{"id":2118,"date":"2014-03-10T10:36:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/?p=2118"},"modified":"2014-03-10T10:36:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-10T17:36:51","slug":"dont-turn-away-trouble-in-the-homeschool-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/2014\/03\/10\/dont-turn-away-trouble-in-the-homeschool-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Turn Away: Trouble in the Homeschool Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Heidi St. John<\/h1>\n
Posted on\u00a0March 9, 2014<\/div>\n
\n

\"PPSA_adversity\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Oops. It happened again.<\/p>\n

Another \u201cpillar\u201d of the homeschool movement has resigned after\u00a0allegations<\/a>\u00a0of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn allegations going back decades, Gothard, 79, and unmarried, is said to have specifically targeted young women and teen girls to perform administrative duties for him at IBLP\u2019s headquarters, where he eventually would make unwanted and inappropriate physical contact while also manipulating them emotionally.\u201d (Christian Post.com<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This comes just months after a\u00a0scandal at Vision Forum<\/a>\u00a0forced the resignation of Doug Phillips. Of course, I\u2019m troubled by this. But what\u2019s\u00a0more\u00a0<\/em>troubling to me is the lack of concern that the homeschool community seems to have for the victims of Gothard\u2019s and Phillips teachings. There seems to be more concern for protecting these men and their \u201cministries\u201d because it may have a negative impact on homeschooling than for the lives of the people who have been hurt and abused.<\/p>\n

What in the world are we thinking? \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to make something very clear: Bill Gothard and Doug Phillips are not the spokesmen for\u00a0the homeschool movement. \u00a0 They represent an ideology that has somehow, over the years, gotten much more attention than it\u00a0ever<\/em>\u00a0should have received.<\/p>\n

These men have told us how to dress, what to say, when to use birth control (or not) and how to school our children. I say it\u2019s time we had a discussion about it. There\u2019s an elephant in the homeschool movement.<\/p>\n

Someone said I was making a \u201cmockery\u201d of a fellow Christian by posting a link to the scandal on my page. I disagree. No one is making a mockery of a fellow Christian. Pretending that it didn\u2019t happen is not helping anyone. Is it painful and embarrassing? Yes. Where there\u2019s sin, pain is sure to follow. My heart breaks for the families,\u00a0especially the women<\/em>\u00a0who have been hurt by the patriocentric, hyper-legalistic, hard-core fundamentalist mentality that has erroneously come to represent the homeschool movement.<\/p>\n

Am I sorry to have to say names? Yes. But I\u2019m even more sorry this has been allowed to continue unchecked for so long.\u00a0Enough is enough.\u00a0The number of women I have spoken privately to over the years who have been deeply wounded by these teachings compels me to break my silence about the ugly side of a movement that I love. The trouble is not homeschooling. The trouble is false or extra-biblical teaching that has infiltrated large parts of the homeschool movement.<\/p>\n

Having been directly impacted by this teaching myself, I hope that others may finally find some release from the legalistic, man-centered teaching that these men and others like them espouse. This latest scandal has proven once again that we MUST NOT, we cannot, put our faith in men.<\/p>\n

However, we mustn\u2019t \u201cthrow the baby out with the bath water.\u201d There are many good teachers out there who are stewarding God\u2019s gift to them wisely and with great humility. But even a good teacher\u2019s message is not above scrutiny. \u00a0As individuals, we should hold all things up to the authority of Scripture. We must study the Bible for\u00a0ourselves<\/em>\u00a0rather than relying solely on the words of others, even if they seem like good words.<\/p>\n

There are many flawed teachings at ATI and Vision Forum. The worst of them have deeply hurt women and young Christian girls who were vulnerable and whose parents were desperately searching for a formula that would produce the desired result. After all, who doesn\u2019t want that perfect family, that obedient child, that perfect marriage? Formulaic teaching produces one of two things: pride (if\/when we get it \u201cright\u201d) or discouragement, disillusionment, and guilt when we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Once again, thousands of parents who were looking to men have been disillusioned and wounded. Once again, we are left to weep and wonder why it was allowed to get this out of control. We must speak out.<\/p>\n

By not speaking out, we become guilty by association. For example, it pains me that the seven children God has blessed me and my husband with automatically associates us with the \u201cquiverfull movement.\u201d Frankly, I\u2019m embarrassed to be associated with such a movement.\u00a0I have finally decided to be brave and just say it: I don\u2019t believe this movement is biblical.<\/p>\n

Movements like this start with a true biblical\u00a0premise,\u00a0<\/em>the fact that the Bible says\u00a0children are a blessing.<\/em>\u00a0This is truth!\u00a0This is the message we should be sharing!\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0However, \u201cministries\u201d like the ones Gothard and Phillips started tread deeply into areas of personal conviction, in an attempt to make others feel responsible to believe what they believe, even to the point of teaching things the Bible does not clearly address as fact.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My husband and I believe that homeschooling is a wonderful option for families. In fact, I\u2019d go so far as to say we believe it is the best option. We are grieved to see how it has been hijacked by ideologies and legalism, especially since homeschooling affords us and our children so much freedom to learn and grow together. Homeschooling allows committed parents to provide an excellent education for their children. Homeschooling is not the problem.<\/p>\n

The bottom line? Unless we begin to study the Bible for ourselves rather than blindly following the teachings of charismatic personalities, we will continue to see these kinds of abuses happen. Until we say collectively that \u201cenough is enough\u201d and talk about what has happened, it will continue.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t turn away. Like a virus, sin festers and grows when it is ignored. Where forgiveness is needed, I pray we will forgive. Where repentance is required, I pray there is repentance. I don\u2019t want our children to think that their father or I rely on anything but God. We don\u2019t have all the answers. There is no formula, only faith guided by God\u2019s truth.<\/p>\n

The moment we begin to trust that God really can finish the work in our children that He began through us will be the moment we will truly learn to trust God and stop leaning on formulas. If you ever listen to a teacher or minister who directs you\u00a0beyond\u00a0the grace and love of Jesus alone, run.\u00a0Our hope is in Jesus. No where else.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m praying a little more urgently for leaders and pastors and mothers and fathers tonight.<\/p>\n

God knows we need His healing touch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Heidi St. John Posted on\u00a0March 9, 2014 Oops. It happened again. Another \u201cpillar\u201d of the homeschool movement has resigned after\u00a0allegations\u00a0of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior. \u201cIn allegations going back decades, Gothard, 79, and unmarried, is said to have specifically targeted young women and teen girls to perform administrative duties for him at IBLP\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,47,99,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-informative","category-news","category-parenting-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2118"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2121,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions\/2121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arkansashomeschool.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}