HOW TO EARN ENEMIES AND NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE PEOPLE
Compare the government officials with whom you are arguing with Nazis and with Hitler. Yes, conservative home ed bloggers– these are your champions.
Since Adolf Hitler prohibited homeschooling in 1938, Germany is the worst place for homeschoolers in Europe. Many parents have already been fined, and even sent to jail. Last March a court in Hamburg sentenced a German father of six to a prison sentence of one week for homeschooling his children, while the children were forcibly sent to school by the police, who pick them up each morning. The father, a conservative Christian, had previously been sentenced to a fine of 1,500 euro, but this did not persuade him to stop homeschooling. The court did not imprison the mother, but said it would not hesitate to do so if the parents continue violating the law. The bill prohibiting homeschooling is one of the very few Nazi laws that are still on the books in Germany. Today other countries, such as Belgium, seem intent on copying Germany’s Nazi system, whilst invoking the UN Convention.
UPDATE: I realized that I was confused (and confusing) in my second sentence. What I meant was “these are the folks whose cause you are championing.”
7 Responses to “HOW TO EARN ENEMIES AND NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE PEOPLE”
 Comment by Rochelle June 22nd, 2006 at 3:01 am |
Okay, seriously! Hitler and the Nazis have NOTHING to do with the current German ban on homeschooling! The current constitution (Grundgesetzt) was founded along with West Germany–AFTER THE WAR! It just orders compulsive schooling. Not compulsive education, but compulsive SCHOOLING! It’s a quirk of their law, not them being the devil incarnate! Does it suck? Yes, but their problem. Not ours. |
 Comment by Lachen June 22nd, 2006 at 3:03 am |
Daryl, I don’t understand the reference link in this post. As a somewhat conservative (it depends on whom I am being compared to, doesn’t it?) and Christian homeschooler, how are these my champions? I don’t champion anything remotely of this type of massive governmental override of basic freedoms of educating the children we bring forth from our own marriages and bodies? Help me understand what you’re getting at here… |
 Comment by Daryl Cobranchi June 22nd, 2006 at 4:17 am |
The comment was aimed at the conservative home education bloggers who have embraced the Beliens’ cause. The “champions” were the Beliens. |
 Comment by Dana June 22nd, 2006 at 10:00 am |
Do you know enough about homeschooling in Germany to be able to conclusively say this is NOT what is happening in Germany? Homeschooling was legal in Germany until 1938 when Hitler made it illegal. That is a fact. Yes, technically “Germany” did not exist until post-War, but homeschooling was not allowed under the new laws, either. Check with homeschooling groups in Germany. They say the exact same thing. Translation follows the German (from hausunterricht.org, the largest homeschooling advocacy group in Germany, I believe…at least the best websource for information): Woher kommt die Schulpflicht? “Wie†und wann ist diese gesetzlich verankert worden? Obwohl die allgemeine Schulpflicht bereits in der Weimarer Reichsverfassung stand, wurde sie nicht zwangsweise vollzogen. Bis 1938 war der Hausunterricht in Deutschland noch möglich. Erst die nationalsozialistische Gewaltherrschaft machte Schluß mit dieser Form der Unterrichtung und führte den Schulzwang ein. Verständlich – ein Kennzeichen von diktatorischen Regimen ist es immer, daß sie Bewegungen einschränken und verbieten, die sich ihrem Bestreben der totalen Kontrolle und Vereinheitlichung entziehen. Das heutige Deutschland im allgemeinen und Bayern im Besonderen hat mit dieser traurigen Tradition des diktatorischen Schulzwangs bis heute nicht gebrochen. Where does “compulsory schooling” come from? When was it made law? Although compulsory education already existed in the Weimarer Republic, it was not enforced. (*my note…the upper classes would not allow their children to mix with the lower, continuing to home educate). Until 1938, homeschooling was still possible. It was first the national socialist dictatorship that brought an end to this form of education and made compulsory school attendance universal and mandatory. Understandable–it is always a characteristic of dictatorial regimes to limit and forbid movements which go against their desire for total control and standardization. Modern Germany in general, and Bavaria in particular has unfortunately not broken with this tradition of a dictatorship. Indeed, the constitution including this little quirk came about after the war, but its inclusion of compulsory school attendance is pre-existant to modern Germany and continues the trend Hitler set in 1938. |
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Comment by Dana June 22nd, 2006 at 10:41 am |
if you really want to know anything about homeschooling in Germany, I went ahead and posted what I was working on last night and the night before. It has at least one interesting link about the human rights abuse charges against Germany. |
 Comment by Scott W. Somerville June 22nd, 2006 at 2:22 pm |
“Darren,” your great learning has driven you mad! We want Daryl back! Let him go, you fiend! |
 Comment by sahhsm June 23rd, 2006 at 12:36 am |
erm…Daryl… Quote from Wikipedia: The United States has had particular difficulties in ratifying the CRC due to strong opposition by conservatives to the treaty. The Bush administration has stated its opposition to the treaty: “The Convention on the Rights of the Child may be a positive tool for promoting child welfare for those countries that have adopted it. But we believe the text goes too far when it asserts entitlements based on economic, social and cultural rights. … The human rights-based approach … poses significant problems as used in this text.” Here is an article with Farris’ pov: The good thing is a backlash in Germany will be a great tool for homeschoolers to use in the US should we encounter similar regulation. |