15 y.o. DBH student at ASU

Homeschooling is a personal choice. There is a diversity in homeschooling families. On the other hand, a homeschooling movement, represented by groups like HSLDA, is a largely politicized group posing as something else, and possessing a defined ideology bits of which you expressed here. Not unlike eg. the NRA, which purports to be about gun safety and not a lobbying outfit it actually is.

See, that's why we need public education, along with other venues where people in the community get to interact regardless of their views. Otherwise, bubbles form, and people start to see the weirdest ideas repeated in their circles as self-evident and profound. For example, they may casually make a statement that implies that people are the property of other people. And expect everyone to just nod along, because at their compound everyone does.

Parents WILL raise their children according to their values; that's just unavoidable. When it comes to education, though, they have an OBLIGATION to make sure their kids are educated in a way that allows them to live in society with other people. Including enough exposure to different worldviews, so a kid is not shocked when he finally hears other people saying that the earth is round. I mean, this used to be utterly non-controversial.

See, Pride things do not bother me. I don't think they should be imposed on people who are uncomfortable with them, even in public space. For example, I did not agree with Canadian press trying to bully the late Rob Ford, a conservative, buffoonish and generally quite unpleasant mayor of Toronto into marching in a Pride parade. But that is it. If little Johnny is not forced to take part in Pride, I think it might do him good to learn to live with a few stickers for a month promoting a cause most people accept. Just like, coming from an opposite end, a Pacifist kid can survive sitting through a JROTC marching routine at Homecoming. They all will be fine.

Here is an anecdote: my kids do Scouting, and get into contact with a few homeschooled kids. These are fairly normal children, not extreme cases from the John Oliver segment. Yet they have already met at least 3 homeschooled Scouts who really struggle with working with females on an equal footing. Most recently at a NYLT training (National Youth Leadership Training) where my daughter and the homeschooled boy were both staffers. Not all homeschooled children, mind you, and there are certainly jerks in public schools. But this is a specific type, and to me a real concern.

(Also, some homeschool parents are insufferable arrogant tools. But that happens in many isolated communities. Like vegans. Or Libertarians. Or, yes, hardcore Bernie bros (also, Sen. Sanders himself is one of these). My high school was part of a Soviet system of selective STEM-heavy schools. My fellow "fiz-mat" grads also sometimes present as arrogant tools, ones who think them learning about Differential Equations in 10th grade makes them better than other people).

Extraordinary claims like "school districts in Virginia engender an approach to education that is in absolute conflict with the values of parents" require extraordinary proof. Because for the rest of us, a politician in Virginia exploited a mix of real concerns and an artificial moral panic to get into office. Tale as old as time.

 

I despise this thought-killing truism so much. "Democracy" and "republic" are two different attributes of a country. Canada, Belgium, and the UK are democracies but not republics. Russia, Iran and North Korea are republics, but not democracies. Saudi Arabia is neither. The United States, along with dozens of other countries, are BOTH. Enough with this charade already. BTW, many countries have some form of constitutional guarantees; these are not incompatible with democracy (and arguably necessary for an effective one). CO saves the day again.

I'm not even convinced that "government education" as you describe it even exists, let alone is "demonstrably" evil. Which is not to say it is without problems. Just like the police.

Dude, a video of a lawyer of a proven liar as a proof of anything? Really?
Meanwhile, on Planet Earth, the "left" candidate in 2016 Presidential Election (who, let me remind you, won a popular vote) conceded in the morning of the Election Night, and "the Left" incumbent facilitated the transition. Also, the Miller Report details evidence of illicit Russia involvement in 2016 Election, and a number of people were indicted. But thanks for the reminder that 45 was impeached, twice, on very serious charges.

 

Republicanism is key to the American system. That many in the US see it as unimportant is fearful indeed. Perhaps you believe it's a "buzzphrase for conservatives" because they tend to be among those who take the founding documents seriously.

 

Pleasantries aside, the only manner in which the US is democratic is through its republicanism, which necessarily requires an authoritative document(s) that limits representative power. You're prior characterization betrayed that reality in favor of mob rule. I'm terribly sorry that our system of government doesn't fit your narrative.

Yes, I'm sure that is how you feel. Maybe you should read the other side before you relegate everyone you disagree with to conspiracy and insanity.

So let's dress down those Trump supporters who questioned the election but not those many senators who actively sought to usurp electoral votes on the basis of a legal fiction? Clearly, partisanship is the air you breathe.

 

You seem intent on minimizing the influence of the right, specifically religious right, in the homeschool and wider "parental choice" ecosystem. Name a hippie counterpart to A Beka Books and Bob Jones U. Press. BTW, I used to have a friend attending a conservative Evangelical church, and "public school is bad" was taught there as doctrine. FaithWay Baptist Church of Ajax, Ontario. They have their own church-basement school using BJU homeschool textbooks as curriculum, as well as their own church basement college. Leftie communities like this exist, but are far, far less successful or numerous at this moment. Granted, this is more of a standard cult practice than a political statement, but don't tell me these guys don't have weight in the movement.

Also, not every HS school is part of the "advocacy" and belong to or even like these groups. Finally, yeah, I believe the organizational agenda of the HSLDA and the like is different than the aggregate of their members'. This is why their political support (and dare I guess, financial) is concentrated on the Right (your De Satans, of deVosii). After all, NRA members are split on gun control, while NRA the group is staunchly against. I was technically in the NRA for a year, after taking the Range Safety Officer course with other Scout volunteers - doesn't mean Wayne LaPierre agrees with me. (...well, to be perfectly sincere - I am pretty sure most or all of the other guys in that class voted Republican).

Not a choice. Rev. Burgos posited a false dilemma, where both choices assumed a child must "belong" to someone. I was using that as an example.

I am a member of the liberal academia, a foreigner and a Hillary supporter. Tell me about being clearly disliked and being openly made fun of feels like, I obviously have no idea. Besides, "Gallileo Gambit fallacy" posits that most out-of-mainstream views are not more widely accepted for a reason. Enter QAnon.

Didn't know of my duty to denigrate myself in a debate, please tell me more. Nevertheless, I openly identify as an academic, a former tech bro, and a fizmat grad - groups that, while less known for obnoxiousness than vegans or homeschooling parents, still do produce a disproportionate number of obnoxious pricks. Oh, also a former taxation employee, and a member of a public Union. And Canadian (a group I personally dislike the most for their obnoxiousness).

 

Yes, and? All democracies are this way through their respective systems of government, and those in turn fall under either constitutional monarchy or some sort of a republic. You have said nothing by stating this screaming obviousness.

It betrayed nothing of the sort. On the other hand, draining 200-year-old government sectors of the resources to remain viable has nothing to do with upholding the founding documents. It is about diminishing the effects of representative power in society in favor of the M O N E Y E D interests. In fact, "starve the beast" movement doesn't stem from the Founders; it started taking form in late 70s-early 80s and used the backlash to the Civil Rights advances.

If many, of any, senators "actively sought to usurp electoral votes on the basis of a legal fiction", that would deserve dressing down. Fortunately, things that deserve to be characterized this way is election denialism (say by Ted Cruz) and criminal fake elector fraud schemes coordinated by the Trump Campaign. Incidentally, characterizing those efforts as "Trump supporters questionin the election" is crime-covering doublespeak. Again, bubble discourse.