The president of a Sacramento-based pro-family group says recent actions of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger prove that Christians must examine candidates and get involved in politics. At the same time, another family advocate in the Golden State is urging Christian families to rethink putting their children back in public school in the coming days.
Earlier this week the Republican governor signed into law SB 1441, a measure which could force Christian colleges to either abandon biblical standards on sexuality or reject students who receive financial aid from the state. The bill adds sexual orientation to already existing provisions in the state's law that prohibit discrimination on the basis of, among other things, race, national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, age, sex, color, or disability.
As pointed out by one pro-family group in the state, the law could potentially prevent parochial schools such as private, Christian, Catholic, Mormon, or other faith-based educational institutions from receiving student financial assistance if they also maintain a code of conduct that prohibits homosexual behavior as immoral based on their religious beliefs.
Randy Thomasson is president of the group Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), headquartered in the Golden State's capital city. He says Schwarzenegger's actions prove that party labels are virtually meaningless when it comes to a politician's standards and beliefs. In direct reference to Governor Schwarzenegger, Thomasson states: "A liberal Republican is more dangerous than a liberal Democrat."
According to the CCF leader, a liberal Republican "will hurt the church and culture more in the long term because he will dumb down the Church, dumb down the Republican Party, dumb down conservative and Christian talk radio stations." The result, he contends, is that there "will be nobody big enough to stand against evil Democrat politicians if you let the Republican Party be dumbed down by a liberal Republican like Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Schwarzenegger has spoken at churches and claims to uphold family and religious values -- but his actions, says Thomasson, tell a different story.
"Most Christians in California made a big mistake by electing Arnold Schwarzenegger," he says. "They liked him. They actually liked his movies, although the movies mostly were immoral." The CCF spokesman recalls the election which propelled the former actor to the governor's mansion. "[Christians] were idolizing him. They said he was the lesser of two evils. They voted him into office. They looked the other way," he remembers. "Now, he's coming back to hurt them."
Many Christian colleges in California sent Governor Schwarzenegger letters asking him not to sign the bill. SB 1441 contains no exemption for religious colleges and universities that accept students with Cal Grants.
Christians Behaving Like Lemmings
In the wake of SB 1441's elevation to state law, a California-based home-schooling recruitment group is urging Christian parents in that state to register their protest by refusing to send their children back to public school as classes resume for the upcoming school year.
Referring to the new law, Charles Lowers of the group Consider Homeschooling says, "This should be the last straw for Christian parents." He notes that according to estimates, approximately 80 to 90 percent of Christian families are still sending their children to public school. "It's like the Church is behaving like a bunch of lemmings," Lowers comments.
Instead, he says, those families should consider removing their children from California's public schools -- where he says the traditional three R's have become "rebelliousness, relativism, and an R-rated lifestyle" -- and keeping them at home for their education. If not, he says, families run the risk of their children being "molested by the curriculum."
"Now that the homosexuals are dictating curriculum," he says, "80 to 90 percent of Christians should be home schooling -- not the other way around. Public school is no place for innocent little kids." Christian parents, says Lowers, "have been misguided" into believing that their children can be "salt and light" in the public school arena. Exactly the opposite has occurred, he says.
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