by Errol Naidoo
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) presented its strategy to Parliament on 'Reducing Teenage Pregnancies In South Africa.' The teen pregnancy statistics are truly horrifying.
by Lighthouse Trails Editors
June 28, 2021
This booklet will examine several aspects of mindfulness and will help to show why mindfulness meditation should not be brought into the schools and taught to children.
by Tony Pearce
May 13, 2019
Progressive teaching methods have fuelled the rise in poor discipline, according to an article in the Daily Telegraph (13/5/19). The Government has appointed a ‘bad behaviour tsar’, Tom Bennett, to head up a taskforce into bad behaviour at schools. He said that for several decades the issue has been “swept under the carpet” and that progressivism – the dominant ideology in education which became popular in the 1960s and 70s – has led to low level disruption going unchallenged.
by Tony Pearce
May 13, 2019
Progressive teaching methods have fuelled the rise in poor discipline, according to an article in the Daily Telegraph (13/5/19). The Government has appointed a ‘bad behaviour tsar’, Tom Bennett, to head up a taskforce into bad behaviour at schools. He said that for several decades the issue has been “swept under the carpet” and that progressivism – the dominant ideology in education which became popular in the 1960s and 70s – has led to low level disruption going unchallenged.
“There was a massive assumption that children would behave if you simply planned lessons correctly, if you allowed them to do lots of independent work, project work, group work and so on, and that these teaching methods would create great behaviour. Progressivism rests on the idea that children want to behave and they want to learn, the teacher needs to step back and allow the child to explore their natural curiosity, which will motivate them and keep them engaged,” Mr Bennett said. But this relies on an “overly optimistic view” of human nature that “fails to consider the difficulties some children face”, he said. Daily Telegraph 13 May.
Having worked in schools mainly in London during the 1970s and 80s I know what Mr Bennett is talking about. He is right to connect the failure of the ideology behind ‘child centred methods’ with an ‘overly optimistic view of human nature’.
One of the fathers of progressive education was the US educationalist John Dewey. Dewey argued that education should not simply involve making students learn facts that they would soon forget. He taught that education should be a journey of experiences, building upon each other to help students create and understand new experiences. A humanist and atheist, he opposed the teaching of Christianity and the Bible in schools. His philosophy was defined as Instrumentalism:
• Instrumentalism believes that truth is an instrument used by human beings to solve their problems.
• Since problems change, then so must truth.
• Since problems change, truth changes, and therefore there can be no eternal reality.
Denying that there is any unchanging eternal reality means denying the God of the Bible who says ‘I the Lord change not.’ It also means denying that there are absolute God given commandments which do not change and which apply to all generations in all situations. You end up with the relativistic view of truth and morality which says ‘you have your truth and I have my truth and they are all equally true or untrue.’
From my experience of sharing the Gospel, especially with young people who have grown up with the present educational system, the biggest objection to the Gospel is this idea of relative truth. According to this view there is no absolute truth and God’s commandments given in the Bible have to be changed to fit in with present day life, especially in the area of sex and sexuality. We have to give way to the idea that all roads lead to God (or no roads lead to God, because there is no God). We must abandon the biblical concept that there is one way to God, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Lord who said ‘I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me.’ John 14.6.
‘Progressive’ educational thinking fits in with a humanist / Marxist view that bad behaviour is not the result of something wrong in human nature (in other words sin), but something wrong in the environment and social system. Therefore you improve behaviour by putting children in the right environment and letting them develop their own values and life style. They should be free to discover themselves and their own values without these being imposed on them from outside.
The Bible does not give us an ‘optimistic view of human nature,’ and it does not encourage us to discover our own reality and morality. It tells us that the heart of man is desperately corrupt and that we should accept God’s order and commandments. Progressive educational views generally deny the biblical view of God as the ultimate authority and human beings as sinners in need of salvation through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore all morality is relative and what is right and wrong can be decided by every person.
Back in the 1960s to 1970s the process began to remove God and the Bible from schools and replace Christianity with moral relativism and religious diversity. The same has happened under the influence of Dewey’s progressive education in the USA. Progressives used the advent of multi-racialism and multi- culturalism in society to replace the traditional Christian influence in schools with the idea that all religions are equal and that there are many ways to God (or none at all).
The humanist / atheist influence also used the teaching of evolution to undermine faith in God and the Bible. Concerning our origins evolution is taught as the only explanation for how we come to be here and a proven fact (which it is not) and any form of creationism is outlawed. Evolution dominates all science lessons and affects the teaching of other subjects. It tells children that all life is the accidental product of chance with no Creator and ultimately no meaning. It also means that the account of Creation in the Bible is untrue and takes away any reason for humans to keep commandments given by God or to believe the Gospel.
