Christians called to mass exodus from public schools

By Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 1/2/2009

Critics of America's public school system have launched a new effort highlighting the need for Christians to exit the system.

The initiative -- dubbed The Call to Dunkirk (video link) -- was launched by Dr. Bruce Shortt, author of The Harsh Truth About Public Schools; Rev. Voddie Baucham, author of Family Driven Faith: Doing What It Takes to Raise Sons and Daughters Who Walk with God; and the founder and director of the Exodus Mandate Project, retired U.S. Army Chaplain Lt. Col. E. Ray Moore.

Moore explains the proposal. "The Call to Dunkirk is a special emergency effort to try to get other ministries, churches, pastors, and the major Christian right and pro-family movement to join with us and the other K-12 home-school ministries in rescuing the children from the public schools during the year 2009," he says.

Although Christians have fought other aspects of the culture war such as homosexual "marriage," Moore contends they are losing the fight when it comes to the education of their children.

"The real target of the liberals and the left has always been the children. And we can see in California where the conservatives won Proposition 8 -- the vote [was] 52 to 48 [percent] -- but...when Proposition 22 was voted on [in March 2000], they had a 61-percent margin of victory. So the culture is turning against Christianity and against the pro-family movement primarily because we've allowed our children to be educated in their schools," he adds. "They're converting our children; we're not converting them."

The Call to Dunkirk gets its name from the historical WWII event when the Allied forces of England and France were run out of Europe, but ordinary citizens rallied to their aid and used their own boats to help more than 300,000 soldiers escape safely in order to return again on D-Day.

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From Focus on the Family

Lawmakers Rush to Defend Christmas

by Jennifer Mesko, managing editor

U.S. House and Wisconsin Assembly take up resolutions to call it what it is.

Lawmakers have had enough of the "holidays," and they are reminding America the "holiday" that is coming is called Christmas.

In Wisconsin, the Assembly will vote today to call the balsam fir in the Capitol rotunda a Christmas tree. And in Washington, the U.S. House will vote today on a resolution by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, seeking the official recognition of Christmas.

"Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed bills proclaiming Hinduism and Islam great religions of the world at the time of their major celebrations," King told Fox News. "My resolution offers the same honor to the Christian faith."

The House resolution: "(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world; (2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide; (3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith; (4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization; (5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide; and (6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.”

The Wisconsin state tree "celebrates one holiday, and that holiday is Christmas," sponsor Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, told Fox News. "It was called a Christmas tree from 1916 until 1985, when political correctness took over, and then we decided it would become a holiday tree. But what it really is, is a Christmas tree, and there's nothing really wrong with that."

Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said he couldn't agree more.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong, constitutionally speaking, with government acknowledging the real name for this season," he said. "As John Adams famously stated: 'Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.'

"The First Amendment was designed to protect and nurture our religious expression, not prohibit it."

DR. DOBSON DEFENDS CHRISTMAS
Listen to Monday's broadcast. To find a station in your area or to listen online, visit our broadcast page.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Stuart Shepard, director of digital media for Focus on the Family Action, imagines a brand-new holiday in his whimsical Stoplight video commentary.

TAKE ACTION
Thank Rep. Steve King for defending Christmas. You can find contact information in our Action Center.

BUY A CHRISTMAS BUTTON
Let others know you support Christmas.

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