Christian Homeschool Rights... What Did That Judge Say??

Posted by Jenny Evans Sep 6, 2009

There is a recent news story about a 10-year-old New Hampshire girl who was ordered by the court to attend public school instead of continuing homeschool education under her conservative Christian mother. The gist of the ruling is that the girl's religious convictions were too firm, therefore she needed to be exposed to more diverse opinions besides her mother's.

Keep in mind that courts can only overrule a parent when the child's best interest demands that someone intervenes. This judge interpreted the mother's transmission of her religious faith to be literally harming her daughter. If this ruling was to become a precedent, absolutely no exclusively Christian education (whether in a homeschool or a private school setting) would be allowed!

As I see it, there are two huge problems with the ruling:

1. The girl was excelling academically in homeschool. If the court really felt that she was too isolated, then they should have mandated that she be involved in a local homeschool group, rec center classes, sports or clubs, etc. It doesn't make sense to pull her out of an educational system that was obviously working for her.
2. Since when has it been any business of a court to decide whether anyone (child or parent) has religious convictions that are too strong?

But perhaps the most troubling thing of all to me is that even though the Constitution disallows the government from sponsoring any religion, American public schools today do have a sponsored religion: atheism. The judge in this case knew it. The solution to a 10-year-old who has been too indoctrinated with Christian beliefs is to throw her in the public school system, which will "cure" her by teaching that every background, lifestyle, and point of view is valid except a faith-based one.

Now I don't homeschool my own kids, but I support those who do. I think the ruling of this case is biased against both homeschooling and Christianity. What do you think?