Mike Farris: The Importance of Voting

As we approach election day, we face an important decision: do we vote and who do we vote for?  Here is an important reminder from Mike Farris, head of HSLDA, and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College, on the importance of voting this election. If you have not yet read it, you should also read Mike Farris's reason for voting for Mitt Romney.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child Endangers Homeschooling

Recently Obama launched a trial balloon on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. I would like to take this opportunity to explore what the UN CRC will do if it is implemented. Probably the threat from the UN CRC that is nearest to my heart is the impact it will have on homeschooling. The whole thrust of the UN CRC is to in sure parents aren't forcing children to do things they don't want to do. Under this theory if a parent decides to homeschool their child, and the child is wholeheartedly for it, then the parents are in legal trouble.

The UN CRC is already being interpreted in this way against homeschoolers in Britain. Britain might see homeschooling abolished as a result of the UN CRC.

Last week the Children’s Secretary of Britain accepted a report in full by Graham Badman which argues for an end to homeschool freedom. “While it’s disgraceful that the British government would even entertain this report it’s particularly troubling for American parents because the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was used as the justification for this action,” said Michael Farris, Chairman of HSLDA and President of ParentalRights.org.

The Badman report uses Articles 12 and 29 of the UNCRC to justify registering the estimated 80,000 homeschooling families in Britain, forcing them to provide annual reports regarding their homeschool, granting government officials the right to enter the home and interview the children alone as well as reserving the choice of curriculum to the state.
HSLDA has been warning that the UNCRC could bring an end to homeschool freedom in the U.S., if the treaty was ever ratified by the U.S. Senate because Article VI of the U.S. Constitution says that treaties become the supreme law of the land.

I hope you will join me in opposing the UN CRC. Please take a moment to tell Obama and your senator to oppose the UN CRC.

Urgent Action Plea From Mike Farris

Last night I posted how Obama was beginning to push the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Today Mike Farris encouraged everyone to contact Obama, Susan Rice, and their senators to express their opposition to the UN CRC.

Dear Friend of Parental Rights,

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely-accepted treaty.

This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC.

In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate.

To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. Her office number is 212-415-4000.

3. Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your Senators’ contact information by typing your zip code into the box here.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16 – the Parental Rights Amendment.

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email!

Sincerely,

Michael Farris

Later on in the day an update was sent out on the progress of the attempt to derail the UN CRC.

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

Congratulations!

The office of UN Ambassador Susan Rice has been inundated with calls!
The first phone line we sent out has been completely shut down, and
the voice mail system for all of their lines has been crashed.

This means you can't likely get through, so what do you do?

You no longer need to call the U.S. office at the UN. Instead, please
contact the White House comment line at 202-456-1111. It may be
busy--we have kept it busy all day--but keep trying. It is only open
from 9 to 5 EDT, so time is limited. However, you can also send them a
message online at http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/.

Also, contact your senators. Find their contact information by using
our Legislative Toolbox at http://www.hslda.org/toolbox .
Congressional offices also close at 5 (EDT), so try to get to them
quickly--or call tomorrow!

Please visit www.ParentalRights.org for more up-to-date information on
this campaign before calling our office.

Thank you so much, and keep up the great work!

Michael Farris
HSLDA Chairman

Please keep up the pressure and continue calling President Obama and your senators to express your support for parental rights and opposition for the UN CRC.

Declaration of the Principles of Liberty

Are you afraid that this nation is quickly headed towards socialism? Do you believe this country needs to reaffirm the constitution and the founders vision for this nation? Has the bailout, GM buyout, and Department of Homeland Security report gotten you upset? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, I hope you will join me in signing the Declaration of the Principles of Liberty.

The Declaration of Principles of Liberty was written by Dr. Michael Farris (chancellor of Patrick Henry College and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association) and was released on World Net Daily on June 2nd.

Through WND, Farris is announcing an invitation to "the citizens of this country that believe in the Constitution, who believe in traditional morality and virtue, who believe in a free America and reject the concepts of socialism and the secularist moral view" to unite in signing a newly drafted Declaration of the Principles of Liberty."

Dr. Farris was inspired to write this document in the wake of the 2008 presidential elections.

Farris told WND he was inspired to become the "draftsman" of the declaration after hundreds of people asked him what could be done in light of the nation's direction. He was further convinced that a core set of "first principles" was needed after working with conservative leaders in an effort to discern the positions of the presidential candidates prior to the last election.

"What I found in the process – to my shock – was not where candidates stood, but that the arguments made by some social conservative leaders showed that we didn't believe the same things or know what we stood for," Farris told WND. "After the election, I attended meetings with leadership of the Republican Party, leadership in the House and other conservative leaders, and I continue to believe that if there's going to be revitalization for the conservative movement, we first and foremost have to know what we believe in."

