Lindsay, a super-mom who homeschools her kids with her super-husband Doug, sent me this article from Christian News.
Quick blurb:
The recently-released findings from an in-depth study of nearly 10,000 young adults show that Millennials who were homeschooled are less likely to leave the faith than individuals who attended private or public schools.
Late last month, Generations with Vision and the National Home Education Research Institute published the results of their Gen2 Survey. The study explores the correlations between different educational methods and the spiritual decisions of Millennials who were raised in the church.
“The purpose of the study is to examine these adults who were churched growing up and to understand the key influences which either encouraged or deterred them from believing and practicing the faith of their parents,” said the survey’s director and lead researcher, Dr. Brian Ray.
Using a sample size of 9,369 18-to 38-year-olds who were churched while growing up, the Gen2 Survey collected data on Millennials’ educational backgrounds, worldviews, and religious beliefs. The study found that individuals who were homeschooled, attended church regularly, and had good relationships with their parents were most likely to remain involved in the Christian faith.
“Having a strong relationship with the child’s mother and father, attending church as a child, and years homeschooled were all clearly positively associated with Millennials’ basic Christian orthodoxy, broader biblical beliefs, Christian behaviors (e.g., attending church, keeping sex in marriage, prayer, not using pornography), satisfaction in life, civic and community involvement, and having beliefs similar to one’s parents,” Ray stated.
87% of study participants who were homeschooled said they have strong Christian beliefs. Conversely, Millennials who were enrolled in public schools or private Christian schools were more likely to walk away from the faith later in life.
“Number of years in Christian school and number of years in public school were negatively associated with most of the adult beliefs and behaviors just mentioned,” Ray explained.
Statistically, homeschooled young adults were six times as likely to be believers and seven times as likely to be stronger in their Christian beliefs as Millennials attending private schools. Homeschooled Millennials were also two times as likely to be stronger in Christian beliefs as those who attended Christian schools or public schools.
I find that when I court Christian women, they pretty much have the idea that kids are like skydiving, ziplining or surfing. They are fun, and if you make a plan to make them achieve anything, then that is bad because it’s less fun. Sometimes they try to dress it up in emotional or religious language when they are explaining it to others, but under cross-examination, it really turns out to be “marriage and parenting are better when we do whatever I feel like moment by moment”. If the man does not step up during the courtship with the research and get agreement on issues like homeschooling, then he needs to shut it down and move on. Women who are guided by their feelings instead of studies in decisions about how to parent are not safe to marry. Either they accept the the best practices from research, or they are out of the running.
So if a couple determines that they are going to have no strict approach to how to parent the kids and no goals and no information about what works, then they should not be surprised their children fall away from the faith. Either you are aware of who is teaching your kids, and what they are teaching them, or you are not. It is no coincidence that the secular left pushes for earlier and earlier starts to schooling and more and more free college. They know that the more they get the kids away from their parents and in with peers of the same age and secular leftist professors and teaches, the more those kids are likely to adopt their values – not the values of their parents.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
I’d say that homeschooled children are more likely to keep their faith because they are sheltered from the world. They don’t have the same opportunities to experience a range of religions and make up their own mind. I kind of see that as failing as a parent. Not giving the child a chance to think and choose but rather trying to guarantee that they believe as you is (in my opinion) incredibly unfair.
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You’re assuming that the only reason more homeschoolers choose the same Christian faith as their parents is because they don’t know any better. That is mere speculation, and in my experience is completely false.
I know that, I, for one, learned far more about other religions and viewpoints from my parents than anyone I knew in public school. My parents didn’t shelter me from other viewpoints. Their homeschool was a training ground for learning about worldviews. I know the same was true of many of my homeschooled friends. Of course, along with learning about other views, we also learned to critique them. And we learned how to support the claims of Christianity. That, not ignorance, is why we stayed in the Christian faith.
On the other hand, your suggestion that people should just let kids be exposed to all religions and make up their own minds is a terrible idea. If religion was something that didn’t matter because all of them are equally valid, then it would make sense to just let your children learn about all of them with no guidance from you and make their own choice. But religion does matter. It matters a lot. And not all religions are valid. Most aren’t, actually.
So, if you really believe that one religion is the truth and all others are false, what kind of horrible person would you have to be to not tell your children that and not to do your best to help them choose it? If you love your children and believe your religion alone is true, then it becomes very important that you teach your children about your religion and try to get them to believe as you do for their sakes. Leaving them with no guidance only makes sense if religion is meaningless and trivial.
