Thursday, November 20, 2008

German Homeschoolers seek asylum in the US

Excuse me? Asylum for homeschooling?

While I am sure there are plenty of people who think that homeschoolers belong in an asylum, that isn't the kind I am talking about.

I thought "asylum" was when a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country is given refuge in another country.

Think Tiananmen Square. Russian defectors. Refugees fleeing the Hitler regime.

Of course, now I understand. Fleeing the Hitler regime, or at least, fleeing a law against homeschooling that dates back to the Third Reich.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their family have left their home in Bissingen, Germany, to escape persecution under a requiring all children to attend public school. Check the sidebar for a list of other posts in this blog about the plight of German homeschoolers. The law prohibits homeschooling because the German government frowns upon "the emergence of parallel societies based on separate philosophical convictions" that (*horrors*) might be taught by parents at home.

Imagine that. Having to flee the country because you don't agree with the government about how you want your children to be educated. Let it sink in for a minute.

"The freedom we have to homeschool our children is wonderful. ... We don't have to worry about looking over our shoulder anymore, wondering when the youth welfare officials will come or how much money we have to pay in fines."


What is sad is that these homeschoolers may have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Click on the "digg story" link below and check out the opinions people have about the future of homeschooling under Obama.

Then check out this story about the bill that was introduced in NJ that has the noble sounding goal of providing a "Chilcren's Bill of Rights" but that actually will result in an erosion of your parental rights.
read more | digg story

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting article.

    - Evan

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  2. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Homeschooling by Christians is often done to maintain a conservative Christian worldview. Unless a human group is able to pass on their narrative which gives rise to their communal view of the world, they will die. This is the point you've missed, in that the restrictions on homeschooling are a form of cultural genocide. I'm serious in this assertion, in that the parallels to the Indian Residential School system and the German situation are telling. In the first case, they wanted to de-indianize the children in order to build a unitive and cohesive society in Canada. In the German case, they want to de-evangelicalize these Conservative Christians in order to ensure a unitive vision for the state. This is therefore very political and very religious at its core. If anyone has the right to asylum it is people escaping cultural genocide by the state. If what they were doing was no that wrong, then why is the state pursuing these parents with such viciousness. German intellectuals know these people are a threat to their hegemony.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello susan,

    it's not about homeschooling, it's about the consequences if one wants to homeschool

    ReplyDelete