Ethic Classes

   Deception.Description.Danger.Doing

By Peter Rahme

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8)

The Christian community in general and veteran scripture teachers in particular are greatly concerned  and some are even up in arms  over the current State Labor government's push for the so called 'ethics classes’ in schools across NSW. Introduced by former NSW Premier Nathan Rees, the trial ethics class was produced by the St James Ethics Centre in collaboration with the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW to "provide a secular complement for the discussion of the ethical dimension of students' lives". The current NSW Education Minister, Verity Firth says that "The ethics course is an alternative for parents who don't chose to send their children to religious scripture classes,"

The Deception

Well it all sounds positive and seems noble. That's how it suppose to appear at least to the young and naïve .So what's the big fuss and why the major concern? Also what could be so wrong with teaching our school children to be ethical ?  God knows that all of society needs it  now more than ever especially the children of today!! 

While on the surface it looks attractive to most  ,even seductive to some , the problem  however lies underneath  all that heavy and superficial make up covering up its real ugly Secular-Humanistic-Worldview face.  Wipe it off  and you quickly see  the reason why it is called  ‘secular’ by the FPCA  and  also why it is referred to as an ‘alternative’ by the Minister .

Dear friends, our concern is realistic because the threat is real – i.e. the obvious  push to remove altogether from our schools the worldview of Biblical Christianity' absolutes and doctrines of truth  and replace it with the worldview of secular humanism' obsolete dogmas of relativism

As my good friend, Nathan Searle, the principal of Southern Cross Baptist Church school, commenting on a very similar issue - the Australian National Education Curriculum guideline , wisely observes : “The issue is not Creation versus Science. It is the philosophy of Creationism which is rooted in Theism, versus the philosophy of Evolution which is rooted in Humanism. There is no argument to be had when it comes to the operational sciences for these must be observable and repeatable. It is the historical sciences which are neither repeatable nor observable whose conclusions are very much subject to one’s worldview “(emphasis is mine)

The Description

Since one's belief system (Worldview) dictates what one thinks, and one's thinking dictates how one feels, and one's feelings dictates why one says and does, it is therefore imperative to know what the worldview / belief system of secular humanism is.

 First and foremost, when defining and/or describing a humanist, we must remember not to confuse it with humanitarian –I.e. being a kind human being.

 So what is a humanist, and what does his/her world look like ?? 

 Naturally the best palce to go to for an accurate and an objective answer is their humanist manifesto II. let me summarise it for you:

(Please note how a humanist does not view  nor refer to another human in a  humane  way i.e he or she  but a thing an it )

Here it is...

The humanist is nothing more than "human specie which has emerged from natural evolutionary forces” whose "total personality is a function of the biological organism transacting in a social and cultural context".

Although equipped with instruments such as "reason and intelligence" however "Decision-making must be decentralized”.

“It strives For The Good Life” here and now, but “there is no guarantee all problems can be solved or all questions answered, it has the right to suicide”.  It is not to be ‘exploited as Sexual objects but it is permitted to express its sexual proclivities and pursue its life-style as it desires”.

It can mix “within many liberal, Marxist, skeptic etc.  …  Religious groups ‘because ‘it has developed the art of compromise”.

Although it believes and “enhances religious liberty” but not for the salvationist whose faith in the prayer-hearing supernatural creator God
“is unproved and outmoded faith”.

Its commitment to tolerance falls short of those who hold to "the theologies of hope. Messianic ideologies, promises of immortal salvation
and fear of eternal damnation which are both illusory and harmful”.

As “technology significantly modify its behaviour it ages and then it has the right to die with dignity. 
Since it began with human and not God, no deity will save it and thus ‘from nature to nature’.

 
The Danger

Dear  friends , the secular humanists have been fully committed for years now and “convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly view their role as the proselytizers of a new faith…” (Official Journal—American Humanist Association, 1983).

Don’t think for one moment that they are playing some kind of silly mind games. No, they’re definitely not!!! They’re deadly serious!!! In a debate with Christian apologist William Craig, an American atheist Frank Zindler openly declared : ‘Now that we know that Adam and Eve never were real people the central myth of Christianity is destroyed.  If there never was an Adam and Eve there never was an original sin.  If there never was an original sin there is no need of salvation.  If there is no need of salvation there is no need of a saviour.  And I submit that puts Jesus, historical or otherwise, into the ranks of the unemployed.  I think that evolution is absolutely the death knell of Christianity.’(Atheism vs Christianity video, Zondervan, 1996.)

The visionary Christian leader - the late Dr Francis A. Schaeffer,  saw it coming years ago and in a prophet-like manner he warned the Christian community : “The mark of the present form of humanistic thinking is [an] existential methodology. As Christians, we must not slip into our own form of existential methodology. We do this if we try to keep hold of the value system, and the “religious matters” given in the Bible, while playing down what the Bible affirms about the cosmos, history, and specific commands in morals. We are following our own form of existential methodology if we put what the Bible says about the cosmos, history, and absolute commands in morals in the realm of the culturally oriented. If we do this, the generation which follows will certainly be undercut as far as historic Christianity is concerned”. ( How Should We Then Live?p255)

The Doing 

Despite the many challenges that we face, we need to remain positive, productive and proactive in our determination to be Salt and Light in our community. By the grace of God and to His glory we must stand up for and speak out on values  that made our nation great such as the SRE classes.

Let's then work together to keep the Scripture classes' Biblical worldview of MAN – the pivotal figure of God’s handiwork is a person created with power and wisdom not a product evolved over time by chance.. Let's not allow the fiction and human reasoning of secular humanism to replace the facts and divine revelation of Biblical Worldview

Therefore -  ‘See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men's ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).’Col 2:8 (AMP)

DO IT NOW  - Here are 3 simple yet highly effective steps that you can do right now and make a big difference .

1. Pray - Ask God in Jesus name to intervene in our nation  and to give godly wisdom to those in authority   

2. Print  at least 2 copies of the petition attached and get them filled up with signatures .  

3. Pass on  / forward this email and petitions  to at least 2 concerned  people in your circle of friends to do the same .