This group worked together for nine months and recently submitted legislation to recognize that a parent’s duty to instruct his child supercedes the state’s duty. [See copy below.]

We have been open and shared our proposal with other homeschoolers and HSLDA. Mike Donnelly at HSLDA said he supported our efforts and our goals. However, at the last minute, without notifying our group, Mike Donnelly initiated opposing legislation, contacting only a few leaders of HSLDA’s member group in our state, CHENH, to gain support, without ever showing them a copy of our proposal. Rank-and-file NH members of HSLDA and CHENH were never consulted or informed that HSLDA had submitted legislation on their behalf.

HSLDA thinks our group “went too far” in recognizing a parent’s right to be the primary instructor of his own child. HSLDA would prefer state jurisdiction and oversight of parents. In order to maintain control over the NH legislative process, HSLDA initiated its own legislation.

It’s a conflict of interest for an out-of-state organization to introduce legislation which will directly protect its own livelihood. This is the first time in 20-years that HSLDA has initiated legislation in NH. The last time they did so was when they wrote the existing NH home education law back in 1990, which they have consistently termed “model legislation.” Apparently, that’s no longer the case. Their new legislation, though superficially an improvement, retains the state’s jurisdiction over home education and does not prevent state rule-making.

If anyone would like to help, please contact Rep. Bates and politely ask him to withdraw HSLDA’s bill. Let New Hampshire homeschoolers determine their own destiny.

Representative David Bates (R)
Email: rep.bates@live.com

Thanks,
Doris Hohensee,

New Hampshire
NH Homeschool Defense League

The deadline to file the titles of House bills in NH was September 25, 2009. Bill numbers have not been allocated. The deadline for the submission of the text of a proposal is Nov. 1, 2009.

HSLDA’s proposal strips the current home education law of some regulations, leaving in place a notification procedure and the state’s right to oversee parents as if they were operating “public” home education programs.

CHENH leaders were told by Mike Donnelly that the NH Homeschool Defense League went “too far” on behalf of parents to place parent’s duty to instruct his child over the state’s duty in our proposal. HSLDA needed to initiate its own bill to maintain control over the NH legislative process.

Join NH Homeschool Defense League group to stay informed about legislative issues in New Hampshire.

“The stranger in ancient Israel did not serve as a judge, although he received all the benefits of living in the land. The political question is this: By what biblical standard is the pagan to be granted the right to bring political sanctions against God’s people? We recognize that unbelievers are not to vote in Church elections. Why should they be allowed to vote in civil elections in a covenanted Christian nation? Which judicial standards will they impose? By what other standard than the Bible?”
- Gary North of Institute For Christian Economics

In order to more clearly understand the increasing divisiveness in homeschooling and the various leaders involvement in a political religion, it is necessary to become familiar with some of the facets of Christian theology and theocracy.

“Theocracy, the direct rule of a nation by God through divinely selected spokesmen, has many exemplars in the modern world. Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq are nations with obvious theocratic tendencies. Israel’s political parties exhibit growing theocratic patterns. In the United States, the Christian Reconstruction movement proposes the purest form of theocracy. Reconstructionism believes that the law given for the political and legal ordering of ancient Israel is intended for all people at all times; therefore American is duty bound to install a political system based entirely on biblical law.”

Reconstructionist theologian David Barton offered this definition: “The Christian goal for the world is the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics, in which every area of life is redeemed and placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the rule of God’s law.”

The term ‘dominion theology’ comes from Genesis 1:26-28 of the Bible where God’s purpose for man is stated: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (RSV)

Sometimes termed ‘dominion’ or ‘kingdom’ theology, “dominionism revolves around the idea that Christians and Christians alone, are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns. An earlier source of dominion theology was an evangelical philosopher named Francis Schaeffer Schaeffer’s 1981 book, A Christian Manifesto remained one of the Christian Right’s most important texts into the 1990’s.”

Many of the leaders of the so-called hard or Christian Right are followers of the teachings of Rousas John Rushdoony. R.J. Rushdoony is the spiritual leader of Chalcedon Foundation, a California organization dedicated to Christian Reconstruction.

According to the Foundation, a Christian Reconstructionist is a Calvinist, holding to the principles that God, not man, is the center of the universe and beyond; a Theonomist, believing that God’s law is found in the Bible; a Presuppositionalist, believing that he holds to the Faith because the Bible says so and has no need to prove it; a Postmillennialist believing that Christ will return to earth only after the Holy Spirit has empowered the church to advance Christ’s kingdom in time and history and a Dominionist taking seriously the Bible’s commandment to the godly to take dominion in the earth.

