Posted on 03/04/2014 2:15:11 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The Department of Homeland Security has granted a special status to the Romeikes, a German homeschooling family that was under threat of being deported after being denied a Supreme Court review Monday, that will allow them to stay in the United States.
DHS has granted them "indefinite deferred status," according to a Home School Legal Defense Association press release.
The Romeikes were initially granted asylum in the United States after they were threatened with jail time and losing custody of their children for choosing to homeschool. The Obama administration, though, appealed that decision and won, arguing that there is no fundamental right to determine the education of one's children.
HSLDA, which represents the Romeikes, had exhausted its court efforts when the Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal.
"This is an incredible victory that I can only credit to Almighty God. I also want to thank those who spoke up on this issue — including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made a huge impact. What an amazing turnaround — in just 24 hours," Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said Tuesday.
According to HSLDA, Fox News recorded the highest number of page views ever for its website, one million in 24 hours, for its article reporting that the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.
"We are happy to have indefinite status even though we won't be able to get American citizenship any time soon," Uwe Romeike, the father, said. "As long as we can live at peace here, we are happy. We have always been ready to go wherever the Lord would lead us — and I know my citizenship isn't really on earth.
"This has always been about our children. I wouldn't have minded staying in Germany if the mistreatment targeted only me — but our whole family was targeted when German authorities would not tolerate our decision to teach our children — that is what brought us here."
Farris added that he was determined that the Romeikes would never have to return to Germany.
"When we lost at the Sixth Circuit, I told Uwe that he would go back to Germany over my dead body," he said. "I'm glad that wasn't necessary! This is a courageous family and one that deserves to stay here. They are modern day Pilgrims."
'Pears that my presentation/video is liable to make someone's head explode... :-(
I believe this is what the Obama administration was REALLY after. It had nothing to do with this family but as a tip of the spear to begin dismantling our right to homeschool.
Pinging you to ChocChip's comment. Sounds ominous and very likely accurate.
Indeed, dearest sister in Christ, and I join in your prayer for the Romeike family!
Tolkien was a very strong Christian and in his wonderfully written "Silmarillion," the Old Testament to the New Testament of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the opening chapters parallel the first book of Genesis creation ex nihilo.
In Tolkien's universe Illuvatar is the personal Divine Creator who sings the universe into existence from nothing. Here is the opening paragraph:
"There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Illuvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad...."
The themes of music became the world's creation. Illuvatar transformed the music into material reality.
As you probably know, Lewis credits Tolkien among others, with bringing him to Jesus Christ. During the years of his walk Lewis rethought everything he previously held as true. By the time he wrote the Narnia Chronicles Lewis embraced the literal and historical elements of Scripture beginning with Genesis. In the second book of the Chronicles, "The Magician's Nephew," Lewis beautifully illustrates the creation of Narnia from nothing as Aslan, his Christ figure, sings it into existence. As Aslan sings, all life forms arise fully formed, each after its own kind.
LOL!! Love your humor, Sister in Christ!
I, too am a Tolkien and Lewis fan -- but, I find that Scripture alone (bolstered by insight from the Holy Spirit) suffices to convince me of the truth of ex nihilo creation.
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I feel that our differences may be rooted in interpretation of the timing of creation.
In fact, I'm amazed that Alamo-Girl and betty boop have not already convinced you that an understanding of relativistic time can free you from a dogmatic, "It took exactly this long" position to the soul-freeing -- and God-exalting -- position that we share:
1) From our Creator's Heavenly viewpoint, ('looking' "forward" in time, at His expanding universe) creation took six of His "workdays".
2) From our viewpoint ('looking' "backward" in time -- from a moving position within that expanding universe), we see some thirteen + billion elapsed "years" -- measured by the annual orbital time of our planet around our sun -- of elapsed time.
Both interpretations are correct -- and worshipful.
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As far as I can discern, none of the above is in the least disrespectful of our Creator, His awesome creation, or of Scripture.
Furthermore, being freed from the "either/or" false dichotomy promulgated by those who can (or will) see only one side of the timing issue, I find myself liberated to truly worship, adore and admire the incomprehensible majesty of our God! -- through the evidence of His mighty works of Creation!
Now, every time a new bit of evidence of His intricate, planned creation is revealed to me, I rejoice in praise and adulation! Every time I read His Word, my heart leaps with joy and new comprehension! And every time I am confronted by the Amazing Grace of our Saviour's loving sacrifice and His promise of eternity, my eyes fill with tears of profound gratitude!
And the God I now worship is immeasurably more magnificent and grand than my pitiful concept of Him when what I had been taught by men kept my concept of Him "squashed" within a "box" built of human egotism, misinterpretation and 'tradition'...
A wise, God-inspired Sister in Christ says it well:
P.S. A-G & bb: I realize that I have not maintained the relativistic rigor of spatiotemporal "reference frames" herein -- but, in the interest of communication, I believe I have adhered to the principles...
Thank you for your testimony, dear brother in Christ, and yes "workdays" makes the point just fine.
If anyone wants more detail, we'll be happy to provide it.
I’m still trying to find words to suitably contrast the viewpoint / reference frame of our God who is Eternal, Unchanging, Constant, Omniptent, and Omniscient — with that of temporal, temporary, created humankind — riding on a platform that is hurtling through many axes of space, with nothing constant — except the love and nature of our Creator...
Well maybe; but we can go here for a primar: SeekandFind's recently posted article.
Boil it all down, the mystery of a six-day vs. a ~14 billion-year-old creation consists of our lack of understanding of TIME, or more specifically, relativistic time. We were starting to deal with that issue on another thread recently, but that thread got all bollixed up in a sidebar commandeered by a correspondent who shall be nameless, who asserted that that Martin Luther and Adolph Hitler were bosom buddies. Which utterly blew up the thread. Sigh.
Having had a "sneak peek" at your presentation/video, and finding it strikingly thought-provocative, I'm waiting with baited breath for you to post it here at FR.
But no rush, dear brother. Take your time. I feel sure that it would receive a good welcome here in due course, and would prove to be a highly educational experience.
Indeed, we mere mortals frequently cannot wrap our minds around the most basic proportions in the physical universe much less as if standing outside of it looking in.
I've been known to use the following to make that point:
But the road you have taken is on the equator and the circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901.55 miles and the earth rotates once every 24 hours. So that fly is now going 1,100 mph + 70 mph = 1,170 mph.
Moreover, the orbital length of earth traveling around the sun is 149,600,000 miles, traveled in 365.25 days. That is 67,000 miles per hour. So add that in, and the fly is going 68,170 mph. The sun orbits the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of 486,000 miles per hour. Add that in, and the fly is now going 554,170 miles per hour.
All of this and we haven’t gotten to the accelerating expansion of the universe, i.e. space/time itself.
A galaxy 1 million light years away would seem to be moving away from us at a rate of 60,000 miles per hour. For every 3.26 million light years further out that we look, the galaxies seem to be moving away from us at an additional 162,000 miles per hour In sum, the universe is currently at least 156 billion light years wide.
And that is from the fly’s perspective. If we go in the other direction as "observer" – the quantum – the cumulative velocities are even more mind-boggling.
Sorry to hear another thread was thrown into a tailspin. Sigh...
At the expense of drastically splitting up our discussion, on first glance it would appear that thread is more on-topic for this current subject than the present one...
That is the huge weakness of FR: good discussions somehow manage to emerge from the rants of the psychotic and uninterested - but they are all-too-soon dropped, and folks jump to ...
LOLOL!
I love the analogy.
I’m going to abscond with it.
Thank you for your encouragement, dear sister in Christ!
i love good news like this,
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