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Tony Jones Says “Death to Homeschooling!”

This article by Tony Jones caught my attention because of the title. Why would someone write an article entitled Death to Homeschooling!? The article itself simply states the reason he doesn’t send his kid to public French immersion, charter school, or private school, or homeschool; but he doesn’t condemn any of the others, only homeschool. By having some knowledge of Tony Jones’ liberal leanings, it is my estimation that the title does more than just point out a personal preference, it communicates a strong contempt for homeschooling and those who homeschool.

It is not unusual to find those who prefer not to homeschool, for whatever reason: time constraints, job constraints, perceived inability to teach, they like the time away from the kids, etc., but to pronounce a death sentence on what has proved to be a very successful method of teaching, creating family closeness, transferring personal values, protecting from negative influences, or instilling historic Christian principles, is puzzling, coming from a “Christian.” Tony doesn’t state why he so detest homeschooling, so he allows us to draw our own conclusions. Making use of the term “death to homeschooling” may actually expose a deeper desire for the state to mandate education, fulfilling Tony’s belief in a liberal social gospel, taking us back into the Dark Ages. Tony does claim to be a Christian, but so did the Inquisitors, who tortured and killed those who only wanted to homeschool and raise their families according to the dictates of the Bible and their own conscience.

Tony is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal and his life and religion reflect it ever so clearly. He filters all of Scripture and the Gospels through the fine mesh of his liberal wishful thinking and Christian un-belief. So when you read Tony’s writing it is important to keep a liberal Christian dictionary handy, otherwise terms that you might think are historically Biblical and orthodox are transformed into a bunch of sociological gobbledygook whose only context is the transient nature of the present flux and turmoil. In other words, their meaning is, that they have no meaning, outside the world of liberalism; they have the absolute and concrete nature of silly-putty. If you have any sense of the simple teaching of Jesus it will become obvious that Tony promotes a contrary, modern, liberal, view of the Book and its Lord. One of the key words of his methodology is “contextualization.” This word does not mean that he interprets the Bible in the context of the original author, but rather in the context of what he thinks it ought to mean for modern society.

Scripture is not modeling clay; we cannot remold the past, or fashion a future fantasy island out of a sinful society, run by any number of enlightened liberals. Scripture is the true telling of what was, what is, and what is to come; and it is a firm foundation on which to build our lives. Nowhere are we told that this present world will be transformed into the Kingdom of God. The Lord will return to this earth and find men playing God, pretending to do what only He alone can do.

This may be an over simplification of the matter concerning the exposed heart of Tony Jones, but regardless, for Tony’s fantasy to take place, i.e. the Death of Homeschooling, the absoluteness of the words of Jesus and those who believe those words, must go. The Catholic despotism of the Dark Ages, and the Protestant Reformers in a large part, believed and practiced a false dominionistic thinking, each foreseeing a state governed by their own prescript of religious thought. Their intentions resulted in the death of a very large number of those who had pledged themselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit and conscience, and the teaching of Jesus. These persecuted ones withheld any oaths or allegiances to men, whether magistrates, ministers, priests, or prelates, but rather chose to obey all the dictates of the governor when not in conflict with the commands of Jesus.

Christian un-believers have no stomach for following the expressed commands of Jesus or for being numbered with those who are mocked as simpletons or heretics. Early followers of Jesus were killed by the Romans as atheist because they refused to worship the traditional gods of their fathers. They were killed by the Jews as followers of a false Messiah. Later they were killed by the Catholics as heretics, and by the Protestant Reformers as radicals and non-conformist. Today Christians are being killed as political enemies and social deviates because they stand on the simple unmolested truth of the Bible. There is yet another shaking comeing to the household of faith, and the battle cry may very well start with a curse of, Death to Homeschooling!

I believe that Christian homeschool parents understand better than the majority of Christians, the necessity of being separated from the contaminating effects of society, public education being a prime source. But, Tony believes that education is the end all solution for a failed society, he says,

“. . .in a democracy, education is for all, with the understanding that the more educated we all become, the more humane we will be toward one another.”

