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SCHOOL HALLWAYS BY BRANNON HOWSE John Dewey, the most well known humanist of all time, has been calledcalled the "father of progressive education." As honorary president of the National Education Association in 1932, Dewey was one of the coauthors of the humanist manifesto in 1933, helped start the socialist society in America, went to Russia in the 1930s to help organize the Marxists educational system, and served as education department head at Columbia University where a large percentage of America's superintendents and teacher college heads studied. One of Dewey's most well known quotes accurately sums up the philosophy that is prevalent in America's educational philosophy and curriculum, proving Dewey's legacy still lives on:
Teaching feelings based on feelings not facts, encouraging loyalty to peers and teachers, not family and churches, is exactly the goal of Outcome-Based Education. Benjamin Bloom, the father of OBE, would be pleased with his ultimate accomplishment. Why? Because whether Americans know it or not or whether the educational elite want to admit it or not, Outcome-Based Education has been mandated not only by federal law, but by almost every state legislature in all 50 states. Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, writes: "A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced because they love their servitude." Outcome-Based Education has and continues to give us such a generation, causing many Americans to believe that government education system is undeniably planned failure, and intellectual slaver. Why?, because if children are not educated, they are easily controlled. Outcome-Based Education has not only given us a nation of compliant slaves who willingly follow the orders of today's master, a tyrannical centralized government, but a generation that is enslaved to a humanist worldview. Ageneration that who not believe in absolute truth believes that to be considered an intellectual thinker you must be a liberal thinker and tolerance is the "virtue" to be acquired above all else. Behind every method of teaching lies a philosophy on which it is based. In addition to the promotion of a secular humanist worldview, Outcome-Based Education promotes socialism-the false idea that equality should mean equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunity. In order for the outcomes to be based on equality, the standard must be lowered to ensure that all students, regardless of their ability, can reach the set standard. For example, if you want everyone to slam dunk, you have to lower the basket. When Mastery Learning, the foundation stone of OBE, received negative reviews from parents, an attempt was made to disguise it. William Spady, one of OBE's most well-known gurus, devised a cover-up and encouraged educators to do away with the old terminology of Mastery Learning and instead refer to it as Outcome-Based Education. This is how William Spady told educators to implement this deception:
Now that OBE has been unmasked, the spin doctors of the educational elite are out in full force using at least 21 different names to disguise Outcome-Based Education. Hiding OBE has become for many educators a full time endeavor. To keep parents and the public confused, OBE proponents cloak their edu- cational approach in different terms. Here is a list of their most common terminology:
The concept of socialism has been tried many times and has proven to be a complete and total failure. Why then are we teaching America's children the philosophy of socialism in and through education? The former Soviet Union may never recover from the years of socialism that kept it from becoming prosperous and advanced. Countless other societies have tried without success to make socialism a productive system by which to live, teach, and govern. Socialism, however, will never create success because it is based on the false belief of equality. Everything and everyone cannot be equal. Whenever government tries to equalize salaries or the standard of living or education, productivity takes a nose-dive. Few people realize that socialism's bent for failure was proved in America's first colony established by the Pilgrims. When the Mayflower set sail on August 1, 1620, it carried 102 passengers, including 40 Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, or contract, that established just and equal laws for all members of their community irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? The Bible. The Pilgrims were completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments and looked to the ancient Israelites as their example. Because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims - including Bradford's wife - died of either starvation, sickness, or exposure. When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod, and skin beavers for coats. Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper. Why not? The original contract the Pilgrims entered into with their merchantsponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action and assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus unleashing the power of the marketplace. Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. "What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation!" 2 Writing about the experiences of the Pilgrims, Bradford noted,
