German Homeschool Case May Impact U.S. Homeschool Freedom, by Michael Farris:
Michael Farris and I go way back. We worked shoulder to shoulder together in the ’80s on many issues – and have the battle scars to prove it.
For the last several decades, he has been on the forefront of homeschool and religious liberty issues. We would do well to heed his warning.
Crossroad Junction 
What a scary article. While I can imagine it was aimed at setting up Muslim schools in a country that is in danger of being overwhelmed by immigration, its implication for Christians in the US is scary. Canada has nothing to boast about in their past treatment of Hutterites in the north. Long ago we personally locked philosophical horns with a school principal who in essence said it was the state’s job to educate children and the parents’ only role was to provide them to the system 5 days a week. We strongly disagreed, but the actual practice in the school 20 years ago was not a problem… it was a predominantly traditional Christian community.
Now friends in Ontario held their children home on the day of the Christmas program (called the Winter Program) because, while it included pieces about all sorts of cultures including Jewish, Muslim and First Nation, there was no place in the program for the birth of Jesus! This is the hostile environment Christian children will be increasingly facing… with no recourse!
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Hi Jim
In our early yrs homeschooling in the mid 70’s, we met this same attitude among schools officials here in Ontario Canada.
We prevailed, I think primarily because we were fearless, eagerly accepted the school boards invitation to meet us in court, and in turn threatened to make their innuendo and threats public.
At that time, we might have been seen as counter culture warriors, but today, I suspect we would be yawned at and told to just bow.
Sadly, we’ve found most christians and churches subscribed, and may still, to the notion that the state has the right to govern our conscience or faith in any way that seems expedient.
I believe this has come about by way of our disunity as a body, and the resultant testimony that positions of conscientious objection, and christianity more specifically, are unworkable in the public sphere, where conformity is the easy (and profitable) replacement for unity and consensus.
Not much surprise there as this appears to be the working model of many if not most churches.
it may be too little too late, and certainly is a terribly self serving reason to do so, but if Gods people were backed into a corner far enough, we may yet find ourselves forced to get along, even unite, in defense of liberty.
Of course it would be much more noble if we were to simply obey Jesus command to love and serve one another simply because He says so.
Gods people are simply not reading the bible, and thus not believing Him when He declares that when (our) and not just (my) ways please Him, He will make our enemies to be at peace with us.
Maybe this emerging scenario is equivalent to God handing us over to the modern Babylonians, to learn our lesson not to ignore or co-opt His presence in the midst of His body?
He is not mocked.
blessings
Greg
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I agree, Greg. There is an unholy cynicism that has gripped much of this generation of Christians. With time, this too shall pass.
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