Mucked Up Life
22 October 2008 Hits:3166
Melbourne has been shocked this week by the out of control antics of students from Xavier College. Balaclava-clad students stormed the school; a student was injured in a game of murder ball. Letterboxes were damaged, a car was jumped on and residents surrounding the school were terrified.
But why are we shocked or surprised by this? We live in a relativistic society where moral laws and attitudes are being eroded; where it’s okay to show pretty well anything on TV; and where movies depict the grossest violence, language and morality. We can’t have it both ways. If longstanding principles and Christian values are removed then so will the restraint that such principles and values bring.
But please let’s not typecast all young people as thugs and hoons. And let’s not just blame the schools for this although the education system is partly to blame. The ultimate responsibility comes back to parents who need to take charge of their kids; teach them well and discipline them firmly and lovingly. It’s no good sending your kids to a Christian or church-based school (such as Xavier) if the same values are not lived out and taught at home.
All this is summed up so well in the following poem that was written by a 15 year old student from Geelong. It’s called The New School Prayer:
Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That’s no offense – it’s a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God’s name is prohibited by the state.
We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They’ve outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King.
It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong,
We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.
We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.
It’s scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school’s a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Rob Buckingham
Senior Minister
