Post by Nutcase on May 24, 2009 4:14:49 GMT -5
Okay, so yesterday night I came across this truly crazy article on a website called “Considering Homeschooling.”
The authors, Charles and Kathy Lowers, inadvertently make an excellent case for sending kids to public school, if only to avoid the stigma of their being raised in any way similar to what these two suggest.
I’ve added my own editorial comments [in brackets].
Now, I don’t have any problem with home-schooling, especially in the earlier grades, but I do have a problem with parents who deny their children access to a proper, fact-based education in some misguided attempt to maintain a strong inter-generational faith tradition.
Good traditions – and yes, I believe these can include strong Christian traditions – will withstand any outside influence. Bad traditions are propped up by controlling people who create an isolated make-believe world in their own homes because they know their faith won’t prevail in the real world.
For them, absolute control is the basis for passing down faith, and they make no secret of it:
Ah yes, headship – because, as I said above, it’s about control. A faith doesn’t have to be humane or generous or even sensible if it’s drilled into kids who aren’t permitted to interact with anyone outside their own families and insular religious communities.
The kids are still at home all day with their mothers, and are still inculcated with the doctrines their parents want them to believe, but that’s not good enough. Those wily minions of Satan are using a secular curriculum to control fundie families. I’m not sure how, exactly, but Satan can sure be a tricky bastard.
In other words, they totally do question “the walk” of parents who don’t share their pathological (and almost incestuous) need to control other people.
Later, the Lowers have this to say:
Yeah, they’re not questioning anyone’s spiritual walk by claiming Christians who secure a proper education for their children are supporting a “demonic system.” (I wonder if that kind of clueless self-righeousness could be seen as a form of masturbation.)
Let’s ignore the misogyny here and focus instead on the Lowers’ need to exercise their parental authority so completely that the mere use of public school resources would jeopardize order within the family. I can only assume they would see materials on “diversity” as a threat – especially to their daughters, who may not want to be pliant baby-machines if they’re tipped off that they have any other option.
…and only on the outlying fringes of fundie-land does anyone think the father should have that kind of authority – especially if the mother is the one who does most of the teaching.
As you’ll see, however, allowing the primary educator to make most of the decisions about her school is verboten. That somehow makes the father less important, essentially emasculating him by making him treat his wife like a full human being with at least as much intelligence and agency as he has:
How government-assisted home-schooling shuts out the father is never made clear. After all, the mom might be working while dad home-schools. (OMG! Perish the thought! It’s of the Devil!)
So, yeah…the Lowers do see materials on “diversity” as a threat. What a shock that their inhumane version of Christianity would also be exclusionist in nature.
Just to make sure their readers are crystal clear on what the Lowers think of diversity, they added this little gem near the end of their article: “With government homeschooling, you become unequally yoked with the unsaved….These expose your family to ungodly peers -- both for Mom [who is childish by virtue of her sex], and for the children.”
No; they just contribute to the level of abject stupidity in America. Bravo.
The Lowers than go on to claim that…well, just look for yourself:
They know this because a charter school lost its license – and by that, I assume they meant its accreditation – for introducing religious materials to a curriculum that was supposed to be secular. The Lowers know charter schools aren’t the same as home-schools, so I can only assume they’re being at least a little dishonest in conflating the two.
Now we’re at the root of it: evil secularists teach evolution, and that is somehow a form of prevarication. It’s better not to teach kids about evolution at all. Hell, if their father so decrees, Christian home-schoolers can skip biology altogether.
…because the last thing any domineering parent wants is for all his bullshit teaching to be undone by the introduction of a reality-based worldview.
Translation: You can’t get away with beating your kid when so many eyes are watching what you do. Only through avoiding any sort of community accountability can you get away with whacking infants (See: Michael and Debi Pearl).
That’s quite the leap in levels of authority: The wife must answer to the husband, but the husband has only God to keep him in check. In other words, he won’t face any sort of tangible accountability until he reaches the afterlife. That’s convenient.
An evolutionary worldview? I’d love to hear their explanation of what that includes.
