Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

When Christian schools go bad.

One of the older and more well-known private schools in Australia is Methodist Ladies’ College in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, founded in 1882. As the name indicates, it was originally a Methodist school, following in the tradition of Methodism’s founder, the evangelical Christian John Wesley (1703-1791).

It seems pretty clear that not only is it no longer following the values and beliefs of Wesley, but it is no longer following the values and beliefs of Jesus Christ. A quick look at their website shows us nothing about Christ, and everything about trendy woke values.

One example of this making headlines recently gives us a very clear indication of where the school is at. As a report in the Sunday Herald Sun says:

Students at Methodist Ladies College say they were told to remove cross necklaces at the Christian school for fear of offending other students. Pupils at a leading religious private girls’ school are allowed to wear furry ears, tails and rainbow-themed items, but not Christian religious crosses for fear of offending others, students say.

Senior students at Methodist Ladies College in Kew have spoken up about what they say is “religious discrimination” against the open display of crosses on a necklace at the Christian school. One student who spoke to the Herald Sun on behalf of a small group of year 12s said girls are told to “take off their crosses by teachers when other students complain they are offensive to non-Christians”.

“My friend was wearing a cross and there was another girl in our class who said she found the cross really offensive and so the teacher told her to take it off,” she said. “My friend’s parents, who are very religious, tried to get answers from the school and were told ‘it’s not a good look for the school’.

“This is supposed to be a religious school but they are listening to minority opinion rather than mainstream religious students,” she said. Students have called the move against the open display of crosses ‘religious discrimination’.

Secularised

Hmm, the cross is, of course, the premier symbol of the Christian faith, but this once-Christian institution does not want it to be seen anywhere. But radical homosexual signage and symbols seem to be peachy keen. One does not have to look far on their site to see that it is now a proudly secular and politically correct outfit. Consider this, for example:

Our inclusive and welcoming environment

MLC values the diversity of knowledge, thought, and experience and believes that a welcoming and inclusive culture is important for learning and teaching and facilitates a positive staff, student, and alumnae experience.

We learn and work in solidarity with and from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Australia’s First Peoples and as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, sky and water.

We foster a safe community that celebrates diversity, uniqueness, and respect for differences of people of every faith, ethnicity, age, ability, neurodiversity, culture, language, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation.

Oh dear. Hey, if they want to be just like any other worldly and non-Christian institution, they have a right to go that route. But then they should drop all pretence about being a Methodist school, let alone a Christian school. The first thing it should do, of course, is to drop the word “Methodist”.

All they are now doing is pushing false advertising while living off the school’s former heritage and prestige as an important private Christian school. No real deal Methodist or any other biblical Christian could ever condone or accept the values that it now affirms and celebrates.

And if the school today is indeed open to “people of every faith”, have they also banned all Muslim students from wearing or displaying any distinctly Islamic symbols and the like? Are things like burqas now off-limits? What about any Jewish students? Must they remove their kippah and other headwear? Will Sikhs have to abandon their turbans?

The list goes on and on. Or is it only Christians who are subject to such religious discrimination? As is almost always the case in the West today, all worldviews, beliefs, religions, and ideologies are just fine – except Christianity. And when you get so-called Christian schools hating on Christianity, then you know we are in really bad shape.

For any true Christians still at MLC, they need to insist that they be able to show their faith in public just like any other group. As one social media friend just said about this, “Girls, put LARGER crosses on.” Yes, exactly right, Cynthia. Now more than ever, Christian students there should be even more determined to let their light shine and not be intimidated by woke cancel culture – especially at a school with such a heritage as this.

Attrition

Speaking of which, if these woke wonders running MLC today actually knew anything about Wesley, they would know that he would be rolling in his grave at what they are up to. Consider just a few quotes of his. As he once remarked,

“What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.”

Yep. This shameful capitulation by MLC did not happen overnight. They would have been caving in and compromising for decades now – for generations. That is how all once-Christian churches, denominations, schools and other institutions tend to go when they apostatise. They are white-anted from within as they embrace the beliefs and values of the surrounding secular culture while abandoning their own Christian ones.

We see this happening time and time again, where once great Christian groups are no longer anything like what they once were. Does anyone go to the YMCA today for explicitly religious reasons? Most folks today do not even know what the acronym stands for: Young Men’s Christian Association.

Many organisations that are seen as being fully secular today had a Christian founding, such as the Red Cross (why do you think the word “cross” is there?). And many great Christian educational institutions such as Yale and Harvard began as places to train Christian pastors and missionaries. They certainly no longer are anything like that today.

Another quote from John Wesley that is quite fitting here is this:

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.”

That is EXACTLY what we see has happened to MLC. That was a prophetic word for them and so many others. Abandon the original “doctrine, spirit, and discipline”, and soon enough you will get to the place where you tell Christian students that their crosses are offensive!

Another version of the above quote goes like this:

“My fear is not that our great movement, known as the Methodists, will eventually cease to exist or one day die from the earth. My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great.”

Christians need the power of Christ to be effective, and that means having the Holy Spirit within. But when organisations and their leadership lack the power of the Spirit, and instead simply parrot worldly values and beliefs, then you have a dead religious organisation.

Whether MLC is now too far gone to return to its original mandate is a moot point. But as I say, if it has fully and finally washed its hands of its Wesleyan roots, fine. But then it should come out and say so. It could change its name to Melbourne Ladies College if they like, thus still retaining the MLC.

But it should stop pretending that it has anything whatsoever in common with John Wesley and his vital movement of centuries ago. Shame on you MLC.,

___

Editor’s note: MLC has issued a statement about the news reports.

___

Republished with thanks to CultureWatch.