By Mark A. Kennedy, Regional Director, Eastern Canada
Association of Christian Schools International
Thirty three years ago I began my teaching career at an old and respected British Empire style boys’ school in Toronto. There I became friends with a science teacher who was considered one of the foremost ornithologists in Canada and Great Britain.
Whenever the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) wanted to make a television program about birds they always involved my friend. He was amazingly knowledgeable and loved his area of expertise far more than any other aspect of science. So much so that he would gladly give long bird discourses with the least bit of prompting.
Unfortunately his students figured that out. They discovered that if someone asked a bird related question in science class, no matter how off topic, my friend would perch on the corner of a lab table and begin to soar upward, ever upward on the wings of ostentatious ornithological oratory – his gums wouldn’t stop flapping till the end of class time. To the students that meant no homework, no upcoming 
tests and no acquired knowledge about the originally intended topic. Before he caught on to the students’ ruse my friend’s inordinate focus on birds became an enemy to a more balanced and thorough teaching of science. Put simply his science classes were too “birdy”.
In the same way a Christian school can be too “religious” when it focuses inappropriately on matters that are ‘religious’ by definition.
According to the Oxford and Webster Dictionaries the adjective ‘religious’ refers to a belief in, or worship of a superhuman controlling power,. It is a system of faith and worship, a manifesting of faith through obedience and devotion.
The Apostle Paul expanded on this when in Acts 12:22 he commended the “religious” character of the Athenians because they actively worshipped a deity – even though they didn’t know who that deity was (the unknown god).
In James 1:26, 27 and 1Timothy 5:4 the authors say that the signs of a truly “religious” character are some specifically moral actions.
So the word “religious’ addresses matters of faith, worship, devotion, obedience and moral behavior. Of course each one of these traits should be a valid component of a Christian school education to be sure but none is the central issue. Above all else Christian schooling in its broadest sense is about truth. There is even a kind of truth trinity that applies to our schools.
First there is Jesus, the living truth, whose daily presence gives our schools and our staff members and students direction and meaning. Through the Holy Spirit he indwells, comforts and leads us in all truth.
Second there is the truth that is the written word of God which provides an accurate knowledge of God and his expectations for us. It also provides a plumb line that helps us discern what is true and what is false.
Third there is the truth that is revealed in the created world: the facts, figures and formulas and all the other practical matters that make up our academic curriculum.
And because we believe that “all truth is God’s truth”, when our students learn principles of physics, or solutions for mathematical problems or skills of written or oral communications they are learning God’s truth - even if their teachers aren’t able to present scripture verses to go along with each truth. Further, because we are operating schools, we had better excel at presenting God’s truth especially in the academic realm so, as ACSI’s mission statement says we can “effectively prepare students for life.” That does not lessen our responsibility to integrate scriptural principles into the academic program. But we will have failed in our overall mission if our graduates have learned scriptural principles in Math or Language or Science but never quite grasped the core knowledge and skills they need for practical applications in their adult lives. And we will have failed to teach them the whole truth too.
A Christian school is becoming too religious when:
1. Religious matters hijack the teaching of God’s other truths. For example, a weekly chapel service is routinely allowed to run overtime and consumes significant portions of the time allocated to the following academic classes.
2. Factual information is ignored because it conflicts with particular religious convictions or with a popular interpretation of scripture. As a case in point, the 16th century church rejected Galileo’s observation that the earth revolves around the sun because it conflicted with their understanding of Psalm 113:3:
“From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”
3. Only Christian authors are studied in literature class, only Christians are portrayed positively in history lessons, only Christian compositions and composers are allowed in the music program thereby encouraging an arrogant and false sense of superiority among Christian students and ignoring the need to develop discernment skills.
4. Intellectual dishonesty is a tool to support religious convictions. Facts are altered or omitted to make certain individuals or religious groups “look good”.
5. Religion is used to promote any attitudes or actions that are contrary to Jesus’ teachings and example (i.e. acts of terrorism, promotion of hatred towards individuals or groups).
6. Students are expected to memorize, believe and regurgitate whatever they are told and are discouraged from thinking critically and Christianly.
7. Issues of great concern for humanity such as HIV/AIDS, natural disasters, starvation, poverty, environmental degradation, pollution, social injustice are denigrated or ignored because these things aren’t specifically religious.
8. Teachers are hired and retained because of their spirituality with little regard for their teaching abilities and training or their willingness to upgrade their subject knowledge and teaching skills.
9. School leadership has little or no concern about honestly evaluating and improving the academic program because the overwhelming goal of the school is to produce strong (meaning demonstrably ‘religious’) Christians.
It seems pretty clear that just as my friend’s bird obsession weakened his science program, a preoccupation with “religious” things damages the overall effectiveness of a Christian school.
That is because Christianity in general and Christian schooling in particular should be concerned with the entirety of God’s truth not just one part of it.
So a Christian school can indeed be too religious but thankfully it cannot be too Christian.
Response (Barrett Mosbacker)
To reinforce Mr. Kennedy's point, I recently stumbled onto an essay titled It's Happened to a Lot of Good Christians by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst, a clinical psychologist and writer. Dr. Whitehurst purports to be responding to a conversation she overheard at a local coffee shop between two Christian college students. Although Dr. Whitehurst's unfounded assumptions and poor logic betray her own astounding ignorance and arrogance, her concern over anti-intellectualism within Christianity has merit.
The conversation described by Dr. Whitehurst exhibits a well meaning but misguided religiosity that does not take seriously the life of the Christian mind thus failing to obey the command to "Love God with all of our minds...."
1. Have you encountered anti-intellectual tendencies in your school? Do those tendencies originate with faculty, students, or parents?
2. Does anti-intellectualism force us to be "politically correct" in our schools? In other words, do we avoid or misinterpret facts to avoid controversy? If so, what is the consequence for our students? What is the consequence for the Gospel?
3. What is the best response to anti-intellectualism in our schools? Have you dealt with this issue and if so, how?
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