Colin Gunn - Indoctrination: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity

First printing: August 2012

Copyright 2012 by Joaquin Fernandez and Colin Gunn. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write:

Master Books, P.O. Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638

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ISBN: 978-0-89051-685-0

eISBN: 978-1-61458-262-5

Library of Congress Number: 2012942446

Content Disclaimer: IndoctriNation contains writings from 30 contributors. The views expressed by these authors are solely their own and are not necessarily shared in their entirety by IndoctriNations directors, producers, writers, the editor of this book, or the other authors featured herein.

Cover design by Nawelle Noor; page layout by Ryan Glick

Taken from Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers by John Eidsmoe (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1987). Used by permission.

All scripture quotes, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

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Special thanks first and foremost to Jesus Christ, our loving and merciful Savior, who is the source of all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and without whom we would all be lost to the utter vanity of our own foolish thoughts.

We would like to acknowledge the following families and organization for graciously opening their personal libraries to us for research materials: The Phillip Bradrick, Barry Daming, Doug Fletcher, Sean Gill, Rick Muse, and Chris Young families, as well as Scott and David Brown at the NCFIC. We love you all dearly and are so grateful for the help you extended to us in support of this project.

Thank you to all the contributing authors and publishers for allowing us to use your work. This project would not have been possible without your support.

We dedicate this book to our dear wives, the co-educators of our children, Monica Fernandez, Emily Gunn, and Sarah LaVerdiere: thank you for your love, patience, and wise counsel; you are truly precious gifts from the Lord and your worth is indeed far above rubies

Contents

Filmmakers Notes

The Big Yellow School Bus

Colin Gunn

In my mind, there is no better emblem of this madness than the big yellow school bus. That is why it played the part of the antagonist in our film. Colin Gunn

Colin Gunn is an award-winning writer/director/producer and accomplished animator. His early documentary films include Shaky Town and The Monstrous Regiment of Women . His most recent films are IndoctriNation and Captivated . He was also executive producer of Act Like Men . As an actor, Mr. Gunn played Wally the Mailman in the award-winning feature film The Widows Might , which premiered in U.S. theaters in April, 2009. Originally from Hamilton, Scotland, Mr. Gunn lives in Waco, Texas, with his wife and eight children .

T he Bible says, By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (Matt. 18:16). Thats simply what documentaries do. They bring forth evidence and establish truth by presenting an audience with a collection of witnesses. The power of documentaries often lies in bringing the experiences of others to an audience that might not be readily persuaded by a book or sermon.

Its always the eyewitnesses to an event that can present the most powerful testimony theres something about looking into someones eyes and hearing their story. In the film IndoctriNation , and in this companion book, youll see how persuasive those testimonies can be, and how moving and meaningful it is to hear firsthand stories of Christian educators working in the government schools.

I could try to explain to you the conflict of being a Christian teacher in a public school, but Christian teacher Sarah LaVerdiere can make that argument with power and authenticity. She was the teacher that everyone wanted for their child. She loved the kids, and the kids loved her, yet her damning indictment of the schools is made with irrefutable honesty.

Likewise, Mike Metarko capably stands up against the salt and light argument, offering little hope to the parents who argue that their child will be that successful missionary to the schools. If an elementary school principal had little success, what hope has little Johnny?

Both Sarah and Mike lived their story. What they say is authentic, and the audience knows it. After all, they sacrificed their careers to deliver their message to you!

Again, I could express to you my opinion that parents are accountable for the spiritual and physical risk their children face in the public schools. Thats my opinion, and you could take it or leave it. But when you hear the testimony of Brian Rohrbough, theres no debate. Brian lost his son in the Columbine shooting, and he leaves every parent with the unforgettable words, I put him there. These are some of the bravest words I have ever heard.

There are many other eyewitnesses in this book who will detail to you the decline of American public education from the inside. From R.C. Murray, who exposes the dumbing down of the curriculum, to Karl Priest, who participated in a textbook war and documents the futile thirty-year struggle to reform the schools in West Virginia. Then we have Robert Ziegler, who powerfully testifies to his ultimate offense in the public schools naming the name of Christ!

Like any good trial, we also need our expert witnesses. I often have to remind people while fielding questions about the film that Im not the expert. Our job as documentarians is to find those experts and interview them. And what an honor it is for us! Many of these men, such as Samuel Blumenfeld, Howard Phillips, and E. Ray Moore, are the founding fathers of the present-day homeschooling movement and are longtime defenders of the liberties that homeschoolers like me now enjoy.

Then let us bring you John Taylor Gatto, the author of The Underground History of American Education . As Teacher of the Year in New York City and New York State, he now stands as both an expert and eyewitness chronicling the disaster that is the public school system. Mr. Gattos memorable quote in our film sums it all up for me. He says, Is there an idea more radical in the history of the human race than turning your children over to total strangers whom you know nothing about, and having those strangers work on your childs mind, out of your sight, for a period of twelve years?... Its a mad idea!