Where is the proof of this claim; he give none.

Then he says,

“I don’t, as a Christian, have the option to “opt out” of the societal contract. Instead, I live under a mandate to be the most involved, missional societal participant that I can be.”

Tony makes these comments, not as a Christian, but as one who is in a contract with the world, something no Christian should be if he/she is citizen of another kingdom, the kingdom of God. Haggai 2:11-14 illustrates exactly the opposite of what Tony here tries to teach.

Haggai 2:11-14

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”

The priests answered, “No.”

Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”

“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”

Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.

Tony is under the misunderstanding that by mixing as many Christians with the world the world can become Christianized and Godly, but that is not what the Bible says at all, as a matter of fact it says just the opposite. Many homeschool parents understand this passage correctly to illustrate the impossibility of holiness being transferred from one to another, and by contrast, how easily pollution is transmitted. The sanctity of something or someone dedicated or consecrated to God cannot be transferred merely by contact with another. However, the defilement of an unclean thing, i.e. the world and those in it, transfers easily to the clean, defiling it! Tony tosses out as a worthless thing the Bible’s teaching on the separated life style. Jesus’ teaching about the leavening process of dough teaches the same principle as that above, “A little leaven leavens the whole loaf.” In other words, the things your child picks up at public school, or the things they pick up from the world, do not lead to Godliness; they lead to defilement and corruption and will eventually leaven their whole life.

This separating process is what brought so much trouble to those who were persecuted. It is falsely believed that if you do not take part in the social efforts of government you are rebelling against their proven system of running the world, and that you are a threat to the success of that society. This is what Tony Jones believes. This separation process is not only concerned with education, but education is foundational to every other aspect of the Christian’s life, and if that education is primarily coming from the secular world then what can be expected except the corruption of foundational principals?

The chief struggle of the Christian Church today is not so much against the secular state as it is against the paganizing process of secular education on the Church. The main conflict between Christian faith and the secular interpretation of life will have to be waged on the field of public education. The battle will have been in vain if the whole weight of public education is directed toward infusing in the impressionable mind of youth, beliefs that are incompatible with the Christian understanding of life.

Tony Jones’ attack on parents who homeschool their Christian children, and his un-Christian support for subjecting vulnerable hearts and minds to secular education, is the rotten fruit of a corrupt liberal wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Beware of Tony Jones!

10 replies on “Tony Jones Says “Death to Homeschooling!””

I disagree that Christian Education is just a choise for Christian parents. Parents have been mandated by God to teach our children God's statutes. Jesus said not to forbid the children to come to Him, yet the public schools forbid Jesus to even be mentioned and are teaching Islam, Hinduism through yoga, and WICCA now.  The government is not performing its one true mandate according to the US constitution, to protect the public, because the government run schools are not protecting the children in their care. 
Nations were judged in the Old Testament for not fulfilling this mandate of passing on the heritage of godliness to their children. I wrote a section in my doctoral dissertation about this nation coming under God's judgment partly because of parents refusing to fulfill this mandate of believers.  Not educating our children properly and abortion are both forms of putting children through the fire, which God judged nations and kings for.  This was a form of paganism.  We Americans pass our children through the fire, killing them spiritually as sacrifices the pagan gods of greed, laziness, materialism, neglect and all other manner of paganism.  I think it is high time Christian parents were told the truth about this fact by our pastors rather than being cottled and told it is a choise.  This disguising it as a grey area has to stop, because it is obvious from what is happening to the church, and as a result this nation, is making it clear we are about to be judged.
Oh, and by the way, one of the first signs of judgment for the nations was economic hardship. Eventually they were led into captivety by their enemies.  Is this what we really want just for free daycare? Not me and my house. We will surely serve the Lord.

Hello Cathryn,

You said,

“I disagree that Christian Education is just a choice for Christian parents.”

