.  His point was that we had to do everything in our power to keep them in school, ‘because we could not throw senior students out in the street’.  And my point was that not only were they not getting any benefit out of it, but were causing major inconvenience to other students.  I pointed out that we were not a correctional institution to deal with perennially recalcitrant juveniles, but an educational one with responsibility to the majority of students and to parents who expect the best possible education for their children.  In the end I had to accept his viewpoint, for he was my superior, but he promised to have a serious discussion with them warning them that unless they changed, their behaviour would not be tolerated much longer. 

Whether he did that or not, I do not know, but what I do know is that a few days later, during a school social occasion for our senior students, they got into a major brawl with some strangers. One of our good students who went to their help, was stubbed and killed on the spot.  Two of the bad ones ended up in hospital fighting for their life.  They survived, but that was the end of their association with our school.  Far too late in my opinion. 

Somehow, the school administration and the Education Department managed to keep the whole incident out of media headlines.  No school wants to see its name associated with that kind of record.  They made my life miserable after that, undermining my position whenever they could and wanting me out of the school, mindful of the fact that if my attempts to have those incorrigible juveniles dealt with earlier had come to light they may well have been held criminally responsible for the death of that good and innocent boy.  They were a time bomb ready to explode anytime; and it did.  But the school’s interest and the administration’s record demanded that they be kept in school at all costs.  And the costs turned out to be very high indeed.   Fortunately, my association with that school did not last long after that.  Unfortunately, it came for the wrong reason:  a car accident caused by another irresponsible youth, who did not respect traffic laws, caused me severe injuries that forced me into an early retirement.    

There would have been no room in private schools for those students, and there should have been no room for them in public schools either.  But they were in school because the current educational guidelines work in their favour.  Teachers who want to advance their career are judged among other things on their ability to deal with unruly students.  Rather than have their record spoiled, when nothing else works, they let the rascals rule the roost in the class.  And so, public education gets a bad mark, and other students suffer as a result of it.  

As a Teacher/Librarian, who did not care for further career advancement I could afford to be firm with them, but other teachers put up with it, always hoping that the next year would bring them better students. 

The problem comes mainly from the inane notion that all children must stay in high school until late teens.  For many of them school is nothing but a drudge and a vexation of spirit, and so it is for anyone who has to deal with them. 

So what should be done about it?  Apprenticeships, that’s what!  Every qualified tradesman should have a helper, an apprentice who in the beginning would receive a certain remuneration from the Government. 

The Government provides substantial amounts of money to families for the upkeep of their children, as they should, and to schools for their education.  Part of this money should be split between tradesmen and apprentices in the early days, until apprentices become productive and self supporting.   Everyone would benefit from such a scheme, and would spare the schools from having to work as baby sitters, or correctional institutions, for students that have no reason to be there.               

Less than a quarter of high school students go on to university.  And for that, all children must be subjected to trudging education that leaves little mark on them.  Just think how much you remember of your high school studies, and whether you would not remember just as much if those studies were more judiciously spread out and combined with practical work.  

The push for university education for everyone and everything helps neither society, nor individuals who have no stomach for it.  It merely reinforces the misplaced concept that education to be worth anything must be at the university level.

The school of life and practical training still offer the best education for the vast majority of people.  Just think how many people you know who have no university education and yet have done very well in life and are pleasure to deal with.  And just the same, how many people you know with university education whom you wish you had never met.   If you have never met such a person, happy are you.  Pray to God that you stay that way and that you’ll never have to put your foot in a Court of Law for example. 

When Labour was in Government at the Federal level, they took nursing education from hospitals and put it into universities.  Then they had to invent a new position, nurses’ help, to deal with what the nurses used to do before.  The result is that the country has a chronic shortage of nurses. 

Universities are conservative institutions.  Because they operate on fixed budgets, they cannot expand and shrink at will according to the market principle of supply and demand.  They cannot expand quickly enough when there is a certain shortage in the labour market, then close down departments and lay off staff when that demand has been fulfilled or diminished.  That is why hospitals and other institutions that can take care of their own needs, must be allowed to do so on the basis of well established, verifiable, national guidelines and standards, and not be subjected to the whims of politicians and bureaucrats that more often than not have little idea of what they are talking about.     

