Utterly Meaningless

considering the defintions:

privilege: a special advantage or immunity or benefit not enjoyed by all

right: an abstract idea of that which is due to a person or governmental body by law or tradition or nature; “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”; “Certain rights can never be granted to the government but must be kept in the hands of the people”- Eleanor Roosevelt; “a right is not something that somebody gives you; it is something that nobody can take away”

Certainly the ‘right’ of raising your children would be a natural occurance, therefore a right until you do something so horrible as to forfeit the right.
Allowing the government to educate your children would be the act of you bestowing a privilege on them.
The government’s function of course in this matter should only be to determine that your rights aren’t infringing upon the rights of your child.
I definately think government has decided far too many things are privileges instead of rights, the question I most often ask is how in the world they were ever able to change the definition to apply it to the many things they do?

You are outside the mainstream, but only because the mainstream has shifted from pioneers and activists to (for lack of a better word) “normal” folks who see homeschooling as the answer to a specific problem (boredom, bullying, special needs, etc.) with a specific public school.

It takes either historical understanding or hard-won personal experience to perceive the black heart of the state; first-generation fighters like the Hegeners and second-generation sentinels like us have in general done such a good job (and of course the market has worked its magic and made high-quality resources and supplies plentiful) that today almost no one need struggle or even seriously think about the choice. As you keep saying, we are strong — but weakness is setting in.

The weak thinking that leads to people thinking the government grants rights to citizens can be laid square in the lap of the government schools, imho.

Well Daryl, NHELD also believes strongly in the natural rights of parents.
When government regulates, government essentially claims supreme authority over what once was the supreme authority of parents. Once government dictates that it has that authority, it then determines how much of that authority it will exercise.
People forget that the government is there to serve the people not the other way around. They have powers because we give it to them, and thus we should not allow them to take away our parental rights by enacting laws that do just that.
We need to remind the folks we elect that their job is to protect our rights not to strip them away.

Daryl said: I always thought that homeschoolers tended towards a libertarian slant and that I was right at home among them.

Were that the case, there wouldn’t be so many tax-funded “homeschoolers.”

I think Tim pegs it when he says:

You are outside the mainstream, but only because the mainstream has shifted from pioneers and activists to (for lack of a better word) “normal” folks who see homeschooling as the answer to a specific problem (boredom, bullying, special needs, etc.) with a specific public school.

The mainstream of “homeschooling” increasingly reflects the mainstream of society as a whole, and the mainstream votes one of two ways, neither of which is known for adherence to libertarian principles.

By the way, Daryl, the person who stated that everything is a privilege granted by the government describes herself as a libertarian:

cobran...2.html

She also involves herself in “lobbying to keep home-education free” in my state (WA).

Well now I’m really depressed.

Well, I support homeschooling because of my atheist, libertarian, radical bluestocking, daughter-of-immigrant-nobility views. Just because I’m crazy doesn’t mean I’m not right. 🙂