Animals
I was very sad to read that one of my favourite bloggers would no longer be visiting the CoH as she was tired of the 'spiritual, holier then thou tripe', some of the contributors post. She wanted a carnival about homeschooling, instead she was getting a carnival of Christianity with a side dish of homeschooling thrown in.
Then I stumbled across this in a local paper.
Spiritual parenting, according to my Women's Study Bible notes, seeks to impart to children a love for Scripture, a commitment to a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and a link to an organized body of believers in which children can serve the Lord and be edified in the faith.
This type of influence in a child's life develops "little people" who are respectful of themselves and others; who appreciate opportunities afforded them and sacrifices made for them; and who become independent, confident, God-fearing adults who make positive contributions to this world.
If I am ever afforded an opportunity to question The Creator, my one criticism would be why are we allowed to become parents without first proving our worth? Why do so many get the opportunity to mess up children's lives when there are at least an equal number of spiritual, committed persons yearning for children, to no avail?
Apparently only people who meet the letter writers criteria for being "spiritual parents" would be allowed to have children in her 'perfect' world. I know many Christian parents who are so busy serving their God, they don't have time for their families. And I know many non-Christians that are wonderful parents. And personally I don't want children who are so afraid of God they are unable to think for themselves. Those parents who demand complete unquestioning obedience from their children are doing their children a huge disservice. Thinking is not a crime and children who are taught not to think for themselves but to blindly obey their parents, their pastors and other authority figures are in danger of coming into contact with an authority figure that abuses children. As adults they are in danger of throwing their life savings away because some TV Evangelist says, "GOD WANTS YOU TO SEND YOUR MONEY TO ME". After all if an authority figure says it; it must be true, I must do it, and I should just have faith.
But Christians don't have a monopoly on presuming to tell others how to raise children, Atheist, Richard Dawkins equated teaching your children your religious beliefs with child abuse. I fail to see how his desire to force Christians to give up their beliefs is any different then Christians who want to impose their beliefs on others. Both extremes are troubling.
After reflecting I realize that the homeschool blogs I enjoy most stay on the topic of homeschooling. The bloggers may share their religious beliefs or lack thereof, but their beliefs aren't the main topic of every post and they don't feel compelled to make me believe the same thing they do. They understand that it's OK to disagree with someone as long as you do it in a respectful manner. They understand that just because they believe something everyone else doesn't have to believe the same thing. They understand that we can be friends with people who have different beliefs then we do. I hope more of these bloggers will participate in the CoH. I hope we can share homeschooling ideas and support each other in our homeschooling journey. So let's make homeschooling the main dish, and our differing beliefs side dishes or even dessert.
- Stupid Comments Of Public School Jingoist
Lately I have read with amusement the comments on some blogs by non-homeschoolers bashing homeschooling. You would think if they were going to comment on another parents educational choice they would at least take the time to find out something about...
- Not The Only Homeschooler Who Is Tired Of Being Lumped In With The Fundies
Read Walking with dinosaurs, and eating salad with them too And here we go again. Homeschooling must be a form of indoctrination, and its primary purpose must be to make our children in our own images. Homeschooling parents work diligently to protect...
- Alasandra's Book Club~the God Delusion By Richard Dawkins
Complete and utter rubbish comes to mind. I read the book in the hopes of understanding atheist better, instead of explaining why atheist believe what they do he spent the majority of the book bashing religion. Any and all religions. The stated goal of...
- Deep Thoughts
Deep Thought asked thought provoking questions in his post Who Decides? Part II In my introduction to education and homeschooling I discussed my conversation with Prof. Rob Reich, who is seen as an opponent by most homeschoolers, and his view that parents...
- Things To Ponder
Would You Let Them Scan Your Child? One family said NO, but their child was still scanned. Still, a substitute teacher's mistake proved just how vulnerable children who opt out can be. "They rounded up all the kids in our son's class and they...