Most children are not meant for, and do not care for, university education.  They would benefit infinitely more from practical training that could start as early as the end of their primary school, or elementary school as it is more commonly called in Europe.  Year seven belongs to primary school, not to high school, as another educational bureaucrat with a half baked idea decided not long ago.  Its another example of misguided attempts by powerful interests to lower the age of maturation for children and deny them their childhood years.  Children of ages 12 and 13 do not belong in classes that are set up for students of 17 and 18 years old, who need educational exhibits and sexual education of a totally different kind.        

At the end of primary school, all education should be two streamed: one stream for academically inclined students, and another for those that love practical training.  Sport should play a bigger role in both streams, but more so in the latter.  Basic subjects such as Literature, History, Geography, Mathematics, Science, Physics and Chemistry, should be staple menus for all students, each stream however with its own emphasis and degree of complexity.  In the practical training stream, these subjects should be gradually reduced until they take no more than two days per week. 

This, however, is considered elitist education, and in a world gone mad on egalitarism it is unlikely that the powers that be would consider such a scheme.  One of the arguments against it is that students are too young to take life long decisions at that early stage.  But opportunities for further education should not stop there.  Further education through evening or correspondence courses should be available throughout life.

At the end of my elementary school, I undertook three years vocational training that qualified me as electrician.  Then I completed my high school through evening classes while working as a tradesman.  I was aiming towards electrical engineering at university when my life took a radical turn.  I escaped from communist Romania and emigrated to Canada, where I had to learn a new language.  It was only in my thirties that I felt confident enough to enrol at University, but by then I was no longer interested in engineering.  My new passion had become the study of humanity subjects – ancient history and the study of religions in particular.  I began those studies in Canada and completed them in Australia.   After graduation, I worked as a Teacher/Librarian, but even then I never stoped studying privately my favourite subjects.   

More than a decade passed, and although I felt well versed in Scriptures and history, I did not rush to do anything with my knowledge, always thinking that if God wanted me to do something with it He would provide the opportunity.  And He did, but not in the manner or the time that I expected.  Originally, I thought that my knowledge and experience would be harnessed thorough an existing church.  But rather than making use of my knowledge and cooperating with me in enlightening the world on the malaise that was destroying churches worldwide – lack of Scriptural knowledge – I found myself on a collision course with these same churches.  In desperation, I began an independent work by publishing  The Christian Herald.   I produced the first seven editions on evenings, weekends and school vacations while working as a Teacher/Librarian.  Then I had the accident that forced me into an early retirement.  Since then, I managed to maintain the rate of one edition per year while convalescing at home.  It so happened that the Internet came into vogue at about the same time.  Without the Internet I would have had to give up on this work, for I would not have been able to carry out the almost interminable research work that some of the articles required. 

Now, why am I telling you these things?  To show you that with all the twists and turns that my life had taken, and the physical, psychological, and emotional pain that I endured, and still do, there are few people in the world that would be happier than I am.  I have the right relationship with My Maker, I know where I stand, what I do, and where I go, which is what few other people could honestly say. 

That is why a decision taken at the age of 13 or 14 is not the end of the road as far as one’s career and happiness are concerned.  Indeed, I am convinced that getting work experience and practical training for some years after primary school, is the best possible outcome for students of that age.  It would teach them valuable skills and the value of honest work, it would give them the satisfaction of earning their own upkeep and would lessen the burden on families; and it would be a lot less costly for the Government too.  

Let those who aim to become doctors, teachers, lawyers and the like, take the academic stream, but let others who like working with their own hands not be castigated for not getting a university degree for it. 

God certainly does not do that.  He extols the virtues of honest diligent work in whatever field.  

 

Luke 10:7  "The labourer is worthy of his wages.”

Prov.