Not all homeschoolers are Creationists but for strong Biblical literalists homeschooling does offer an easy way of "protecting" children from evil ideas in the real world. Such ideas may cause them to doubt their religion.
If you are a Young Earth Creationist there are some problems associated with the anti-science approach to education. If would be nice to have some helpful advice in case your children ever have to deal with the real world outside the home.
The current issue of
Home School Enrichment magazine comes to the rescue. They have an article called
Creation and You that's available for free download. (You have to give them an email address.)
The main part of the article extols the virtues of the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum; "600,000 visitors have gone through its doors into an amazing experience demonstrating the power, creativity, and love of the Creator God." I suppose this is a good thing if you're into brainwashing. We just spent yesterday with two young girls in the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and there was very little evidence of the "power, creativity, and love of a Creator God." On the other hand, there was quite a bit of good science. Our two friends might have got a bad impression of Biblical literalism. If their parents had been Young Earth Creationists we would have been in big trouble for leading them astray.
Anti-science homeschoolers are right to keep their children away from real museums.
But that's not the only problem they face. What to do if your kids want to have a career in Creation Science? Hmmm ... that's a tough one, isn't it? Here's the answer ....
Preparing for a Career in Creation Science
Answers in Genesis content developers Gary Vaterlaus and Roger Patterson agree that more researchers are needed in Creation Science, but warn that the path may not be easy. Several Christian colleges across the country offer science courses taught from a Young-Earth Creationist perspective, but few research positions are available to those with anything less than a Master’s degree in their field; more likely a Ph.D. And, Roger says, getting those degrees will likely require spending some time in a secular university.
Furthermore, Gary explains that the evolutionary teachings at these secular universities are only part of the problem—there is also a very real prejudice against Creationists who attempt to embark upon a career in any of the relevant branches of science. Aside from the strong possibility of a known-Creationist student receiving failing grades merely for believing God created the universe, Gary cited a case where evolutionists actually petitioned a university to revoke a graduate’s Ph.D. when it was discovered he was a Creationist.
There is a need for young, up-and-coming students to enter the realm of Creation Science, but Gary and Roger emphasize that a student must have an unshakable foundation on the reliability and truthfulness of the Bible, and then be ready, willing, and able to face unbelievably strong opposition while pursuing a degree that will qualify them for the research positions they wish to obtain.
While none of this should dissuade students from choosing such a career, it is important for students and their parents to recognize the potential difficulties and take steps early to ensure a successful and victorious outcome.
For students wishing to be involved in the area of Creation Evangelism, such as speaking at churches or writing about creation related topics, Roger believes a Bachelor’s degree in some branch of science is important for establishing credibility. Several Christian colleges offer science programs, taught from a Young-Earth Creationist perspective, in which students can earn their Bachelor’s degrees. However, many Christian colleges have compromised in the area of origins and evolution, so this is something that should be carefully investigated when researching options for collegebound Creationist students.
Life is tough if you are anti-science but want a career in science. Not only are the secular universities trying to persuade you that truth is important in science but even some of the Christian colleges are "compromised."
But you can succeed if you resist education and maintain "unshakable foundation on the reliability and truthfulness of the Bible." Incredible.
What about average students who venture out into the secular world? What happens if they happen to pick up a book written by a (gasp!) real scientist, or if they mistakenly enter a real museum?
Roger Patterson of Answers in Genesis has some advice.
Homeschool parents often wonder how to protect their children from evolutionary ideas. We brought this up to Roger Patterson, a former biology teacher in a public school who is now one of the main content-developers at Answers in Genesis, and were impressed by his answer:
“As a ministry in general,” Roger explains, “we don’t say, ‘keep your kids isolated from evolutionary ideas.’We think that’s kind of a bad philosophy because when they do go out on their own, they’re going to face those things every day. Case in point: [my wife and I recently] got this space-age ant colony gel material. Flip open the book, and you’re reading through the instructions and all these fun facts about ants, [then] ‘Fossil ants have been found a hundred million years old.’ What we would hope parents can do through homeschooling is teach their kids how to spot those things, and then what the biblical response is for those things. Not to isolate them from those things, but to insulate them to some degree and then help them understand what the problems are there.
“Okay, this is a fun ant gel colony, [but] they didn’t need to throw that little tidbit [about millions of years] in there; it adds nothing to the product or your ability to enjoy and watch the ants. And when you look at it from the perspective that God created these creatures to do what they do, and it’s an amazing thing, it even gives an opportunity to give praise to God when you run across the idea of evolution. [We can say] ‘We know that’s not true. Praise God He did create us, that He is the one who’s sustaining all this.’ Rather than running away and hiding from all those things, let’s face up to it. And then if you’re with your friend, you can tell them about it if they don’t understand those things.
“So my encouragement is not to be afraid of going and getting the dinosaur book from the library, but [be sure to] teach your children as they go through it to understand that some parts [evolutionary statements] are made up, based on the idea of rejecting God in science, and other parts are facts—such as when it tells us what shape the egg was, what size it was, what food they probably ate. Those types of things, we can trust those; those are solid scientific ideas. It’s when we start adding our own assumptions into those things, and telling stories, that we run into trouble.”
Roger explains that there are certain “code words” that parents can teach their children to watch out for. Among these would be “millions or billions of years,” statements about kinds of animals changing into other kinds of animals, and questionable statements of what scientists “know.” Above all, Roger says, it’s important to make sure our children have a solid biblical foundation for
their education, and to help them stand firm on the full authority of scripture.
I can't imagine what it must be like to be constantly on the lookout for sneaky remarks about evolution and other scientific facts that challenge your religion. I can't imagine what it must be like to brainwash your kids into responding with, "We know that’s not true. Praise God He did create us, that He is the one who’s sustaining all this."
I not a huge fan of the idea that teaching your children to be Young Earth Creationists is a form of child abuse but there are times, like today, when Dennet and Dawkins seem to have a strong case.
Home schooling isn't always a good thing for children.
