thinkaware.blogspot.com

People are getting entirely too worried about what is going on inside of children’s brains. It is sort of frightening.

We are secular homeschoolers, and it makes me cringe when I read non-homeschoolers basically say that homeschooling is bad because it’s religious. That children are being taught things that are “bad” in their point of view.

The first question I want to ask these naysayers is this: What if the system suddenly switched, and it started teaching things that they didn’t believe to be true. Would they then be so willing to give up their right to teach their kids what they believe to be true, merely because their child would be “exposed” to what’s out there? Would they still be so adamant about their point of view that schools make sure kids are getting a good education? What if all there was available were religious schools?

Public school isn’t neutral, no matter how many people say it is. There is a distinct set of truths that are taught there. People who send their kids there basically say, “we accept these truths, whatever they are”.

Fortunately, to be honest, anti-religious mentality really doesn’t happen in the homeschooling community much except for a few really noisy anti-religious socialists. (who, of course, have the right to be noisy, and speak their minds. I’ll speak my mind right back, TYVM.) I’m on a large number of secular e-lists, and I read a lot of blogs, and the vast majority of secular homeschoolers may not *like* the religious way of teaching, but fully support the right to teach that way. And most are smart enough to recognize that if any kind of homeschooling is outlawed, that everyone’s in danger. It’s either everyone is free, or nobody is.

I get the feeling that those who think it’s OK to condemn some kinds of homeschooling and have a very narrow view of what’s an OK way to educate all kids in the country, do not have a lot of experience with the homeschooling community at large, or are speaking from an insulated place. It’s easy to say something is “right” and “wrong” when we feel like we have a lot of people who will back us up, and keep us safe.

In the homeschooling community, and in education in general, we have to recognize that neither side is “right”, and that we are all in the same boat – we want to be free to educate and live in a way that makes sense to us.

In order to keep our own freedoms, we have to uphold the freedoms of those we don’t agree with. And we have to recognize our own shortcomings. Both sides can argue until the end of eternity about why they are right, and nobody will ever win the argument. Except by force.

Understanding goes a lot farther than condemning.

I am a secular homeschooler, sorta, but I am, in so many ways, just like a homeschooler who is religious in one way or another – even what people would call “fundy”. Because we are all doing what we believe is true, what we believe will make the world a better place, and basing our perspective on logic, experience and love.

Thanks for a carefully-thought-out post answering a criticism that is showing up all too often these days. I fear that the small number of secular homeschoolers will endanger all of our freedoms by pushing to regulate only religious homeschoolers.

I have linked to your post on my blog:

http://marcys-musings.blogspot.com/2007/07/okay-vs-fundy-homeschooling.html

Thanks again for your thoughts!

I’ll check out the books, too, thanks.

Have you read The Language of God by Francis S. Collins ( he was homeschooled)? It’s about theistic evolution.

It was nice to read something by a respected scientist (he worked on the human genome project) that belives in God.

I enjoyed reading your posts!