All Education is Religious Education
Impressing a view of righteousness is unavoidable.
Ever since the Enlightenment, the West has fetishized education. It has been touted as the solution to all problems, from poverty to crime to war. Is someone poor? They lack the proper information. Is someone committing crime? They lack the proper information. Remember the laughable “just teach men not to rape” campaign? If only every man had some more finger-wagging about proper consent, then the rape problem would be solved!
All problems stem from a lack of education, even deep moral problems. At the same time, people pretend, with a straight face, that education is “neutral” and has no moral component. Schizophrenic, at best.
However, for education to be effective, it has to be received properly, and in order to be received properly, the student must be virtuous.
The fool exists. Scoffers will scoff. The wicked will learn just enough to be more effective in their wickedness.
…teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
Proverbs 9:9
In order to teach someone, they must be righteous. This does not mean perfection. It does not mean maturity. It means the heart of the student must be pointed in the right direction. Righteousness is a core prerequisite for any worthy education.
So education must concern itself with righteousness. It must be able to reward it, to cater to it, and to discipline its opposite. It must be able to know that a heart is pointing in the right direction and, to some extent, measure that alignment.
By necessity, virtue must be part of a whole education.
Which begs the question: What is virtue? What is righteousness? By what standard?
This is why education is religious. Always.
There can be no neutrality. There is no “secular” education that refuses to impose a standard of right and wrong on its students. To qualify as “education”, some standard of righteousness will always be promoted.
Always a god, always an altar
Religious concerns are unavoidable. Why is something wrong? What should you do one thing and not the other?
Whatever that standard is, an education is indoctrination into that religious standard. There is always some god above the altar that is owed homage. Even if that god is the anemic god of the utilitarian or the “almighty” Demos of democracy. Or even the personal preferences of the teacher herself. Many a classroom has been ruled by petty, tyrannical, wanna-be demigods.
Wherever you send your children to school, they will be sitting in catechism classes that will impress upon them a notion of right and wrong. This cannot be avoided.
There is no school or teacher on planet Earth that disseminates only neutral facts. The very act of choosing which facts to teach and which facts to ignore conveys a message, whether you realize it or not. A teacher can talk about how George Washington owned slaves, and then ignore his bravery and particular virtues. No editorializing, but a judgment has been pronounced regardless.
Will they be taught that there is inherent order to the world? Or will they be taught that everything is the result of blind randomness, including themselves? Either of these has important implications.
Will they be taught that masculinity has its unique strengths? Or will they be taught that it is toxic?
Will they be taught that transitioning from one gender to the next is to be celebrated? That opposing it is evil?
Will they be taught that consent is the ultimate arbiter of what is acceptable, just as long as they practice safe sex? Or will they be taught that sex between a man and a woman is sacred? That it should be practiced within the protections of the marriage covenant?
If you send your kids to be educated by pagans, don’t be surprised when they eventually become a pagan. If you send your kids to be educated by Romans, don’t be surprised when they pledge their allegiance to Caesar.
As a father, you cannot take this lightly. Your children’s education is your responsibility.
Again, there is no neutrality. A war is going on for the souls of your children. Education is a primary battleground. The children of the dark are more shrewd than the children of light. They understand what is at stake. They are more than happy to mold your children in their image.
A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.
Luke 6:40
Who is teaching your children?