WTF? German Christian homeschooling family given political asylum

[cali]

Homeschooling Family Granted Political Asylum

Immigration Judge Says Germany Violating Basic Human Rights

In a case with international ramifications, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the political asylum application of a German homeschooling family. The Romeikes are Christians from Bissinggen, Germany, who fled persecution in August 2008 to seek political asylum in the United States. The request was granted January 26 after a hearing was held in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 21.

“We can’t expect every country to follow our constitution,” said Judge Burman. “The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate.”

Burman added, “Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress. This family has a well-founded fear of persecution…therefore, they are eligible for asylum…and the court will grant asylum.”

In his ruling, Burman said that the scariest thing about this case was the motivation of the government. He noted it appeared that rather than being concerned about the welfare of the children, the government was trying to stamp out parallel societies—something the judge called “odd” and just plain “silly.” In his order the judge expressed concern that while Germany is a democratic country and is an ally, he noted that this particular policy of persecuting homeschoolers is “repellent to everything we believe as Americans.”

http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Germany/201001260.asp

[virgogal]

1. This is the strangest asylum case I have ever heard of.

[renegade000]

2. you don't know about those German public schools...

I mean. They have DICTIONARIES in them!

:evilgrin:

[gmoney]

6. probably don't even teach how Jesus conquered the dinosaurs!

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Two problems:

1. The link doesn't work.
2. What exactly is the "persecution" in Germany for homeschooling? Is it prison? A fine? Children are compelled to be educated like here I'm sure. And there must be private religious schools available. I'd like to know more about Germany's policy behind the homeschooling prohibition.

[cali]

5. fixed the link and I have no idea what the grounds for persecution are.

I doubt that they're a threat to life and limb.

[Xithras]

9. It's prison.

He was originally sentenced to three months in prison for not sending his children to school. It was reduced on appeal to a fine, but the law apparently does permit imprisonment, and some judges in Germany are issuing prison sentences for it.

[marmar]

4. C'est bizarre......

“repellent to everything we believe as Americans”

Don't you love it when these people speak of Americans as one monolith? :eyes:

[paulsby]

12. i think the vast majority of americans find it repellant to imprison somebody who chooses

to homeschool.

do you or do you not?

that is the case in germany

[Xithras]

7. The judge may be correct in his ruling.

If you believe that they are a parallel society, as the German court claimed, then attempts to "stamp them out" do indeed violate international human rights laws. Nations do not have a right, under international law, to stamp out internal ethnic, social, or religious groups simply because they disagree with them....especially for the purpose of achieving a homogenous culture. Doing so is a form of ethnic cleansing. I'm rather shocked that a German court would make that argument.

On the other hand, if you believe that it's a "good of the children" thing, as German lawmakers claim, then the exemption for travelling parents makes no sense at all. It's either bad for the kid, or it's not. You can't say that it's bad for Kid X, but good for Kid Y because his parent does something else for a living. Either it's good for the kids, or its not. By approving the use of homeschooling for a certain portion of its population, the German government essentially conceded that homeschooling isn't harmful, but that they are simply trying to get rid of it. Now we have a different legal problem. If the German government is saying that the laws are to be enforced one way for one group, and another way for another group, you run into the anti-repression aspects of international human rights laws that equate the uneven application of civil rights and criminal law based on ethnic or religious beliefs with ethnic cleansing. You can't say that "Law X applies to family Y because they are religious, but doesn't apply to family Z because they're not."

Germany willingly signed the UDHR, and German courts and lawmakers should abide by their tenets. Of course, the same can be said for American lawmakers, who regularly violate those same treaties.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. Maybe they smelled the money? Want to be right-wing heros who don't need to work like the Duggars?

The market for right-wing martyr complex in the US is thriving, anyone can see that.

[LeftishBrit]

10. Strange

It is true that the laws in Germany are stricter about home education than in most countries in Europe. Technically it is illegal, but I understand that parents can often get around it in courts, by claiming that the local school does not suit their particular child's needs (though this would be more likely to pertain to health or academic issues, than religion).

There is also the option of private school. Private schools in Germany are mostly very affordable (in contrast to the UK, for example). Most are *not* run by religious groups but some are. Especially if the family was willing to move house, they could probably have found one to their purposes - unless their religious beliefs are very idiosyncratic.

Another option less drastic than the one chosen would have been to try to move to another country within the EU. Home education is more accepted and legally sanctioned in a number of EU countries, including the UK; and in recent years, migration within the EU has been made fairly easy. (Most countries that accept home education do require evidence that the children are receiving a suitable curriculum to a suitable standard.)

If they wished to move to the USA, fine; but when one considers the number of much more serious asylum applications that get turned down or suffer long delays, their case does seem a little flimsy.

[alp227]

11. So Christian oppression is worse in Europe than the US?

Fox News whines about "persecuted American Christians" all the time. It'd be interesting to see their super-anti-European attitudes once they pick up this story.

I think the immigration judge should've considered the consequence of America's fairly lax homeschooling standards. If you wanna know why so few Americans accept evolution compared to Europeans, homeschooling is just one factor, right next to religious lunacy and the creationist invasion of public ed. A New York Times poll in 2006 found that far more Germans (near 75%) responded yes to question "Did human beings, as we know them, develop from earlier species of animals?" compared to just over half of Americans.

The thing is, is homeschooling really just as much a fundamental human right as the right to go to school?

Brent Bozell recently wrote a column "Europe's Decadent Education" criticizing the EU for condemning Lithuania's new laws that try to protect children:

The law limits a broad range of public information considered harmful to children, including graphic violence, instructions on how to make explosives, presentation of drug use in a positive light, pornography and ridicule or harassment based on race, religion, wealth or sexual orientation. The amendments also make clear that the legal restrictions apply to education, the mass media, advertising and all other types of public information, not to parents in the home.

Although he keeps on pounding the EU for having an "anti-family" attitude, he quotes British sex education materials but doesn't even try to make factual debunkings of things like:

A National Health Service leaflet advised teenaged school children that they have a "right" to an enjoyable sex life and that regular intercourse can be good for their cardiovascular health. Its slogan: "An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away." The government also proclaimed: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"

Here's the EU's take on the issue.

[burning rain]

13. Never a surprise when the US panders to religious freaks, unfortunately.

.