“The Christian Reconstructionist believes the earth and all it’s fullness is the Lord’s; that every area dominated by sin must be ‘reconstructed’ in terms of the Bible. This includes, first, the individual; second, the family; third, the church; and fourth, the wider society including the state.”

The Dominion theology movement places Judeo-Christian biblical law above any and all constitutional law, including the U.S. Constitution. “Postmillienialists believe that righteous human beings, essentially servants of Christ, must achieve positions of influence in societies in order to prepare the world for the Messiah’s return.”

In his excellent 1996 book, With God on Our Side, William Martin used a sampling of the views of several noted Reconstructionists to give a sense of how a Reconstructed America would be: “The federal government would play no role in regulating business, public education, or welfare [S]ome government would be visible at the level of counties but citizens would be answerable to church authorities on most matters subject to regulation income taxes would not exceed ten percent – the biblical tithe – and social security would disappear [P]ublic schools would be abolished in favor of home-schooling arrangements, and families would operate on a strict patriarchal pattern.

The only people permitted to vote would be members of ‘biblically correct’ churches. Most notably, a theonomic order would make homosexuality, adultery, blasphemy, propagation of false doctrine, and incorrigible behavior by disobedient children subject to the death penalty, preferably administered by stoning a reconstructed America would have little room for Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, or even non-Reconstructionist Christians. ‘The Christian’, one Reconstructionist author has asserted, ‘must realize that pluralism is a myth R.J. Rushdoony, also regards pluralism as a heresy, since, in the name of toleration, the believer is asked to associate on a common level of total acceptance with the atheist, the pervert, the criminal, and the adherents of other religions.”

Other noted Reconstructionists include Greg Bahnson, David Barton of WallBuilders, Inc., David Chilton, Gary DeMar of American Vision and Worldview Magazine; Ted DeMoss of Christian Business Men’s Committee; Kenneth Gentry, Jay Grimstead of Coalition on Revival; James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church; Tim LaHaye of American Coalition for Traditional Values; Mrs. Connie Marshner of Free Congress Foundation; Rev. Joseph Morecraft; Gary North of Institute for Christian Economics; Mark Siljander of Global Strategies, Inc.; Randall Terry of Operation Rescue and Rev. Donald Wildmon of American Family Association. Dr. Kennedy, Rev. LaHaye, Mrs. Marshner, Mr. North, R.J. Rushdoony, and Rev. Wildmon are all members of the Council For National Policy.

“Whether it is acknowledged or not, Reconstructionism has profoundly influenced the Christian Right. Perhaps its most important role within the Christian Right can be traced to the formation in 1982 of the Coalition on Revival (COR) Founded and headed by Dr. Jay Grimstead, COR has sought in this way to create a transdenominational theology The COR leadership has significantly overlapped with the Christian Right, and has included: John Whitehead, Don Wildmon Tim LaHaye and D. James Kennedy, Randall Terry Steven Hotze, Rev. Glen Cole Michael Farris Robert Dugan Bill Dannemeyer Mark Siljander R.J. Rushdoony, Gary North, Joseph Moorecraft, David Chilton, Gary DeMar and Rus Walton.”

It is difficult for secular homeschoolers to understand the apparent double standard when Christian homeschoolers are discriminatory against them at the local support group level, while at the same time, courting their efforts when it comes to state or national political causes. Understanding Reconstructionist Theology and Theocracy is important because it reflects understanding on the division in the homeschooling community between secular and religious members, and the theocratic motivations of politically manipulating the community.

Gary North declared, “All long-term social change comes from the successful efforts of one or another struggling organizations to capture the minds of a hard core of future leaders.” Reconstructionists believe that Christian schools and the homeschooling movement are the key to capturing those minds. Joseph Moorecraft said in 1987, that the Reconstruction movement was made up of a small number but expected a massive acceleration in 25 to 30 years ‘when those kids that are now in Christian schools have graduated and taken their places in American society, and moved into places of influence and power.’

When it comes to politics, the principles are simple: “The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church’s public marks of the covenant–baptism and holy communion–must be denied citizenship, just as they were in ancient Israel.”

“Gary North claims that ‘the ideas of the Reconstructionists have penetrated into Protestant circles that for the most part are unaware of the original source of the theological ideas that are beginning to transform them.’ North describes the ‘three major legs of the Reconstructionist movement’ as ‘the Presbyterian oriented educators, the Baptist school headmasters and pastors, and the charismatic telecommunications system.’ What this means is that hundreds of thousands of Pentecostals and charismatic Christians, as well as many fundamentalist Baptists, have moved out of the apolitical camp. Many have thrown themselves into political work – not merely as voters, but as ideologically driven activists, bringing a reconstructed ‘Biblical world view’ to bear on their area of activism.”

