Control of Children is the Control of the Future
Control of children is the basic power in any society, and hence it is that in every age the enemies of God had worked to control children.
- R. J. Rushdoony
In terms of Scripture, the family is the basic institution. Now, historically, at times, other institutions can have a greater centrality. Thus, I believe in the providence of God in our age, the key institution in terms of the future is the Christian school. But, on a continuing basis, it is the family that is the basic institution in terms of the Word of God. First of all, it’s the only institution in the Garden of Eden. Marriage is ordained and instituted by God in the Garden of Eden. Moreover, as we read the Scriptures and, in particular, Biblical law, we find that the basic powers of society are placed in the hands of the family by the Lord.
What are the basic powers in any society? It’s important for you to know this because the enemy knows it and has it in mind in all his thinking and planning. The first and foremost power in any society is the control of children, because the control of children is the control of the future. This is why socialism always aims, first and foremost, to control the child. This is why, when the humanists first began their work in the United States, they aimed through Horace Mann, James G. Carter, Charles G. Sumner, and that whole motley crew of Unitarians --humanists to the core -- to take over, through the state, control of the schools of this country, because they felt that there was no hope for humanism unless it could command the children.
Control of children is control of the future. It’s that simple. The state knows it. The humanists know it. The Marxists know it. The Fabian-Socialists know it. The Fascists know it; and it’s time we, as Christians, knew it. Consider how grievous our Lord regards it if anyone offend against a child. He says it is better if a millstone were hung about his neck and he were dropped into the deepest sea.
Control of children is the basic power in any society, and hence it is that in every age the enemies of God had worked to control children. What a fearful sin it is in the sight of Almighty God for a parent to turn his child over to the enemy, to give his child to an institution that bypasses the word of God, to an institution that believes that God is irrelevant to life. It is time we began telling parents who call themselves Christians and who put their children into humanistic schools how seriously offensive they are to God.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.