But even treating religion as meaningless and trivial by giving no guidance on the matter IS a type of guidance on the matter. It’s not a neutral position. This choose-you-own-flavor approach to religion is inherently telling your children that the truth doesn’t matter and that whatever religion they choose is fine. That’s very dangerous advice unless it’s true. If one religion is actually true, you’d better find out about it and make sure your children do too. A lot rests upon that question. Pretending it isn’t a big deal puts children in eternal danger.
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I can remember when public schools liked to show the “Cosmos” series with Carl Sagan, who would tell impressionable young children that the universe had always existed, and never came into being. That’s of course a speculative theory, but conventient because the mainstream cosmology requires the creation of the universe out of nothing – i.e. – a beginning to space-time. It’s not that I worry that my kids will learn the truth in public schools, it’s that they will learn lies at the hands of secularists who have an interest in pushing their own agenda onto kids. Just look at sex education and how much access Planned Parenthood – AN ABORTION PROVIDER – has to kids. What do you think that an abortion provider tells kids about abstinence? They get PAID when children are sexually active.
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I do believe that all religions are equally valid and invalid all the same. I went to a public school and got to know others of all different faiths and cultures. I think that’s why I have this viewpoint. I don’t see one religion as being of any more importance than another.
Religion is not about making sure everybody believes as you do. I feel for people who desire to push their beliefs it’s because they are trying to push away their own hesitations. Faith is about the individual, about them finding meaning in their life and a way to understand their world. The religion they find themselves part of should not matter to you, but rather it should be important that they find somewhere they feel they belong.
Winters Knight: You being afraid that they will learn “secular lies” and not conform to your Christian ideology shows how little faith you have in your own faith. I’m in Australia so I honestly know nothing of planned parenthood. But at school we had community groups, health providers and teenage parents speak at our school. I recall them first most making it clear that abstinence was the only way to guarantee no pregnancy or stds. They then went on to explain how it’s okay to say no, not to feel pressured, not to make decisions before you are ready, contraceptive options if you felt the need to be sexually active etc. Not once were we turned to abortions at a public school.
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Amelia. The oscillating model that was pushed by Carl Sagan in the schools is now universally rejected by scientists. It was disproved theoretically in 1982 by Alan Guth and experimentally in 1998 when scientists discovered that the universe would expand forever, and there would be no collapse. I may be talking over your head here, but this is a slam dunk case where a speculative model was pushed in the schools by an atheist to children because it undermined the monotheistic religions who believe in a created universe. That’s what my concern is. Flat out lies pushed because of the secular agenda of public schools to make children more like themselves, and less like their parents, as Woodrow Wilson once said.
I can’t reply to your personal experience.
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Regarding all religions being the same, it’s easy to disprove that when you think about the objective claims that different religions make about reality. Muslims believe that Jesus existed and did not die on a cross. Christians believe Jesus existed and did die on a cross. They can’t both be right.
Similarly, Jews believe that God created the universe a finite time ago, Buddhists believe the universe is eternal. They can’t both be right.
Faith is nothing to do with individual tastes and preferences – at least in Christianity. In Christianity, Christians accept a set of beliefs about reality that are true or false when compared with reality. I happen to think they are true, and I am well-equipped to explain why to people who don’t share my religious beliefs.
I get the impression you haven’t looked into the evidence for and against different world religions. I was raised in a Muslim and Hindu/Catholic home. I rejected all these on the merits and I am an Protestant Christian for the simple reason that I lose no arguments about what is true when I adopt it.
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Amelia,
It’s actually really funny that you respond to a post about how homeschooling one’s children helps keep them in the faith and that public school is likely to led them astray by saying that you went to public school and that’s why you believe all religions are equally valid. Um, you’re proving our point for us. You and your false beliefs that you got from public school are EXACTLY why I would never send my children to public school.
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EXACTLY!!!
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Jim Donald explained Amelia’s point best: “Progressives believe that all religions, rightly understood, are correct, because all religions, rightly understood, are Progressivism.” Of course actual Muslims don’t take kindly to Progressives trying to Epcotize their faith, nor should Christians and Jews.
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Don’t assume I’m below you. I was quoting your generalisation not having a go at your example.
Science will always change. New advances happen every day, and therefore teachings will be updated. I would not go as far as to call it a flat out lie.
At that time it was acknowledged as sound, developments in science have since changed that. Key word being SINCE.
Please, tell me how religious teachings have not changed.