In his well researched 1995 book, Home Schooling: The Right Choice, Christopher Klicka frequently quotes Reconstructionst writers, notably Rushdoony and Barton. In addition to including Rushdoony’s “The Difference Between Christian Education and Humanistic Education”, the book’s forward was written by D. James Kennedy and many of the ideals expressed seem Reconstructionist, however, he does not state specifically that he is a Reconstructionist.

The relationship between Michael Farris of HSLDA and Tim and Beverly LaHaye goes back to the early 1980’s when Michael Farris was head of the legal department of Concerned Women for America. Tim LaHaye was attempting to start a television ministry which failed. In 1983 he started the American Coalition for Traditional Values which was similar to the now defunct Moral Majority, its goal being to mobilize Christians to register and vote. Some accounts indicate Michael Farris was deeply involved with ACTV while others do not mention his involvement. ACTV closed down shortly after the 1986 elections.

However, Tim LaHaye withdrew from his television ministry when it was publicized that his church was funding an anti-Catholic group. In 1985 he further withdrew after it became known that CWA had accepted ‘generous help’ from the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church which teaches the divinity of the Rev. Moon in direct conflict with Christian teachings. In 1987 Rev. LaHaye was forced to resign as co-chair from Jack Kemp’s presidential campaign because newspapers printed divisive passages from his writings, which were anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic.

The New York Times profiled Michael Farris’ campaign for Lt. Governor of Virginia as part of a series of articles about Christians in politics. It is noted that Michael Farris’ name appeared as a co-author of a policy paper by Jay Grimstead’s “Coalition on Revival, which has called for the United States to reclaim itself as a ‘Christian nation.’ (Farris says that he only worked on an early draft of the document and that the organization included his name without his permission.)”

Michael Farris, in his 1992 book, Where Do I Draw The Line?, addressed Reconstructionism. He quotes Francis Shaeffer’s Christian Manifesto to explain our nation’s slide into its current cultural condition but he also takes an opportunity to note that, “there are those who advocate the idea that America should enact the Old Testament law right down to the rules for conducting trials. I am not one of those people but I do believe the moral principles of God apply to every age.”

However, when discussing classical education in The Future of Home Schooling, he recommends as “one of the best programs I have seen that offers a clearly Christian classical education is David Quine’s World Views of the Western World World Views is a three-year program that is built largely around the works of Francis Schaeffer. Students still read Homer, Socrates and Machiavelli. But these are balanced not only by Schaeffer’s works, but also by St. Augustine, Luther and Calvin.”

As homeschoolers we should be very careful not to assign guilt by association. It is probable that some of the individuals involved in homeschooling and/or HSLDA are Reconstructionists, while others who associate with them are not. Prominent Reconstructionists are often given a forum to advance their cause at HSLDA conferences but it is unknown whether HSLDA itself is a Reconstructionist organization.

HSLDA has ties to the Reconstructionist movement through former employees such as Doug Phillips, the son of prominent Reconstructionist Howard Phillips, founder of the U.S. Taxpayers Party and HSLDA founder James Carden who was instrumental in introducing the concept of home schooling to Bill Gothard, himself a prominent Reconstructionist. Carden was among the 100 families who piloted the Advanced Training Institute of America (ATIA) program in 1984/85. Board member Jeff Ethell may have been influenced by Reconstruction ideas while a student at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, where noted Reconstructionist Cornelius Van Til taught for nearly 50 years. In his 1959 book, R.J. Rushdoony lavishly praised Van Til’s philosophy and the influence it had on him.

Christopher Klicka attended Regent University where ‘longtime Dean of the Law School, Herb Titus used Rushoony’s book in his introductory law course “Christopher Klicka, who has been deeply influenced by R. J. Rushdoony, writes: ‘Sending our children to the public school violates nearly every Biblical principle It is tantamount to sending our children to be trained by the enemy’ Klicka also advocates religious selfsegregation and advises Christians not to affiliate with non-Christian homeschoolers in any way. ‘The differences I am talking about have resulted in wars and martyrdom in the not too distant past.’ According to Klicka, who is an attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, ‘as an organization, and as individuals, we are committed to promote the cause of Christ and his Kingdom.”