To that end, the declaration affirms a list of 10 core principles – among them the right to life, freedom of religion and conscience, the right to bear arms, economic freedom, limited government and others – that Farris believes can define and build a conservative coalition.

Dr. Farris has given up hope that a reaffirmation of our core principles will come from the top and hopes that the conservative grassroots of this nation will join with him in affirming the key principles of conservativism.

Fellow liberty lovers, please take a moment and stand up and send a message to the nation that you value life, the family, and the free enterprise system by signing the Declaration of the Principles of Liberty.

Movie Review

Movie review of "Amazing Grace" by Michael P. Farris:

The life of William Wilberforce is a constant inspiration to those who believe that a person committed to a living relationship with Jesus
Christ can make a difference in our culture.  The soon-to-be-released motion picture "Amazing Grace" faithfully tells this gripping story in
a manner that will inspire thousands of men, women, and children to follow his example of sacrificial Christian service.

Make no mistake, this is a first-class motion picture in every respect.  The acting and cinematography are superb.  But it is the
story that carries the day.  It is a story of the triumph of good over evil.  It is a story that shows how a godly wife can inspire a godly
man who is struggling to carry on the fight against all odds.  And much more.

You will want to know that there are a handful of mild swear words in the movie.  (God's name is not used in vain.)

Far too often the idea of a Christian movie is something that is second rate but that we should see anyway because it is good for us.
This is not that kind of Christian movie.  In fact, it would be best described as a great movie and about a great man who was a faithful
Christian.

If you are looking for something to spark the imagination of your children (or yourself) to do great things for God, get to the opening
weekend of "Amazing Grace."

For Christ and for Liberty,

Michael P. Farris, Esq.
Chairman & General Counsel
Cofounder of Home School Legal Defense Association

Just Because We Can Homeschool Doesn't Mean We Should be indifferent to the Plights of Others!!

February 5, 2007

HSLDA--German Homeschooled Child Sentenced to a Child Psychiatry Unit

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

The situation for homeschoolers in Germany is getting worse each week.
Just last Thursday, a 17-year-old homeschooled girl was forcibly
removed from her parent's custody by over 15 police officers. The
homeschooled girl has been placed in the child psychiatry unit of the
Nuremberg clinic.

Homeschooling is not legal in Germany. There are over 40 cases
currently in court or being appealed. Christian families are fleeing
Germany for safety in nearby countries. The unconscionable treatment
of sincere and faithful Christian homeschool families is a sad legacy
from Germany's past. Homeschooling was first banned under Adolf
Hitler, and that ban is still enforced today.

Many families who have had their children forcibly taken from their
home each day and taken to government school have since fled Germany,
but there are still some homeschoolers. The latest incident involves
17-year-old Melissa Busekros, the girl sent to the Nuremberg
psychiatry unit. What is being done to this sensitive girl--just to
set an example of enforcing the compulsory schooling at all costs--is
reprehensible and causing trauma to unassuming and lovable Melissa.

In the summer of 2005, when Melissa was 15, she was told she would
have to repeat the seventh grade at the government school because she
was failing math and Latin. She had good grades in the rest of her
classes, so her parents tutored her at home for those two subjects.
When the school officials found out they were angry and then expelled
Melissa, so the family began to homeschool full time.

However, the Youth Welfare office then took the family to court
because they were homeschooling. Then, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007,
social workers and police officers came to the Busekros home and
forcibly took Melissa to the child psychiatric unit where she was
questioned for four hours before she was returned home. Then two days
later, 15 police officers and social workers came to the Busekros home
and took Melissa away from her parents by force and placed her in the
child psychiatric unit.

According to Melissa's father, Hubert Busekros, this treatment was
justified by the psychiatrist's finding two days previously that
Melissa was supposedly developmentally delayed by one year and that
she suffered from school phobia.

Nevertheless, one organization concerned with education expressed
outrage at the treatment of Melissa Busekros.

"The Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit [the Network for Freedom of Education]
condemns this inconsiderate and totally incommensurate behavior on the
part of the officials involved and demands that they give Melissa her
freedom and return her to her family immediately," the group was
quoted in an article on its website. To view the site, as well as more
information and a photograph of the Busekros family, go to
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3697 .

ACTION

We ask you to take a moment and do two things: First, call or email 
the German Embassy and give them this message:

"We are shocked to hear of the Busekros' homeschooled daughter Melissa 
being removed from the custody of her parents and being placed in a 
child psychiatric unit. This is an outrage that hearkens back to the 
Nazi era. We cannot believe a free nation would put a homeschooled 
child in a psychiatric ward for 'school phobia.' The attack on the 
homeschool families throughout Germany must stop."