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Christianity’s teachings have not changed since it began. Perhaps other religions have changed, but Christianity is the same as it was 2000 years ago. Truth doesn’t change.
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I get the impression that you are having trouble understanding me.
I’m not saying anything about the things people believe. You just aren’t comprehending what I am saying. I’m saying all individuals have the right to make up their own mind about which religion they choose to follow. One religion is no more or less valid than another based on the principle that they believe different things. I’m saying that religions are all equally valid on the basis that not one is more important than another. Different people will relate to different religions and the fact that you find truth and a sense of belonging from one does not make it any more valid than any other religion.
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Religions are not all equal. One is true. The others are false. Religion isn’t about finding a sense of belonging or making yourself feel good. It’s about finding out what’s true – what actually is the case in reality – and believing it.
If Christianity is true (and I believe it is because of the evidence), then people who follow the Muslim or Buddhist or any other faith are going to hell in the afterlife. Those religions are false and do not lead to truth. If Islam is true, then Christians and Buddhists are going to hell in the afterlife. Just from those examples alone, you can see that it matters which religion you choose if one is true and others are false.
Since all religions can’t be true – at most, one can be true – it does matter which one you choose. It’s not a matter of personal preference. You don’t get to make up “truth” according to your whims. Truth is truth, whether you or anyone else believes it or not. Your feelings about what is true doesn’t determine what actually is true. If you felt that gravity didn’t apply to you, you wouldn’t start floating off into space. Gravity works on you whether you believe in gravity or not. It is the same with religious truth. Reality applies to you, whether you believe it or not. Any claim about religion is either true or false, but it can’t be true for me and not for you or vice versa. We can’t make up our own truth.
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Amelia,
All religions are equally valid? Really?
How about the African religion whose practitioners believe that killing albinos and using their bodyparts is good? How about the old Hindu practice of burning the widow alive when her husband dies?
Are those religions the same as Christianity?
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From the study….“The Gen2 Survey was branded to be equally attractive to all Millenials, regardless of background and raising.”
In order to truly evaluate the effectiveness of homeschooling, you need to compare like demographics such as conservative Christians beliefs, two-parent family, middle-class, etc. Comparing homeschooling to everyone else is a superficial victory. I know a lot of homeschooling families (a lot at my church)and they are wonderful, Christian people. I’ve also seen a lot of damage done by homeschooling, much of which goes unrecognized.
My kids go to public schools (elementary). Are they exposed to much more “bad stuff” than a homeschooler? Absolutely. They see how others act and we (the parents) are able to talk to them about how Jesus taught us to live. They see the contrast right in front of them between a non-Christian and Jesus. Others are also able to see Christ in them. Last year my daughter had an incident on the bus for a field trip. A boy was forced to apologize to her and she told him “I forgive you”. The teacher was so impressed that she gave her a good behavior award. My other daughter’s teachers have remarked on how she seems to see herself as an example to the other students and sets a good example for them to follow. Most of the homeschooling families I know tend to stick with other homeschooling families. If the church hides her children, what hope do these other kids have? How will they know what light looks like? William Lane Craig became a Christian because of the joy he saw in a classmate. I’m glad she was not homeschooled.
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You don’t send a soldier into battle until he’s trained and you don’t send a child into the world to do battle against false worldviews until they’re trained to know right from wrong and how to defend their worldview.
http://www.lindsays-logic.blogspot.com/2014/12/sheltering-children-what-it-is-really.html
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Children should not be seen as soldiers you need to train for battle.
Educate your children, protect your children, teach them to make smart decisions and think for themselves but don’t shelter them as a means to indoctrinate them.
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It’s an analogy. I am not interested in marrying a woman who views children the way you do, but that’s because I am playing for a particular team.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+18:37&version=NASB
John 18:37New American Standard Bible (NASB)
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
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You see children as a means to an end.
I see children as individuals, so does my husband. I’m happy that you wouldn’t want to marry someone like me. It makes me feel so much better about my choices.
I will lead a happy life, with good morals and children who have the ability to think.
You will not. So good luck, you’ll need it.
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Thank you for telling me that I will fail, and bragging about you will be happy and successful.
Where do the morals that you want to teach your children come from? Why don’t you name one, and then tell us how it came to be.
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Lindsay,
What about the other kids at a public school? Are they supposed to wait until they are adults before they see a Christian (since many homeschoolers attend Christian or online colleges too)? How is hiding your kids shining a light into the world? My kids know right from wrong and we talk to them about morality. Again, they have contrasting examples right in front of them. They can compare one of their friend’s families, whose mother moves in and out of various men’s houses, to our family. We also bring this friend to church activities where she hears the Gospel and learns Bible verses. If I took my kids out of public schools, she would never have met them.
