The School Counselor and Christian Fundamentalist Families.

Abstract

Several educational options may be availWHAT IS A CHRISTIAN able to Christian fundamentalist families. FUNDAMENTALIST? Home schooling seems to be a growing development, and private Christian schools At the most basic level, Christian fun continue to show slow but steady growth. damentalists believe in what they consider Yet public schools continue to be the most to be the fundamentals of the Christian common, if controversial, choice of the majority faith. These indispensable beliefs include of Christian fundamentalist families. Con(a) the inspiration and infallibility of the troversies abound over book selection for Bible; (b) the deity of Jesus Christ, includ classroom and school libraries, debates ing His virgin birth; (c) the substitutionary often perceived by the general public as atonement of Christ's death (salvation); prompted by fundamentalist parents with (d) theliteralresurrectionofChristfromthe children in the public school system. The dead; and (e) the literal return of Christ in recent gubernatorial election in Virginia the Second Advent (Dobson & Hindson, focused heavily on the candidates' posi1981). For obvious reasons, it is common to tions on such matters as their support of or hear Christian fundamentalists referred to as opposition to the voucher system of school literalists because of their acceptance of the selection, parental input on teacher selecBible and its word-perfectness. tion, and how each candidate felt about A Christian fundamentalist is likely to be witchcraft as represented in such books as distinguished from other Christians by life The Wizard of Oz. style. Although many cultural changes School counselors are called on to work have occurred over the years, traditionally with parents of their students regardless of Christian fundamentalists shun movies, the counselors' religious orientation. This alcohol and tobacco, and secular music article discusses specific issues school counwhile espousing conservative clothing and selors may encounter when working with hair styles. Such lifestyle issues may seem children and parents from a Christian funperipheral at best to the nonfundamentalist damentalist religious orientation. but represent much more to the fundamen talist. Lifestyle reflects not only one's choices but, to the fundamentalist, one's standing before God. Marsden (1983) described it as follows:

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