Let's Indoctrinate Our Children!

Here is the promised excerpt mentioned in my previous post. . .

Taken from From My Kitchen Window by Jesse Rice Sandberg:

Let's Indoctrinate Our Children!

Not too many weeks ago a teacher in one of the nearby high schools was suspended on the charge that he had propagated communism in the public schools. The complaint had been made by several parents that their children had come home from school with the news that their teacher had told them the "good" side of communism. In his own defense the teacher said, "I am not a communist and I have never been one. I feel that it is my duty as a teacher to present both sides of every issue."

On the surface, "to present both sides" sounds innocent enough; in fact, it has a rather noble ring to it. Modern society has made broad-mindedness the supreme virtue. We have been so busy being tolerant, unbiased, non-sectarian and ecumenical that we have almost thrown away the God-given-privilege--no, I should say God-given RESPONSIBILITY--of influence over our children. We say, in essence, to the world, "I'll give you the same opportunities for indoctrinating my children for evil as I give myself to indoctrinate them for good. May the best man win!". . .

When we are teaching young children to stay out of the street, we do not describe to them all the advantages of playing in the street in an effort to give "both sides." If it is dangerous to their health and life, then there are no advantages, no "good points" about playing in the street. It is as simple as that. How strange that we are inclined to be more careless with their spiritual welfare than we are with their bodies. . . .

We give our children a slight smattering of spiritual training in the home and in the Sunday School, then we leave it up to the movies, the television, the cheap magazine, the evolution-teaching professor, and the worldly, popular crowd at school to do their worst without ever a a word raised in protest. God forgive us!