Nebuchadnezzar also sought to change their loyalty (Dan. 1:7). He did this by changing their names. All four of these young men's names spoke about who they were and from whence they'd come. Daniel's name meant "God is my judge." Hananiah's name meant "beloved of the Lord." Mishael's name meant "who is like God." Azariah's name meant "the Lord is my help." These were the names of the young men who accompanied Daniel into Babylonian exile from Judah. All of their names were changed to Babylonian names, which were related not to Jehovah but to Babylonian deities. Nebuchadnezzar was seeking to change their loyalties. He wanted to train these young people to handle Jewish affairs of the exiles and then rule over the people once they were back home in Jerusalem. They had tremendous leadership abilities. His goal was clear. He set out to change their very way of thinking and their very loyalties.

We look at this today and say that is terrible. Yes, but we should look more closely around us. Our brightest young minds are being re-educated and retrained by humanistic philosophy right here in America. We are the Babylon of the modern world in many ways. Gloria Steinem, in a Saturday Review article in March of 1973, stated that by the year 2000 "we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential and not in God." And we wonder why prayer and Bible reading and the Ten Commandments and creation science have no place in the education of America's young minds? What happened in Babylon has been repeated today in America. Our young people find themselves in the same culture in which Daniel lived in his day.

How could this happen in America? It happened the same way in Babylon. These were planned techniques designed to gradually change a young person's conscience, values, and behavior. We have taught a generation of young people that they have a right to develop their own personal values apart from their parental influences or authorities. We have convinced a generation that there is no right from wrong and that there are no moral absolutes nor moral truths. "Tolerance" is the buzzword of this generation.

Daniel walked in this same world but he did not give in. He was resistant. How? It was not because his parents protested or picketed. They obviously did the best thing parents can do for their children. They trained him in the way he should go (Prov. 22:6). We should find it interesting that Daniel did not say "no" to a Babylonian education. He knew how to handle it. He had parents who had built something into him. They named him "God is my judge," Daniel. They taught him and instilled values in him.

Christian parents seeking to raise children to live in a 21st century Babylonian culture in America should not think they can leave it to the school nor the church to instill these values. We should dispense with the notion that "it takes a village" to raise a child. No, it takes a mom or a dad to train these precious lives in the way that they should go. When we leave it to the village they will pull our kids down every time!