Former HSLDA employee Inge Cannon was previously employed by Bill Gothard’s Institute of Basic Life Principles where she was involved with the development of ATIA’s homeschool curriculum. Several of HSLDA’s interns come from or plan to attend Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy which is part of Bill Gothard’s ATIA. Also, Tim LaHaye, considered to be a prominent Reconstructionist, is associated with Michael Farris’ Madison Project as well as having ties to him through Concerned Women for America. Many of the ideals, particularly exclusivism and selfsegregation as promoted by prominent Christian homeschooling leaders like Christopher Klicka and Gregg Harris, are Reconstructionist in nature.

As homeschoolers we must be careful when examining the religious motivations of our fellow homeschoolers not to attach labels which may not be appropriate. However, it would be more honest of HSLDA and others to define their belief status when placing themselves in positions of moral authority over homeschoolers, who are perhaps of other, contrary, beliefs.

Are there laws to protect her, so that she does not have to repeat her sophomore class? She completed all her courses with me and I am satisfied that she is more than capable to advance to her junior year. Could you please give me advice as to what to do next? Thank you!

Sincerely,
Debra J. M.

Now that the elections are over…Many of us wish to reinforce (or introduce) the fact that the population of home educating families in the US is a diverse and varied group. Would you please consider sending a message to your state and federal representatives stating as much? You could send email, or a fax. A small package of cookies or some other token would be nice, accompanied by a short letter.

Maybe something along these lines (in your own words.):

Dear Ms Politician,

Congratulations to your [re]election to the Senate [or whatever]!

As a homeschooling family, we’d like to welcome you [back].

Sometime in the course of your career in the Senate [or whatever], you will no doubt hear legislation presented on behalf of “American homeschoolers.” We’d like to take this opportunity to let you know that we are a diverse group, representing all religious beliefs,races and ethnic groups, and economic levels. We range across the political spectrum.

When you hear someone claiming to speak for all homeschoolers, please keep in mind that they may not have asked me what I think, and that I have not asked them to speak for me.

Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Kids should sign their own names - it's endearing from the little ones, and empowering for older kids.]

Thanks for listening.

Nancy McVicker
New Jersey Homeschool Association

Locate Your Legislators:

In case you don’t know who your legislators are, here are a few resources for finding them:

• Congress.org allows you to look up your congressman by zipcode.
• Firstgov.gov helps you to locate your federal, state and local officials.

The NEA and various educational unions have endorsed Republicans for office as well as Democrats. For example: Read From Capitol To Campus

In fact the NEA boasted ~ “In a number of states, – NEA members made critical differences. NEA-endorsed Republican candidates Olympia Snowe in Maine and James Jeffords in Vermont won by wide margins.”

Also interesting to note that approximately one third of NEA members are Republican. [Read Post-Election]

I must say, I have a bit of discomfort “defending” the NEA as I think they talk out of both sides of their proverbial mouths when it comes to homeschooling. On the one hand they claim that homeschooling instruction should only be done by a “certified teacher.” On the other hand they claim that the school atmosphere is essential to prepare children for life.

However, it’s not surprising that an association promoting “Great Public Schools For Every Child” would be supportive of Public Education.

~Denise

HSLDA E-Lert

On October 12, 2006 J. Michael Smith of Home School Legal Defense Association sent out an e-lert urging recipients to vote for Republican Party candidates because, “I can assure you that the Republican majorities in Congress are friends of homeschooling” and that “[t]his strong, positive stance on homeschooling is not shared by many Democrats.”

Mr. Smith continued on with vague threats about George Miller, the Democrats in general and the NEA. He also took the opportunity to commend Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave for introducing HSLDA’s HoNDA legislation. He also mentioned “The lines are clearly drawn for us on the homeschool, life, and marriage issues.” When last I checked, neither marriage nor life were homeschool issues. He further added, “I am convinced that we must do all that we can to ensure that Republicans maintain control of Congress on November 7.”

Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) is vulnerable because of her ties to the GOP, particularly Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff (voting twice to stop a House ethics investigation of his influence), and Duke Cunningham. Ms. Musgrave is also the sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment as well as HoNDA, the HSLDA legislation that would require the Department of Defense to obtain homeschool records of our children for the purposes of “recruitment and enlistment” in the armed forces. I can assure HSLDA not everyone thought that was a good thing for homeschoolers.

Learn More About HoNDA

To learn more about HoNDA and HSLDA’s attempts to federalize homeschooling please visit HR 3753/ S 1691 – Homeschool NonDiscrimination Act 2005.

