In Which Squirrelboy Stands Up for His Faith and I Realize How Many Awesome People We Know

Even though I know many families for whom an education at a religious school has been a great fit and I don't disparage it as a choice, I never seriously considered sending my children to a Christian school. Even when I was homeschooling Squirrelboy for middle school I used very little Christian specific curriculum (and modified what I did use) and purposely joined a homeschool coop that, unlike the majority in our town, welcomes anyone and is not tied into a particular religion, let alone a particular expression of Christianity.

So my kids have spent their entire educational careers either in public school or in a homeschool environment that was purposely diverse in terms of the worldviews of the families involved. Despite the fear I encountered from some of the Christian homeschooling families I got to know during my homeschooling years, neither their teachers nor the curriculum they have been taught have been opposed in any way to our beliefs. In fact, both kids have had some amazing teachers in the public schools who were Christians who specifically believed they were called by God to teach in the public schools. They've also had plenty of great teachers who don't share our faith but have not in any way tried to denigrate it.

That was all absolutely true until last week in Squirrelboy's biology class. Since his high school classes mostly operate on a semester schedule he started some new classes in January. In science, he moved from physics to biology. He had met the biology teacher before, and even interviewed him about the climate strike that he helped organize early in the school year, and had a good impression of him.

Squirrelboy still likes the teacher overall, but he was both annoyed an taken aback by the way the teacher chose to introduce the idea of what is and what is not scientifically verifiable. He put, in the category of scientifically verifiable, Earthquakes, and, in the category of not scientifically verifiable, Angels. Point taken. Angels are part of my cosmology, but I agree that they're not scientifically verifiable. I can think of several less controversial things the teacher could have used given that he lives in the Bible belt, but whatever. If he had stopped there, Squirrelboy would have been only slightly annoyed.

The biology teacher went on to speak against all religion as not scientifically verifiable and therefore wrong. He specifically said the the Bible cannot be believed because it is based only on witness testimony. He apparently even went so far to deny the existence of Jesus as a historical figure. Throughout the class period, Squirrelboy respectfully pushed back against these ideas. The teacher gave no credence to his arguments.

That afternoon, Squirrelboy got into the car feeling pretty angry. We talked it through, and he decided he wanted to write a paper detailing the evidence for at least parts of the Bible being historically verifiable and give it to the teacher, just to show how strongly he feels about this issue. 

I wrote a Facebook post about Squirrelboy's experience, and I was amazed by how many people came out the woodwork to support Squirrelboy and his courage in standing up for his beliefs as well as to disagree with the way the teacher presented this issue. I got everything from comments from Christian friends cheering me on for raising a child with a strong faith to comments from Atheist friends who were appalled that an educator would bring his own religious biases into the classroom in this way. All were supportive.

In addition, many people reached out both to me and directly to Squirrelboy with suggestions for resources Squirrelboy can use for the paper he wants to write. Christian, Jewish, and Atheist friends all suggested resources. That Friday Squirrelboy went to a conference with our church's youth group. One of the adult chaperones came up to him and said, "I have all kinds of thoughts and resources to share with you this weekend." Squirrelboy had set up a meeting with our pastor, and the pastor's wife (who was another chaperone) told me she and her husband were listening to a podcast and at one point he said, "Oh, that's a great thing to bring up during my meeting with Squirrelboy!" (though of course he called him by his real name).

Squirrelboy had his meeting with our pastor yesterday, and he said it was very helpful. Kittygirl and I waited out in the van during the meeting, and the pastor came out with Squirrelboy afterward to summarize what they'd talked about. He also ordered a book for Squirrelboy which will be delivered directly to our house. Who does that?

I'm incredibly proud of Squirrelboy for standing up for his beliefs. It's further proof that, so far, I have managed to do a a pretty good job with Squirrelboy despite the evidence to the contrary I might have decided to take from last week's phone misuse affair. I'm particularly heartened by the fact that I've managed to raise a kid who is learning to own the faith he's being raised in for himself. Due to my own upbringing (which I may, or then again may not, write about another day), I have often felt like I'm stumbling through the dark when it comes to what it means to raise children in a Christian home. Last week's evidence is just the latest piece to suggest that I'm doing a good job after all. 

Trust me, it's not because I'm totally awesome and super spiritual. I give all the credit to God for this one.