The Sekritary of Edukashun
In an interview published on Monday with the Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention, [Education Secretary Roderick] Paige said: 'All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith.
Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! Right here Mr. Paige should have had the sense to stop and think: Hmmmm...there are many people of faith and good character outside the Christian tradition. Maybe I shouldn't be implying that it takes a Christian school to produce quality adults. But no. He wasn't content to nibble on his toes. He had to shove the foot all the way in and start chewing.
The reason that Christian schools and Christian universities are growing is a result of a strong value system. In a religious environment the value is set. That is not the case in a public school, where there are so many different kids with different kinds of values.
This is where we sit with our mouths agape and wonder how someone who is presumably smart enough to be a member of the Cabinet can really be so dumb. He obviously didn't stop to think that there might be a few who would take exception to his implication that a Christian education is the best kind of education. I can imagine there are a few Jews who might have something to say on the subject. Probably one or two Muslims, and every single Unitarian in the country. Does he honestly believe that Christianity inherently creates better people? He might take a look at Fred Phelps and reconsider his opinion.
In his own defense Paige said the interviewer asked for his personal views on child rearing and that his personal views have no bearing on his role as the chief education officer of our nation. I'm sorry, Mr. Paige. You don't get to separate the two. What's the point of having personal views then? Amazing how often personal integrity comes up in today's world, or maybe doesn't come up is more correct. Essentially he's saying he is running an education system that he wouldn't want his own children to participate in. If that's the case, how committed can he be to improving the system at all, never mind improving it for all? Since a Christian education system is his ideal, anything he produces is, by definition, second best in his mind. I don't think I want someone with that kind of attitude at the helm of our educational system. Whoever is there should be driven by passion and vision to create the best educational system in the world. Mr. Paige has just shown us that he is not.