Posted on 04/24/2005 3:26:43 PM PDT by wagglebee
Editor's note: This is an excerpt from a speech given by Kevin Swanson, the executive director of the Colorado Home School Association, at a banquet that was part of Homeschool Day at the state Capitol April 8.
One-hundred and twenty years ago, when Laura Ingalls Wilder walked into her one-room schoolhouse, there were no police officers in the hallways, and not a single arrest made the entire school year. A police officer in Colorado Springs recently told me that he makes an arrest a day at a high school in that city.
One-hundred years ago, there were barely 3-4 percent of children born without fathers. Today, that rate has grown to 35 percent. One-hundred years ago, 24-year-old men had no idea what transsexuals were. Today, 6-year-olds know what transsexuals are. We saw one at the restaraunt the other day.
Two-hundred years ago, our forefathers went to war over 67 cents of taxation.. The federal governmnet taxed the average citizen $1 in 1787. Today, each citizen pays $6,000 a year in federal taxes, an increase of 9000 percent adjusted for inflation. The government takes almost 50 percent of our income in taxes, whereas in 1913, that number was just under 10 percent.
Our nation has changed profoundly. And the worst part of it is that most people have no idea what they live in. We have perfectly patterned our lives after the Benjamin Franklin quote, "Either you'll be governed by God, or by God you'll be governed."
The agenda of the left is plain. They want 70 percent of children born without fathers – 35 percent is not good enough. They want 75 percent of our income taken in taxes, not just 50 percent. They are not satisfied with 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce. Let's make that 80 percent!
But, thank God, there are 30,000 homeschool moms and dads in Colorado who have turned to a burgeoning government and said, "NO!" Thank God, there are some who see the battle as the destruction of the family by means of a government that would control and displace the family.
The Pilgrims of a previous century saw the danger of a government that wanted to control the church. They boarded a ship and sailed to America.
There are roughly as many Pilgrims in this room today as there were Pilgrims on the Mayflower. The Pilgrims today have boarded a ship and taken their families away from government insitututions that are hell-bent on destroying the family.
Can we turn the tide with a mere 2 million pilgrims that have pulled out of the harbor? I think so. It has been done before. It can be done again.
Two million strong in this country are willing to say: "Maybe Karl Marx was wrong on his 10th plank ... Free Public Education for all. Maybe Rousseau, the father of the modern statist, humanist world, the father of the modern godless state, the man who envisioned a world without family, a world without parents, maybe he was wrong."
Of course, 2 million students are a mere drop in the bucket compared to 60 million public-schooled students.
"They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next week ... or next year ... will it be when we are totally disarmed ... and when a guard is stationed in every house ... to check on your vaccinations ... and your standardized tests?
"Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Two millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.
"Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery.
"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace peace, but there is no peace. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentleman wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."
What a blessing you have and will receive.....
i must say that i had never heard of Louis L'Amour until last month when we went to Virginia City... we purchased an audio book set of his since the boys will be covering the American West later next year... the books are: A Ranger Rides to Town, Case Closed--No Prisoners, and McNelly Knows a Ranger.
i was going to type "nope" LOL
and then i saw Tax-chick's post - Alan Keyes.
and i do love to listen to Alan Keyes...
does anyone have that oratory he burned the ceiling down with back in 2001 at the UN Small arms convention (or committee?) it's a humdinger.. i thought i had it saved ... but can't find it.
Patrick Henry was indeed gifted. He read for the Bar (no law school) by reading Blackstone's Commentaries on the Common Law, and passed after 6 weeks of study. He was homeschooled!
I can't deny it.
if your kids are young (say 8-14 depending on ability of course) and apprciate humor, find the Hank the Cowdog books. my kids read everyone and when they dozed off with a new one i would go sneak it and read it in one night... only takes an hour or so. they were of the few books i actually laughed out loud reading. they are a joy.
LOL how are the Sons of Liberty these days Mr. Henry?
speaking of Common Law, i found a book by John Fiske called Civil Government In The United States at a used book store the other day. i had read an exerpt of his on a web site once on Common Law. how i wish i had had this book when i home schooled. it's from 1890.
I believe I'll look for them - they sound pretty good.
Official website: http://www.hankthecowdog.com/
Homeschooling will be more work, but there are abundant resources to help a willing parent. Your children will benefit greatly
I hestitate to even post this and I am not an opponent of homeschooling. I would urge all of you who do homeschooling to make sure your children get some sort of socialization with other children who are not homeschooled.
We have employed homeschooled teenagers in our business because they are available to work daytime hours with their school schedules. The differences between them and other teenagers are extremely evident. The ones we have employed have tended to be less emotionally mature than the public school students--maybe naive would be a better description.
They also did not seem to have the discipline necessary to perform tasks as directed. They tended to do something their own way even if requested to do another way.
They are really well-behaved, good, intelligent kids, but they tend get upset if they are subjected to pressure. I do wonder if shielding them so much from the outside world is helpful. Three of the girls we employed were extremely bright, but all three seemed so dependent on their boyfriends (not homeschooled). One married her husband at the age of 17, another is planning on an early marriage and the third is trying to get a commitment from her boyfriend. They don't have close friends of their own sex for some reason and our other teenage workers tend to think of them as weird so they are more isolated.
I am only going on our own experience and observations, but I do worry they are not being prepared to deal with life. I am sorry for the long post.
"Last of the Breed"
Ugh. It's worst than I thought. LOL
bttt
There are so many resources out there that are available in used book stores, library give aways, school warehouses, etc. It is incredible what can be found to educate children very well with almost no cash. It almost seems to me when I go to library sales and such that the good books are given away and the junk is kept.
Many public school districts have surplus warehouses where they give away stuff at the end of the year, and it is getting to be that time. I have actually filled my car with reference materials, language and history, and math text books--all for free.
All this is to say--I congratulate you on your find. Keep it up!
My dad and I agree that "Flint" is one of LL's best novels. I also like "Sitka," for its very original setting, "Reilly's Luck" and "The Proving Trail." My favorite Sackett novel is "The Sackett Brand," because everyone's in it. (I never liked Orrin Sackett, until I saw Tom Selleck play him :-).
The first LL I read was "The Empty Land"; I've been looking for a copy for my daughter to read, but haven't found one new or used. We lost most of our books in a fire in my grandmother's house in 1998.
Ah, some of the "Chick Bowdrie" short stories. Sharp plotting and interesting characters.
I have observed the same thing--when Mom stays home all the time. However, I have worked all the time I have homeschooled, and have my own shop. I used to feel guilty having the kids and work integrated to such a degree, but I did not want them in regular school. They have answered phones, picked up stuff at the courthouse, cleaned my office, and gone all over the place with me for years. As a result of this strange life of mine, my homeschooled kids draw many comments about being mature, having excellent phone skills, being competent, and etc.
Just checked my kids' bookshelf ... there's a series by Gary Paulsen about a teenage boy moving west, the "Tuckett" series. Check your library!
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