The war on education: Overcoming evil with good
“The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life. / Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked; whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. / Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it. / The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. / Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.” — Proverbs 22:4-8
The threat of globalism and neo-Marxism has become increasingly apparent over the last decade. What began as a group of theorists and power-hungry bureaucrats meeting once a year has turned into a demonic assault on Christianity, the family, and education. Families in many countries, even in the United States, have experienced the repression of homeschooling as their governments work tirelessly to funnel them into the government mind-grinder — the public school system.
Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released its 17 global goals for the year 2030 — the fourth of which is “quality education.” Their vision is simple:
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“In addition to free primary and secondary schooling for all boys and girls by 2030, the aim is to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to quality higher education.”[1]
Those familiar with the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles will recognize this agenda from The Communist Manifesto. In his renowned political pamphlet, Marx outlined ten steps or “planks” necessary to implement in order for communism to be established in a society. The tenth plank reads “Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c.”
Both UNESCO and Marx agree that the implementation of free universal government-run education with the aim of industrial production is absolutely necessary to achieve their utopian ends. The fact that UNESCO aligns its vision with the deadliest idea known to history is telling.
When internationally powerful people insist on controlling the upbringing of your children, what ought you to do? Are they too powerful to resist? Should we hand them our children in exchange for their “free money”? Of course not! In the face of the globalist threat, the best tactic to overthrow their tyranny is to raise and educate your own children in the way they should go independently from the state. Praise God, millions of parents are doing just that.
Raise your children
Sadly, countless parents around the United States have been convinced that their job is simply to drop their precious babies off at daycare to be nurtured, ship them off to “free” government schools to be trained in humanist religion and Critical Theory, only to be reunited as stakeholder (pesky conservatives might even deign to call them “mom” or “dad”) and product on the day of graduation when the tassel goes from Right to Left. The effects of this have been undeniably disastrous whether you examine the breakdown of the family, the dumbing down of the American mind, and the rise of humanist globalism in the West.
Let me be clear: we should not slander the parents who have fallen for this lie because the Left has always been good at marketing. A big sign that says, “Free stuff here!” always looks enticing. So, it should not be surprising when millions of otherwise reasonable people join the fray calling for “free public education”. They do not know that the very minds, bodies, and souls of their children are at stake.
Thankfully, millions more parents have not been persuaded by the Left to divorce themselves from their children. These mothers and fathers, rather than offer up the bodies, souls, and minds of their children to father government, have taken upon themselves the God-given duty to have, nurture, raise, and educate their beloved children independently from the state.
The truth is that our Creator, sustainer, and Savior God has given parents, and parents alone, the jurisdiction to raise their children in the way they should go. If you are skeptical of this point, I would encourage you to search the Scriptures for a verse that suggests that the state has a role to play in the upbringing and education of children.
Furthermore, a brief overview of history will expose government schools as a radical and novel idea, foisted upon society by humanists with the aim of uprooting Christianity and implementing Marxism. Alex Newman makes this case undeniably clear in his groundbreaking book Indoctrinating Our Children To Death.
By raising your own children independently of the government, you are depriving the Marxist, humanist, globalist elites of the thing they need most — the next generation.
Educate your children
Keeping your children out of the government’s reach is not the final step that parents must take. They also must educate their children.
What is the purpose of education? In modernity, the perceived purpose of education is perfectly in line with the Marxist and globalist vision. UNESCO said, “the aim is to provide equal access to affordable vocational training, eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to quality higher education.” Just think — we go to high school to get a diploma so we can go to the university to get a degree for a job so we can be a productive member of society. Today, education is strictly a matter of establishing social roles.
We want more for our children! Traditionally, education is about the soul, the mind, the heart, and the desires of an individual. It is meant to cultivate virtue and instill wisdom. By removing the soul from education, modern Marxist school tyrants have nulled the desire of individuals to search out and know truth, beauty, and goodness. As The CIRCLE Institute says, “The purpose of classical education is to cultivate virtue and wisdom. The classical Christian does not ask, “What can I do with this learning” but “What will this learning do to me?” Briefly put, education is a matter of the soul as much as it is of the mind.
Thankfully, though men have forgotten the truth about education, Christians can still rejoice in the Proverbs when it says:
“How much better to get wisdom than gold! / To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver” (Proverbs 16:16).
“The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper” (Proverbs 19:8).
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).
Through education, we can prepare our children to be sent out as sheep among wolves, being wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). Through education, we can teach our children to be virtuous men and women, full of wisdom and understanding, and equip with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6). This is how we will protect children from globalist manipulation and humanist lies.
Overcome evil with good
Oftentimes, it can feel like we have already lost the battle. It can seem like the elite class has all the power required to shape the world into their image — but take heart, Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). As we continue to pierce souls with the sword of the Spirit, let us not be discouraged by the fiery arrows of the devil. By raising and educating your own children, you are depriving the globalists of the one thing they require — the bodies, minds, and souls of your children. Without control of the next generation, they are incapable of implementing their wicked agenda. So, as you continue to walk the straight and narrow, “do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5-6), and “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
[1] United Nations (2016, January 1). Quality Education. Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved July 11, 2024, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/#:~:text=When%20people%20are%20able%20to,more%20healthy%20and%20sustainable%20lives
Elise DeYoung is a freelance writer and a Public Relations and Communications Associate at Classical Conversations.
