Home Schooling, Responsibility, and Me

My wife and I gave our kids a choice when they finished sixth grade. They could stay in the government school system, or be home schooled. Each of them chose home schooling.

The youngest is starting a computer repair business, and will graduate in three years. One is a cartoonist, with a 'day job' to pay the bills; another graduated from college and is running a candle manufacturing company with her husband; and one is a writer.

My wife teaches for other home schooling families in our part of central Minnesota. Some of them want the subject knowledge that she and our third-oldest daughter offer, some need help keeping up with 'schooling' while running a family business.

What each home schooling family I know has in common is that we care about what our kids learn: academically and otherwise.

'Religious or Moral Instruction'

My wife and I home school our kids partly because we're concerned about their "religious or moral instruction." Considering what's shown up in the national news, I'd better explain what "religious or moral instruction" really means. (March 6, 2010)

First, what "religious or moral instruction" doesn't mean. I do not live in fear that my kids will start believing that Earth isn't flat, or learn that the universe is more than 6,000 years old.

As I've said before, "I believe that God created - and is creating - everything. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 279, 301, 302-305)

"That's not necessarily the same as believing that God the Almighty looks like Charleton Heston's Moses." (January 18, 2012)

Children, Education, and "Primordial Responsibilities"

I'm a practicing Catholic, and a father, so I'm responsible for teaching my children:

"The conjugal community is established upon the consent of the spouses. Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the procreation and education of children. The love of the spouses and the begetting of children create among members of the same family personal relationships and primordial responsibilities." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2201)

"The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the 'domestic church' where God's children learn to pray 'as the Church' and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit."
(Catechism, 2685)

Granted, not everybody sees education and prayer the way I do:

• "Family Values: Addams and Otherwise"
  (July 12, 2011)

The Catholic Church doesn't say that my wife and I have to home school our kids. This paragraph, part of a discussion of participation in social life (Catechism, 1897-1917), seems to say that community schools are an option:

"Second, the common good requires the social well-being and development of the group itself. Development is the epitome of all social duties. Certainly, it is the proper function of authority to arbitrate, in the name of the common good, between various particular interests; but it should make accessible to each what is needed to lead a truly human life: food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, the right to establish a family, and so on.²⁸"
(Catechism, 1908)

Unhappily, government schools in today's America aren't always particularly good places for kids to hang out. Maybe home schooling won't work for everybody: but I think it's practical for most folks: and better in the long run for most parents and children.

Home Schooling Works

I put this Q & A list together last month. It's based on questions I've been asked, and assumptions I've noticed:

• Does a home schooling family have to
  • Build a classroom?
    • No
  • Run the student(s) between rooms at 50-minute intervals?
    • No
• Home schooling is only for
  • Geniuses
    • No
  • People who hate science
    • No
  (May 30, 2012)

Someone with an overabundance of energy and wealth could build an entire school building, complete with gymnasium and a garage for school buses; and replicate every detail of what should happen in government schools. Nobody I know does that, and I don't see why anyone would.

What's needed to home school is, first of all, at least one child between the ages of about six and 18. Having access to a room with adequate light and ventilation, and at least one table and chair, is nice: but education could be conducted in nearly any reasonably comfortable environment.

The point I'm trying to make is that home schooling isn't all that difficult. And the odds are really good that wherever you are, someone nearby is home schooling their kids now: and can either lend a hand, or tell you where to find help.

Here's what got me started:

Home Schooling: Making a Difference

"African-Americans increasingly turn to home-schooling"
Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com (June 16, 2012)

"It's the end of another school year, and for a growing number of African-American kids, it will be their last outside the home.

"Nationwide, more and more families are choosing to home school their children each year, and the fastest growing segment of the home school movement is African-Americans, experts say. Some 220,000 black children are home-schooled, according to one estimate. 'Each one of them has excelled so much, and I can see it,' Kisha Hayes, of Baton Rouge, La., says of her three children, whom she began home-schooling five years ago. 'I can see the difference in their learning.'..."

The article gets back to the Hayes family, and so will I.

Home Schooling: It's Growing

Let's look at some numbers, from the FoxNews.com article and elsewhere.

