John Frame on Christian education

Recently, there was an overture in the PCA to recommend that parents withdraw their children from the public education system. The overture was turned down, however. I think that was the right decision, even though I agree that the dismal state and the anti-Christian environment of the public education system are good reasons that parents should consider. The public education system, for all its faults, still has more resources (albeit at a steep price) than home schooling, and not all parents are qualified to teach their children in various subjects and there are many who just cannot afford private Christian schools. Education is all-encompassing, and I think parents who are overzealous and underqualified may actually rob their children of essential skills in life.

Prof. John Frame’s article, recently posted at his website, gives some good perspectives on the issue. Of course I cannot read his mind, but some analogies in his article resonate with what I think of the current state of the state:

A thief takes all my money, then offers me $5 for bus fare home. Should I refuse to take it?

It can be just as easily argued that the state should not be involved in the retirement saving of its citizens. Does this imply that I should refuse my social security checks when they come due? Certainly not. They are mine. One may argue that the state stole the money from me, but when the state offers to return some, I am certainly not obligated to turn it down. To accept the money is not to acknowledge the state’s right to have taken it in the first place. It is not to be complicit in the sin of the state.