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Agnostic homeschool father
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Question:
I am a father who "dose" the homeschooling of two of our three boys. The
oldest had and has decided to remain in public school. I have homeschooled
by second oldest boy since the third grade, and my youngest boy since the
early part of first grade. My older homeschooler is now a 7th grader, and
the youngest is 4th (I think- I lose some track of that- tho I have it
written down in my records).
Although I was inspired by the bravery of Christian parents in pursuing
homeschool against the will of the state-- And I am thankful they fought for
the right I share with them, I pursued homeschooling for highly personal
reasons. One, my kids wanted it. Secondly, I am disturbed by the erosion of
science education, and even history, by the onslought of the religious
right-- dumbed down -or no texts- in science, for fear of mentioning
evolution. In history, we are challenged by Mormons and Christian Identity
types who wish to distort history to fit some Aryan fantasy.
I am interested to see how alone I am-- demographically, as well as
philosophically-- among fellow homeschoolers.
Answer:
- I understand your concern regarding the lack of views taught in our
schools i.e.. evolution, etc. However, it isn't the fault of Christian
groups. I'm reminded of a discussion in which someone said, "the cops
violate our civil rights, the cops are ....."
The truth is the cops only have has much power as the legislators and
Supreme Court permit.
The same is true here. It isn't the religious groups, it's the
legislators and courts that pass the laws. An example: Today the
Louisiana Legislators passed a law that
states "You must address adults with Yes Sir, No Sir". Though I think
kids should address adults in this manner, it should be the parents not
the legislators enforcing.
Should legislators be making decisions concerning our kids? I say,
"No". Legislators are lawyers they are not educators with years of
classroom experience. In fact, most are men with a demanding career, as
a result they probably know little of parenting. So why are legislators
forced to make these type of decisions? Because the general population
has failed to parent.
The real fact of the matter, IMHO, is that we need morals back in
society. I'm aware of no other way to do this other than religion. We
where once a nation that "In God We Trust". It has served us well
through the years. It is an old friend. As any old friend it should
honored. However, this doesn't mean that we have to limit our teaching
to only one view.
- I am one step further away from christianity than you, I refer to myself as
an Atheist. Having said that, I will find myself associating with christians
in Homeschool websites. I find the common interest the love of our
children and wanting the best for them.
- Well, we're atheists, and our neighbours are all fairly seriously alarmed
when our three home-schooled children tell them this. One of my daughters
even had a Catholic friend give her a ghastly proselytising book for her
birthday! Our chief problem has been finding ways to explain religions - not
just the dogma, but the sense of the numinous and the complexities of faith
that go into great art and architecture (and pogroms and battles). However,
we decided as ex-Catholics that fewer and fewer people nowadays have the
sense of continuity that went with the Latin mass - my sister-in-law doesn't
even remember it - so the artistic and historical problems are pretty much
universal. Our Jewish, Mormon and Muslim friends (not exactly orthodox
themselves) help a lot, of course, by keeping a sense of diversity - real
life doesn't *have* to be Southern Baptist, Episcopalian or whatever. And
the different takes on "Moses, Prince of Egypt" were most refreshing.
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