Are you making a case that non-Christians should be forced to participate in Christian education against their will; or that government should mandate Christian education? Christian education in the U.S. is presently an option that anyone can elect through Churches or through homeschool. I understand that the mandate of God stands above all of His creation, but is the institution of that mandate to be a government affair, or is the mandate specifically a mandate to the Christian home? Ultimately we will all be judged according to this universal mandate of God, Christian and non-Christian alike, but to suggest that an elected “Christian” magistrate enforce such a mandate is scary to say the least. No earthly government has ever existed that exhibited the necessary character to oversee the righteous acts of another human being. I certainly would not want someone dictating to me what he feels is “righteous.” Christianity has always been a personal issue.

The only solution to the pitiful condition of our children’s education is for parents to take charge of that education themselves, at home, or under the close supervision of a homeschool association of like-minded parents. We cannot be angry with pagans for acting like pagans; but we can be angry with Christians who send their children into a pagan environment, then complain that they come out acting like pagans.

Since most of the false teaching is coming out of the organized Church, there is little hope of seeing the truth of educating our children, according to the mandate of God, being placed on the agenda of important issues any time soon. If rampant fornication, inside the Church, is not being addressed, can we really suppose that education is very high on their list of concerns?

The failure of Christian education is not a failure of government, schools, lobbies, pagans, or any such thing; it is a failure of individual Christian people, in their homes, behind closed doors, living out their own unchristian pagan lives in their closets, in isolation from the body of Christ. I can understand the anger of Christians, but until the problem comes to rest at our own doorstep we are only kidding ourselves. The Church as a whole is sick, but the body is made up of the individual parts; and there lays the problem, many diseased members.

Christians have not been promised a sympathizing government. On the contrary, Christians are at odds with governments, and the best we can do is to live peaceably with them, while we service God according to His word. There are many truths that the pastors are not revealing to their flock, because they themselves are ignorant of those truths.

If you are familiar with some of my other article then you will understand my position better. Briefly, I do not support government involvement by Christians, at any level, because it cannot be shown from Scripture that we should serve two masters, and for me and my house, we have chosen to serve the Lord.

I do appreciate you commenting and your point of view.

Blessings,
Steve Blackwell

Hi Steve, I've just found your blog and am very encouraged by your articles, you speak the very thoughts I share with my own family and any others who will listen.
You've hit the nail on the head here when you speak of the 'reforming' agenda the apostate church has for the world – although as you are no doubt aware, it's not just the liberal apostates, but also the right-wing conservative ones as well. 
It seems almost every pew-sitting Christian these days has fallen for the dominionist version of the kingdom of God – that we create it here on earth by our own efforts, and that the return of our Lord is nothing much more than an after-thought. Indeed, some deny the bodily return of Jesus entirely, fulfilling the warning of scripture (2 Peter 3:3-4). The desire for worldly influence has reached epidemic levels, and Christians no longer heed the exhortations of the apostles to endure persecution in this life, longing for the hope of Christ's return; instead, they whore themselves to the world, falsely believing that this will somehow win the world. 
The Lord bless your ministry here and may you always have the courage to speak truth.
Danny

Danny,

Thanks for writing. Yes, you are correct, it is not just the left, but the right also who have bought in to the dominionist philosophy. If you study any kind of reformation theology, from the right or left, they will propose an active involvement in government at some level. Separation of church and state is really only a smoke screen to allow their theology to come in through the back door, and permit them to create government in their own image. When we consider the end-time Biblical teaching of a one-world-government it is not a giant step to find the local church accepting piecemeal the idea of a dominating theocracy with a universal peace plane to save the world from total destruction. As a matter of fact it sounds “reasonable” for the benefit all to downsize and consolidate religious matters. Most people would see it as a blessing to end the debate on theology. They would promote a leadership that called for the end of differences, even at the end of gun, for the greater blessing of the majority. The ethics of world unity and peace at the price of individual personal peace will have an extraordinary appeal to those who cannot see beyond their own selfish goals.