On second thought, no I wouldn’t. I couldn’t bear to hear yet another idiot mistake social Darwinism for evolutionary theory.
Remember – Satan is public school teachers, prosecutors, police officers, and…well…you and me.
And Charles Darwin.
The authors, Charles and Kathy Lowers, inadvertently make an excellent case for sending kids to public school, if only to avoid the stigma of their being raised in any way similar to what these two suggest.
I’ve added my own editorial comments [in brackets].
You need to know that there is another form of homeschooling; one that is scriptural. Private biblical homeschooling strengthens God's design for the family and helps ensure the future right of our children and grandchildren to [flip burgers?] freely homeschool in a Christ-centered manner.
Now, I don’t have any problem with home-schooling, especially in the earlier grades, but I do have a problem with parents who deny their children access to a proper, fact-based education in some misguided attempt to maintain a strong inter-generational faith tradition.
Good traditions – and yes, I believe these can include strong Christian traditions – will withstand any outside influence. Bad traditions are propped up by controlling people who create an isolated make-believe world in their own homes because they know their faith won’t prevail in the real world.
For them, absolute control is the basis for passing down faith, and they make no secret of it:
Those who hated God [i.e., were concerned with seeing children given a fair chance at life through the provision of a decent education] were incensed at the idea that bible-believing parents were taking back the headship of their homes.
Ah yes, headship – because, as I said above, it’s about control. A faith doesn’t have to be humane or generous or even sensible if it’s drilled into kids who aren’t permitted to interact with anyone outside their own families and insular religious communities.
But Satan [represented here by normal people who aren’t completely insane] is clever and whenever Christians have fruit, he delivers a strong counter-punch. He was not going to sit back and watch generations of children being brought up in the Lord Jesus. We believe his counter-punch to homeschooling was to lure Christian parents back into the public school fold via government homeschooling. When a family goes that route, not only is the public school still financially supported, but that family is put under the control of an institution that denies the lordship of Jesus Christ. Spiritual revival of the Christian family is not likely to come out of this humanist matrix.
The kids are still at home all day with their mothers, and are still inculcated with the doctrines their parents want them to believe, but that’s not good enough. Those wily minions of Satan are using a secular curriculum to control fundie families. I’m not sure how, exactly, but Satan can sure be a tricky bastard.
While we do not question the walk of those believers who enroll in government homeschooling -- any more than we question the walk of the Christians who have their children enrolled in regular public school -- we do urge them to consider the spiritual fruit of their decision.
In other words, they totally do question “the walk” of parents who don’t share their pathological (and almost incestuous) need to control other people.
Later, the Lowers have this to say:
We need to stop viewing public school as neutral, and assuming we will have no consequences from aligning ourselves with a demonic system.
Yeah, they’re not questioning anyone’s spiritual walk by claiming Christians who secure a proper education for their children are supporting a “demonic system.” (I wonder if that kind of clueless self-righeousness could be seen as a form of masturbation.)
In government homeschooling, you place those who hate God over your homeschool. God is the head of the husband who is the head of the wife. The divine lines of authority established by God are disrupted when you insert the public school system into this holy order.
Let’s ignore the misogyny here and focus instead on the Lowers’ need to exercise their parental authority so completely that the mere use of public school resources would jeopardize order within the family. I can only assume they would see materials on “diversity” as a threat – especially to their daughters, who may not want to be pliant baby-machines if they’re tipped off that they have any other option.
In private homeschooling done biblically, the buck stops with the dad (or mom if there is no dad in that family). If the dad decides he doesn't want his kids taking a certain standardized test, does he have the ultimate authority? If he picks out the textbooks and decides they are to all be Biblical, is he able to do this? If he decides he wants a child of his to skip a certain subject this year to concentrate on another, does he have the power to make that call? [And if he decides he won’t bother educating his daughters at all, because women don’t need education, can he not do this? Or if he thinks his sons should stop school at age 12 and learn a trade, can he not do that?] Only in private biblical homeschooling does the father have this authority.