United States:

• Percent of school-age population home schooled
  • 1.7% (1999)
  • 2.9% (2007)
• Total U.S. population: 313,847,465
  (July 2011 estimate)
  • Age 5-19, 2010, est.: 63,066,000
    (The 2012 Statistical Abstract)
  • Black 12.85%
  (United States, "CIA World Factbook" (last updated June 8, 2012))
• U.S. population, black: 40,329,400 (approx, from U.S. population and percentage data)
  • Black home schooled students: 220,000
    (The National Home Education Research Institute, via FoxNews.com)

Assuming that black Americans/African Americans have about the same age distribution as everyone else: 12.85% of 63,066,000, or 8,103,981, black/African-American children are between the ages of 5 and 19. If that number's reasonably accurate, then the 220,000 home schooled black/African-American students are roughly 2.7% of the total. That's just short of the national average for 2007.

What impressed me wasn't the numbers of families who decided to keep paying government schools, through taxes, and home school their kids. It was how fast that number was growing.

The number of home schooled kids nearly doubled in eight years, from 1999 to 2007.

(If you're interested, The 2012 Statistical Abstract (www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/population.html) has a pretty good selection of statistical data. I archived a copy of the table I used, Table 7. Resident Population by Sex and Age, in .pdf format, from www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0007.xls (June 16, 2012).)

Threatening the Status Quo

No wonder folks who like the status quo are having fits about 'those people' who home school their kids.

I almost sympathize with government school administrators. Their budgets depend on how many warm bodies they have in the building. When the body count drops, so does their funding.

Protecting My Kids

Very few students are actually killed each year in America's government schools, but there's more to growing up than just being alive when we turn 18. I want my kids to be responsible adults. So do other parents.

"Alkinee Jackson, also of Baton Rouge, began home-schooling her five children after she and her husband saw the attitude and behavior of their oldest son, Alante, worsen. He was only in second grade.

" 'If we allowed him to continue to be there and be influenced, by the time he reached high school he'd already be gone; and we know where he'd end up,' Jackson said...."
(Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com) [emphasis mine]

'What could possibly go wrong' in a government school? Here's one view:

"...George Noblit, an education sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said African-American parents increasingly turn to home-schooling to protect their children from drugs and bullying, as well as to ensure the kids get more individualized instruction.

" 'For African Americans, the current state of education is actually not one that is conducive to kids learning,' Noblit told FoxNews.com. 'More and more kids end up not being served well. African Americans are positively saying, "It's time to find a better educational situation." '...
(Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com)

It's nice to see someone at a university acknowledge that all is not well in America's education establishment. With due respect to G. Noblit, thought: it's not just African Americans who want to keep their kids away from illicit drugs and bullies.

Knowing Who We Are

There's more to home schooling than keeping kids from getting stoned or beaten. When parents get involved, children get opportunities that don't exist in a classroom.

"...Hayes, who calls her classroom the 'Hayes Homeschool Academy,' said she and her husband are able to spend the kind of one-on-one time with their kids that school teachers couldn't. They can also emphasize subjects they believe public schools don't, including religion and African-American history.

" 'We're able to focus on black history a little bit more than I think public schools would give it,' said Hayes, who moved from San Bernadino, Calif., five years ago. 'We're actually able to learn the things we want to learn, whatever that might be, and I think that would go with any nationality.'..."
(Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com)

I agree with Hayes, although my family doesn't include 'Norwegian-German-Dutch-Irish-Scots history' in our curriculum. Some of that gets covered in European and world history, of course.

Now that I think of it: shouldn't world history include what's been happening in the Americas, Africa, and eastern Asia? That's another topic.

How we connect with vikings, Lindisfarne, Stonehenge, der Schwarzwald, Nederland, and the rest of the world, comes up now and then while my wife talk about something else. Then there's the explanation for a vulture and a cobra being part of Egyptian royal headgear several millennia back: and that's yet another topic. Topics.

Regulations and All That

Garrett Tenney's article gives a quick overview of State regulation of home schooling parents. New York has the tightest grip: while Texas bureaucrats seem to assume that Texans have common sense, and "only requires instruction on good citizenship, math, reading, spelling, and grammar." (Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com)

Maybe New Yorkers need more oversight. Or something.

