The road to Virginia Tech tragedy started with Bible ban

Guest Commentary
April 24, 2007

Comments Print Email

The tragic incident at Virginia Tech that resulted in a madman taking more than 30 innocent lives has sparked a number of questions. Through the answers we have learned about the background of the gunman, the history of his firearm purchases, the emotions of students and families, and the heroic efforts of many involved. However, the deeper questions and overall trend patterns have been avoided. Escalation of violence and a number of other social ills began rising in a pivotal era and continue to grow today.

In 1961 a U.S. Supreme Court case ignored 300 years of legal precedent and began an assault on Christianity, by banning prayer and later other elements of Christian study from public schools. The religion of secular humanism was protected and allowed, but Christ, prayer, the posting of the Ten Commandments and other Christian documents were hidden from view.

Historic writings such as George Washington's Farewell Address (which contain specific references and warnings to America tying our success as a nation to our commitment to Christ), his divine protection from certain death in the French and Indian War, and various other religiously oriented writings by the founding fathers were all but eliminated from elementary through high school grades.

According to David Barton, perhaps the nation's leading historian (www.wallbuilders.com), there was an immediate increase in societal problems, including violent crime, divorce, unwed pregnancies, dropping test scores at all academic levels, etc. But like the elephant in the closet that nobody talks about, this has been judiciously avoided in conversation about the Virginia Tech massacre.

The United States was clearly founded around Christianity, and every aspect of our society (including our public education system) revolved around it. George Washington once stated, "you do well to wish to learn our arts and way of life, and above all the religion of Jesus Christ." Thomas Jefferson said, "I have always said and always will say that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens."

In 1650 the first bill involving public school legislation in Connecticut specified that public education must include the study of Christianity. (Old Deluder Satan Act -- 1650) The Northwest Ordinance, which provided the criteria by which states could be admitted into the Union, stated in article three that public schools were required to teach religion and morality. This was a mandate as criteria for statehood.

Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, founder of Pennsylvania Hospital, and the father of public education in the United States, wrote a book titled "A Defense of the Use of the Bible in Schools." In it, he advocated the Bible be the preferred textbook in all public schools, providing 15 different arguments for its use. The evidence connecting Christianity and all life in America and education goes on and on. However, this history was ignored in 1961, and we are now reaping the consequences.

The shooter at Virginia Tech was a madman. However, he had also been raised on a solid diet of secular humanism which teaches no moral absolutes. "If it feels good, do it," is one of the many mantras he ingested. Consequently he did what felt good, and innocent people died as a result. Today, we cannot condemn his actions unless we judge what we fed him as a society. What we sow, we also reap. And we will continue to have a bloody harvest until we return to what we know worked to make America great as a nation in the generations before us; the culture, training, and absolute morality of the Christian faith and our Savior Jesus Christ.

Steven Grant is senior pastor of Destiny Christian Center in Greeley. He can be contacted at StevenGrant@juno.com.