Complaining from the Religious Right to the contrary, we at Truth Wins Out support the rights of private Christian institutions to set their own policies. That right is very important to them. But see, the thing is, they always want their piece of the federal dole. That’s no bueno. Here’s a story about a Christian school in New Mexico which receives taxpayer funding to the tune of $60,000 a year, nonetheless denying a child being enrolled in the school because the parents are gay. I have absolutely no idea why a gay couple would want to send their kid to a school like this — in my experience, primarily religious schools provide a subpar education at best, so the educational options in the area must really suck — but, if the school has any integrity, they need to stop taking public money. Here’s the report:
To give everyone an idea of what sort of subpar education a child at Hope Christian School in Albuquerque will be getting take a look at what they believe:
We believe that the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, was given by inspiration of God, and is our only rule in matters of faith and practice. We believe in Creation, not evolution; that man was created by the direct act of God and in the image of God. We believe that Adam and Eve, in yielding to the temptation of Satan, became fallen creatures. We believe that all men are born in sin. We believe in the Incarnation, the Virgin Birth and the Diety of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe in His vicarious and substitutional Atonement for the sins of mankind by the shedding of His blood on the Cross. We believe in the resurrection of His body from the tomb, His ascension into Heaven and that He is now our Advocate. We believe that He is personally coming again. We believe in His power to save men from sin. We believe in the necessity of the New Birth, and that this New Birth is through regeneration of the Holy Spirit. We believe that salvation is by grace through faith in the atoning blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We believe that God is almighty and deserves our praise and worship. The method used to worship God is not as important as the fact that we do worship Him. We are created for the pleasure of God and to fulfill this purpose. God seeks true worshipers to worship Him in spirit and truth.
We believe that this statement of faith is a basis for Christian fellowship and that all born-again men and women who sincerely accept it can, and should, live together in peace and harmony through promoting the cause of Christ.
Good luck preparing a child for a career in science or medicine.
[h/t Joe]
The kid dodged a bullet. That isn’t a school, but an indoctrination camp.
Question: Why would gay parents want to put their child in a school like this to begin with?
Jesus said that divorce and remarriage is adultery, how many kids are banned from that school over that issue?
Fundamentalist Christian schools probably provide a sub-par education, but I just read a report that came from the U of Chicago saying that Catholic school kids generally score higher on standardized tests, *especially* kids from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds. Their findings were that this was most likely from higher expectations and academic demands as well as a more personal involvement with each student, from both the school as well as the community. Jesuits probably run some of the finest institutions of higher learning.
ps..no I am not a Roman Catholic.
Bigotry under the guise of religion is still bigotry, how are they recieving federal funding if this is a christian school, isn’t that a no-no?
My experience echoes Gary’s comments. I went to Catholic school for K-12. I received an excellent education. The expectations were pretty high and I did get a decent amount of personal attention.
Wish I could believe religious schools provide a better education. Not one grad from Catholic schools that I have spoken to knows much about US history, science, or political concepts like separation of church and state, though they might have received great mathematics instruction and can write well. But abstract thought about the world and the universe? Not much there, except for those who rejected it all and attended secular colleges later. Many send their kids to Catholic schools because they fear for the safety of children in public schools, especially in urban areas. Probably a ligitimate fear. But if students are not taught to question EVRERYTHING and step back to think critically about things, especially ancient concepts like patriarchical religion and outmoded social institutions, one is not very educated. The ultimate end of education in religious schools is to impose the religious dogma, however openly or surrepititiously it is done.