Home Schooled: Decisions and an Opinion

"...Now 15, Alante [Jackson] is preparing to graduate high school a year early. He's taking a Chinese language course online, and deciding whether to major in engineering or medicine in college.

"Kamal Hayes, who at age 16 is a five-year veteran of his mom's 'academy,' said home-schooling has worked out well for him, too.

" 'Nothing against public school,' he said, 'but you're not really missing out on anything.' "
(Garrett Tenney, FoxNews.com)

I couldn't have put it better, myself.

Related posts:

• Home schooling
  • "Sex, Science, and the Home Schooling Parent"
    (September 17, 2011)
  • "Home Schooling and This Catholic Family"
    (February 26, 2011)
  • "Home Schooling: Students Miss the 'Socialization' "
    (May 28, 2010)
  • "Home Schooling: It May Not be What You Think"
    (May 20, 2010)
  • "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
    (March 6, 2010)
    Particularly
    • NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DOLTS
• Teaching values
  
  • "Coney Island School, 'Offensive' Song, and 'Foreigners' "
    (June 10, 2012)
  • "Earn Good Grades, Hold Down Two Jobs, Get Thrown in Jail"
    (May 30, 2012)
  • "God, 'The Family Shakespeare,' and Stall Brook Elementary School"
    (April 5, 2012)
  • "Jesus is a 'Wine-Guzzling Vagrant' - It's Taught in School"
    (December 7, 2010)
  • "School District Celebrates Religious Freedom Day: By Banning Bibles"
    (July 1, 2010)
• Getting a grip
  
  • "Catholics aren't Calvinists"
    (May 7, 2012)
  • "'Nazi Pope,' Urban Legends, Academic Standards, and the News"
    (April 17, 2012)
  • "Genesis, Optimus Prime, and Victorian America"
    (April 10, 2012)
  • "Being Catholic: Within Reason"
    (April 5, 2012)
  • "It's Faith and Reason"
    (June 19, 2010)
• Restoring freedom
  
  • "Evil is Not Nice, Religious Freedom, and Other Radical Ideas"
    (May 4, 2012)
  • "The Establishment Clause; Religious Freedom; and Getting a Grip"
    (October 5, 2011)
  • "First Amendment Suspended for 9/11 Memorial Service: Wrong, but Understandable"
    (September 10, 2011)
  • "Separation of Church and State, Assumptions, and Fear"
    (September 2, 2011)
  • "Stimulating Schools - But not Those Religious Ones"
    (February 4, 2009)

Coney Island School, 'Offensive' Song, and 'Foreigners'

I understand how deeply offensive "God Bless the USA" can be. I've lived in this country all my life - and grew up two blocks from a college campus. "Understanding" isn't "agreeing," though, and I think this principal made a mistake:

"School pulls patriotic song at graduation, but Justin Bieber's 'Baby' is OK"
Susan Edelman, New York Post (June 9, 2012, Updated June 10, 2012)

"A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.

"Her refusal to let students sing 'God Bless the USA' at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.

"Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won't allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as 'Proud to be an American,' at their moving-up ceremony....

I've gotten the impression that what upsets some Americans most about foreigners is that the foreigners - well, they're just not "American." They haven't learned the conventional establishment attitude yet. I'll get back to that.

"We Don't Want to Offend - - -"

"...It was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the June 20 commencement. The kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny American flags - which, as the lyrics proclaim, 'still stand for freedom.'

"But Hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a CD playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said.

"She told the teachers to drop the song from the program.

" 'We don't want to offend other cultures,' they quoted her as explaining...."
(New York Post)

Not wanting to "offed other cultures" is, in my experience, a fairly common reason cited by the establishment. It's almost as popular a reason for suppressing unwanted behavior as "un-American" was in my teens.

The Establishment: New Faces; Same Old Attitude

'The establishment' has changed in some ways. In my 'good old days' Americans who held positions of authority and influence were almost exclusively white men. That's a photo of Principal Greta Hawkins, from the New York Post article. Obviously, it's not 1965 any more.

