Dear visionaries,
Stan raises the interesting question of “tax breaks.” Note first that allowing an entity to keep its own money is being considered a “gift” from the government. And because it is considered a gift, it is not surprising that the principle that “he who takes the king’s coin becomes the king’s man” comes into operation, at least in the gummint’s mind. Thus Bob Jones University, which once had 501(c)3 status, had that status revoked because of their (very unbiblical) prohibition of inter-racial dating. That policy was not in line with the official policy of the United States government. Now the fact that Bob Jones was completely in the wrong on the facts of the case ought not allay the concerns of private educators at all. It is therefore best for private institutions who care about their independence to avoid as many financial entanglements with the government as they can. This is why I am opposed to all voucher proposals, for example.
Stan says, “The public schools have a legal obligation to educate all children, poor or not . . .” Fine. So why don’t they? Take the school systems of the inner cities, for example. How many thousands of kids graduate from these institutions annually with an inability to read their own diplomas? Why make them sit in a classroom for twelve years? They already didn’t know how to read.
In the debate between private and government schools, it is completely beside the point to say that if we went to a system of private schooling, then millions of disadvantaged kids would not get an education. That is what is happening now. They are not getting an education now. You know . . . as in right this minute.
And, incidentally, this claim is not made on the basis of comparing private schools with the government schools. Just compare the government schools of today with the government schools of fifty years ago. Anyone who maintains that there has not been a comprehensive erosion of standards across the board has not been paying attention.
“Apologetics in the Void” are repostings from an on-going electronic discussion and debate I had some time ago with members of our local community, whose names I have changed. The list serve is called Vision 20/20, and hence the name “visionaries.” Reading just these posts probably feels like listening to one half of a phone conversation, but I don’t feel at liberty to publish what others have written. But I have been editing these posts (lightly) with intelligibility in mind.