When I see something that is wrong it really bothers me. And so I am not always as gracious as I should be when dealing with situations.
That's a "growth area" for me.
And so, for me, this whole debate about how much intervention the government should make on homeschoolers has been a challenge. If I was still my Jr. High Self (very glad I've grown up a little since then), I'd be ranting and raving. Now I only do it when I get home and start talking about it with my friends and family <smile>.
But a post by Milton Gaither gave me a moment's pause. Not because it changes my opinions at all, but because it casts light on my thoughts in a slightly different way, which may help explain things a little better.
The post, and the linked article, is about American Muslims homeschooling.
How do you feel about that?
To be honest, there's a slight discomfort associated with that idea; similar to when a couple of "punks" (local teenagers) stop on the sidewalk in front of my house for a few minutes ['What are they up to?']. But like the kids in front of my house, the majority of Muslim homeschoolers are not doing it for any ignoble purpose. But this becomes more of an issue because there are many similarities to the Christian homeschooling community, as Mr. Gaither points out.
So, should the government step in to make sure there is no "unfettered" "anarchy" (or even terrorism) going on? I mean, we sure don't want any abuse to be happening any more than we would like someone to blow up a bus.
But this is where the argument falls apart.
Of course no one wants to allow parents to abuse their children! Of course we don't want terrorists to run rampant. No one is arguing that we should.
But is the government the right "person" for the job? Should we sit back and let "the government... protect us"?
No.
Because if we do that, we make way for what just about every single utopian-society-gone-bad movie or book out there warns us against: Totalitarian government.
It is bad to leave people to their own devices without any kind of outside influence, sure, but it is even worse to let a government (made up of people) do the same.
But what of our checks and balances? We have those in place so our government won't become totalitarian.
Yes, in theory. But if we let them start dictating things for us, we should not be surprised when we end up in a dictatorship.
I will leave you with a brilliant quote: "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Expectant Father
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