Since the days of Adam until our own, the biggest failing among God's people has been ignoring the counsel of living prophets.

Brigham Young was the first of God's modern prophets to face the spiritual assault represented by government-run, tax-funded schools. He raised his voice in warning the Saints against falling into the trap of rendering our children's hearts and minds to the destructive forces in government schools.

Every one of his successors has also joined with ancient seers, testifying that parents are the primary stewards of their children's training. This divine mandate cannot be abdicated, and failure to educate one's children in the ways of the Lord cannot be absolved merely because the state offered to provide most of the children's education at others' expense.

When the Saints in the early twentieth century rejected Joseph F. Smith's counsel to support and use stake academies, the Church was forced to abandon them or sell them to the state. In their place, we have the LDS Seminary system for high school students. While divinely inspired, it was never the Lord's first choice, and in today's society where the evils it was designed to thwart now assail children in grammar school, it is far from a perfect shield.

One might liken it to Moses returning to Sinai for the lesser law: Its goal was to bring the Israelites to Christ, but their failure to recognize this led them to reject Him when He lived among them.

In the same way, LDS parents today might think their seminary children safe from the effects of a government-controlled education, and be shocked and dismayed when those children lose their testimonies and join the ranks of unwed parents, drug addicts, and atheists.

Latter-day Saints accept God's plan of Eternal happiness and Eternal families. But many of us have failed to see that these blessings come with a high price: total commitment to our children. No government employee can teach our children, no one can trust a politically-appointed superintendent to guide his children the same way God has commanded us to raise them. This is why hundreds of Saints have affixed their names to the proclamation encouraging families to expel politics from the schoolroom.

This article is copyrighted by the Alliance for the Separation of School & State. Permission is granted to freely distribute this article as long as this copyright notice is included in its entirety.

[top]