The church teaches one thing,
but school teaches another.
What’s a parent to do?

by Ronald Fritz, PhD

What’s going on here?

That was the question a perplexed fifth grader asked me during a recent church service.

She’d been learning about the Moon in her public school science class — and was confused. What she heard in class didn’t align with what I had recently presented to the church. As a part-time lecturer and Christian apologist, I teach how science affirms the truth of God’s Word. One of my talks focused on the Moon — and how its precise characteristics point unmistakably to intentional design.

But in her classroom, she was taught a different narrative — one many of us grew up with: that the Moon formed billions of years ago when a Mars-sized object, nicknamed Theia, collided with Earth. Debris from that impact eventually coalesced into what we now call the Moon. This explanation is known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis or the Theia Theory.

It sounds official. Authoritative.

“This is what the experts say, kids.” And so, we accept it.

But should we?

There’s more to the story than what’s typically presented in public school textbooks.

Since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969, scientists have known the Giant Impact Hypothesis has serious problems. Chief among them: the Moon’s composition doesn’t match what we’d expect from a collision between Earth and another planet. Moon rocks differ significantly from Earth’s — even though the theory predicts a blend of both.

To explain this, secular scientists have proposed increasingly complex alternatives: a series of glancing collisions, multiple impactors, or other exotic scenarios. These are speculative and often contradictory — and none have gained consensus support. So, the original flawed theory stays in place, not because it holds up under scrutiny, but because it fits the preferred framework: one that excludes design.

If secular science were being completely transparent, the Moon origin story might sound more like:

“Honestly, kids, we’ve been trying to figure out how the Moon formed for decades, but we still don’t know.  Its unique orbit, precise tilt, unusual chemistry, and role in stabilizing Earth’s rotation all suggest… design.  It’s as if it were placed there with precision and purpose.”

Exactly.

The Moon plays a vital role in making Earth habitable. It stabilizes our planet’s axial tilt, prevents extreme climate swings, and helps regulate tides. Its size, distance, orbit, and density are finely tuned — far beyond what chance collisions would likely produce. It seems tailor-made for life on Earth.

This young girl had already heard that account of the story. So, when she encountered the simplified classroom version, she wondered,

“What’s going on here?”

A great question.

One might say she had her first brush with indoctrination — where secular science acts not as a neutral seeker of truth, but as an ideologue — filtering all data through a strictly naturalistic lens ‘for the benefit’ of her and her classmates, even when the facts suggest otherwise.

Theories like the Giant Impact Hypothesis are presented as settled science, even though they’ve been seriously challenged — or flat-out contradicted — by the evidence. And yet, they remain in textbooks.

So how do you explain that to a curious fifth grader?

I began by telling her that teachers don’t choose the curriculum themselves. The content comes from institutions — textbook publishers, curriculum designers, government agencies — all considered “experts.” These institutions share a common worldview: that everything must have a natural explanation. No God. No design. No supernatural. Even when something looks supernatural, it’s assumed to be a natural process we simply don’t understand yet.

Because of this dominant mindset, even the slightest hint of design or purpose in nature is quickly dismissed. In this “curriculum industrial complex,” the mere suggestion of a supernatural explanation is treated as intellectual heresy — a blatant breach of scientific orthodoxy and the secular consensus. As atheist biologist Richard Lewontin once admitted, science must not allow “a Divine Foot in the door.” That’s the real boundary — not between what’s true or false, but between what fits the worldview and what doesn’t. As a result, outdated or even disproven theories often remain in textbooks, not because they hold up under scrutiny, but because they await a more acceptable “natural” alternative.

This young girl’s experience is far from rare.

Sooner or later, every church-raised child will notice the conflict between what they hear at school and what they’re taught in church. And they’ll face a life impacting choice:

“Whose version of reality do I trust — the one from my faith community, or the one everyone else seems to believe?”

Sadly, we may not be winning that battle. According to Barna Research, 75% of Christian youth walk away from their faith after high school.

So how do we prepare our children to live in a culture that insists on purely naturalistic explanations for a world that so clearly bears the marks of a Creator?

First: Awareness.

Hopefully, this article sparks that.

Second: Education.

We must learn what the schools are teaching — and how to respond with both faith and facts. Creation-Evolution Headlines is a great place to start.

Third: Intentional Conversations.

Like the one I had with this thoughtful young girl.

We need to help our children understand that many of today’s institutions have deliberately excluded the possibility of God. A century ago, education began shifting toward naturalism — theories were adopted not because they were proven, but because no strong evidence existed to challenge them. Over decades, those ideas took root and hardened into “fact,” even as evidence against them grew.

Still, they remain embedded in public school curricula — because admitting design is not an option. Even acknowledging that something can’t be explained ‘naturally’ is off-limits. Instead, discredited theories are kept in place, again not out of conviction, but to preserve a worldview that refuses to acknowledge its own limitations.

But our children can be prepared.

By fostering awareness, presenting faith and facts, and engaging in meaningful dialogue, we can equip them to ask — and answer — life’s biggest question:

Which version of reality will I accept — the one the world presents, or the one revealed by God?

Sometimes, it takes just one curious fifth grader asking the right question to bring a vital truth into focus — not just for herself, but for the rest of us.

Really… what is going on here?

Ed. note: For more answers to the Theia myth at CEH, see:

• Crying Astronomers Admit Failure (23 Jan 2025).
• NASA Goes Loony: Moon Formed in Mere Hours? (4 Oct 4 2022).
• Earth Water Was Always Here (31 Aug 2020).
• Fake Science Amplified by Science ‘News’ Sites (12 March 2020).
• Lunar Scientists Fight the Dust (18 July 2019).
• Latest Moon Theory Needs an Invisible Goddess to Work (10 March 2018).
• Tilted Planets Throw Theories Off Kilter (30 Nov 2015).
• Solving Moon Origin Unsolves the Last Solution (9 April 2015).
• Beware of Misinterpreting Water Claims (16 June 2014).
• Lunar Tunes: Do Impacts Ring a Bell? (12 June 2014).
• Planet Theories vs. the Evidence (26 April 2012).

Ronald D. Fritz, PhD, is a retired research statistician whose career spanned 27 years. Before entering the field of statistics, he worked as an engineer and engineering manager in the defense industry. He earned his doctorate in Industrial Engineering, with a minor in Mathematical Statistics, from Clemson University, where he was honored as a Dean’s Scholar.

Dr. Fritz served as a consulting statistician across a broad range of industries, culminating in a 12-year role as a global statistical resource at PepsiCo.  During his time at PepsiCo, he led significant research on gluten contamination in oats and its relationship to celiac disease, publishing several articles on the subject.

In retirement, Dr. Fritz developed a deep interest in creation science, sparked by a visit to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. As he delved into the topic, he shared his findings with his pastor, which led to an invitation to speak at their church. This initial presentation opened the door to further speaking engagements at churches throughout the region.

Dr. Fritz has been married for 35 years to his wife, Mitzie. They live in the mountain community of Bee Log, North Carolina, within sight of the church where they were married and now worship. In his free time, Dr. Fritz tends a small chestnut orchard on their property, working to revive what was once a cherished local delicacy. The couple has two adult children.

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