Today's establishment doesn't look like it did a half-century ago, and has a new set of hang-ups. But the old notion that "freedom" means "doing things my way" is still there.

Let's see how the foreigners feel about being, ah, protected by the principal:

"Move to America to Live Freely"

"...'A lot of people fought to move to America to live freely, so that song should be sung with a whole lot of pride,' said mom Luz Lozada, whose son, Daniel, is in kindergarten.

"The song has been sung at previous school events. Last year's fifth-graders, including another Lozada child, performed it at graduation.

" 'Everybody applauded and whistled,' the mom said. 'They gave it a standing ovation.'

"Parents - many immigrants from Pakistan, Mexico and Ecuador - 'love it,' Lozada said.

"A teacher agreed: 'It makes them a little goosebumpy and teary-eyed. I've never come across anyone who felt it insulted their culture.'..."
(New York Post)

When I was an 'English as a second language' tutor, I got to know a few folks who had recently moved to America. One of them was rather emphatic about preferring America to the country he'd escaped from.

Folks who grow up here don't, I think, always have opportunities to learn why, for almost 236 years, people have been moving to America. On the whole, I like being a country that folks try to break into, and that's another topic.

"Too Grown Up"

The local Department of Education backs up Principal Hawkins. In a way, it's nice to see higher levels of management back up staff decisions.

On the other hand, I'm not sure that the government school bosses are on quite the same page as parents, when it comes to what's "too grown up" for the kids:

"...Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti gave The Post an explanation staffers said they never heard - that Hawkins found the lyrics 'too grown up' for 5-year-olds.

"The song starts: 'If tomorrow all the things were gone, I'd worked for all my life. And I had to start again, with just my children and my wife, I'd thank my lucky stars, to be livin' here today.'

"Scaperotti said the department supports the principal's decision. 'The lyrics are not age-appropriate,' she said....
(New York Post)

"...But Justin Bieber's flirty song about teen romance, 'Baby,' was deemed a fine selection for the show. Hawkins had no problem with 5-year-olds singing lines such as, 'Are we an item? Girl, quit playing.'..."
(New York Post)

I'm familiar with the idea that a song is "too grown up" for five year olds if it expresses love of country, contains the word "God." That sort of belief has, in my experience, often been associated with the belief that kindergartners should start thinking about teenage romance. 'It's never too early to start,' and all that.

I don't agree that it's 'cute' to think of little girls as prepubescent sexpots: but I'm familiar with the idea.

Heavy-Handed Suppression, and Remembering the '60s

What's at issue here is not, I think, the Justin Bieber song's lyrics. It's the heavy-handed suppression of an 'offensive' song.

I don't see a problem with kids saying 'offensive' things like "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free...." (anysonglyrics.com)

I do see a problem with someone in authority marching in and banning what kids and their parents enjoy singing. The establishment did that sort of thing in my youth: and now we've got a new establishment.

Come to think of it, maybe Hawkins's heavy-handed suppression of free speech will help this country in the long run. Particularly if more Americans start thinking about 'not what you can do in this country, but what this country's doing to you.'

Immigrants, 'Foreign' Ideas, and Hope

I hope today's immigrants hold on to their 'foreign' ideas, at least for another generation or so. They have the new ideas, old appreciation of freedom, and enthusiasm it takes to make a new start: and help make America better.

Home Schooling, the Government Schools, and Me

Not all school administrators I've dealt with are like Principal Hawkins. But America's government school have a culture and attitudes that I think are good for the establishment: but not good for kids.

That's a major reason why my wife and I home schooled our kids, starting when they entered seventh grade.

