Dr. Dobson Tells Christians to Get Kids Out Of California Public Schools
From THE SCHOOL LIBERATOR, an online publication of The Alliance for the Separation of School & State. Copyright 2002, The Alliance for the Separation of School & State, Inc. Used by permission.
On March 28, 2002, Focus on the Family founder, James C. Dobson, PhD, stated on his daily radio broadcast: "In the state of California, if I had a child there, I wouldn't put the youngster in a public school.... I think it's time to get our kids out. And I'm going to get hit for [saying] that."
In a statement to supporters, Marshall Fritz, President of the Alliance for the Separation of School & State, said: "For years, Dr. Dobson has supported three options for Christians: Public schools, Christian schools, and home schooling. With today's courageous and insightful statement, Dr. Dobson joins the millions of Americans who have already discovered that the public schools have become government indoctrination centers which are no place to train new generations of freedom loving Americans."
Dr. Dobson's statement may mark a key turning point in the critical education discussion. His broadcast is heard by 200 million people daily in over 100 countries.
Two movements that have been at the fore of the education discussion are: Exodus Mandate (http://www.exodusmandate.org), founded by Rev. E. Raymond Moore; and Alliance for the Separation of School & State (http://www.sepschool.org), founded by Marshall Fritz.
Many other Christian leaders have expressed concern that public schools are too dangerous for Christians, notably Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries and T.C. Pinckney, recently elected Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention.
General Pinckney's address to the leaders of the convention, titled "We Are Losing Our Children," is considered by both Moore and Fritz to be the clearest exposition of the situation of Christians in today's American public schools. You can see the transcript at http://sepschool.org/SIG/losing.html.
Approximately 15,000, including Bill and Mary Pride of Homeschool World, have signed a Public Proclamation for the Separation of School and State. The Proclamation goes even further than does Dr. Dobson--it calls for the end of government involvement in education. Scores of religious leaders have endorsed the Proclamation, ranging from Dr. D. James Kennedy and Dr. Tim LaHaye to Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., and from Rabbi Daniel Lapin to Iman Hamza Yusef Hanson. Others can be seen at:
Protestant: http://sepschool.org/VIPList.html#protestant
Catholic: http://sepschool.org/VIPList.html#catholic
LDS: http://sepschool.org/VIPList.html#lds
Jewish: http://sepschool.org/VIPList.html#jewish
Muslim: http://sepschool.org/VIPList.html#muslim
The Allilance for the Separation of School & State (http://www.sepschool.org), who sent us this information, urges you to write, call, or fax Dr. Dobson with your support for his "Get the kids out" warning. His contact information is:
James C. Dobson, Ph.D.
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80920-1049
(800) 232-6459 voice comments
(719) 548-4670 fax
You can listen to Dr. Dobson's 3-28-02 message by clicking on http://www.family.org/fmedia/bcpast.cfm. The remarks on the public schools start in minute 16 of the show.
You will need the program, "RealPlayer". If you do not have "RealPlayer" on your computer, you download it free from http://www.real.com. Click on "RealPlayer 8 Basic" to the lower left, just below "Other Links".
THE SCHOOL LIBERATOR is a FREE service of The Alliance for the Separation of School & State, 4546 E. Ashlan #3282, Fresno CA 93726 (559) 292-1776. They are a non-profit, grass roots educational organization dedicated to informing people worldwide how education can be improved for all-not only the poor-by liberating schools from politics. For more information go to http://www.sepschool.org.
The School Liberator is archived at the following url: http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/schoolliberator-list/maillist.html
TO SUBSCRIBE to The School Liberator send an email message to SchooLiberator-list-request@free-market.net with just one word, "subscribe," in the BODY of the message (not the subject.)
TO CANCEL do the same but with the single word, "unsubscribe" in the body.