We also have sex education lessons which undermine biblical teaching
on sexuality and morality, promote homosexuality and, more recently, transgender ideas. All this is corrupting the young and is a factor contributing to the breakdown of discipline and order. Children as young as five are to be indoctrinated with the idea that homosexuality is equal to heterosexuality and the completely false idea that gender is fluid and they can change gender if they want to. This denies biblical teaching:
In the beginning God made them male and female Genesis 5.2. Gender distinction between male and female is built into God’s created order and is fundamental to human society.
God’s order in society is based on one man married to one woman, caring for their children and bringing them up in ‘the fear and admonition of the Lord’. Genesis 2.24, Matthew 19.4-6, Ephesians 5.22-6.4.
Homosexual practice is contrary to God’s law and order in creation. Leviticus 18.22, Romans 1.24-27.
The result of all this is a breakdown of discipline and order as ‘everyone does what is right in his own eyes.’ Judges 21.25. By contrast the Bible is full of admonitions to discipline children in the ways of the Lord. Proverbs 3.11, 5.12, 13.18, 22.15, Ephesians 6.1-4, Hebrews 12.5- 11. The child centred approach brings with it the removal of sanctions to deal with bad behaviour and the denial of the idea that we are all sinners who need to repent and believe the Gospel. Those children who are not motivated to learn, generally end up learning very little, they misbehave, disrupt lessons and make it difficult for the children who do want to learn, while the teacher has little or no power to discipline them.
This does not bring freedom but oppression and bad habits becoming ingrained in the children, which continue into adulthood. In Isaiah we read about the prophet’s denunciation of a decadent society which sounds very like our own: “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, every one by another and every one by his neighbour; the child will be insolent toward the elder, and the base toward the honourable.” Isaiah 3.5.
Jesus spoke about ‘lawlessness’ (Greek is anomia, or against the nomos / law of God) as a sign of the last days (Matthew 24.12). 2 Thessalonians 2 speaks of the spirit of lawlessness and the removal of the restraining influence on sin which makes way for the coming of the ‘lawless one’ who is also described as the Man of Sin or the antichrist. Paul wrote about children being ‘disobedient to parents’ and being ‘without self control’ as a sign of the last days in 2 Timothy 3. Disobedience to parents could be extended to disobedience to all in authority.
We are now seeing the fruit of all this in the breakdown of order in our schools and in society. We see a rise in knife crime and drug taking. We have boys identifying as girls and girls as boys in transgender changes which damage them physically and psychologically. We also see a rise in mental illness among children, which is not surprising since some of the things they are being taught are insane. The only answer to all of this is the Gospel and the teaching of the Bible.
In the early 1970s I was teaching at a large comprehensive boys’ school
in south London. I was quite a new Christian, having been involved in the left-wing ideas myself in the 60s until I became a Christian in 1970. Many of the staff were radical leftists spreading their ideas in the school. I ended up teaching mainly Religious Education (which I actually had no qualification to teach, having a degree in English). It was shortly before multi faith teaching became the standard in schools and I managed to teach the Bible and Christianity in most of my lessons.
My best memory of this time was the lesson when I wrote the 10 Commandments up on the board. I gave an explanation about them and told the boys to write them down in their books. I then explained how God gave us these commandments for our good, but the problem is that we don’t keep them and that is why there are so many bad things happening in the world. I explained the Gospel and how Jesus Christ gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins by dying for us and rising again from the dead. I told them how I had become a Christian by believing this and how God had changed my life. I invited anyone who wanted to stay behind after the lesson and talk about this further. Four boys stayed behind and accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour. Out of this we started a lunchtime Christian Union, which at one point had about 30-40 boys attending.
Not long after this the humanists and Marxists in the school insisted that religious teaching must be multi-faith and opposed the teaching of biblical Christianity. This has now become the situation throughout the educational system. It would be good if the clock could be turned back and ‘progressive education’ replaced with Christian education, but the control of the education system is firmly in the hands of progressive forces who will not tolerate any change to Christian ones.
Things have now reached such a stage of wickedness that they are forcing anti God and anti-family teaching on children. Warning of offences to come, Jesus said, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18.6. All this means that our society is certainly heading for God’s judgement.
This is yet another sign of the soon coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ to change the government of the world and bring it under His righteous law and control.
by Alliance Defending Freedom
May 14, 2021
In March, 33 current and former students of 26 religious universities across the United States filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education in an effort to block federal funding to students at religious universities. The desired result of the case is clear: put an end to faithful religious institutions.
by Christian News Journal
August 22, 2020
Mindfulness is all the rage in healthcare and education, among other areas. But what is mindfulness? Where does it come from? And what are its goals?
by Errol Naidoo
UNESCO controlled Department of Basic Education meeting with religious and traditional leaders descends into boo's, jeers and mockery of Christian leaders' concerns with Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
by Tony Pearce
April 2019
A report by the Prince’s Trust revealed that the number of young people in the UK who say they do not believe that life is worth living has doubled in the last decade. This has been caused amongst others by social media, the LGBT agenda, efforts to destroy biblical family values and the introduction of mindfulness meditation in our schools.