Related posts:

• The establishment
  • "My Way, or the Highway: Academic 'Freedom' at Iowa's Top Law School"
    (April 6, 2012)
  • " 'Uncle Knows Best?' HHS Mandate, Religious Freedom, and Presidential Approval"
    (March 16, 2012)
    • 'The Establishment:' That was Then, This is Now
    • News, but Not the Establishment Kind
    • Authority, Rules, and "I Was Only Following Orders"
  • "What's With 'the Establishment' in this Blog?"
    (September 15, 2011)
  • "Rebellious Youth, Protests, and The Establishment: in 2010"
    (January 26, 2010)
  • "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
    (April 19, 2009)
• Home schooling
  • "Sex, Science, and the Home Schooling Parent"
    (September 17, 2011)
  • "Home Schooling and This Catholic Family"
    (February 26, 2011)
  • "Jesus is a 'Wine-Guzzling Vagrant' - It's Taught in School"
    (December 7, 2010)
  • "School District Celebrates Religious Freedom Day: By Banning Bibles"
    (July 1, 2010)
  • "Home Schooling: It May Not be What You Think"
    (May 20, 2010)

Cross-Dressing Fashion Show? Oops. Never Mind

Remember the so-called cross-dressing fashion show for school children in New Jersey?

Sounds like it was a good idea, regrettably presented:

"Your comments: Maple Shade school ends project after request is misunderstood to be about cross-dressing"
By NJ.com Staff (April 15, 2010)

"The Maude Wilkins School in Maple Shade has cancelled a scheduled fashion show about the evolution of women's clothing. The Associated Press reported that a letter from a third-grade teacher to parents about what children were expected to do for the project was misunderstood by at least one Facebook-active parent, who took the letter as a request for boys to cross-dress. The parent's public complaints on Facebook were picked up by a conservative blogger and then other mainstream media, producing a firestorm that led to the cancellation of the project."
(nj.com)

Sure enough, here's that AP article. Part of it, anyway:

"The evolution of a NJ cross-dressing controversy"
The Associated Press (April 15, 2010)

"A New Jersey school has learned a lesson after canceling a class project because a parent complained it would require third-grade boys to dress like girls.

"Teachers at the Maude Wilkins School in Maple Shade sent a letter to parents recently telling them their children were required to participate in a fashion show project for Women's History Month.

"The letter spelled out that boys did not have to wear skirts or dresses. But there was confusion nonetheless.

"Mother Janine Giandomenico (jahn-dah-meh-NEE'-koh) complained on Facebook — and the story started popping up on blogs and other media outlets this week. The school reacted by canceling the project....

Kudos to nj.com staff: They didn't present this SNAFU as part of a 'vast right-wing conspiracy,' or lay (all) the blame on that "conservative blogger." I remember the news stories: a number of them from "mainstream media." Looks like a number of reporters and editors didn't do their research all that carefully.

That happens. Deadlines can degrade professional caution.

Like the time Dolly Parton 'died:'

• "Dolly Parton Dead? Another Reason I'm Not a Journalist
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (August 25, 2008)

Conservative Bloggers, Mainstream Media, and Getting Off-Topic

Getting a little off-topic, I was struck by this phrase in the nj.com writeup: "...a conservative blogger and then other mainstream media...." Repeating the last part: "...then other mainstream media...." "Other?!" It's probably a slip of the fingers, but it reads as if nj.com regards that "conservative blogger" as part of "mainstream media."

Interesting, on a few levels.

I'm not, by the way, a "conservative blogger," although it may seem that way. I'm not liberal or moderate either. I'm a Catholic blogger. I've written about this before (November 3, 2008)

And the Lesson is: Do Your Research

I've had to drop a few remarkably interesting posts, when I found out that the facts didn't support a story I'd heard. Fact-checking can be boring, and doesn't always uncover fiction posing as fact. But I think it's a good idea to have a shot at tracing a story back to its source: or as close to the source as I can get.

I like the free flow of information and opinion that's online: but recognize that "I saw it on the Web" is hardly a ringing endorsement of authenticity.

Fact-Checking, Calumnies Against a School Project, and the Pope.

Actually, I'm not at all sure that those wild stories about the New Jersey school project were, technically, calumnies Seems to me, a "malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions" requires that the misrepresenter know that what he or she is saying is false.

Given the weirdness that's been going on for the last few decades in Western civilization, I wasn't at all surprised to hear that a school project would have kids cross-dressing. My online profiles often contain the phrase, "recovering English teacher." I've done serious time in American academia, and was an accredited secondary school teacher at one time. A cross-dressing project would be consistent with the goals of freeing kids from the stultifying confines of a repressive society. I'm overstating the case - but not by much.

