That quote alone is the most poignant comment. Europe fought so hard to free itself of communism, and look where they’re ending up. Previously authoritarianism was defined by the presence of one ruler, one dictator… Now I think the realization is becoming that a nation can be a “democracy” yet still edge towards totalitarianism through the existence of a self sustaining state, whose rules are enforced free of one dictatorial leader.

Wasn’t there a similar story of two parents in Sweden who had their child taken away because they homeschooled?

…….treated as a child abuse and a crime against humanity.

The current administration will make home schooling illegal (even though it’s 100% a state issue).

Either that, or they’ll force all home school parents into joining their local teacher’s union.

are on the same page as the German Socialists: nobody can be too different, especially obvious religious fanatics (they have 5 – FIVE – children! Do they not realize how such a lifestyle damages the environment?).

We note BIG BRObama’s assault on the D.C. voucher program in this same aspect: central-state control, not parental control, not even local control.

What was heartening also were the comments under the Telegraph’s article about how America still stands for freedom and is a refuge for those trying to exercise basic freedoms, which are endangered even in “free, democratic” Europe.

Just more proof that even “moderate” Socialism is inimical to basic human rights.

For those interested, the Home School Legal Defense Association represents home-schooling parents in the defense of their religious liberty and exercise of conscience in the education of their children.

HSLDA was instrumental in assisting this family.

Contact at: http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1

The U.S. lefties just need a few more years or a few more SCOTUS justices.

http://truthandcommonsense.com/2010/01/28/good-news-for-tennessee-bad-news-for-germany-homeschoolers-get-protection/

I follow some of the international activities concerning homeschooling. Believe me when I say that when given the chance, this government will shut it down. Obama hates and fears homeschoolers because they are not getting the indoctrination he and people like him want children to get. In my post I point out my daughter, fifteen now, is taking a course on the Constitution. She can now see what Obama is doing (as well as many others on both sides of the aisle) and can comment on how it is violating the principles of our founding.

Compare that to the thousands of kids I dealt with over the years in law enforcement who were publicly educated and even after graduation from high school had no idea who our founding fathers were or how this nation was created.

Think about it for a second, if you have no idea of history, then anyone that comes along can tell you a story and you would buy it. The Soviets were pros at doing this.

In our area of the country we had a lot of drugs, violence, leftist agenda driven studies, etc. When we decided to homeschool, I told my wife this- “If we put our brilliant daughter into public school, we might as well put a crack pipe in her mouth now and get it over with.”

It is not been easy, but I can say it has been phenomenally rewarding! My daughter is taking Latin, Geometry, Constitutional classes, literature and through me a basic world history. She is focused, respectful and driven to excel. She will be someone someday, if the elites will get out of her way.

Under the guise of “not repeating history” Germans are hurtling towards a complete societal disaster. They carelessly use the aforementioned meme to drill a whole host of socialist ideas into a society already having a predisposed cultural proclivity for homogeneity and order.

Few contemporary Germans have taken the time to intellectually determine these ideas are faulty and should not to be followed blindly. Instead, they should be challenged and resolved through democratic debate – not heavy handed, kingly academic proclamations based on outdated legal precepts whose initial intent was completely unrelated to current day German society. That they accept such fiats and reasoning is deeply troubling.

The socialist-totalitarian wing is a very destructive force in German society today and frankly reminds me of the pre-war environment. They try to distance themselves from the past by opining the cause for their historical transgressions was rampant nationalism. But nothing could be further from the truth. It was moreover, a lack of German intellectual exploration and questioning of fundamental ideas, laws and the accompanying emotions that previously sent Germany down the road to World War II. To think they are not headed down the same socially destructive road again because nobody is waving flags or possesses guns would be a monumental mistake.

Again, a Brit gets it . I guess clearer thinking comes when you are staring at the Wall. Thank God we still have judges like Lawrence Burman.

… for me, this is the most chilling bit from above.

let me get this straight … the child’s *parents* don’t have the right to instill beliefs and values in their own children … but the state does

I shouldn’t be surprised at this … but I always am.

I’m so lucky and blessed to have been born here.

How the West has fallen. Corruption, moral exhaustion, ignorance, and State power, the poisons that are killing what is left of a culture.
The barbarians are watching and taking note, they being the ones that we are urged to show tolerance to.
And what do we have in the White House ?

The statist government view is:
They cannot indoctrinate their children.
Only we can indoctrinate their children.

…is to perpetuate and tighten the control of the stakeholders that matter (to themselves): the educrats (funding) and the teachers’ unions (tenure). Indoctrinating children and denying them options like charter- and homeschooling is a means to those ends.

In this case the parodic New York Times subtitle certainly applies: “Women and Minorities Hardest Hit”.

Read how the state reared the children of Winston Smith’s time, and the words below become all the more frightening:

“Integration into democracy and learning to get along with those who hold opposing opinions are important skills that children cannot learn when homeschooled, Bruegelmann said, and that is especially true with highly religious parents. They should not have the right to indoctrinate their children.”

My Dad was stationed in Germany during my senior year. We lived in a German community and I went to a DOD school, but I had German friends in the community. I will never forget the end of our friendship due to a heated arguement over the Holocaust. The Holocaust is a part of History, but it is not my history and even I knew more about it than she did. She vehemently denied what I said was true when we talked about it. I was stunned when she revealed to me just how little she really knew. Her version of the account (taught to her by German schools) was so far from true events I thought she was making it up, at first.

I wonder if the fear of the German government in parents homeschooling their children is because they will not be able to raise generation after generation that rewrites history. Not saying that this is the reason they are adamant about public education, but it makes me wonder if they are hiding other beliefs in “education”.