…and only on the outlying fringes of fundie-land does anyone think the father should have that kind of authority – especially if the mother is the one who does most of the teaching.
As you’ll see, however, allowing the primary educator to make most of the decisions about her school is verboten. That somehow makes the father less important, essentially emasculating him by making him treat his wife like a full human being with at least as much intelligence and agency as he has:
A family on the educational dole undergoes a spiritual change in authority as government homeschooling has no use for the husband. Homeschooling becomes "her thing" -- something Mom and the public school mentor implement.
How government-assisted home-schooling shuts out the father is never made clear. After all, the mom might be working while dad home-schools. (OMG! Perish the thought! It’s of the Devil!)
We implore believers in Jesus to totally leave the public school system, which is responsible for devastating the minds and hearts of millions, which has brought untold numbers of minors to abortion clinics during school hours, which is currently the main tool of homosexual indoctrination in this country.
So, yeah…the Lowers do see materials on “diversity” as a threat. What a shock that their inhumane version of Christianity would also be exclusionist in nature.
Just to make sure their readers are crystal clear on what the Lowers think of diversity, they added this little gem near the end of their article: “With government homeschooling, you become unequally yoked with the unsaved….These expose your family to ungodly peers -- both for Mom [who is childish by virtue of her sex], and for the children.”
In contrast, a family that chooses private Christian homeschooling can tell their neighbors they are a blessing to taxpayers -- and they do not have to feel guilty about contributing to the delinquency of America.
No; they just contribute to the level of abject stupidity in America. Bravo.
The Lowers than go on to claim that…well, just look for yourself:
When you take public money for homeschooling, you are not supposed to use Christian curriculum or teach from a Christian worldview during school hours.
They know this because a charter school lost its license – and by that, I assume they meant its accreditation – for introducing religious materials to a curriculum that was supposed to be secular. The Lowers know charter schools aren’t the same as home-schools, so I can only assume they’re being at least a little dishonest in conflating the two.
Many Christian parents just settle for using the secular texts. But nothing is neutral -- secular texts actually present a worldview that says truth has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, or the books are blatantly pro-evolution or full of other prevarications.
Now we’re at the root of it: evil secularists teach evolution, and that is somehow a form of prevarication. It’s better not to teach kids about evolution at all. Hell, if their father so decrees, Christian home-schoolers can skip biology altogether.
Everything you present to your children influences them. When you continually introduce conflicting worldviews in the main subject matter, this gets into the heart of mind of your child.
…because the last thing any domineering parent wants is for all his bullshit teaching to be undone by the introduction of a reality-based worldview.
When you are meeting with a public school teacher or have unsaved homeschooling friends, it makes you less likely to follow your Christian convictions. For example, you might eschew biblical discipline, knowing those in your government homeschooling program disapprove.
Translation: You can’t get away with beating your kid when so many eyes are watching what you do. Only through avoiding any sort of community accountability can you get away with whacking infants (See: Michael and Debi Pearl).
…no where in the Word does it say the civil government is to be responsible for keeping believers "accountable" in raising their children. Rather, the wife is to be accountable to the husband, who is to be accountable to God.
That’s quite the leap in levels of authority: The wife must answer to the husband, but the husband has only God to keep him in check. In other words, he won’t face any sort of tangible accountability until he reaches the afterlife. That’s convenient.
The first set of standards strives to raise up a child loyal to the state, who views all of life from an evolutionary worldview. The other seeks to raise up a child loyal to Jesus, who views all of life from a biblical worldview.
An evolutionary worldview? I’d love to hear their explanation of what that includes.
On second thought, no I wouldn’t. I couldn’t bear to hear yet another idiot mistake social Darwinism for evolutionary theory.
Satan hates independent Christian homeschoolers precisely because they are raising up a godly generation of young people [e.g., future burger-flippers/POTUS candidates] who are serving Jesus with their whole hearts and minds.
Remember – Satan is public school teachers, prosecutors, police officers, and…well…you and me.
And Charles Darwin.