The July 4th Miracle That Wasn't: Another Example of Why I Never Joined HSLDA

https://go.hslda.org/webmail/795273/1685324942/810b1134fcf3c3179c0f69f135fad513d1174dae55d9a1d5b2f634c5431b3f96

We homeschooled all of our children but I never wanted to join HSLDA. I know many who found them helpful or called upon them for legal aid, but I could not in good conscience give them money or turn to them for support.

Trump and the Shepherds for Sale

https://religionnews.com/2025/03/10/defunded-evangelical-aid-groups-are-reaping-what-the-religious-right-sowed/

I'm sure many readers have already seen these headlines about Evangelical funding being cut by DOGE - and no doubt many caught the fact that there's something poetic about these developments.

Homeschooling: The Good and the Bad

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/children-deserve-uniform-standards-in-homeschooling/

Homeschooling has exploded, especially in the aftermath of Covid and it is sending up red flags among the Establishment. There have been numerous articles as of late critical of the movement and for every one of these there are multiple responses issued from the Christian community - which by all accounts dominates the homeschool spectrum.

Legalism and Generation Joshua: An Exercise in Confusion

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/how-the-fundamentals-of-christian-fundamentalism-led-me-out.html

I read this piece twice, attempting to take it all in and let it wash over me. I could appreciate some of what Elizabeth Doll has to say and yet at the same time was repulsed by it. There are definitely problems in some quarters of the Church and often it seems like the parts that affect people the most are not questions of substance but style, an ethos, and a kind of culture within the Church.

French Evangelical Folly

https://evangelicalfocus.com/europe/26664/french-evangelicals-welcome-new-law-to-combat-cults

There are plenty of occasions and opportunities in society for abuse and it could be argued this has been made worse by modern society and the various technological venues and vehicles available to abusers. But we should pause when considering granting the state power to make such determinations.

Christian Kids in State Colleges: Postscript

This is a postscript to the Christian Kids in State Colleges piece even though these comments are largely restricted to primary and high school settings.

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2023/06/inbox-christian-kids-in-state-colleges-i.html

The Rotten Harvest of a Popular Homeschool Ethos

https://www.christianpost.com/news/austin-bomber-was-christian-homeschooled-opposed-gay-marriage-abortion-221869/

A recent conversation led me to revisit the Austin Bombings back in 2018. In some respects I'm surprised there hasn't been more of this sort of thing – more Christian Terrorism as it were.

There are many people of similar mindset and developing in the same matrix of ideas. Some can't deal with all the implications and pressures and become radicalized.

A New Phase for the Homeschooling Movement

https://julieroys.com/how-battle-christian-nationalism-often-starts-with-homeschooling/

This is the kind of frustrating article that has almost become the norm. Everything about it is off. We are thankful that our kids are all past the time of schooling but some of the anxieties and fears being raised today were with us twenty years ago when we started. These tensions are not new. They've just gotten worse.

A Hero of the Christian Right Opposed to Homeschooling

Lately I've been encountering some articles concerning homeschooling in Hungary. To the surprise of many in the American Right and within the Christian Right – Viktor Orban of Hungary and his government have actually moved to restrict homeschooling.

Homeschooling in Romania and the HSLDA

https://hslda.org/post/as-homeschooling-grows-in-romania-government-cracks-down

As mentioned in previous posts, I'm not a fan of HSLDA and its Dominionist approach to homeschooling and larger questions concerning the law. Confusing Christianity (its doctrines and ethics) with the Western (and more often the American) cultural tradition, their overall approach theology, ethics, and jurisprudence are (to me) seriously misguided.

Satan's Curriculum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKRCBKjOEhQ

The Christendom Curriculum. Its very name already reveals a very flawed if popular theology. The curriculum which purports to educate on a Biblical basis has from its very outset established a flawed foundation by embracing a glaring and serious error regarding the Kingdom.

Another HSLDA Travesty: Trump's UN Speech

https://hslda.org/content/hs/international/20190925-trumps-historic-un-speech-should-help-persecuted-homeschoolers.aspx

The twists and turns of history. Public education is largely a result of the sacral state and in the United States its genesis was championed by dyed in the wool Protestants that wanted to bring about social conformity and cultural unity especially in the face of massive immigration.

Bolsonaro and the American Evangelicals

https://www.christianpost.com/news/us-evangelical-leaders-met-prayed-with-brazils-conservative-president-bolsonaro.html

It was hardly surprising to read that Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell Jr. were part of this group that acknowledged and paid homage to Bolsonaro during his March visit.

Catholic Homeschooling

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/johnclark/homeschooling-and-the-future-of-the-church

This story does not contain anything profound but is noteworthy in that it suggests a shift on the part of Catholic conservatives. Historically Catholics would have been pretty dubious about homeschooling.

Americans Cashing In: Uganda's For Profit Schools

http://www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2016/1216/As-Uganda-s-education-system-struggles-for-profit-schools-become-flashpoint

I've heard quite a few Christians advocate this model for the United States. They believe that if parents had some investment in their children's schooling they would be more pro-active in managing their conduct and making sure they take time to study etc.

Homeschooled Stormtroopers

Homeschooled young men joining the military...

It seems like it's been happening a lot lately and it grieves me to no end.

I have witnessed several incidents of homeschooling families who have laboured for years to raise their children 'different' who have separated from family, churches and friends in order to maintain the standards and ideals they believed were right...

Only to hand over their sons to the US military.

Homeschooling Extremes

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/11/unschool-children-monitor-home-schooling-education

As negative as this piece might seem to be, it's actually fairly upbeat regarding the Unschooled. I've seen some real disasters result from this method.

Homeschool Success?

http://www.hslda.org/docs/hshb/127/hshbwk11.asp?utm_source=WU%20email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WU

Redefining Christian is more like it. I won't revisit the whole premise of the Christian-political project and the heresy which undergirds it, but it continues to interest me how the quest for power leads to acculturation and the embrace of soft-feminism and a host of other worldly characteristics. This poor deceived young woman has all the lingo and has been well indoctrinated into Christian Sacralist categories. 1 Peter chapters 2-3 must be utterly mysterious to her as she has utterly rejected them as has the whole movement and theology which undergirds HSLDA and Patrick Henry College.

The Christian Right's Misread of European Homeschooling and the UN

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/france/201607150.asp?utm_source=WU%20email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WU

While I obviously sympathise with homeschoolers in France what this article typically omits is the motivation for these legislative changes. The American Right would point to European 'liberals' and their desire to force a secular conformity.

Good News out of Norway

Once again I must say that I'm not a fan of HSLDA, or a member, but I do receive their emailed newsletters. We homeschool our children and HSLDA is a sometimes helpful, though not always candid, source of information.