The fantasy-world mentality of socialism sets a dangerous precedent for any child who attends public school. Why? Because OBE never permits a child to fail. Children are robbed of the valuable lessons of determination and persistence learned from failure. Failure can be used to teach children to dig in and double or even triple their efforts in order to reach a set goal. The real world is not going to slow down and let these children catch-up. William Glasser, one of OBE's national promoters, wrote in his book, Schools Without Failure: "We have to let students know there are no right answers, and we have to let them see that there are many alternatives to certainty and right answers."4 William Glasser takes his cues directly from one of the most notorious agents of change ever to be involved in the American educational system, Benjamin Bloom. In his book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Bloom calls for the "thorough-going through and reorganization of attitudes and values."5 Why? Because Bloom taught that the highest form of intelligence has been reached when a individual no longer believes in right or wrong. In his book, All Our Children Learning, Bloom openly discloses what he believes is the ultimate goal of education. "The purpose of education and the schools is to change the thoughts, feelings and actions of students."6 Bloom goes on to write:
What kind of change does Bloom desire to create in students? That students question everything taught to them - except of course what he would teach them - and to base their beliefs on no set moral absolutes. Remember, Bloom believes that the highest form of intelligence occurs when one no longer believes in right or wrong. What is Bloom's final objective? To change the students into exactly what he is - a humanist and an elitist. Bloom's goal is to tear down any and every authority figure that a child would have and replace those authority figures with a new authority figure - the state group consensus. How does Bloom plan to do this? By making students believe that they have been subjected to superior thought that is beyond the ability of most people, particularly the child's parents, to understand. Students are fed a line that goes something like this: Do not expect to be understood by your parents, pastor, or even some of your friends. You are part of an elite group of thinkers. If you truly want to be an intellectual thinker, you have to be a liberal thinker. You can't believe in the old standard of right or wrong. You must decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong based on your own feelings, beliefs, and ideas. It is okay to challenge and question the things your parents or society have taught you. That is all part of becoming part of a rare group of leaders and achievers. Am I over-stating the case? No, as Bloom's own words prove:
Most of us would respond: All the more reason why those fixed beliefs should remain fixed, instead of being torn down and replaced by some liberal, socialist, humanist, elitist educrat like Benjamin Bloom. Today the educational elite refer to outcomes, high standards, and a host of other terms that attempt to mask their true meaning. Benjamin Bloom called them "higher order thinking skills." Whatever they are called, parents need to know that these terms have meanings, and they usually don't mean what you think. For example, what do you think when you hear the term, "critical thinker"? Do you want to be considered a critical thinker? Do you want your child or grandchild to be considered a critical thinker? Before you answer that question. you need to ask: Who is defining the terms? Dr. Raymond English, one of the educational elite, gave a speech before the National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement on April 2, 1987. In his speech, Dr. English defined critical thinking as follows:
Involved citizen, quality producer, self-directed learner, productive group participant, understand diversity, understand positive health habits, deliberate on public issues and interpret human experience. Do you think a student would be considered a "self-directed learner" if they listened to their parents, pastor, youth pastor, or grandparents? "Understanding diversity" means accepting and valuing every lifestyle anyone chooses to practice. "Understanding positive health habits" is nothing more than passing a "safe sex class." Americans need to stop being so trusting and understand that the educational policy makers in Washington D.C. and at your state department of education are individuals who have betrayed a public trust. One mother who is also a substitute teacher in her daughter's public school said she had had enough. "I have applied for a position at a Christian school, and I am enrolling Jennifer there, too." When asked why, she replied, "Everything in public school is done in groups," she said. "There is no emphasis on individuality or the idea of taking pride in your own work. As a result, the kids who do no work get the same recognition and grade as those in their group who did most of the work." The educational philosophy of "cooperative learning" can be found in almost every school district in America. In fact, many students are now required to prove they are a "productive group participant" in order to graduate from high school. Being a "productive group participant" often means a student must reject or deny their personal and biblical convictions in order to fit in with the beliefs of their peers so group consensus can be achieved. Lynn Cheney, former chair-woman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, testified before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education on February 3, 1998. In her testimony Lynn addressed the dangerous aspects of cooperative learning, which she later described in a national newspaper column:
Based upon the student's Outcome-Based Education portfolio, specially trained counselors will help students choose the most "acceptable" career. What about students who demonstrate the wrong worldview or exhibit individualism, patriotism, or the belief in national sovereignty? What if they have strong religious convictions and are not afraid to voice them? The answer is simple. Once this new system is fully implemented, outspoken, creative, God-fearing students can forget about graduating and receiving their government recognized diploma. If, by some chance, they are permitted to graduate, the students' beliefs, convictions, and worldview could dog them the rest of their lives, keeping them from getting a good job and moving up the corporate ladder. Federal legislation such as Goals 2000, which Bill Clinton signed into law in April of 1994, the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1994, The Federal School-To-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, The Workforce Investment Partnership Act, The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2000, and the Straight A's Act of 2000, resulted in the federal government taking charge of education, the economy, and your life from cradle to grave. All of these pieces of legislation, and others not mentioned, are funding Outcome-Based Education and the philosophies of Marx, Huxley, Skinner and Dewey. Goals 2000, School-To-Work, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1994 have all been reauthorized although not necessarily under the same original names. Hillary Clinton oversaw the passage of four bills that put the federal government in charge of education, the economy and your life from cradle to grave. All these pieces of legislation give America an educational and workforce bureaucracy that resembles Hillary's proposed healthcare bureaucracy. America's schools are being turned into vocational centers where students are trained instead of educated. T.G. Stict, who served under Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, has said, "Many companies have moved operations to places with cheap relatively poorly educated labor. What may be crucial, they say, is the dependability of a labor force and how well it can be managed and trained, not its general education level." Through School-to-Work the "State" decides which children go on to college and which go on to work following "training certification". After reviewing a student's educational history or portfolio, the "State" determines the career track or job the individual is to hold. The State's desires take precedent over the wishes of the individual and his/her parents. Those who have conformed to the federal and state "standards" will be rewarded with further education and a good job. Those who do not meet the Outcome-Based Education standards will be left adrift. The California PTA has said, "school-to-work is based on the premise that government control can do a better job of training individuals, satisfying occupational demands and managing the development of economic activities better than can the effort and initiative of millions of individuals." Lynne Cheney, former chair-woman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, wrote about the dangers of School-To-Work:
In 1997, Governor Roy Romer of Colorado, who was serving as a board member of the Goals 2000 panel, was asked how the panel was going to enforce the national standards. Romer replied:
The Cincinnati Post on May 23, 1996 reported, "Adults have credit cards and money cards. But soon, students in Cincinnati public schools will have a special card of their own and what it could buy them is their future in the world of work. The 'smart card,' proposed by Procter & Gamble Chairman John Pepper, is expected to be in the hands of ninthgraders, and possibly seventh-graders, by the start of the next school year. Equipped with a computer chip, the card will contain a cumulative record of the student's grades, attendance, proficiency, test scores, extracurricular activities, athletics and other accomplishments. By the time the student graduates, the card should contain all the pertinent information a prospective employer needs about the applicant. All employers would ask to see the Smart Card and preference would be given to those with good performance." What is good performance? Are the standards academic or are they politically correct? Evidence is overwhelming that the Goals 2000, Outcome-Based Education standards are based on attitudes, values and feelings. The 'smart card' sounds like what the March 16, 1992 New York Times International revealed. In China, "a file is opened on each urban citizen when he or she enters elementary school and it shadows the person throughout life, moving on to high school, college, employer. . .The dangan contains political evaluations that affect career prospects. . .The file is kept by one's employer. The dangan affects promotions and job opportunities. . .Any prospective employer is supposed to examine an applicant's dangan before making hiring decisions." China refers