It's not illegal here at this time, so they've moved to the U.S. and are being defended by a homeschool advocacy group. This is a little embarrassing to the U.S. because Germany is a close ally; we rarely grant asylum to citizens of Western nations.
Catch up with the issue by reading the Baptist Press article. This matters. The reasoning of the U.S. Department of Justice is that no religious liberty issue exists with the Romeike case because the German law is not religiously orientated -- all Germans are forbidden to educate their children, not just Christian ones.
I begin with the assumption that this is a religious matter. My wife Tammi and I were homeschoolers. Each of our kids experienced home teaching, public schooling, and private Christian education for some portion of their childhoods. We were homeschooling parents because we believed that our children were assigned to us by the Lord (not by the state) for training in all things. Each year we considered each child and each option available to us and made the best decision we could for our family. We considered that our right, but more importantly our appropriate application of Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6:4. For us, it is a religious thing we did, and a very fundamental religious thing. Regardless of who assisted us in the teaching of our children, we were their primary teachers. And when we (rarely) discovered those assistants teaching our kids things we considered wrong or wrong-headed, we corrected the error by whatever means necessary.
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One news story quoted a spokesman for the German Teachers' Association as saying, "No parental couple can offer a breadth of education replace experienced teachers." I pretty much disagree with that and have three well-educated and admirable kids to back up my point.
The rights of American parents to educate their own children often have been challenged, and some states are more friendly to the idea than others. That, by the way, is why the Home School Legal Defense Association exists.
And, of course, there is another way of understanding the idea of religious indoctrination. One reason that any culture would want to provide, even require, standardized education is to somewhat conform all budding citizens to a baseline understanding of citizenship. In our culture and in our day, I don't agree with the majority opinion on morals. The "settled science" on creation, marriage and other hot-button issues is a matter of faith no less to the non-religious than to the religious. Christians are a doctrinal minority, but we are not the only "people of faith" contending for the hearts of our children. If I lived in Germany, I'd probably agree with the Romeikes and their dismay over what kids are being taught. Is that opinion allowed even in our country?
If the attorneys in the Department of Justice seriously misunderstand the notion of religious liberty, we have a problem. I know that immigration cases have complex facets that go beyond the convictions or even the needs of a petitioning family. But if DOJ does believe that religious freedom is not abridged if it is abridged uniformly, it has ominous implications for every American with a conscience.
To be plain, if the Romeike case is being accurately reported, they should be granted asylum as refugees from religious persecution. They are fleeing unjust persecution as surely as our Pilgrim forebears. Sending them back to imprisonment and possibly the breaking apart of their family is unworthy of this nation.
Gary Ledbetter is editor of the Southern Baptist TEXAN, newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, on the Web at www.TexanOnline.net, where this column first appeared.
Copyright (c) 2013 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net
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