by Prega Govender
May 12, 2019
From next year, textbooks for pupils in grades 4 to 12 will reflect a “cutting edge” curriculum that treats masturbation, sexual consent, gender nonconformity and single-parent families as mainstream.
by Christian Assemblies International
The first notable finding to emerge from Professor Vitz's study was that none of the books most widely used in American public schools has a single text reference to a direct religious activity occurring in contemporary American life.
by Peter Baklinski
If you’re a parent who’s been told that your child’s sex-ed program at school is comprehensive, evidenced-based, age-appropriate, and that it promotes healthy relationships, then you, and every other parent who’s been sold the same message, have essentially been lied to.
by Dr. Peter Hammond
Are you raising a bully, a victim or a bystander?
by Dr. David R. Reagan
Why have our schools become so violent? All across our nation people who are fed up with school violence are demonstrating in behalf of gun control.
by David Fiorazo
March 15, 2018
Another Christian group, this time at Harvard University, was recently accused of discrimination for believing in the teachings of the Bible and striving to live by its standards.
by Lee Saul
June 30, 2017
In our view, the court’s decision has affirmed the place of religion in the public sphere, specifically in public schools, whilst requiring schools to not brand themselves in a manner that could be excluding of minorities.
by FOR SA
April 12, 2017
Should OGOD be successful in Court, it can mean the end of (even voluntary participation in) Scripture reading and prayer, praise and worship, SCA and other Christian activities in public schools.
by Culture Watch
March 13, 2016
The ‘long march through the institutions’ as Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci put it is working out real well. Instead of taking over a nation with tanks and bullets, why not just subvert it from within? Take over the main institutions of power and influence, such as the media, schools, churches, courts and so on, and you can capture a culture.
by Zimeye.net
May 30, 2016
As part of a controversial grand plan to make Islam dominant in Zimbabwe’s education system, described as an ‘Islamic Jihad’, Education Minister, Dr Lazarus Dokora, has announced that government has secured a loan of $20 million from the Organisation Of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to facilitate this move.
by Michael Houdmann
The question of whether Christians should home school their children is one that many families wrestle with. The Bible tells us that children are a gift from the Lord, specially created for His pleasure and divine purpose. (Psalm 127:3-5; 139:13-16)
by Michael Houdmann
For believers in Jesus Christ, the question of whether or not a Christian education is important seems obvious. The issue in Scripture is not what type of general education our children receive, but through what paradigm that information is to be filtered.
by Steven E. Persons
April 8, 1991
Since this successful onslaught by the humanists, the public schools have been viewed as a crucial vehicle for any “reform” movement. Recognizing this truth, the New Age Movement wasted no time in assailing public school children. Just as secular humanism assaulted every aspect of our society, New Age thought is infiltrating each facet as well. One can observe it in the media, in literature, in churches, and even in politics. But the most conspicuous influence, without a doubt, is the invasion of our educational system.
by Errol Naidoo
If ever the Body of Christ needed to get actively involved in the nation – the time is now! The deeply concerning and shambolic state of education in South Africa is being exposed on an almost weekly basis. In fact, to refer to the current state of government education as a ‘crisis’ is an understatement.
by Craig Branch
Children especially are targeted because most New Agers believe that the innate innocence and sensitivity of children render them much closer to the influences of the spiritual world - such as the spirits who reside there. By reaching children before they have been "corrupted" by Western culture and Christian values, New Agers hope they can educate an entire generation to the spiritual values of New Age philosophy.
By Berit Kjos
June 2nd, 2013
The traditional Christian family has been a continual obstacle to the globalist vision of solidarity. . . . the United Nations and its mental health gurus have fought hard to eradicate those old “poisonous certainties” that stood in their way. . . . The results can be disastrous. Students trained to scorn God’s guidelines and conform to the crowd are . . . soon driven by evolving new notions that undermine all truth and certainty. Carl Teichrib
by Steve Deckard, Ed.D.
Ideas are important. They affect our behavior, our philosophy of life, and ultimately our world view. One such set of ideas being promoted in educational circles is so-called Global Education. The objective of this paper is to expose the hidden agenda of Global Education and show conclusively the links between Global Education, the New Age religion, and evolutionism.
by Carl Teichrib
Without question, one of the greatest tools for social engineering is in the realm of public education. This is not a blanket statement downplaying the role of education per se, but a judgment call recognizing the tremendous influence that the educational system can play in creating "social change."
by The Cutting Edge
The moral bankruptcy of our society is well-documented. Few people understand why we have become morally bankrupt. However, when we look at society through the eyes of God, through the Bible, we can easily see why we are facing the unprecedented troubles today. This study of America through the eyes of God is what we will always do try to here; stay with us for some eye-opening truths.
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