Freedom Come Rain

News that Dr. Dana Morris Dixon and her team at the Ministry of Education were rolling out a programme of prayer in schools seemed like a welcomed response to the many calls from Christians to spare devotions in the institutions. This National School Support Prayer and Empowerment Outreach Initiative, at first, appeared to be a very good idea, which is being done in collaboration with The Sons of the Father Men's Movement and other faith-based partners. Since the incident at Oberlin High School in rural St. Andrew a few years ago, when children were falling out in the spirit or manifesting demonic presence, questions about the relevance of devotion in schools have been swirling. In fact, the former education minister suggested that there was need for a protocol to manage worship at the institutions. Since that time, the matter has remained unsettled, with some schools abandoning the tradition completely. Last week’s bulletin from the education ministry, outlining the new prayer initiative, did not name the ‘other faith-based’ partners involved. One can only assume that since Sons of the Father’s is a declared Christian entity, the other undeclared partners may not necessarily be of the same faith. Faith-based organisations are defined asentities that are affiliated with or inspired by religious beliefs.They are characterised by their missions reflecting the social values of a specific faith.These organisations may be directly affiliated with a religious group or have a historical connection to churches, synagogues, mosques, or other undefined ‘altars’. According to the education ministry, this school prayer programme seeks to enhance the spiritual and moral fabric of educational institutions through structured bi-weekly worship. The students will sing the National Anthem, prayers will be offered, and ‘spiritual nuggets’ shared, before closing the 15-minute session with the reciting of the National Pledge. The ministry’s missive spoke of ‘spiritual nuggets’ but stayed clear of referring to the teaching of Biblical truths. This leaves the door wide open for ‘nuggets’ from other faiths outside of the Judeo-Christian foundation and underpinnings of the nation to enter the fray. In the past, the ministry has opined that the CXC religious education curriculum demands that students be exposed to other faiths; hence, it had the responsibility to ensure that there is no open bias towards Christianity in the tutelage. No one has to tell the minister nor the technocrats under her that worship and tutelage are horses of vastly different colours and nature. This prayer initiative proposes to expound values such as patriotism, discipline, and personal responsibility in students. The organisers say they intend to promote national unity and strengthen the schools' moral and spiritual foundation and positively impact student identity, purpose, character, and behaviour. They are not seeking to bring the students into right relationship with God, nor for them to have a closer walk with Jesus Christ. These glaring omissions must raise questions in the collective mind of the church as to the motive of the ministry. It is clear that the role of the church in the public school system has long been diminished and that righteousness has been downed from its lofty place in the hallowed halls of learning. Government’s heavy hand in education has curtailed corporate devotions, reformed Bible Knowledge to Religious Education, and removed large chunks of the moral fibre that they are now seeking to replace. The displacement of devotions also saw to the decline in academic standards, performance, and discipline. When God and righteousness are removed from any system, the door swings wide open for the enemy to step in and implement his plans for its destruction and the annihilation of generations. For decades, governments, pushed and pulled by experts and exigencies, manipulated the school system to arrive at a place where it can only deliver an uneducated mass of graduates who can be mobilised on a whim by social media influencers, dancehall proponents, and political parties with boxed lunches and chump change. Year in, year out, thousands of students walk across prettily decorated platforms in overly expensive graduation ceremonies at the end of the school year, with no Christian values at heart, very few, if any, passes in the basic CSEC subjects, no useful training in any vocation and totally unprepared for the world of work. Too many of the last two generations of Jamaicans have been whisked through the resource-starved school system with zero evidence of an education, versed in indiscipline and crudeness, resentful of righteousness, and with absolutely no clear path to advancement. In recent years, more than 5,260 students, or16.2%of those who sat CSEC subjects, failed to achieve a passing grade, according to data prepared by the Programme, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of theeducationministry. Quite a few students who were promoted through the system to arrive at fifth form were refused exam entry, as they were not qualified to sit even one subject. Many of the students were ringside witnesses to frequent squabbles and fights on school compounds or at bus stops. Violent incidents involving teachers and parents made their way to viral social media posts. Gang-styled standoffs on school premises were indicative of the presence and deadly influence of thuggery among the population of pupils and the outright rebellion against Godliness. One of the most powerful weapons against the education system was launched by the pompous political class itself last year. From their high seats in Gordon House, politicians effectively taught students, teachers, parents, and janitors that the education system was worth peanuts when they awarded themselves a massive pay hike and paid the teachers monkey money to desk-pounding applause. This move essentially riveted into the heads of all and sundry, especially our children, that education occupies the lowest rungs of the nation’s social ladder and is best not to climb it. For years, just about half of the number of students who graduate each year exit the secondary level of their education to join the ranks of parenthood, unchurched, undiscipled, and determined to continue a cycle that places untold pressure on the sagging social safety net. If those tasked to manage the education system do not possess the wisdom to work out the equation that where God (aka the Sovereign Lord) does not preside, success does not reside, they should resign and find useful work for their hands elsewhere. While the government clearly has no formula to rescue the failing education system, the church always knew and still knows that education, like wisdom, begins with God. Interfaith worship is not of God. He has made this crystal clear; there should be no other god but Him. Not Allah, not Krishna, not Baal, Baphomet, or Dagon, none whatsoever. You cannot remove God from schools and expect successful outcomes. Wisdom preserves the life of him who has it, and it all begins with the fear of God. The education ministry and the plurality of its ‘faith-based partners’ appear to have no such fear. Should we continue to trust them with our children?

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