Did you see the post that Apologia put up on Friday, April 12? I didn’t see it until Sunday, but now that I have seen it, I have to speak up. I don’t feel that the Mormons were treated fairly nor in a Christ-like manner. I am not Mormon, but I don’t feel that what was done was right.
First of all, Apologia used 1 Peter 3:15 to back their direction to stand up for their beliefs. I agree with this point; however, what followed did not read like they were standing up for their beliefs. Rather, it read like a bashing of the Mormon religion.
Second of all, Apologia does not list a denominational orientation on their website. There are homeschool companies that do not sell to certain denominations. It is not listed as such, but it is spread throughout that denomination. However, I have never heard this about Apologia. Apologia is presented as a homeschool company that provides for all.
I’m going to stop and say that I am not addressing denominational differences in this post. My concern is the manner in which this was all handled. You see, this reminds me of something that happened when I was in college, and I found out more about the story at a much later time.
The summer before I went to college, I lived with my father on a Native American Reservation. What many don’t realize is that the reservations in this country are the forgotten mission field. Anyway, there was a very strong “anti-Christian” movement going on at the time, and I’m not talking about the religions that were mentioned by Apologia. I was fortunate to work with three VERY different denominations who worked as ONE with a common goal of spreading God’s word to the Native American children. These groups included the following: Baptists, Mormons, and Seventh Day Adventists. I don’t think you could really get a much more varied group, but we were working against a common foe with an agreement to focus on God and not denominational differences. It was almost 20 years later that I heard more about the story.
When we lived in Flagstaff, I met a Native American woman in her 40s, I think. She and I talked about the problems that occurred when I was in college. She told me that things were better but that they were working together to teach their parents about God. This intrigued me. Why would the parents not know about God? That’s when the Native American woman told me that it was because of the early Christian missionaries. You see, these early Christian missionaries told the Natives that their native language was satanic, and they could not speak it any longer if they wanted to know God. Do you think you would WANT to know God if your language wasn’t acceptable to Him? A WHOLE generation was turned against God because of this.
This story saddened me. How could we as people of Christ go and turn people away? Why not follow John 15:12 above? “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”
I’m not saying that Apologia can’t have their beliefs either. I’m saying that it seems that this should have been approached another way. For starters, it would be nice if Apologia made a denominational statement in their “About” page. Right now, they list some beliefs, but I have to wonder about them after reading the last two.
- “We are to have compassion for the lost and share our faith in Christ.”
- “We are to love others as Christ loves us.”
I missed that loving feeling in Apologia’s post. Also, Mr. Carman made it very clear that he views Mormons as being lost. Why not show compassion in the post? What I saw was someone bashing the Mormon faith and then saying that he wasn’t bashing it.
I will be the first one to say that I am not perfect. I’m not a perfect Christian, not a perfect mother, not a perfect homeschool teacher, etc. I also don’t expect perfection in anyone else either. There has only been one perfect person walk this earth, and He died on the cross for our sins.
I feel that an apology from Apologia is in order. Not for standing up for their beliefs but for the hatred with which they did it. You may state that you didn’t see the hatred, but how can you miss the ONLY completely capitalized (screaming) title on the blog? I honestly don’t know what denomination the Apologia leaders are a part of, but anyone who is of a different faith should probably be wondering if their religion is up next. I know I am wondering…
But as for purchasing Apologia curriculum, my husband and I feel that we can’t support a group that doesn’t state their beliefs up front and then comes back to bash another religion. We will not be purchasing Apologia curriculum in the future.
Leave a Reply