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"Worldview training for all the World" ........ Psalm 50:12 Premier Worldview® Center 800-948-3101 |
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"Worldview training for all the World" ........ Psalm 50:12 Premier Worldview® Center 800-948-3101 |
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Position Paper Q23By: Dr. Marc Clausen 06/09/2002 Position Paper Q23 By: Dr. Marc Clausen 06/09/2002 Q23- In a democratic society, citizens have a civil right to an education and this right must be protected and enforced by civil government. Biblical Response: Disagree 1. Analysis of the Question 1.1 Introduction This question would fall under the heading of political philosophy or philosophy of government. It deals with the scope or role or function of government in the area of education and with individual rights to access of education. 1.2 Definitions 1.2.1 Civil Right: an entitlement to a good or service, or a freedom, which is enforced by government, usually based upon some supposed or real constitutional language. 1.2.2 Education: a good or service, the benefits of which accrue to the individual recipient of education and which are measured generally in terms of (1) knowledge of content (e.g., history, math, etc.) and attainment of certain skills (e.g., critical thinking, reading, writing). 1.3 Analysis The question states that in a democratic society, that is, in a society with democratic values, all citizens are entitled, by law, to receive some determined quantity and quality of the "good" called education, and that it is government's role to ensure that this goal is in fact attained, at least as measured by government criteria, by regulation and by direct and indirect funding. Moreover the question implies that an individual ought to be able to force this governmental role by virtue of its being a right. 2. Supporting Scripture Passages 2.1 Old Testament Support 2.1.1 Exodus 20.3: "You shall have no other gods before me." Comment: No person should pay homage, directly or indirectly, to any other person, idea, or institution, above the one God. All persons, ideas, and institutions must therefore be subservient to God and to the standards of God set forth in Scripture. This clearly implies that the state cannot usurp the place of God. 2.1.2 Genesis 1.27: "And God created man in his own image... Comment: God is creator, man is the creature and thus God has all ultimate rights over man and man has no inherent rights. 2.1.3 Proverbs 1.8, "Hear, my son, your father's instruction, And do not forsake your mother's teaching;" Deuteronomy 4.9: "Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons." Comment: In Scripture the parents are given ultimate authority and the duty to educate their children. 2.1.4 Proverbs 1.7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" Comment: True knowledge is rooted in reverence for God, and for His Word (see Psalm 119). A secularized government is incapable of meeting that ultimate standard of Godly education and, since all government in modern times is secular in the sense that it self-consciously severs Christianity from the state, then it should not be looked to for education or to enforce the "rights" to it. 2.1.5 Exodus and Deuteronomy: Various passages indicate the positive role for government, for example, protection of property rights, keeping law and order). Negatively, there is no mention or implication that government is to be involved in the provision of education, either as a direct producer or as a "referee" in enforcing rights. Even if the case could be made for governmental provision of education, this would not justify education as a right, since a right requires not only government provision, but also an individual entitlement, about which the Bible does not speak. 2.2 New Testament Support 2.2.1 Matthew 22.21: "Then he [Jesus] said to them, 'Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." Comment: This verse clearly implies that, while government does have a God-ordained role, confirmed here by Jesus, it is not all-competent or unlimited in scope. One legitimate function, as indicated here, is taxation. But this verse says nothing about the content of government' role. 2.2.2 Ephesians 6.1: "Children, obey your parents" (see also Exodus 20.12) Comment: Parents have a God-ordained authority over their children and are not ultimately subject to government's authority except in those areas of government function allowed by Scripture. 2.2.3 Romans 9.18-21: Verse 21: "Or does not the potter [God the creator] have a right over the clay..." Verse 20: "The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this?' will it?" Comment: In the sight of God, man has no rights, but he does have responsibilities, one of which is the implied duty to educate one's children. The Bible consistently speaks about man in terms of obligations, not of rights. 2.2.4 II Timothy 3.16-17: " All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching...and training in righteousness." Comment: Paul had in mind here primarily the Old Testament, since the New Testament canon had not yet been completed much less established. The Old Testament is therefore ethically normative and normative with respect to issues to which it addresses itself, including government (see also Matthew 5.17-20). 3. Other Arguments: Economic, Political, Historical and Social 3.1 Education has never been a public function until modern times (in America, the early to mid nineteenth century) and has not been considered a right anywhere in the Western world until recent American Supreme Court decisions. 3.2 By nature, education is a private good and thus the benefits accrue to the recipient, in terms of higher long-term earnings, etc., not to the community. If an individual is granted a right to public provision, that provision must, by definition, derive from a "coerced subsidy" or "legalized theft" from others through coercive taxation (see Exodus 20.15). 3.3 Governmentally provided education tends to become secularized as it attempts to "satisfy" all consumers and also as it is progressively populated by decision-makers without Christian worldviews. 3.4 Civil rights are rights in law and in America are derived from the US Constitution. Neither authorial intent nor plain language of the Constitution will support a right to education. If one wishes to derive such a right, he must reject authorial intent as well as the obvious language of the document and, in so doing, cuts meaning loose from objective considerations. 3.5 Rights imply duties: If X has a right, then Y has a duty to (1) provide that right or (2) enforce that right or (3) engage in behavior that protects that right. In the case of education, if we say that every individual has a civil right, we mean that that right legally should be enforced by government and, by implication, that the people should contribute to the protection or enhancement of that right through various means, including taxation and redistribution of revenue from one individual or jurisdiction to another. 3.6 We have already seen that this amounts to theft from the people who are forced to protect or enhance the right granted to others. Such theft violates the Biblical injunction against theft since the right granted is not morally grounded in Scripture and is therefore not condoned. 4. Conclusions 4.1 Education is not a right, it's a command of the Lord. Children as well as adults are to be instructed in the ways of God (in all disciplines) and to obey His commands. All instruction is to be 'of the Lord,' primarily through parents or by those to whom parents choose to delegate this responsibility. 4.2 'Guaranteed education,' as a right, was best expressed as follows: "Free education for all children in public schools." (Tenth plank, Manifesto of the Communist Party, January, 1848, Marx & Engels) 4.3 The primarily role of government, biblically defined, is the defense of its citizens. There is no basis for government's involvement in education other than to insure a peaceful atmosphere for the advancement of truth. 4.4 Parents have ultimate authority over children and this includes the realm of education; therefore neither does government have the authority to provide education nor do individuals have the right to education. 4.5 A Biblical worldview will recognize the limitations of government as well as of civil rights and will look first to the institution of the family and the church as the foundations for education, or secondarily to schools formed voluntarily by parents to better utilize the gifts of particular individuals. 4.6 Only the family and/or the church are capable of providing the God-centered education required by Scripture. 4.7 Scripture speaks in terms of obligations and not in terms of rights, particularly not a right governmentally provided and funded education. 5. Bibliography On the theory of rights, see S. I. Benn and R. S. Peters, The Principles of Political Thought, New York: Free Press, 1968, especially Chapter 4 (This book is not by Christian authors but is adequate for a discussion of the nature of rights in a civil society). On education from a Christian perspective see Robert Thoburn, The Children Trap: Biblical Principles for Education. Fort Worth: Dominion, 1986 (This is a popularized treatment of education from a God-centered perspective, but has many insights.)
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