to their education process as life-long learning. Here in the United States, state and federal education legislation is filled with the term "life long learning." In 1977, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Mary Francis Barry said America was embarking on an education reform movement based on the four pillars of the Chinese model of life long learning: 1) Eliminate test and grades, 2) Make truth a relative concept, 3) Educate to serve the masses, 4) Merge education with labor. In Las Vegas, Rene Tucker's daughter Darcy was pulled out of a geography class without parental consent to be administered a computerized assessment of career possibilities. Darcy wants to become a veterinarian. The computer said she ought to become a bartender or waitress, and it spat out a list of courses she ought to take to that end. Mrs. Tucker said, "We're Christians, and the school stepped on my toes as a parent. It is my job to direct my child's career path, and it would not be in her best interest to be a bartender." It might be in Nevada's best interest, given the huge hospitality needs driven by the gambling and entertainment industry. In his book, Brave New World, Aldous Huxley wrote,
A career exploration test found in six states has 100 true or false questions which include: I have taught a Sunday school class or otherwise take an active part in my church; I believe in a God who answers prayers; I believe that tithing is one's duty to God; I pray to God about my problems. It is important that grace be said before meals; I read the Bible or other religious writings regularly; I believe in life after death; I believe that God created man in his own image; If I ask God for forgiveness, my sins are forgiven. Why are such questions included on a career exploration test if not to determine the "proper place" to assign each student? Mark Tucker is president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, an organization that has led the charge in passing schoolto- work legislation at the state and federal level. Prior to becoming First Lady, Hillary Clinton was on the board of directors of his organization. In the February 4, 1998, issue of Education Week, Mark Tucker was quoted in an article written by Millicent Lawton as saying:
Karl Marx in the tenth plank of the Communist Manifesto calls for the merging of education with industrial production. Karl Marx, the father of today's school-to-work agenda, was also one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto. Whether socialist, communist or Marxist, the foundation of all these philosophies is the humanist worldview and the rejection of biblical creation. Dr. D. James Kennedy in his book, Character and Destiny, explains:
John Dewey, Karl Marx, Aldous Huxley, B. F. Skinner, and Benjamin Bloom were interested in a student's academic achievement only if it would in some way benefit the interest of the State. Before a student's cognative knowledge could be used to its full potential for the good of the State, the student's attitudes, values, feelings and beliefs must be conformed to that of the State. In his book, My Pedagogic Creed, John Dewey wrote:
Ann Herzer writing in "Mastery Learning: For Whose Benefit?" writes:
What if the actual purpose is to use computers to reinforce and correct thoughts and attitudes on a proper and timely schedule? Dustin Heuston of Utah's World Institute for Computer-Assisted Teaching has said:
Charlotte Iserbyt, who served as a Special Assistant in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education in the 1980s, has said that until recently, "parents could examine their children's textbooks; now, thanks to technology, nothing or nobody will be able to get between the child and his computer. Except, of course, the agents of change." Along with radical changes in the school curriculum brought on by Outcome-Based Education, the job of the teacher is being transformed. In fact, some believe that the role of the teacher is disappearing from America's classroom. Under OBE, mandated by Goals 2000 and H.R. 6, the computer will be the new "teacher." Someone has noted, "Our teachers will be reduced to computer disc DJs."10 The Minnesota Department of Education in a publication titled, "Technology and Outcome-Based Education in Minnesota," described this changing role of teachers:
When George Bush introduced America 2000, which later came to be called Goals 2000, the President said we would become "a nation of students." There is nothing wrong with that as long as the student - or his parents - can determine what he will learn. In the future, every child will be working on his own computer, with his own projects and assignments. Why? Because every child will have different attitudes, values, feelings, and emotions that need re-mediating. In other words, every student will have varying shades and types of political incorrectness that must be changed. According to the educational elite, every child is sick and in need of help. Dr. Pierce, professor of Education and Psychology at Harvard University, has said,
Yes, that is what the "experts" think makes the child sick. Dr. Pierce said that the child comes to school with a set worldview, a worldview with which he disagrees. Where did that worldview come from? Who instilled into the five-year old this worldview that Dr. Pierce finds so sickening? The child's parents. What Dr. Pierce really objects to is the child's parental authority, parental influence, traditional values, the traditional American family, and the Christian worldview. Research journalist Geoffrey Botkin notes that it is at this point that the computer comes into play:
Does this seem unlikely to you or maybe even extreme? I wish that were the case. However, the facts prove this is exactly what the educrats in Washington have in mind. The Washington Star, April 15, 1970, printed an article titled, "Set up Data Banks, Allen Urges Schools" by John Matthews. In this article, U.S. Commissioner of Education James Allen is quoted as encouraging local school systems to have a central diagnostic center and explains its purpose: . . . to find out everything possible about the child and his background. . . . (The Center) would know just about everything there is to know about the child - his home and family background, his cultural and language deficiencies, his health and nutrition needs and his general potential as an individual. Allen then implied that professionals would write a "prescription" for the child "and if necessary, for his home and family as well."11 How would they determine which children need a professional "prescription"? According to Allen's Plan, each child would "be evaluated before 6 years of age, then again at 11 and 15."13 Just eight months after the U.S. Commissioner of Education made his comments, the Dallas Morning News on December 12, 1970 reported the following in an article by Karen Elliott entitled "School Survey to Begin": By 1972, administrators expect to have complete computerized records on each of the 180,000 students in the district. When this is completed. . .they will begin compiling information on Dallas teachers and on student's home life and socioeconomic background. The process of collecting information on students is not new and has only increased due to the public's acceptance of such practice and the technology that is now available that makes it so easy. In the October 1999, Education Reporter, Phyllis Schlaffly revealed:
Massachusetts officials point out that their state is not the only one introducing such a system. "About 20-25 other states have implemented or are developing similar systems." Research journalist Geoffrey Botkin, in a television documentary on America's educational system, discovered that in 1978, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers warned about the unlawful political abuse of electronics technology. The warning was not heeded, and in 1994 they published a summary of the abuses, which included:
Certainly computers are a tremendous asset to our society and to education, but such technology has the potential to perpetuate and facilitate the "Big Brother" thinking of bureaucrats who see education and schools as a means of controlling society. B.F. Skinner, an atheist, humanist psychologist who taught at Harvard University, was one of the first to promote the use of a machine for remediation. Its purpose was to aid in developing programmed learning or corrective thought control. As a behavioral psychologist, B.F. Skinner believed that man is controlled by stimuli from the environment and, therefore, can never make a decision in which he exercises free will. B.F. Skinner believed "the hypothesis that man is not free is essential to the application of scientific method to the study of human behavior."15 Skinner went on to write, "We must expect to discover that what a man does is the result of specifiable conditions and that once these conditions have been discovered, we can anticipate and to some extent determine his actions."16 In other words, once an individual discovers the right stimuli, or the right conditions, he can control anyone. According to Skinner, there will be those who are controlled and those who are the controllees. In his book, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Skinner wrote that man "plays two roles: one as a controller, as the designer of a controlling culture, and another as the controlled, as the products of a culture."17 B. F. Skinner and Karl Marx had the same mindset that dominates today's social engineers. They believe that a perfect world or utopia can be created by establishing the right conditions through proper conditioning, programmed learning, corrective thought control, coercive thought control, brainwashing, and manipulation. Dr. Skinner was so skilled at behavioral programming that he trained pigeons during World War II to pilot and detonate bombs and torpedoes. In the book, B.F. Skinner, The Man and His Ideas, by Richard Evans, Skinner is quoted as saying, "I could make a pigeon a high achiever by reinforcing it on a proper schedule." Skinner believed, by using the teaching machines he developed to reinforce desired behavior in animals, he could program humans. Professor Kenneth Goodman, former president of the International Reading Association, wrote a letter to President Jimmy Carter denouncing programs that were based on the philosophies of B.F. Skinner and were being funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In his letter, Professor Goodman did an excellent job explaining exactly what B.F. Skinner's programmed learning was all about. Professor Goodman wrote:
Dean Corrigan, in a 1969 speech before the 22nd Annual Teachers Education Conference held at the University of Georgia, predicted that Skinner's "teaching machines will pace a student's progress, diagnose his weaknesses and make certain that he understands a fundamental concept before allowing him to advance to the next lesson." Why do the agents of change want to track the beliefs of our children? For one reason: to aid them in their diabolical quest to inculcate into our children their beliefs and values. First, however, they must make sure that this inculcation is not hindered by the beliefs of the child's parents. When children exhibit the wrong attitudes and beliefs, which were instilled into them by parents, then remediation, corrective thought control, and re-programming will be the order of business. The computer is the fastest and most effective manner by which to track a student's moral and character development. The computer is also the fastest, most accurate and consistent way to correct wrong developmental behavior. In 1963, under contract with the U.S. Office of Education of Health Education and Welfare, the National Education Association oversaw the Technological Development Project, which published a supplement stating:
What was the purpose of this program ? "To help children by exploring in depth the lifestyle of an obscure Eskimo tribe."20 Who designed the course and how was it supposed to help children? The course was designed by a team of experimental psychologists under Jerome S. Burner and B.F. Skinner to mold children's social attitudes and beliefs along lines that set them apart and alienate them from beliefs and moral values of their parents and local community.21 That assessment was made by Congressman John Conlan of Arizona on April 9, 1975 on the House floor. John Conlan hit the nail on the head. Skinner's programmed learning focuses on setting children apart and "alienating them from the beliefs and moral values of their parents" - particularly if those parents are instilling into their children a biblical worldview. In 1992, when Hillary Clinton and Marc Tucker of the National Center on Education and The Economy wrote their education and labor goals for a Clinton Administration titled, AHuman Resource Plan for the United States, they stated: . . .Not as a pilot program, not as a new demonstration to be swept aside in another administration, but everywhere, as the new way of doing business. . . It is a system for everyone. . .It is no longer a system for the poor and unskilled, but for everyone. . . Young and old, rich and poor, student and full-time worker. If you thought the Certificate of Mastery is just for public school students, think again. As I travel the country and educate audiences on the dangers of school-to-work and the Certificate of Mastery, many individuals have come to me after a seminar and shared their own experiences. A nurse, plumber, electrician, attorney, and many others from all walks of life have related how they as adults have encountered the equivalent of a Certificate of Mastery or work permit. The electrician told me, "I need a government license to work legally with freon, otherwise I will not be permitted to service air conditioners." That sounds reasonable, I thought. "When I went to the required two-day training class," the electrician continued, "I was shocked to discover the course material had nothing to do with the safe use of freon. Instead, we were forced to listen to lectures on homosexual tolerance and other multicultural propaganda. Without that certificate, however, my electrician's license would not have been renewed. I tried to reassure myself this was one man and one incident in one state. As I continued to speak across the country, stories like the electrician's were recited to me again and again. I never thought this new police-state policy of sending individuals to state and federal mandated re-education courses would be validated by one of my own family members. My older brother, Craig, an attorney in Minneapolis told me "The state of Minnesota, in conjunction with the State Bar, is requiring that all attorneys attend eight hours of anti-bias training." Suspicious of the term "anti-bias," Craig chose to order the curriculum that went along with the course before he agreed to attend the "training." After receiving and reviewing the curriculum, Craig's suspicious were confirmed. He and other attorneys were being required to attend eight-hours of homosexual tolerance training in order to have their law licenses renewed for a three-year period. As the father of five and the founding pastor of a church in his community, Craig is a man with solid convictions. Considering this situation, an opportunity to be an example to his children, his community and other attorneys, Craig refused to attend this eight-hour class. When I asked Craig what he planned to do, he told me, "I have already started to research other states where I could practice law without compromising my biblical worldview." Disturbed by the looming consequences that my brother faced, I realized I had come face to face with Hillary's "Resources Plan for the United States" and what she meant by a "new way of doing business." "Before I close my law practice and move my family to another state," Craig continued, "I will try to find a creative alternative that will meet the state's requirements without forcing me to compromise my biblical beliefs." The Lord honored my brother's strong stance and his willingness to count the cost and pay the price. To fill the mandated education policy, state officials permitted Craig to take a different class. We all breathed a sigh of