I've written before: about the Pope, the Catholic Church, and that every-popular news item: Pedophile Priests! There's a significant disconnect between what news services are saying about the Pope and the Catholic Church - and what people who actually know something about the subject say.

But, like I say, I've written about that before.

Related posts:

• "Pain, Grace, Sin, Penance, Renewal: The Pope Speaks"
  (April 15, 2010)
• "Is Celibacy Healthy? Actually, Yes"
  (April 14, 2010)
• "Assumptions About Religion, and American Rules of Etiquette"
  (April 14, 2010)
• "Pedophile Priests! - or - My Mind is Made Up, Don't Confuse Me With the Facts"
  (April 11, 2010)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)

European Court Bans Crucifix From Italian Government School

Crucifixes are a quintessentially Catholic symbol - and are also part of the cultural heritage of many European nations. All of them, if they decide to remember what things were like before Martin Luther.

A woman who was born in Finland moved to Italy and became an Italian citizen. In 2002, she decided that a school in Abano Terme, Italy, shouldn't display crucifixes. She had a perfectly good reason, by contemporary standards: that's the school her children went to, and she didn't want crucifixes there.

When the school wouldn't do what she wanted, she went to court.

"Vatican denounces European ruling against crucifixes in schools"
Catholic News Service (November 4, 2009)

"The Vatican said it experienced 'surprise and sorrow' when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom.

"The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were 'a violation of the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students.'

"Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, reacted to the decision saying, 'The crucifix has always been a sign of God's offer of love and a sign of union and welcome for all humanity. It is sad that it is being considered a sign of division, exclusion or limitation of freedom. That is not what it is and that is not the common feeling of our people.'..."

I feel sorrow, too, at the European court's decision. But surprise? Not so much. I've lived in America all my life, and equating a crucifix with 'divisiveness' is the sort of daft decision I've gotten used to.

Government schools here in America have been pretty well sanitized: I suppose there may be a few with a Bible in the "religion" section of the library, and the more "inclusive" Americans haven't succeeded in outlawing those morning recitations of the pledge of allegiance, with that 'divisive' "under God" phrase in it.

Being as familiar with American culture as I am, I think I can understand the European court's notion that a crucifix is 'divisive:' and isn't the sort of thing impressionable children should be subjected to. A crucifix is, after all, a reminder that there are authorities higher than national governments and teachers' associations.

Besides, kids who see a crucifix might get some really counter-cultural ideas.

"...Father Lombardi said it was particularly serious that the European court wants to remove from educational institutions 'a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture.'

"Religion, he said, contributes to the moral education and growth of individuals and is 'an essential part of our civilization.'

"Father Lombardi said it appeared that the court was trying to deny 'the role of Christianity in the formation of European identity, which has been and remains essential.'..."

I think Father Lombardi may have identified one of the reasons that the European court decided to banish crucifixes from that school. Religion does, arguably, contribute "to the moral education and growth of individuals" - and so is contrary to some of the most cherished values of contemporary Western culture.

For example, France, a self-recognized leader of culture, is sheltering a child rapist: according to French authorities, because he is a really good movie director. (September 28, 2009)

I can see how allowing children to be exposed to conventional moral standards might be seen as a threat to Europe's contemporary secular culture.

As for children being exposed to a (shudder) crucifix in a government school: I understand the argument that it could be regarded as a tacit state sponsorship of religion.

And, although in this case it would be the Catholic Church that's supported, I am not comfortable with 'state religions.' State support of a religion can have unintended consequences - which is is another topic.

Related posts:

• "We Can Learn So Much From the French: More About Culture"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 8, 2009)
• "Roman Polanski, Queen Boudicca, France and Special Rules for Special People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 28, 2009)
• "Pro-Life Americans Declared Terrorists: It Can't Happen Here?"
  (July 6, 2009)
• "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
  (April 19, 2009)
• "Stimulating Schools - But not Those Religious Ones"
  (February 4, 2009)
• "The Rosary is a Gang Symbol: Who Knew?"
  (September 16, 2008)

In the news:

• "Vatican denounces European ruling against crucifixes in schools"
  Catholic News Service (November 4, 2009)

---

A tip of the hat to CatholicNewsSvc, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this article.

