Joshua Luther, Candidate Escambia County School Board District 5
August 17, 2024
Current occupation
Jack of all Trades
Previous occupations:
Residential Construction Builder
Civic, church and other community involvement
I am an active member of a local Reformed Baptist Church
Education
Graduate of Luther Homeschool
Previous offices held, previously sought
N/A
Why are you running for the Escambia County School Board and what qualifies you for this position?
I’m running for school board because Christian money is being extorted to propagate the agnostic faith. Christian teachers are banned from praising their King, and as if Jesus were but a fairy tale character, only the children are allowed to speak his name. As America was founded as a Protestant nation, some semblance of justice remains. Our consolation prize for having our money taken to fund the abomination called “public education” is that we get to elect a representative to manage the nightmare. I’m running to represent the true Christian faith and practice damage control by cutting back on spending, fighting against the perversion that the godless have brought in, and advocating for children to be raised in the fear of the Lord, that fear being the beginning of knowledge.
As I was not raised to be a heathen in the state schools but rather raised by godly parents in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, I am more equipped to fight for truth and justice than those still using the world’s counterfeits of these foundational principles. It is the duty of men to resist the wicked, and I plan to do so heartily until the day I die.
What are the three most important issues facing the Escambia County Public Schools?
The problems we face with poor behavior and academic failure stem from the central issue of godlessness. It has been accurately said, “No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point.” We shouldn’t expect children to care about respecting their teachers and peers when we refuse to acknowledge that all honor and value ultimately originate solely in God.
Regarding academics, we have indoctrinated children to “follow your heart” so we should not be surprised when they do. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) People don’t need a high school degree to “have a good time,” but they may need one to subdue the earth to the Glory of God. This is a classic example of reaping what you sow. If you sow purpose, you reap ambition; but if you sow meaninglessness, you reap indifference.
What is the school district going right at the current time, and what needs to be fixed?
I appreciate that we don’t completely confine children to sit at a desk and memorize curriculum, but we need to give even more time (during normal school hours) to sports and physical activity and let kids be kids. Children, especially little boys, were not made to be chained to a desk and then drugged when they do not submit to this confinement. They were made to run around, fall down, and get back up again to run some more.
“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.” (Zechariah 8:5)
Furthermore we the people need to get our children engaged in productive endeavors (also known as work). General success comes about through discipline, which is something that isn’t acquired through being spoon-fed seemingly worthless facts.
How would you address teacher pay, recruiting and retention and attract and retain more qualified candidates to Escambia County?
I would like to address recruitment and retention by teaching children that they are expected to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love their neighbor as themselves. When we expect and encourage children to be saints-in-training rather than little narcissists, then we will have created a much more pleasant work environment.
Additionally, if we free Christian teachers to talk about and praise King Jesus, then our schools will be attractive to teachers who want to equip the next generation to subdue the world to the glory of God.
Without these essential changes, we are like the man who loves apples but not apple trees. He has cut down his orchard and is now wondering why there’s a shortage of apples. We shouldn’t be surprised that we have issues when we’ve rejected God’s Words of Life.
How do we address issues surrounding book challenges?
We need to protect the hearts and minds of our children and pursue very strict standards that are in submission to the wisdom and principles found in the Word of God. Furthermore, it would be wise to shut down the flow of books into our school libraries until we have replaced the gatekeepers who, in hatred of God’s Law, have been bringing in the filth.
There’s really not much to say about this issue unless you’re trying to make the irrational moral leap of trying to justify having state-sponsored porn in our school libraries.
“Nine times out of ten it is the coarse word that condemns an evil, and the refined word that excuses it.”
G.K. Chesterton
How should cell phones/devices in schools be addressed?
We should begin moving to having no phone usage from the time school begins till it lets out. Most adults can’t handle this package of distraction, and so we shouldn’t burden our children with it. Additionally, we shouldn’t burden school employees with children suffering from phone-induced distraction.
In relation to school-owned devices available for student use, we have managed to teach the basics without devices, and I would like to return to the basics, and I lean toward the basic methods of teaching them. But, insofar as we keep them we should do our best to secure them to operate strictly on a whitelist.
What are the unique issues facing District 5 schools in Escambia County? What makes District 5 different?
District 5 is very large and could benefit greatly from small, localized Christian schools being started by the different communities.
Also, especially in Century, many children come from fatherless homes and would be very much helped by teachers who could offer them hope and security by mentoring them in God’s vision for life, family, and community. Fatherless boys and young men desperately need godly masculine role models in their lives who are free to share with them the saving and hope-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us, “I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness.” (John 12:46) The answer to darkness is not more government programs but rather the Savior, Jesus Christ.
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