<p>That article is why I inherently distrust homeschoolers(Sorry, Katharos!) Estimated 2/3 of homeschooled children are raised by evangelicals.</p>
<p>nverborn, welcome to my world…Its not the homeschoolers per se, its the narrow education many get…not all…but many…</p>
<p>Mini,</p>
<p>The Psalm you reference is a fine example of a prophetic utterance whose meaning is only being revealed to this generation:</p>
<p>[1] By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
[2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
[3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
[4] How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?
[5] If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
[6] If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
[7] Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
[8] O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
[9] Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.</p>
<p>Surely the Psalmist was prophetically aware that the Melodians would some day sing some of these words on the soundtrack to “The Harder They Come,” starring Jimmy Cliff.</p>
<p>In this context, it could not be clearer that the final verse merely refers to the ecstacy available to baby boomers who introduce our grandchildren to the joys of slam dancing to the music of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.</p>
<p>In my college town the homeschoolers are ~1/2 fundamentalist Christians and 1/2 aging hippies who don’t like the way “the system” educates our children. It makes for an interesting dynamic when they join together to achieve critical mass for sports and other organized activities.</p>
<p>Dominionism is a very real goal of the radical religious right. Check out theocracywatch.org. The students at such colleges as PH and Bob Jones are the ones being groomed for politics, and have much greater access to page jobs and so forth than mainstream college students. I read a statistic once, which was startling, on this very topic.</p>
<p>Link:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.theocracywatch.org/[/url]”>http://www.theocracywatch.org/</a></p>
<p>Beware of ‘em wiley Christians…some of um’s get schoolin’.:)</p>
<p>“The students at such colleges as PH and Bob Jones are the ones being groomed for politics, and have much greater access to page jobs and so forth than mainstream college students.”</p>
<p>They may be being groomed for politics but they can’t be pages if they are already in college. Perhaps you mean internships. US Congressional Pages are high school juniors who work for the US Senate and the US House of Representatives. State Pages are usually 13-14 year olds who serve for their State Senates and General Assemblies. When I served on the Hill, 2 of my fellow Pages were homeschooled. One is an LDS member and is attending BYU. The other was just a “regular” kid who didn’t talk religion (we ALL were guilty of talking politics) and is attending University of Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>Just picked up on this thread - Dadguy, you just made my evening. That comment was hilarious. Of course, the stage for laughter was set by mini’s picture of Democrats being smooshed against Tupperware… . . . . …</p>
<p>I find it almost laughable (almost laughable) how seriously those who are not conservative Christians take the Bob-Jones-type of believers as a malevolent political force. I’m sorry, but having lived all my measlely (kinda-almost) 19 years surrounded by slightly less extreme Christians (i.e. real people, not caricatures), let me assure you that there is no organized “radical religious right” conspiracy going on. Sure, there’s a radical Republican “conspiracy,” if you will, that is preying on evangelicals; but I am always amazed at how “outsiders” seem incapable of giving them the benefit of the doubt. The “radical religious right” is guilty of nothing more than being politically naive and easily manipulated. Not good, but not malicious either.</p>
<p>Conservative Christians are (for the most part) good-hearted, geniune people, who really do want the best–or their version of it–for society, and really do try to vote accordingly. Unfortunately, the Republicans, in playing the “anti-gay” and “anti-abortion” cards (and let’s not forget the Democrats in first taking such extreme views on such a socially radical agenda), have perverted Christians’ sense of social morality when it comes to politics (as in, let’s attack the gays but forget the poor).</p>
<p>When it comes to Christian schools and universities, then, there is absolutely nothing wrong with teaching upon the foundation of the Bible–otherwise, they’d cease to be called “Christian.” What is scary, however, is when teachers and professors start to tell students what to believe–about God, about politics, about the world in general. I know–I’ve experienced it–and I’m left now scratching my head and wondering, “What do I know is true, and what do I think I know is true because it’s what has been hammered into me since I was a child?” That being said, I’m grateful for my Christian education. I just wish my teachers had trusted God enough to allow for criticism and open discussion of ideas so true learning could take place, considering that, after all, all truth is God’s truth.</p>
<p>And mow I’m going to put a stop to my ramblings–they’re going nowhere and are apparently are more for my benefit than anyone else’s, seeing as they meandered off-topic.</p>
<p>P.S. Patrick Henry is a great namesake for a religious-political college. Maybe these Christians know what they’re talking about after all :)</p>
<p>Wow, Kenyon, that video is something else. It made me want to cry to hear these innocent 18-year-olds volunteer that their #1 campaign issue was stopping gay marriage and the homosexual influence on culture. The first kid looked like such a nice boy. I just wanted to put my hand on his shoulder and ask, have you ever met any gay people? Ever had dinner in their homes? How do you know they pose such a terrible threat to you?</p>
<p>In a few years, if they don’t change, I’ll start seeing them as plain old hatemongers who are responsible for the havoc they wreak, but now, when they’ve been so sheltered and they’ve seen so little of the world, I just feel so sad for them.</p>
<p>And where in the Gospels did they get the idea that there’s a religious imperative not to tax Tori Spelling when her dad dies? Guess I’m not reading closely enough.</p>
<p>luckycharms: Those were not ramblings - they were a breath of fresh air, and true, true, true.</p>
<p>It may seem benign, but it is not. Teaching on the foundation on the bible is scary. Biblcial Science? Teachng that the only morals are the morals that ae INTERTREPTED by a small group and many in that grop wnat to make their bibiical laws social laws</p>
<p>So, it is not benign in many cases.</p>