Thought for the Day: Fads in Education

"Though the academic authorities are actually proud of conducting everything by means of Examinations, they seldom indulge in what religious people used to descibe as Self-Examination. The consequence is that the modern State has educated its citizens in a series of ephemeral fads."
G. K. Chesterton, Nash's Pall Mall Magazine. April, 1935 (Quotations of G. K. Chesterton, The American Chesterton Society)

Jesus is a Palestinian: Who Knew?

I don't think that America's government schools should teach religion, in the sense of encouraging devotion to any particular faith. That's why I'm not too uncomfortable with a textbook's defining the Ten Commandments as "Moral laws Moses claimed to have received from the Hebrew God Yahweh on Mount Sinai."

America has secular public schools, so qualifiers like that may be inevitable, if not necessary.

A Little Consistency, Please

Secular schools treating religions equally is fine: as long as some aren't treated more equally than others.

And it looks like some K-12 history textbook publishers have an "Animal Farm" notion of what "equal" means:

"In 'World History: Continuity and Change' by William T. Hanes, the Quran is defined as the 'Holy Book of Islam containing revelations received by Muhammad from God.' The Ten Commandments, on the other hand, are described as the 'moral laws Moses claimed to have received from the Hebrew God Yahweh on Mount Sinai.' " (The Jewish Journal)

Compare:

• "revelations received by Muhammad from God"
• "moral laws Moses claimed to have received from the Hebrew God Yahweh"

Not exactly a subtle difference.

I don't know how that sort of two-tier equality got into the books: but it shouldn't surprise anyone.

As a recovering high school English teacher, I've been inside American public schools, and the university system that's supposed to train teachers.

In the sixties, seventies, and eighties I learned to deal with an academic culture with very well-defined values and beliefs - which occasionally reflected objective realities. Collegiate fads like multiculturalism may not be as popular now as they were a few decades ago, but they seem to have left a mark.

Jesus is a Palestinian: Who Knew?

So much depends on how terms are defined. And used. Here's a question from "Social Studies: The World" - " 'True or False: Christianity was started by a young Palestinian named Jesus.' " Students are supposed to answer "True."

"Palestine" can mean a few things, including:

1. A former British mandate on the east coast of the Mediterranean; divided between Jordan and Israel in 1948
2. An ancient country in southwestern Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea; a place of pilgrimage for Christianity and Islam and Judaism
   • Palestine
   • Canaan
   • Holy Land
   • Promised Land
   (Princeton's WordNet)

Using definition 2, Jesus could be called a Palestinian. Or, a Canaanite. That wouldn't be very accurate, but it could be done.

Saying 'Jesus is a Palestinian' Matters

Given what "Palestinian" means today, insisting that American students learn that Christianity was started by a Palestinian named Jesus may not be quite entirely accurate.

Actually, I think it's downright misleading.

Particularly since Palestinians are supposed to be 'oppressed' by Israel, in some of America's more sophisticated circles.

Which is a whole different topic.

Textbooks: Jesus is a Palestinian; Moses Claimed, Muhammad Received - A Quiet Little Topic

Considering how eager journalists seem to be, about reporting conflict and bias, you'd expect weirdness like this in American textbooks to be in the news.

It is, but just barely.

The issue is a month or so old, from what I've seen. It's possible that traditional American newspapers and broadcast news will pay attention to this controversy: but I wouldn't count on it.

It's one thing to expose hypocritical televangelists and pedophile priests. It may be quite another to point out that the Bible-thumping fundamentalists may have gotten something right, about America's schools.

That could be embarrassing.

