What About 'Death Education?'

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call, here is this week’s question: Dear Dave and Tom: For all of your helpful insights and discernment into the beliefs and practices of the world that are having a destructive influence upon Christians, I haven’t read or heard you mention anything about “Death Education.” presently being taught in our public schools. Wouldn’t you agree that this is a blatant affront to the gospel?

Tom:

Dave, this person is right, I don’t remember us dealing with it, although I do think we have something going out, it will probably be out before we broadcast this. But the idea is, we want to teach, you know, like sex education, okay. We want to get them over the issues or help them to deal with the issues, and so on. They do amazing things, they talk about suicide and how that’s not so bad, they talk about how this world with all its problems, you know, there must be something better out there, or nothing, which might be better than having your problems. They even get into some religious issues, such as reincarnation, you know, well, if we didn’t get it right this time, and maybe it will be better the next time around, so on and so forth. But the other aspect of this is it’s not just taught in social studies, but maybe in home economics, wherever they can plug it in, history and so on.But I couldn’t agree more, this is an affront to the gospel. It is appointed unto men once to die, and then comes the judgment, and if there’s no problem after death, then we don’t need a Saviour, we don’t need a gospel.

Dave:

Yeah, it’s anti-Christian, anti-Biblical, anti-God. In other words, it denies everything that the Bible tells you about death, and as you said, judgment, Hebrews:9:28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
See All..., It is appointed unto man once to die, after this the judgment.No, no, they’ll tell you, Death is not so bad, we want you to feel comfortable about it.

Tom:

You’re just drawn to this white light and---

Dave:

Well, we’re not sure what really happens. Tom, this reminds me of a book I read some years ago. The title of it was, Am I Going To Heaven? The author was a Catholic nun, Sister Mary McGeady, and she was the director of Covenant House. They have places all across the country for helping the young people, and they report that they help about 31,000 people to mend their lives every year. And, really, the feature story in there was about a young lady names Michelle, 17-year-old girl. She’s about to die and let me just quote what Sister McGeady said: “She tried to lift her head up from the hospital bed pillow but she couldn’t. ‘Sister, I need to know something, she whispered, please tell me something.’ ‘Anything, Michelle’, I said, ‘What do you want to know?’ ‘Sister, am I going to heaven, even a street kid like me?’ I bent down and hugged her, and told her that I knew God had a special place for her. I told her how much I loved her, and how much I believed in her. She cried in my arms, and whispered, ‘Thank you.’ The next day Mishelle died in her sleep.” Now Tom, that’s not the gospel, that’s not helping this young girl. It’s tragic that here is someone dying and they want to know---well, it’s like the Philippian jailer. He cries out to Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? How can I get to heaven? Paul says, Well, you know, we love you and we know God has a special place for you, it’s all going to be okay, jailer. But what are they going to tell them in this death counseling session? They’re not going to give them the gospel. They’re not going to tell them what you’ve said, “appointed unto men once to die, after this the judgment.” But they are going to give them some song and dance, you know, or just some ideas.

Tom:

Feel good.

Dave:

Yeah, right, makes them feel good, comfort them.

Tom:

Yeah, ease them away into a Christ-less eternity. But Dave, it’s worse than that. I have 5 young children, well, not young, they are young adults, and it’s hard for kids and when I see them being given a rationale to move them toward suicide, toward death, it just breaks my heart. Some of the reactions of some of the students who have gone through these classes, they think they are helping the world, or it’s possibly a way of helping the world because of over population. I mean, they are given all kinds of rationales, they don’t need that, Dave, you know that, they need the gospel, they need hope, not death.

Dave:

Well, after all, death is not that bad---then why not commit suicide? You know, I’ve got finals facing me, and problems and they give them suicide counseling, that it’s not so bad, and so forth. Tom, it’s satanic, it’s evil and it’s incredible, but it is happening in the United States of America, and in our school system, that supposedly began with God.

Tom:

Well, the scripture says that Satan goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. This is just one more technique of his to devour the human race.