"All the Things": A Battle for the Next Generation

Greetings!

As a congregation, we have been delving into the foundations and framework for the wholeness of life promised in Christ. Recent news has made me believe that others, from a rather differing worldview, are also seeking an encompassing approach to culture and life.

At a recent convention this past week of the American National Educators Association, President Becky Pringle gave a most remarkable speech. Few groups in America could be said to possess more passion and zeal for their cause than the national teachers' unions and the NEA—National Educators Association members. On their shoulders is the awesome burden of indoctrinating America’s children away from all the backward, parochial values and myths of their parents and into the brave new world reimagined with new values and hierarchy. Yes, they attempt to replace one hierarchy with another.

The Rallying Cry for DEI Priorities

As one might expect, the NEA convention was filled with stump speeches on DEI priorities—diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the conference found its true voice and laser focus in the keynote speech of its president, Becky Pringle. Media pundits remarked, “It was like listening to a Pentecostal church service.”

Such public school “evangelists” are positively activated by the rise and popularity of charter schools and homeschooling—their perceived threat to public education’s indoctrination monopoly, not to mention the paychecks and cushy retirement benefits of the teachers' unions.

The Threat to Traditional Values

Public education advocates rightly discern that the entire cohesion and homogeneity of America’s new “red pioneers” relies entirely on the indoctrination mechanism of public schools. In short, if parents regain the education of their children, America’s youth might be doomed to the backward values of the prudish past, devoid of gender fluidity, generational narcissism, and Marxist ambitions. Such a reversal would mark a bleak day in our culture, indeed.

Pringle could not have been more definitive in describing the mission of her coalition: "To unite not just our members, but the nation to reclaim public education as a common good, as the foundation of our democracy, and then transform it into something it was never designed to be—a racially and socially just and equitable system," Pringle said.

"We worked hard to rid ourselves of a tyrannical, deceitful, and corrupt White House, but the reality is that the seeds that were sown during that horrible season continue to germinate," she said.

Her speech only intensified in its shrill rallying cry as she vowed to "protect public education." "We will fight privatization. We will fight vouchers. We will fight any and all schemes to drain resources from our beloved public schools," she added.

Pringle had previously been clear: "For us at the NEA, education justice must be about racial justice; it must be about social justice; it must be about climate justice. It must be about all of those things."

She hyped up the crowd, waving her hands in the air and repeating her lines. "We are the ones who help shape the heart of this nation's hope and dreams. We are the ones who hold steadfast to the belief in the plausibility of the possible," she said. "We are the heirs of all who did this work before us. We must keep going. NEA delegates, we can do this work. We must do this work."

A Strange Anointing

Her speech became shrill as she pounded the lectern, screamed toward the ceiling, waved her arms, and declared: “Our students are depending on us to win all the things. All the things! All the things! All the things!”

She repeated the line with an emotional, nearly unhinged voice—“All the THINGS!” “All the THINGS!”—five times.

Click here to view the video.

I think many Americans are perplexed by such passion, but only because they do not comprehend the truly spiritual fervor and nature of the revolution that has been won through the school system and which they are still fighting to protect. I will give her this—she understands that her model is all-encompassing and requires “all the things.” If only believers were as lucid about the essentiality that all things be brought into and under the Lordship of Christ, that we become complete and whole in Him, lacking nothing.

The president of the NEA is not some fringe nut at the periphery. She is a central player in the White House’s current education model, having visited the White House more than a dozen times and participated in pivotal conferences and consultations with the First Lady and various heads of education departments of the current administration. She’s not fringe; she just had the boldness to speak her true heart without a filter, uncovering the zeal and passion shared by all the demagogues in that arena.

Awakening Parents

God allowed the COVID-19 pandemic to rouse parents from their sleep as they learned for the first time the level of indoctrination their children were receiving. Gratefully, a huge percentage of those who pulled their kids from school are still trying to home-educate, and may God bless them! And may the church everywhere coordinate and share tools, insights, and wisdom to help the body realize the worldwide mission of bringing its children out of Egypt.

Brother Howard and Brother Joel will hopefully help lead a teaching soon on the centrality of home education and conviction. They have brought to our attention recent articles in the Harvard Review and other publications that show the anger, determination, and hostility simmering among the statist intellectuals as they conspire and strategize to utterly eliminate the competing worldview found in homes and private schools. Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard Law professor, has gone so far as to recommend a "presumptive ban" on homeschooling, arguing that it "violates children’s right to a meaningful education" and may keep them from "contributing positively to a democratic society"​ (Harvard Gazette)​​ (Harvard Magazine)​.

Bartholet also claims that homeschooling operates in an "essentially unregulated regime,” where parents, including those with “no educational background,” can homeschool without oversight, “isolating children” and exposing them to “abuse without the safeguard of mandated reporters” such as teachers.​

(I might add—the state schools have been nothing but fortresses of safety and protection for America’s most vulnerable recently—right?)​

She describes the homeschooling “lobby” as possibly "even more powerful than the gun lobby," warning against their supposed “aggressive tactics” to dismantle state regulations aimed at protecting children’s educational and physical well-being​ (Harvard Gazette)​​ (Harvard Magazine)​.

Take Nothing for Granted

Now is not the time to sleep, to rest on our laurels, or to assume that some right-wing coalition is going to solve all the problems in our culture. If, in our numbers, we have reason to praise God for families that hold together, youth that stay in the church, and education and wisdom that agree with instead of destroy Scripture and Christianity, it is because our pioneers drew a line in the sand when they saw that the survival of the culture of Christ was going to entail “all the things”—starting with the education of their children, even against the law at the time.

While I was in Montana recently, Matthew told me about a gentleman believer who visited and told stories of his family’s struggle to home-educate and realize Christian values back in the '80s amid so much hostility. He then commenced talking about this man and a group from Austin—Howard Wheeler and Emmaus Fellowship—who refused to capitulate, compromise, or let the state determine their convictions. As his friend said, “When no one else would stand up to them, Howard and those people did it, and they won!” Initially, he did not know the Montana community’s connection to Brother Howard and our larger fellowship.

Brother Howard, Brother Joel, my dad, and the others would be the first to bow their heads and admit that, but for the grace of God, all their efforts would’ve come to naught.

The Path Forward

We have so much to be grateful for, so much to remember, and such big shoes to walk in. May God give us the grace to walk faithfully.

As we remember the necessity of bringing all things—both in heaven and on earth—under Christ’s headship, let us remember that our counterparts in the other kingdom have been at it far longer, have the power of Caesar behind them, and have inexhaustible funds. But David beat Goliath, and God empowered our homeschool triumph against all odds. He will do it again and again around this globe—ever strengthening those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

We have released a video synopsis of the third part of our Godhead teaching, focusing on Jesus as the full revelation of Yahweh—a God of love, not wrath. Please be encouraged to continue considering the big picture, the wholeness of life, as we bring “all the things” into Jesus and realize the harmony, grace, and flourishing of His design.

I send much love and warm greetings to all of you, our brothers and sisters here and in all the communities abroad. You are fighting on the battlegrounds that our fathers fought 40 and 50 years ago. You have our love, respect, and support. And gratefully, you also have passed on to you the wisdom gained by those who’ve gone before you.

May the Lord bless and keep you all!
— Asahel Adams