THE “GOLDEN CALF” OF EDUCATION:

Last year, a Houston attorney by the name of Bruce Shortt spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to have the Southern Baptist Convention pass a resolution urging its members to remove their children from public schools. The SBC Resolutions Committee declined to bring it out of committee, labeling it “divisive.”

Shortt’s reasons for such an action are presented in his book, “The Harsh Truth About Public Schools.” In the book, he presents his rigorous research about the dangerous agenda he sees in our government schools and the effects of public education on our nation’s youth. Short writes, “Unfortunately, Christian parents allow an aggressively anti-Christian institution to form the minds of their children, and the fruit of that choice is bitter. The overwhelming majority of children from evangelical families leave the church within two years after they graduate from high school; only 9 percent of evangelical teens believe that there is any such thing as absolute moral truth; and, our children are being forcibly indoctrinated to believe that homosexual behavior is acceptable.”

Shortt calls any school district that seeks to legitimize homosexuality “a clear and present danger” to the children of its community. He states his belief that it is not possible at this point to reform the public schools: “[T]he evidence is overwhelming that even conventional secular reforms to reinstate traditional academic and moral standards will continue to fail. . . . taking your children out is the most effective thing you can do . . . Traditional reform efforts are a waste of time.”

This year, Shortt has backed away somewhat from his vigorous call in 2004 to remove Christian kids from the public schools and has called on churches to investigate whether their local schools promote homosexuality. Shortt co-authored his 2005 resolution to the Southern Baptist Convention with Voddie Baucham, a popular Southern Baptist speaker and author. Baucham, a former football player at Rice University, has been compared to intellectuals like the late Francis Schaefer. He is an adjunct professor at The College of Biblical Studies in Houston, TX, and Union University in Jackson, TN. He has authored two books, and has been published in numerous academic journals and magazine articles. He founded Voddie Baucham Ministries in 1993, and has become one of the most sought-after Bible teachers in America.

Baucham said he hoped the 2005 initiative, “Resolution on Homosexuality in Public Schools,” would help to raise awareness among Christian parents and others about what he considers a crisis in public education. The Resolution encourages every SBC church to investigate whether the school district in which it is located has either a homosexual club or program that attempts to influence children to accept homosexual behavior as a legitimate lifestyle. And where that is found to be the case, the resolution urges the church to inform parents and encourage them to remove their children from the district's schools immediately.

The Baucham-Shortt resolution does not discourage adult Christians from serving in public schools and actually commends those so employed. Meanwhile, it asks Baptists to make a greater effort to provide and support Christian educational alternatives to government schools, especially for low-income and single-parent families. (Agape Press, May 11, 2005)

The public schools “have violated a sacred trust,” Baucham says. “Under the guise of ‘tolerance’ and ‘safe sex,’ they are teaching our children that biblical truth is at best outdated, and at worst intolerant. . . . They are teaching our children that the Bible is wrong to call homosexuality a sin . . . they are teaching our children that homosexuality is a viable alternative to the covenant of marriage. And most parents are completely unaware. . . . I believe the SBC must take a stand against the aggressive homosexual agenda in our schools.”

Baucham emphasizes that homosexual activists continue to aggressively promote homosexual clubs, sex-ed materials that present homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, and gay-friendly programs with deceptive titles such as “Safe Sex,” “Diversity Training,” Multicultural Education,” “Anti-Bullying,” and “Safe Schools.” Much of this, he says, is happening with little opposition from Christians because they are afraid of being called intolerant or bigoted. (Bob Allen, “Evangelist Opposes Homosexual ‘Agenda’ in Schools,” EthicsDaily.com, May 25, 2005)

Shortt Warned of Move to Squelch Resolution

In the weeks leading up to the June 21-22 SBC annual meeting, there was concern among supporters of the Resolution that it might not even be introduced at the convention. In an email memo dated June 11, Bruce Shortt stated that the resolution had been “widely reported in the press elsewhere, but the Baptist Press and elements of the SBC leadership have attempted to prevent news of the resolution from reaching the SBC grassroots. The effort by Baptist Press to suppress news of the Resolution became so blatant that it became itself the subject of news coverage.”

The 2005 Resolution, according to Shortt, was supported by over 60 Christian and pro-family organizations, including affiliates of Focus on The Family, American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, and Eagle Forum, along with numerous other independent pro-family and home schooling groups.

One June 14, a group of almost fifty statewide pro-family groups from around the nation sent a letter to Dr. Gene Mims, Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, urging him to move the “Resolution on Homosexuality in Public Schools” out of committee.

In its June 21-22 meeting, the nearly 12,000 SBC “messengers,” or delegates, approved nine resolutions, but the “Resolution on Homosexuality in Public Schools,” was not among them. Instead, the SBC passed a new resolution titled, “Educating Children,” a noticeable change from the resolution that Messrs. Shortt and Baucham had submitted.

Still, Bruce Shortt seemed somewhat relieved. “I was actually very pleasantly surprised to see what came out of committee . . . I didn't know if we were going to have a floor fight over this,” he said.

Shortt attributed the resolution's passage to Southern Baptists being “more informed” after doing some “soul-searching” since the matter was brought before the convention last year.

The resolution that was passed recommends that parents take a more active role in their children's secular education and calls on churches to help monitor textbooks and school programs for “offensive material.”

Editor’s Note: The battle is far from over. The evidence is clear that homosexual activists are out to change the hearts and minds of the nation regarding the homosexual lifestyle. One section of the resolution that passed on June 22 clarifies that fact by stating, “Homosexual activists and their allies are devoting substantial resources and using political power to promote the acceptance among schoolchildren of homosexuality as a morally legitimate lifestyle.”

Given the gay indoctrination that is all too prevalent in our government schools, this is a matter that merits diligent, continuing attention from the pro-family and Christian community.