relief, at least for the next three years! We need more men and women like Craig who will stand up and be counted. We need more Americans who understand that tyranny of the mind always precedes tyranny of the body. We can complain about all that is wrong in America, but when we have the opportunity to raise the standard, highlight truth, reveal the practicality of Christianity, and fight tyranny, do we seize that opportunity or become part of the problem? Our silent, non-action becomes an endorsement of all we say we oppose. In Daniel, Chapter 3, Shadreach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship the image of gold constructed by King Nebuchadnezzar. By their refusal to comply with the state-mandated religion these young men were signing their own death warrant. Shadreach, Meshach, and Abednego could have compromised and said, "Let's bow before the golden image, but instead of praying to the idol, we will pray to our God. No one will know and we will not be tossed into the fiery furnace." The three young men refused to play that game and instead used the situation as an opportunity to be salt and light, to stand for righteousness, to oppose tyranny of the mind, to trust in the one true God. The Certificate of Mastery can only become what the cultural elite desire it to be, a Certificate of Slavery, if we permit it to be so. God took care of Shadreach, Meshach and Abednego, allowing them to walk through the fire unharmed and promoting them to positions of power in the providence of Babylon. God honored their commitment to Him and used their situation to His honor and Glory. God has promised that in all things He works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Commit yourself today to God's plan, God's will, and God's purpose. Don't allow yourself or your children to stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. Instead, meditate on the law of the Lord day and night. Teach the principles and standards of the Lord to your children, talk about them when you sit in your home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. See that your children are raised and educated in an environment where a biblical worldview is taught, not mocked. If Christians will commit to raise their children in such a manner, the end result will be a generation of young adults who can withstand the storm of godlessness of our culture and walk through the fire to the glory of God. Shadreach, Meshach and Abednego were able to excel in the pagan culture of Babylon because they had been trained in a biblical worldview prior to being taken captive from their homeland of Israel. The three Hebrew boys may have been political prisoners, but they did not become spiritual prisoners. Why? They knew what they believed and why they believed it. If you're a Christian teaching in our public schools, use your position as an opportunity to proclaim a biblical worldview, even if it means you could lose your job. If you're a Christian businessman or woman, oppose the philosophies of Marx, Dewey, Skinner, and Bloom who not only roam the halls of our schools, but also now impact our daily lives. If you're a Christian teenager, take a bold stand for God like the three teenagers named Shadreach, Meshach and Abednego. 1Ron Brandt, "On Outcome-Based Education: A Conversation with BIll Spady," Educational Leadership, December 1992/January 1993, p. 68. 2Rush Limbaugh, See, I Told You So, (New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993, 1994), p. 78-80. 3Ibid. 4Dr. Dennis Cuddy, Chronology of Education with Quotable Quotes, (Highland City, FL: Pro Family Forum, Inc., 1993), p. 43. 5Benjamin Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, 1964, page 85. 6Benjamin S. Bloom, All Our Children Learning: A Primer for Parents, Teachers, and Other Educators (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981), p. 180. 7Ibid. 8Ibid., p. 54. 9Dustin Heuston, "Discussion-Developing the Potential of An Amazing Tool," Schooling and Technology, Vol 3. Southeastern Regional Council for Educational Improvement. 10Carol Pomeroy, "Education According to Corporate Fascism," (unpublished speech delivered March 3, 1994, at Northwestern College). 11From a keynote address to the Association for Childhood Education International, Denver, Colorado, April 1972, quoted by John Steinbacher and Dr. Dennis Cuddy. 12"Certain Failure", a documentary on H.R. 6 by Geoffrey Botkin. 13Dr. Dennis Cuddy, Chronology of Education with Quotable Quotes, (Highland City, FL: Pro Family Forum, Inc., 1993), p. 47. 14Ibid. 15B.F. Skinner, Science and Human Behavior (New York: Macmillan, 1953), p. 447. 16Ibid, p. 6. 17B.F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, (New York: Macmillan, 1953), p. 197. 18Kenneth Goodman, "The President's Education Program: A Response," Support for Learning and Teaching of English Newsletter, March 1978, Vol. 3 No. 2. 19March/April: A special supplement of AV Communication Review is published as "Monograph No. 2 of the Technological Development Project of the NEA." The project is under contract #SAE-9073 with the U.S. Office of Education of HEW, as authorized under title VII, Part B, of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The contractor is the NEA. I was made aware of this fact by Dr. Dennis Cuddy. 20Charlotte T. Iserbyt, "Back to Basics Reform or...OBE Skinnerian International Curriculum?" 1995, p. 6. 21Congressional Record, April 9, 1975, p. H. 2585 |