Christians and Public Schools
Robert Escamilla is going to be on Hannity and Colmes tomorrow night. I can’t imagine what he is going to say.
A short version of the story:
Escamilla was a teacher in Wake County Public Schools for several years. At a student’s recommendation he invited a persecuted Egyptian Coptic Christian to speak in his World Religions class.
The speaker, Kamil Solomon spoke at Enloe High School on February 15th, to 8 different classes.
The Raleigh News and Observer reports:
Solomon said he was persecuted for his religious beliefs by the Egyptian government. He also denounced Islam as a religion of violence and distributed pamphlets. One called the Prophet Muhammad a “criminal,” “demon possessed” and “inspired by Satan.” Another was titled “Do Not Marry A Muslim Man.”
Escamilla has since been through an ordeal. The politics of public schools are horrendous (Hauerwas says there’s no more totalitarian regime in the world than the most popular girls in High School), and the adults have a hard time getting along, too.
Now, I don’t mind Muslims complaining about this. I understand. I also don’t mind the public schools acting stupid in the midst of all this. Administrators are just human.
I do mind Christians claiming the public schools for themselves and acting surprised when they are not welcome with open arms.
The gospel is OFFENSIVE people! It is exclusive and makes outrageous claims! It is a stumbling block to the religious and foolishness to the worldly. You should not expect any better treatment than this, Pumpkin.
The public schools are a Pagan institution. I should know, my girls are in WCPS. Their classrooms are full of people from other cultures with many different religious beliefs. We don’t even practice Halloween! (It’s called Reformation Day, people, and there are at least 95 reasons to call it that.)
I don’t expect much from the public schools. I hope my kids learn a little math, a little reading, perhaps some science, and a whole bunch of crap. I spend some time every day detoxing the crap and reinforcing the worthwhile stuff. School is not education.
Just this week the girls were learning about substance abuse. This is amusing, because I am for the legalization of drugs. They have seen me smoke a cigar now and then, I let them have a sip of my beer now and then, and we practice communion at home with real wine. They learned all about moderation this week. They also learned that not everything they hear at school is the gospel truth. Even from teacher.
The sooner we learn not to expect any more from the public schools than free day care the better. Everything else is just extra.
