The reversal in May of 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security of the granting of asylum to the Romeike family from Germany is emotionally upsetting -- no one likes to see children threatened with action from a government. Hearing about it is distressing and makes people want to do something.
Yelling about Hitler (just Google Romeike v. Holder) and President Obama, though, is not constructive action. At this point, unless the topic is WWII, using the name Hitler to make a point is political spin using hot-button words to generate even more emotion, and perhaps also to raise more donations for a legal fund.
A goodly portion of German laws probably did carry over from the laws of the Third Reich, and many of the Third Reich's laws probably carried over from the Weimar Republic. Drivers still had to stop at stop signs, people expected that others who handled cash would not embezzle, and spouses' partners probably expected that their significant others should refrain from bigamy. To make entirely new laws would require the overhaul of an entire society. Schooling laws from one era to another also probably resembled each other, but the laws were not in themselves "Nazi-era" artifacts pointed at the hearts of homeschooling families.
Is the Basic Law American in flavor? No. Is it democratic? Yes. The Federal Republic of Germany has a representative government in a similar vein to that of the U.S.
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Claim: The Romeike family was granted asylum by the Bush administration and the Obama administration has reversed that.
Fact: The Romeike family arrived in the U.S. from Germany in August of 2008, probably entering the country using regular passports and most likely clearing immigration as tourists would. President Obama took office in January of 2009 and a pre-hearing brief on the Romeikes is dated 16 December 2009. The decision granting asylum was issued in January 2010.
On January 26, 2010 ... Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted asylum to Uwe and Hannalore Romeike ...
... Uwe Romeike and his family arrived in Atlanta in August 2008, with little fanfare and only their suitcases.
Source: HSLDA Court Report, March/April 2010
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Claim: Hitler made it so German families couldn't homeschool, and the current German government won't change that.
Fact: Organized schoolling in the lands that became Germany has a long history, and it is a source of pride.
Headline from the newspaper Ausburger Allgemeine, 23 December 2002
From Swabia and Upper Bavaria: Without School, No Wedding
200 Years ago, Duke Max IV Joseph of Bavaria directed the compulsory schooling of children
The duke was serious about compulsory schooling, showed by how the graduation certificate was one of the keys to later life. It must be tendered if one wanted to establish a business in a trade, or if one wanted to buy a house. Also, one couldn’t marry without this certificate.
The need for the "village helping to raise the child" runs deeply in German society. I once had a woman (a cleaning lady in the military guest house soon after we arrived) take a bottle from my year-old son's mouth to warm it under a stream of hot water in the sink. Given my knowledge now of how Germans viewed cold drinks I'm assuming she explained, as I didn't yet know any German, that the cold milk would give him a stomach ache. Years later an older German woman on a bicycle chided me and my children's piano teacher for crossing the street on a red light that had changed while we were walking. Apparently, we were setting a bad example for my kids who were with us. You can also read the light-hearted account in Planet Germany about strangers' concerns for children not wearing hats: "Of course, it is disconcerting for a first-time British mother that strangers will accost her on the street and express concern about the child's upbringing." (p. 206)
Communal concern for kids isn't seen as interference, but as a responsibility.
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Claim: Germany persecutes Christians
Fact: Where to start?
- With compulsory schooling under Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse, in German) -- in the year 813 -- being rooted in the desire to "develop the understanding of Christian teaching in the people"?
- With the present language, "High" German, stemming from Luther's translation of the Bible?
- With the compulsory religion classes in school, depending on whether you're Catholic (Katholische), Protestant (Evangelische), nondenominational Christian (Freireligioese), or atheist?
Lehrplan Katholische Religion 2010
Lehrplan Evangelische Religion 2010
Lehrplan Freireligioese Religion Sek. I (and Sek. II)
Lehrplan Ethik 2010
(taken from the Teaching Plan, linked above, for the state of Hesse in college prep schools) - With taxes used to support churches?
- With the legal religious holidays, all of which are Christian? (document of school holidays and school vacation schedules for the various states; vacations are staggered so that everyone isn't off at the same time -- schoolkids and workers -- clogging the already busy highways into gridlock)
- With the network of religiously-oriented schools (in this case, those in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg)?
Is the German expression of being Christian identical to the American expression of it? Of course not. In the U.S. the various versions of Christian expression differ, so why wouldn't there be dissimilarities between countries? Whose "Christianity" is the right one?
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Claim: The Romeikes will be thrown in jail after leaving the U.S.
Fact: Deportation is not extradition.
Theoretically, the family could still move to any country they want. Deportation means they must leave the U.S., not that they will be extradited to Germany.
- Extradition in International Law (Google Books)
Theoretically there should be no confusion between extradition and deportation. They are clearly distinct in purpose. The object of extradition is to restore a fugitive criminal to the jurisdiction of a State which has a lawful claim to try or punish him for an offence. ... Deportation, on the other hand, is the means by which a State rids itself of an undesired alien. Its purpose is achieved as soon as the alien has departed from its territory; the ultimate destination of a deportee is of no significance in this respect.
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Is homeschooling a perilous undertaking in Germany? It can be, and probably is more so since the American campaign to demonize Germany for their constitutionally legal laws -- the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany is not identical to the constitution of the United States of America, but it is a constitution. Americans seeking to change the German constitution are probably as welcome in Germany as any constitution-changers are in the U.S.
Any change in the compulsory schooling laws of the various German states will have to come from within the culture of Germany and not as a result of exporting American culture. Foreign shouting about schooling laws will probably have as much effect on the average German voter as the rantings and flag-burnings by angry young Muslim men do on Joe Six-Pack, soccer moms, or helicopter parents.
The Romeike family could have moved to another country within the European Union with fewer long-term uncertainties for their children. If they had moved to Austria, the language would have remained reasonably the same (perhaps the difference between Brooklyn and Alabama?), and they would have been able to continue homeschooling. The Neubronners moved to France (3rd paragraph; translate here). Jonas Himmelstrand of Sweden fled to Finland.
Why did someone think that the Romeikes moving to the U.S., specifically to claim asylum, was a better idea than moving within the E.U.? Was the purpose for the Romeike family to merely be able to homeschool, or were they to serve as a symbol within the U.S., as a rallying point here? Is this situation about generating fears for American homeschooling? Whatever the reason for suggesting that they come to the U.S. and helping them move here, they're in the thick of it.
I wish the Romeike family good things in whatever comes. They look like nice people who want only what's best for their children and they remind me of the Germany I miss. I hope they find someplace to live where they won't need special conditional permission to continue homeschooling their children.
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