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There are other ways to witness to non-Christian kids in the community without putting your own kids at risk. For example, you could have your children involved in sports at the local school or on a community team. That way they can interact and start practicing their witnessing skills without being immersed in false teaching all day. Or you might start a community group dedicated to some other interest like ham radio or quilting or debate and invite kids from the public schools. Or you might try knocking on doors and sharing the gospel with their parents or having a bus route to pick up kids in the neighborhood for church services at your church. There are any number of other ways to evangelize non-Christian children that don’t involve sending your own children into public schools to be taught anti-god philosophy 5 days a week.
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this is why i want to home school my kids. I went to public school and my favorite teacher in highscool was a lesbian communist so it is not surprising i came out if school a leftist and voted for Obama in the first election (I’ve repented since then! ). My Christian family members were not able to give me good reasons to believe in Christianity and i would have lost my faith if it weren’t for apologetics.
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It really is crucial to know where to look in the natural world and in history to find evidence for a Creator and Designer who has revealed himself in history, as well. You certainly can’t count on the public schools to teach you about cosmic fine-tuning or biologically functional protein sequencing probabilities or the Cambrian explosion or the minimal facts case for the resurrection.
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WK,
I know several nice, kind, respectful, single ladies that were homeschooled and would love to homeschool their kids. They don’t meet your STEM requirements because, in my experience, most homeschool families are YEC, which denies cosmological and fine-tuning evidence, and the girls are encouraged to go into a feminine profession.
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YEC doesn’t deny cosmological and fine-tuning evidence. Those things are evidence of a beginning and of purpose in the universe, regardless of how you interpret the age of the earth.
It is true that some YEC homeschoolers are reluctant to send their children to secular universities lest they be corrupted. And since finding a Christian university that offers STEM degrees is difficult (especially if you’re looking for one that is YEC and affordable), many homeschooled young women either skip college to focus on building homemaking skills or go to a Christian college and study non-STEM fields.
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Yes they are. If you lack the comprehension skills to understand that I don’t know what I can say to you. Besides read a few more books.
There is no overwhelming proof for any religion, don’t be so arrogant to discredit others. Unless there was to be undeniable evidence for just one religion then all regions are equally valid and invalid. Therefore individuals can find truth in each of these religions as they are all valid. Until the day that one religion is proven true (which like proving a religion is not true is nearing impossibility) than there is no one truth.
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Let’s not talk in vague assertions and personal attacks (lack of comprehension skills, read more books) as you did above.
Let’s be specific.
Muslims think Jesus did not die on the cross, and Christians think that he did.
Can both of them be right? A simple yes or no is fine.
Jews think that the universe came into being, and Buddhists think that it did not.
Can both of them be right? A simple yes or no is fine.
Also, you claim that no religion is proven true. Do you realize that you are saying that every religion that claims to be true is therefore wrong, and that you are the only one who is right – that no religion is proven true. Please explain how you arrived at the conclusion that none of the religions in the world are true.
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Amelia,
“Unless there was to be undeniable evidence for just one religion then all regions are equally valid and invalid.”
Religions can be validated or falsified by weighing the claims and the evidence for/against those claims. Are you saying this isn’t true?
“there is no one truth.”
If there is no one truth, how can it be true that there is no one truth?
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You apparently have never looked into the evidence for various religions. Perhaps you’re more interested in feeling good than in looking for truth?
It’s actually quite easy to falsify many religions. Buddhism, for example, claims the universe is eternal while science provides compelling evidence that the universe had a beginning. So, since the universe has a beginning, Buddhism is false. It doesn’t reflect reality.
Mormonism is extremely easy to falsify. It makes all kinds of crazy claims about history that are contradicted by the evidence.
Islam claims that women are intellectually inferior to men. That’s pretty easy to refute.
These are just a few examples. There’s lots more. Falsifying a religion is fairly simple. All you need is a claim that can be tested in the real world and then to look for evidence that it is either true or false. But all world religions except Christianity fail.
On the other hand, Christianity’s claims are backed up by lots of empirical and philosophical and logical support. Not every claim is supported by outside evidence, but enough of them are that believing Christianity to be true is rational and reasonable. And Christianity makes sense of many aspects of life that are otherwise confusing or difficult to explain.
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