The reformers had a right and left wing to deal with in their own day, but it was the Anabaptist who received the focus of their combined wrath. It was the Anabaptist who truly believed in Sola Scriptura and separated themselves from all government activity and practiced nonresistance in a way which was exemplified by Jesus and the Apostles. To follow Jesus is now, and was then, dangerous. Not many will dedicate themselves to that strict of a lifestyle. To not participate in their wars or the political processes that feed that monster is a visible and apparent disagreement with their solution, and when the “church” has become a part of that system it will be a replay of the deadly persecution that has gone before. Those Christians, the “little flock” will learn the true definition of the word ‘Perseverance.” To persevere then, we must start now, and teach it our families.

Steve Blackwell

You're right. I suppose 1 John is definitely right, if those depart from us, then were never of us to begin with, God will sort it out.

As for that last sentence it looks like I am committing a double negation. I meant to say a lot less souls would be dragged down the heretical path.

Who takes Jones seriously? He's denied original sin, and says it's ok to have adultery and open relationships if it turns you on.
He's from Fuller….Fuller, just the sound of that word should make a person cringe. Rob Bell graduated from there and thinks he's revolutionizing theology by committing the root fallacy when arguing for his view of hell.
It's just an awful attempt liberals use to try and push their so called 'tolerant' agenda against creationism (Old earth and young earth), homosexual sin, and the like. Too bad we don't burn heretics at the stake anymore, a lot less souls would not be taken down the heretical path.

Trent,

I understand your disgust with Tony, I have to fight back a fair amount of it myself. Having said that I want to make a brotherly comment concerning your attitude toward Tony and anyone who you would consider to be an enemy. We have specific instructions from our Lord on the appropriate way we should respond toward our adversaries.

Under the Old Testament economy we could probably justify a blow-for-blow response; and we would no doubt try to do him one better than he has done. But, even the Old Testament was careful not to allow more than forty lashes lest we appear vengeful. But, we are not under the O.T. now.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

(Hebrews 1:1-2 ESV)

Jesus in Matthew 5:38 says,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

(Matthew 5:38-39 ESV)

As Christians our goal is to please the Lord, and if we respond in an unloving way, and in a way which wishes harm on our enemies the Lord will not be pleased. We should confront those who profess to be Christians with the full force of truth, but then we should stand ready to suffer the consequences for our boldness.

I donot want to sound condescending or puffed-up but as a brother, who also needs to be confronted, I only want what is best for you and for all the Church. That “best” I refer to is to walk even as He walked, no less and no more.

Thanks for stopping by and please return,

Steve Blackwell

You wrote, "Tony doesn’t state why he so detest homeschooling, so he allows us to draw our own conclusions." I'm not exactly sure why you made this statement. Maybe you could explain? It seems to me that Tony Jones made his reasoning very clear in the following statement, "So it seems to me that to withdraw my children from public education is to not play my (God-given) role as a missional member of society — like I can’t just choose to withhold my taxes."

Gabi,

Thanks for the comment. As I stated in the article:

“It is not unusual to find those who prefer not to homeschool, for whatever reason: time constraints, job constraints, perceived inability to teach, they like the time away from the kids, etc., but to pronounce a death sentence on what has proved to be a very successful method of teaching, creating family closeness, transferring personal values, protecting from negative influences, or instilling historic Christian principles, is puzzling, coming from a “Christian.”

The troubling part is his death wish on homeschooling, not the fact that he has chosen not to homeschool, which he doesn’t clarify. He just says,

to withdraw my children from public education is to not play my (God-given) role as a missional member of society

But, that leaves us to speculate as to his reason for cursing the institution of homeschooling. To make such a callus and unkind statement, which touches the lives of many conscientious Christian parents, goes against the very spirit of love and kindness exemplified by our Lord, and is not characteristic of one professing to follow Christ.

If Tony would have given some kind of Biblical reasoning for his curse then, at least, there would be a place for debate; but he has left it open for us to draw our own conclusions. The fruit of our Christian walk is shown in our love and concern for brothers and sisters, not in their condemnation.

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