Animals
A Side Dish of Homeschooling
I was very sad to read that one of my favourite bloggers would no longer be visiting the CoH as she was tired of the 'spiritual, holier then thou tripe', some of the contributors post. She wanted a carnival about homeschooling, instead she was getting a carnival of Christianity with a side dish of homeschooling thrown in.
Then I stumbled across this in a local paper.
Spiritual parenting, according to my Women's Study Bible notes, seeks to impart to children a love for Scripture, a commitment to a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus and a link to an organized body of believers in which children can serve the Lord and be edified in the faith.
This type of influence in a child's life develops "little people" who are respectful of themselves and others; who appreciate opportunities afforded them and sacrifices made for them; and who become independent, confident, God-fearing adults who make positive contributions to this world.
If I am ever afforded an opportunity to question The Creator, my one criticism would be why are we allowed to become parents without first proving our worth? Why do so many get the opportunity to mess up children's lives when there are at least an equal number of spiritual, committed persons yearning for children, to no avail?
Apparently only people who meet the letter writers criteria for being "spiritual parents" would be allowed to have children in her 'perfect' world. I know many Christian parents who are so busy serving their God, they don't have time for their families. And I know many non-Christians that are wonderful parents. And personally I don't want children who are so afraid of God they are unable to think for themselves. Those parents who demand complete unquestioning obedience from their children are doing their children a huge disservice. Thinking is not a crime and children who are taught not to think for themselves but to blindly obey their parents, their pastors and other authority figures are in danger of coming into contact with an authority figure that abuses children. As adults they are in danger of throwing their life savings away because some TV Evangelist says, "GOD WANTS YOU TO SEND YOUR MONEY TO ME". After all if an authority figure says it; it must be true, I must do it, and I should just have faith.
But Christians don't have a monopoly on presuming to tell others how to raise children, Atheist, Richard Dawkins equated teaching your children your religious beliefs with child abuse. I fail to see how his desire to force Christians to give up their beliefs is any different then Christians who want to impose their beliefs on others. Both extremes are troubling.
After reflecting I realize that the homeschool blogs I enjoy most stay on the topic of homeschooling. The bloggers may share their religious beliefs or lack thereof, but their beliefs aren't the main topic of every post and they don't feel compelled to make me believe the same thing they do. They understand that it's OK to disagree with someone as long as you do it in a respectful manner. They understand that just because they believe something everyone else doesn't have to believe the same thing. They understand that we can be friends with people who have different beliefs then we do. I hope more of these bloggers will participate in the CoH. I hope we can share homeschooling ideas and support each other in our homeschooling journey. So let's make homeschooling the main dish, and our differing beliefs side dishes or even dessert.
- Stupid Comments Of Public School Jingoist
Lately I have read with amusement the comments on some blogs by non-homeschoolers bashing homeschooling. You would think if they were going to comment on another parents educational choice they would at least take the time to find out something about...
- Not The Only Homeschooler Who Is Tired Of Being Lumped In With The Fundies
Read Walking with dinosaurs, and eating salad with them too And here we go again. Homeschooling must be a form of indoctrination, and its primary purpose must be to make our children in our own images. Homeschooling parents work diligently to protect...
- Alasandra's Book Club~the God Delusion By Richard Dawkins
Complete and utter rubbish comes to mind. I read the book in the hopes of understanding atheist better, instead of explaining why atheist believe what they do he spent the majority of the book bashing religion. Any and all religions. The stated goal of...
- Deep Thoughts
Deep Thought asked thought provoking questions in his post Who Decides? Part II In my introduction to education and homeschooling I discussed my conversation with Prof. Rob Reich, who is seen as an opponent by most homeschoolers, and his view that parents...
- Things To Ponder
Would You Let Them Scan Your Child? One family said NO, but their child was still scanned. Still, a substitute teacher's mistake proved just how vulnerable children who opt out can be. "They rounded up all the kids in our son's class and they...