Related posts:

• "Dred Scott, the Slavery Compromise, and Who to Trust"
  (February 2, 2009)
• "Catholics Not Allowed to Read Bible!! Catholic Church Banned Bible Ownership!!"
  (January 27, 2009)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)
• "The New York Times, Insularity, and Assumptions"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (October 21, 2008)
  • The New York Times: A Fine Old Family Business
  • The New York Times and the News: You Can't Please Everybody
    
  • Make a Few Little Mistakes... Embarrassments at The New York Times
    • Famine? What Famine?
    • Nazi, Schmazi, I'm Not Biased
    • We Can't Criticize Him, He's, Well, You Know
    • She Wrote WHAT?!
  • 'All the News We Feel Like Printing'
  • From the Pier-Bound Shores of Chelsea to the Austere Grandeur...
• "Nero Was Working for the Christians: Who Knew?"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (March 22, 2008)

In the news:

• "Authors Warn That Many Textbooks Distort Religion"
  FOXNews (March 7, 2009)
• "Institute Uncovers Bias in K-12 History Textbooks"
  The Jewish Journal (February 25, 2009)
• "Anti-Semitic Indoctrination in the Schools"
  Dakota Voice (February 9, 2009 )

More, at "Who Knew? Assertions, Assumptions and Assorted Weirdness from All Over"

Stimulating Schools - But not Those Religious Ones

I'm not terribly surprised about this headline. There are quite a few people in America who seem to neither like nor trust religion.

"Conservative Groups Declare Obama's Stimulus Bill a War on Prayer" (FOXNews (February 4, 2009)).

"A provision in the House-passed stimulus bill -- banning money to be used to renovate schools from being spent on facilities that allow 'religious worship' -- has ignited fury among those who claim it discriminates on the basis of faith and violates the right to free speech...."

I could go on a rant about 'freedom of religion' having changed into 'freedom from religion,' but I've got other work to do.

Besides, although I'd sort of like the Feds to support church-sponsored schools, I also know that money always comes with strings attached: even if the restrictions aren't immediately obvious.

And, I think think the federal government's role in educating our children is to get out of the way: and that's a whole different topic.

I'd suggest reading that article, even if you don't like FOXNews. I don't know when, or if, old-school news media is going to pick up on this little detail.

The Rosary is a Gang Symbol: Who Knew?

I read in the news that Tabitha Ruiz has worn her silver and ruby beaded rosary ever since she was a child. It's a gift from her mother.

And, it's verboten at Seagoville High School, near Dallas, Texas.

A security guard stopped her at the door.

That rosary is gang-related, according to the security guard. And, presumably, according to the school's principal.

To be fair, there's a nugget of truth in saying that rosaries are gang symbols.

" 'Lately they've been seen wearing religious jewelry such as the rosary worn by gang members, so it is a factor,' said Sr. Cpl Kevin Janse of the Dallas Police Department.

"Although rosaries are not specifically banned by name in the district's dress code, a DISD spokesman did say, 'It's up to the principal's discretion. We chose to err on the side of caution.' "

There's another point of view, of course. " 'If we back down to everything the gangs are doing, the gangs win,' said Taire Ferguson. 'Why should we take away her choice to express her religious beliefs because gangs are doing it? It's not right.' "
(Quotes from MyFox Dallas.)

I think I understand the school officials and law enforcement on this one.

• Some gangs have, in fact, used rosaries as identifying symbols, or at least as fashion statements
• Catholics use a great number of symbols and objects as part of the way they practice their faith
• Protestants, by and large, don't
• America has been a predominantly Protestant country, and so the relatively symbol-free Protestant expression of faith is the cultural norm
• People departing from a norm stick out, by definition

And, since 'normal' people don't wear rosaries, and some gang members do, it's natural enough to assume that rosaries are gang symbols, and that people who wear rosaries are gang members. If I remember my logic correctly, that's an inductive fallacy. It's also a very human thing to do.

Besides, the Seagoville High School principal may be trying to protect students from being mis-identified as gang members, by banning rosaries. If that's the case, I trust that the dress code also bans all colors and articles of clothing that gangs use for identification.

A policy which, potentially, would turn the school into a nudist camp.

This sort of policy, which in effect tells people to check their religious practices at the door, makes me more sympathetic toward Muslims, Sikhs, and others whose system of belief encourages them to look a bit less like Yankees than most of us do.

More, at "Student Told Rosary is Gang Symbol" (MyFox Dallas (September 16, 2008)).

Still more, at "Who Knew? Assertions, Assumptions and Assorted Weirdness from All Over"