The secret weapon of the church

Even though it was a decade ago, I’ve always remembered these remarks by Jennie Chancey:

If a woman is called to singlehood (no desire to marry and bear children), she does not have a lesser role in the church or the community. Indeed, she has a vital role. Single women truly should be the “secret weapon” of the church.

While this next reference was for something from 100 years ago—and while it likely involved married as well as single women—it made me think of the secret weapon reference straight away:

These women were motivated by religious conviction. They wrote to editors of newspapers on the issue [a referendum to allow religious instruction and Bible reading in government schools]. Underlining the religious belief that motivated many supporters of the Bible in State Schools League, ‘H. S. W.’ drew on passages from the Bible to urge women to action in 1906.

‘Women of Queensland, we are fighting for God’s cause. Come to the front, delay is dangerous. Be not among those women who are at ease in Zion (Isaiah xxxii. 11)’ she urged…

[T]he Vice-president of the Women’s League, A. Maria Cole, also drew on the Bible in her letter arguing for the passing of the Referendum. She concluded by a rallying cry. ‘[V]ote “Yes” for the sake of the children of the country we love, and the Master whom we serve,’ she urged readers of The Brisbane Courier [newspaper].

The Women’s League made their views known in a flyer in which they stated emphatically that the Bible was the source of morality. ‘No other teaching than the Bible can make our children grow up pure, loving, truthful and honest’, they stated….

The Brisbane Courier noted that ‘a feature of the referendum on the question of Bible reading in State schools was the large number of devoted ladies who volunteered to assist at the various booths.’

Quote sources

1. Chancey, J. (2004). “Are Single Women Not Needed at LAF?”. Ladies Against Feminism. Available http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com/artman/publish/Comments_and_Letters_23/Are_Single_Women_Not_Needed_at_LAF_12521001252.shtml. Last accessed 25th Apr 2016.
2. Perkins, Y, (2010). Queensland’s Bible in State Schools Referendum 1910: A Case Study of Democracy. [BA thesis, University of Sydney], pp. 23-24, 51

Church alliances that led to Biblical victory

The campaign to pass the referendum was led by the Bible in State Schools League, a multi-denominational Protestant organisation created in 1890 with the objective of persuading the Queensland government to reintroduce religious instruction in the state’s schools.

In 1911 Catholics formed 24% of Queensland’s population, Anglicans 35%, Presbyterians 12%, Methodists 10% and Lutherans 4% of the population. This level of Christian diversity meant that no group formed a natural majority and needed to form alliances with other groups if they were to effect change. The Bible in State Schools League reflected this demographic imperative….

A decisive result ensued: 56.7% of voters approved of introducing religious instruction and Bible reading in state schools while 43.3% of voters disapproved. The Referendum passed in 43 of the state’s 61 electorates. The lack of organised opposition presenting a clearly articulated case against the proposition would have been a strong factor contributing to the result….

Without the Bible in State Schools League effectively and persistently applying the pressure, the referendum would never have been held, passed and enacted. Rev. [D.J.] Garland as the outspoken organising secretary had been instrumental in marshalling support from the fractious Protestant churches, parliamentary representatives and the people of Queensland.

Quote source

Perkins, Y, (2010). Queensland’s Bible in State Schools Referendum 1910: A Case Study of Democracy. [BA thesis, University of Sydney], pp. 5, 56-57, 90

Christian schools as a force against humanism

Then came the Christian school movement. Government school enrollments began to decline. There were many reasons. The humanists had been promoting abortion and the myth that the world was being overpopulated. So there just weren’t as many children around to attend the schools. With the Christians pulling their children out of the government schools right and left, the humanists really got frightened.

The teacher unions could count noses (even if some of their students couldn’t add and subtract anymore) and all they could see were declining enrollments. Declining enrollments mean closing schools and losing jobs. The teachers began to worry about job security.

Having alternative Christian schools around was a problem for the humanists in other ways. Parents now had a choice as to whether they would patronize the government schools or send their children to a Christian school. The Christian schools meant an opportunity for parents to compare the quality and the cost. With Christian schools operating at costs far below that of the government schools and producing superior results academically and otherwise, the humanists began to panic.

Quote source

Thoburn, R.L. (1984). The Christian and Politics. 2nd edition. Thoburn Press, Tyler, pp. 26-27

A textbook example of applied Christianity

[Neal] Frey runs Educational Research Analysts…and works to privately pressure [school textbook] publishers before they submit books to the state [educational] board for consideration.

While many of his victories are small, Frey said they add up to something substantial: textbook content better aligned with a…Christian worldview…

David Anderson, a former vice president at textbook publisher Holt, Rinehart & Winston and a Texas Education Agency official from 1997 to 2003, said Frey…has influence with publishers.

“When I was with the Texas Education Agency, I did see publishers make changes as a result of information from Frey,” Anderson said…

Most days, he arrives at the office at 11 a.m. and recites two Bible verses; one of them, James 1:5-7, reads: “You must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”

Quote source

Savage, J. (2016). Longview man is on crusade to stop ‘liberal bias’ in Texas school textbooks. Dallas News. Available http://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2016/10/07/longview-man-crusade-stop-liberal-bias-texas-school-textbooks. Last accessed 14th Oct 2016.

Rethinking public education and its rhetoric

According to “Mulga Mumblebrain”:

Home-schooling might be innocent enough, but where it is simply home brainwashing into a religious zealotry that the parents wish to inculcate, it is I believe, quite pernicious.

Much of the talk about home-schooling is pretty thinly disguised ideological hatred of public education. The Right, as part of their neo-feudal project and jihad against all public provision, whether education, health, transport, welfare or housing, has long vilified public education and public school teachers and actively promoted private education. In the USA the public education systems have been basically destroyed…

Needless to say, societies like our’s, the USA or UK, where Rightwing fanatics are hell-bent on destroying public education, don’t have much of a future. The Chinese, whose children and teachers are at or near the very top of international tables of comparative excellence, must be both bemused and concerned that such a deliberate policy of mass imbecilisation has taken hold in certain benighted states, one, the USA, still heavily and belligerently militarised.

On first blush, that was forceful, but on second thought, there was a lot of fizz and rhetoric to it. Here’s a level-headed counterweight to put things into order:

In no trial of churches, Christian schools, home schools, or parents in which I have been involved has there been any question as to the superior educational achievements and training of youth on the part of Christians.

This, however, is considered usually an irrelevant issue because the main concern of the state is to maintain its claims to sovereign jurisdiction.

The issue is thus a religious one: who is the Lord, Christ or Caesar? Who is the Sovereign?

Quote sources

1. Mulga Mumblebrain (2012). Homeschooling [response to podcast]. Life Matters. Available http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/home-schooling/4070948. Last accessed 2nd Jul 2015.
2. Rushdoony, R.J. cited in Schwartz, A. (2009) Rushdoony on Christ’s Kingship. Chalcedon Foundation. Available http://chalcedon.edu/blog/homeschooling/2009/6/23/. Last accessed 2nd Jul 2015.