<p>All truth is not God’s truth…that is a dangerous concept…we only know God’s truth through man. </p>
<p>So if my D does not believe in your God, do they not know Truth? If my mom, the Budhist, does she not know Truth? Saying that all truth is GODS truth is arrogant. Sorry, but it is saying that only those that believe in the Christian God know what truth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your own words show the scariness of mixing religion and government. And your own words are what make the “nonbeliving heathens” worried.</p>
<p>CGM: Try focusing on the rest of her statement and not that one sentence, maybe? And she did say God’s truth, NOT Jesus’ truth? God means different things to different people, after all.</p>
<p>Citygirlsmom–
Let me clarify. I absolutely do not want biblical principles to be forced on society. That’s why we have the separation of church and state–to give all faiths the freedom to operate and pursue their respective convictions. It’s only when those convictions start to invade the personal freedoms of others that they become dangerous (and actually risk losing their status as “faith”–when an ideology is forced it is necessarily not the product of free will). I am absolutely against this “Marriage Protection” crap, the never-ending push for state-sanctioned prayer in schools, and the “return” to America’s so-called “Christian traditions,” and I even support removing “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. Not because I don’t believe that God is real or that prayer is piontless–they simply do not belong in American government as long as America still operates under the 1st Amendment (which, of course, these days, one never knows…). Christians (and others, too) who don’t get this need a real (not revisionist) civics/history lesson and need to read C.S. Lewis’s “Meditation on the Third Commandment” (which says to not take God’s Name in vain).</p>
<p>As far as the “all truth is God’s truth” cliche which apparently struck a nerve, two things: One, it was intended as a sort of sarcastic response to my teachers who loved to quote it but actually taught as if they were terrified it may not prove true (my underhanded and less bold way of calling them hypocrites). Secondly, I never meant to imply that those of different faiths (or no faith at all) can’t know truth. I believe ultimate truth comes from and points to God; your mother and daughter believe truth originates elsewhere (I’m assuming–of course I can’t speak for them). No problem.</p>
<p>I’d like to go more deeply into this religion/politics discussion–it’s my pet topic at the moment–but I’ve got a broken arm and am doing the whole “type 1-handed” thing, which is…veeerrrrry tedious and frustrating…and I’ve got dinner waiting for me–leftovers 
</p>
<p>Also, I’d just like to point out that I never called anyone a “nonbelieving heathen” ;)</p>
<p>Oh good grief! Do you REALLY believe that the evangelical right (as represented by the tiny population of of PHC) will ever possess the power to bring about the social and political changes they prescribe? The sky is NOT falling! They are far outnumbered by those at the opposite end of the political spectrum, let alone those of us along the continuum of the vast middle.</p>
<p>Every year, a neo-nazi group rallies at one of our local public libraries. I assure you that they have a political agenda. They would like nothing more than to deny me my hard won civil rights just because of the color of my skin. They talk smack about the “impending war between the races”, and are generally mosquito brained and annoying. God Bless America, they are but one of our countless lunatic fringe groups. But that doesn’t mean they’re poised to take over Congress and the courts. Until they prove capable of effecting changes in our laws detrimental to my own life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, or begin carrying out terrorist attacks, I’ll not work myself into a frenzy. </p>
<p>The Graduates of PHC have about as much of a chance of passing a constitutional ban on gay marriage, or making Christianity our “State Religion”, as the Skin Heads have of reinstating miscegenation laws and repealing civil rights legislation. Stop hyperventilating…Please!</p>
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<p>Well, what constitutes detrimental to you is up to you to decide, but you can be sure that the PHC crowd is jumping for joy over the new composition of the Supreme Court. </p>
<p>Antonin Scalia and certain Republican members of Congress may not have actually attended PHC, but when it comes to implementing major social changes, they are now playing for the same team.</p>
<p>The evangelical right is not a “tiny group” by any stretch of the imagination. I read once that there are 20 million in the US, and that this block of votes is what swayed the 2004 election in favor of Bush.</p>
<p>It’s utter folly to pretend that the radical religious right does not have an agenda, and a serious one. But I do agree that they have been co-opted by the corporate wing of the GOP, which is simply using the fundamentalists to expand their power base. The GOP has no intention of doing away with Roe v Wade, for example, no matter how much the far right SCOTUS chips away at it. It is a integral wedge issue which keeps the right wing fighting (and attention off all the other messes that they have made).</p>
<p>No frenzy here, Poetsheart, but I am a realist, and you’d have to be blind not to see the shift right in our country’s policy’s over the past five years.</p>
<p>i tried to watch that video but just as the fluffy-haired white army of virgins marched across my screen my computer was besieged by some fundamentalist christian virus and began speaking tongue-tied. Where is Janet Reno and her mighty bazooka when you really need to signal your objections over the walls of lunatic compounds?</p>
<p>Hanna o hanna may i live long enough to see you ascend(onto a seat on the supreme court,…though i know you’d prefer to have sung with the other supremes)</p>
<p>In theory, the evangelical right is the majority in some states, including Texas. I agree that PHC represents the absolute fringe of the movement, but thier whole goal is to provide leadership in order to influence both the masses of the movement and broader policy. </p>
<p>So it is not just a numbers game, just as the influence on the other side of the ACLU is all out of proportion to its membership. </p>
<p>Allmusic, I agree with your analysis. Going is tough for the GOP now. Let’s change the subject to flag burning and a gay marriage amendment, neither of which has any chance of passage. Budget bills? Wait until after the election. Immigration reform? Too hot now. Let it wait. Social Security reform? on the back burner. </p>
<p>The book “Whats the matter with Kansas” sure has this part of the equation down well.</p>