The question of whether public school is a sin came up, and I thought I’d post a couple of good links and my answer to the question.

There are several reasons why public school is a sin, and some of the reasons are covered in this awesome article.

I would like to focus on the one point among dozens that public school is funded by theft, and it is sinful to accept those stolen funds by sending your kids to school.

Romans 13:1-7 defines the only job of the government as punishing evil. It is sinful for the government to educate children, build roads, issue currency, license barbers, provide welfare, and on and on. They can collect tax for their legitimate, biblical purpose, and that is it.

If we were to relent and allow the government to do all those other things, why can’t churches or families step outside their bounds to carry out punishment against criminals?

Also, 1 Samuel 8:15-17 says that any tax over 10% is an enslavement of the people. Taxing more than 10% is idolatry, because 10% belongs to God–not the government. They are to do with less than 10%.

And schools are funded by property tax, which is even more clearly unbiblical. “A property tax is not only problematic, but is not permitted in Scripture, and should in fact be considered unbiblical. Only God has absolute ownership of property; He delegated this to individuals, and gave us a commandment against property theft in all forms (Ex. 20:15; Lev. 19:11,13; Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Prov. 22:28; 23:10). God did not give the civil State any claim of ownership in individuals’ land. It has none, and for it to claim such a right is to defy God. And what is a property tax except a claim of partial ownership in the land? It is a system of feudal tenure in which the State claims a percentage of the value of your property, yearly, for the sole privilege of living on land under the particular jurisdiction. While this type of tax has deep historical roots, it is also deeply unbiblical. And though this tax has historically been collected and spent at the county level—thus demonstrating how the County historically was the fundamental unit of governmental authority in this country—it is nevertheless an unbiblical form of taxation and should be replaced with a better form in every place in which it is practiced.” Quoted from Joel McDurmon in this article.