Why tax-supported school is not the same as tax-supported church

Economics: Lesson 45

Is a tax-supported school different in principle from a tax-supported church?

In theory, it seems that tax-supported schools and churches were supposed to be relatively similar, however in practice, they are not, and in fact, have become total opposites of each other.

The first difference or issue that makes a tax-funded school different from a tax-funded church is who is sovereign. In a church, God is ultimately sovereign, so the state has no real power over it, even though it would like to. Since the beginning of “the church” the state has had to acknowledge that it has no sovereignty over the church, and that has posed a major threat to the state. The state would like nothing more than to have complete power over the church because then nothing would be above it. The government has become corrupt time and time again and is always seeking ways to obtain power, but because the Law of the Land still states that God is sovereign, it has not succeeded. Also, the church is not funded by the government, but tax-exempt. At least this is the case in Canada.

However, since the state has not been able to gain sovereignty over the church just yet, it has found a way to gain sovereignty and therefore power in a different area. In the field of education. Parents that do not wish to take their child’s education into their own hands can send their child off to a tax-funded school. But this is not without its costs. In tax-funded schools, the parents have little to no control over the curriculum, what courses are taught, or how long lessons last each day. In the tax-funded school, the state is sovereign and decides how and when a child is educated.

In conclusion, in principle, a tax-funded school and church are not the same. The church is tax-exempt and the public school is government-funded. But they are each have a different sovereign and that drastically changes how they are run.