Megan Fox at PJMedia writes,
Anyone who questions the great religion of Darwinism, specifically that all living things come from one common ancestor and more specifically, that people evolved from apes, is violently and quickly attacked, silenced, and treated like they’re a heretic. … I have personally been threatened by people who say they want to call the state and report me for child abuse because I made a video questioning the validity of some of the evolutionists’ claims at the Field Museum in Chicago. These threats are not to be taken lightly, considering that children have been taken from their parents over idiotic circumstances like a homeschooling father who takes a natural supplement that the FDA doesn’t approve of …
So it is with great fear and trepidation that any homeschooling parent steps out on a limb to discuss any of their teaching methods, for fear of government kidnappings. In fact, I could not get any homeschooling family to talk to me on the record about this topic. I had to promise to hide their identities using pseudonyms and even then, I met with hesitation! It’s hard to believe that in this once great nation, the land of the free, that Christian parents are afraid to share their perfectly legal teaching methods for fear of government persecution.
Huh? The “land of the what”?
Recently, Cato Institute’s worldwide country rankings put freedom in the United States at #20 for freedom:
Hong Kong and Switzerland top the rankings, followed in order by Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, and Canada. The United States ranks in 20th place, below the United Kingdom (9) and Chile (18). Other countries rank as follows: Singapore (43), India (75), Russia (111), China (132), Venezuela (144), and Zimbabwe (149).
The United States fell from 17th place in 2008 to 20th place in 2012. The decline reflects a long-term drop in every category of economic freedom and in its rule of law indicators. The U.S. performance is worrisome and shows that the United States can no longer claim to be the leading bastion of liberty in the world. In addition to the expansion of the regulatory state and drop in economic freedom, the war on terror, the war on drugs, and the erosion of property rights due to greater use of eminent domain all likely have contributed to the U.S. decline.
On a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom, the nonweighted average rating for 152 countries in 2012 was 6.96. The level of global freedom stayed about the same compared to 2008, but almost all countries experienced changes in their ratings, with about half of those increasing their ratings and half decreasing.
The top 10 jurisdictions in order were Hong Kong, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. The United States is ranked in 20th place. Other countries rank as follows: Germany (12), Chile (18), Japan (28), France (33), Singapore (43), South Africa (70), India (75), Brazil (82), Russia (111), China (132), Nigeria (139), Saudi Arabia (141), Venezuela (144), Zimbabwe (149), and Iran (152).
Now, as a foreign observer, I (O’Leary for News) maybe shouldn’t start anything, but that is my impression too. Actions against citizens that would cause the government to change hands in many developed countries seem to be business as usual in the United States today. In one recent case,
Speaking both on and off the record, targets reflected on how many layers of Wisconsin government failed their fundamental constitutional duties — the prosecutors who launched the rogue investigations, the judge who gave the abuse judicial sanction, investigators who chose to taunt and intimidate during the raids, and those police who ultimately approved and executed aggressive search tactics on law-abiding, peaceful citizens.
And … failed their fundamental constitutional what? The duty is apparently the citizen’s, to obey and support the authorities in their quest to purify the land of political opponents. Or so it appears.
Anyway, the guns and battering rams of ignorant, self-righteous fury can certainly be turned on homeschooling parents who want to get past the Darwinthink (and the programmed illiteracy and social breakdown) of public schools, while attracting as little notice as possible. From Fox again:
Most of my critics over the evolution fiasco claimed that my children would never be fit for college if they were not taught that Darwin’s theories are absolute fact — a ridiculous claim, by any stretch of the imagination. This overly concerned attitude about my children’s education is puzzling for a group of people who would yawn if I had chosen to have them torn into pieces and sold for parts before they were born. (A few suggested I should have had 3 abortions rather than tell them that Darwinism is problematic.) Meanwhile, 79% of Chicago’s public schooled 8th graders can’t read.
Megan, the public school students don’t need to know how to read. They need only believe, obey, and dream.
For the record, out of all the homeschooling families I spoke to, not one of them said they refused to teach evolution. 100% of them teach evolution. They also teach apologetics, and Intelligent Design theory, and anything else on the subject their children are interested in. One homeschooled student I know, Sam,* is in middle school and is heavily involved in a national speech and debate organization. He dedicated an entire year to studying evolution and the holes and flaws in the theory and put together a worthy defense of creationism, which he presented in a debate. He won. (It is noteworthy that our Founders believed in a Creator so fervently that they named Him in our founding documents. It’s not an indictment of your intelligence if you believe a Creator formed this earth when you sit in the company of men such as George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. No one doubts their education or intelligence.) More.
*Names have been changed to protect innocent homeschoolers from wackos.
But it is a different world now, where the mind is an illusion, our brains are shaped for fitness, not for truth, and “I demand” replaces “I think.”
The Darwin enforcers are mostly not capable of understanding the problems with their dogma, and oblivious to the reasons it is failing in science.
Curiously, one person who understands some of the issues is Darwinian philosopherWilliam Provine, who pointed out that children raised in no-Darwin homes tended to understand the issues better than others. Maybe that’s the problem. (By Design or by Chance?, p. 127)
Anyway, freedom isn’t given, it is taken. Good luck to Megan and others.
And for now, ammunition:
Talk to the Fossils: Let’s see what they say back
Evolution: The fossils speak, but hardly with one voice
Evolution appears to converge on goals—but in Darwinian terms, is that possible?
Horizontal gene transfer: Sorry, Darwin, it’s not your evolution any more
More to come.
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