George Miller (D-CA) has served in the House of Representatives since 1975. He’s had 31 years to push what HSLDA says is his agenda of limiting homeschooling to certified teachers. One of his recent legislative accomplishments is President George Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Miller was one of the four congressional authors of NCLB. NCLB contains provisions exempting homeschoolers from its educational mandates, including standardized testing and – presumably – teacher certification.

(To learn more about HR 6 and HSLDA’s continuing attempts to federalize homeschooling, please see:

• HR 6 and the Federalization of Homeschooling or
• The Ravage of Home Education Through Exclusion By Religion)

Perhaps Mr. Smith’s real concern is that having identified homeschooling so completely with the Republican Party he is genuinely afraid that should Democrats take control of the Congress, there will be a backlash against homeschoolers. It is conceivable that would boil over the long-simmering homeschool backlash against HSLDA, for it is HSLDA that has spent the last 25-years working to create the image that all homeschoolers are Republican Party loyalists.

HSLDA Youth March

Mr. Smith further explains how homeschool youth are working on elections. It is a great thing to see so many young people interested in our political process. However, I do not vote based on whose yard sign is the biggest, or what some nice young person stuck on my door. I vote based on the candidate’s record and political viewpoint. I am – after all – voting for someone to represent me, not Mr. Smith or HSLDA.

I am troubled that someone is using threats in an attempt to influence my vote. The only thing worse would be someone who assumes I am too stupid or too lazy to learn about the candidates and make my own choice and therefore must tell me how to vote. Mr. Smith will have the opportunity to vote in his local Virginia district. I will too, and hope you will also.

I went to the HSLDA PAC’s website and learned the names of the candidates they are supporting and soliciting money for. The candidates listed at HSLDA’s PAC website as sponsoring Generation Joshua teams include Rick O’Donnell (R-CO), Peter Roskam (R-IL), Chris Chocola (R-IN), Mike Sodrel (R-IN), Mike Whalen (R-IA), Geoff Davis (R-KY), Michael Steele R-MD), Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Michele Bachman R-MN), several unnamed candidates in Ohio, Rick Santorum (R-PA), and John Gard (R-WI).

You can research these candidates or those running for election in your district. There you will also find a link to the candidate’s official campaign website where you can learn more about their positions.

I hope you will make your very important decision based on your own research, not the thin threats made by Republican Party lobbyists. I hope you are all smarter than to let any individual, group or organization usurp your right to free choice. Remember that whomever you vote for, you are voting for someone to represent you, not HSLDA, not Michael Smith and certainly not the Republican Party. It would be a sad day in America if the Constitutional right to vote was taken away from individual citizens and handed over to professional lobbyists.

Mary McCarthy

Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (e.g. legislative, judicial, and/or executive) authority over a geographic region, group of people, or oneself. In U.S. history, sovereignty has generally referred to the right of the residents of the United States to make their own laws.

Applied to homeschooling, it refers to the right of all homeschooling families to affect and direct that which will have an impact on their families.

This right needs defending because the lawyers of HSLDA have long shown themselves to be detrimental to the sovereign rights of homeschooling families. We’ll be explaining why that is, and what can be done about it, in future posts to this blog.

Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power.

~Alfred Lord Tennyson

Many have categorized the Homeschooling Is Legal website as being anti-HSLDA, but the founder of this website intended it to provide full information about the organization, so that people can make a fully-informed decision about the worthiness of membership.

If you join HSLDA because you believe in their cause and you want to support the organization as a whole, then go for it. What many contributors to HSIL object to is the fear-mongering and arm-twisting tactics that HSLDA employs. I personally object to being strong-armed into joining any organization, in order to belong to another.

Many homeschooling groups still require membership in HSLDA in order to join their group. There is no justification to join HSLDA, simply for protection purposes. Most homeschoolers will never experience a legal problem during their entire homeschooling years. Yet, HSLDA continues to beat their drums, spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

HSLDA often runs roughshod over statewide and local homeschooling groups in order to manage or effect proposed legislation, without ever consulting those who would be forced to live under these new regulations.

In short HSLDA doesn’t always play nice with others and this practice must stop. Many years ago HSLDA was the hero to many new homeschoolers, but as the legal climate has changed, HSLDA, unfortunately, has not.

If after reading this site and the articles we link to here, you are still interested in joining HSLDA, do so. Our intention is not to prevent anyone from joining their ranks.

This blog and the HSIL website are dedicated to the memory of Dan Flynn, who first hosted this domain. Danny was homeschool dad to two young boys, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in late 2004. He wanted to ensure prospective HSLDA members joined with their eyes opened and were fully aware of what they were supporting with their membership dues.