27 July 2021
The basis of a Christian philosophy of Education lies in the fact that children are a gift from God to parents—a gift which is accompanied by the duty of parents to educate those children according to God’s will and Revelation, and a duty for which parents are morally responsible to God (Deut. 6:4-9 and 11:18-21; Ps. 78:1-7; Eph. 6:4).
The superiority of a Christian education over other philosophies of education is evident in the fact that only in the Christian faith the unity of truth is upheld in that all truths find their coherence in the fact that they are all God-given. Facts, derived from the Latin word "facere", which means “to create” ultimately derive their meaning from their Creator. Furthermore, the correct interpretation of facts are intrinsically tied to the recognition of Jesus Christ as Logos, in and through Whom all realities find their origin, meaning and purpose. Thus, in an ideal world, all children should receive a Christian education since all alternatives are substandard and inferior. However, given the current state of Western civilization, this ideal will probably, for the time being, remain elusive. Nonetheless, the Pactum Institute is dedicated to promoting the right of every child to receive the best education and so, wherever this right is threatened, the Institute and its members regard it as our duty to vocally speak up against such violations of children’s rights.
One such case is the recent infringement procedures launched by the European Commission against Hungary because of recent reforms in the country's school curriculum relating to the teaching of sexual content in schools. A recently adopted law in Hungary prohibits transgender and homosexual propaganda in the country’s schools. Such a law is necessary in order to ensure that the values children in Hungarian schools are taught are an extension of the values of their parents at home.
Sadly, these procedures are evidence that the European Commission fundamentally misunderstands the nature of education, which it wrongly regards as the primary responsibility of a central international government (in this particular case Brussels), as opposed to the responsibility of the family. In this regard, this action of the European Commission fundamentally violates the principle of subsidiarity formally enshrined in Article 5(3) of the Treaty on European Union (also known as the Maastricht Treaty) and should therefore be rejected as illegal.
The Pactum Institute, representing members from around the world, including members from member states of the European Union, vehemently rejects the malicious action now taken against Hungary because of a law that protects the basic rights of Hungarian children to receive a Christian education. In solidarity with Hungarian parents and children the Pactum Institute condemns this illegal and malicious action by the European Commission as an attempt to violate the rights of those parents and children.
Furthermore, this contemptable action also highlights the fact that many governments around the world are currently violating children’s rights to basic education by forcing upon them an inferior and anti-Christian education through government school curricula and/or by restricting homeschooling.