The German Embassy can be contacted at: 

Dr. Klaus Scharioth
Ambassador
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000

The embassy can be emailed from its website: 
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3696 .

Second, pray for the German situation. Only God can change the 
situation for homeschoolers in Germany. Attempts by German 
homeschoolers to organize or to change the laws through court continue 
to be lost, but with God all things are possible. We ask that you cry 
out for the German homeschool families. 

BACKGROUND

German parents have been fighting for the right to homeschool for the
last seven or more years. However, all efforts have failed in the face
of the stubborn German government and their official response that
they cannot "allow a counterculture to exist."

We believe the hope for Germany will be via the international pressure
bearing down so that they abandon their witch-hunt after homeschoolers
and their terrible treatment of these innocent families.

Homeschoolers remaining in Germany are hoping to legalize
homeschooling in one state and thereby make a safe-haven for
homeschoolers. However, the German homeschoolers are so few and the
attacks so intense that it is hard to make any progress in this area.

If you wish to assist the Germans in their struggle for homeschool
freedom, or with many other struggling countries, you can donate to
HSLDA's international fund via the Home School Foundation at
http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/ .

Your donation will be used to meet the homeschooling needs in Germany.
After meeting the known homeschooling needs in this country, if there
are remaining funds, this money will be transferred to the
Foundation's International Fund to meet homeschooling needs in other
countries.

Thank you for standing with these families and taking a moment to
assist them.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Klicka
HSLDA Senior Counsel
Director of State and International Relations

French Homeschoolers need your support. NOW!!

Imagine the U.S. Congress was about to pass a law almost eliminating homeschooling in America. You would probably act immediately. That's exactly what the small fledgling French homeschool movement is facing. If you have been blessed to be a homeschooler, and want other children to continue to enjoy those blessings. Please read the letter below and call the French embassy. If you have never contacted a government office before, don't worry. You can just read the script and add a couple of personal comments at the end.

Please act now and help preserve the right of parents to educate their own children.

January 9, 2007

HSLDA--French Homeschoolers Need Your Help Immediately!

Dear HSLDA members and friends:

French homeschoolers are faced with a draconian bill which will be
voted on by parliament within the next few days. We just received word
about this bill today.

Homeschooling is currently allowed in France. However, this bill would
essentially outlaw homeschooling. No parent would be allowed to
homeschool unless they showed that the health or handicap of their
child makes it necessary for him or her to be taught at home.

In addition, if a family could even prove they have a health issue or
some other "serious" reason to justify their homeschool, they would
then have to submit to a home visit by a government official each
year. Also, their curriculum would be either provided by the "National
Center of Correspondence Teaching (CNED)" or by an approved private
correspondence school.

French homeschoolers believe this bill will essentially outlaw
homeschooling as they know it in France. They plead for your help to
stop this restrictive bill.

Homeschoolers in America have successfully stopped similar legislation
in Ireland, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. In both Ireland and
the Czech Republic, the restrictive homeschooling bills had already
passed one house of parliament before we even got involved. Once we
got involved the bills were stopped.

At this point we need you to communicate with the French Embassy in
Washington, D.C. In a few days we will send another email asking you
to communicate directly with the parliament members.

ACTION REQUESTED
Please contact as soon as possible, by phone or email, the French
Embassy and give them this message:

"Amendments 127 & 128, which would virtually outlaw homeschooling, are
being voted on by the French parliament. If passed, this would cause a
travesty. We cannot believe that a free country like France would
outlaw such a basic right as parents choosing to homeschool their
children. Over two million children are being successfully
homeschooled in America. Homeschooling works. We ask that you
immediately convey to the French government our concern and request
that the bill language prohibiting homeschooling in nearly all
circumstances be withdrawn."

Also, explain in a paragraph or two the wonderful success you have had
with homeschooling.

Ambassador Jean-David Levitte
(202) 944-6000
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3600
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3601

BACKGROUND
Homeschooling has long been allowed in France. Homeschoolers have to
have regular testing and sometimes they are visited by an official,
but for the most part operate freely. This bill would completely
change that legal atmosphere and make it impossible for 95% of
homeschoolers to operate.

Please take time to help our brothers and sisters in France, where the
homeschool movement is small and they do not have a lot of
organizations or numbers. Nonetheless, there are many sincere parents
who love their children and want to faithfully teach them at home
principles from the Word of God and personally train their children.

If homeschoolers don't try to help, who will? Please take a moment and
contact the French Embassy.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Klicka
HSLDA Senior Counsel