As the girls dig in to their math problems, Farrier contemplates the Republican presidential candidates who are vying for the support of homeschoolers like her.
"They're wooing us. It feels really good," she says.
After decades on the margins of political life, homeschoolers have become some of the most valued Republican foot soldiers in Iowa, where a few thousand activists can wield an outsize influence in the first nominating contest in the 2012 presidential election.
Four years ago, homeschoolers helped push Mike Huckabee to a surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses over Mitt Romney's better-funded, better organized campaign.
This time around, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum proudly point out that they homeschooled their own children, while Ron Paul touts himself as a "homeschooling champion" on his campaign Web site. Rick Perry proclaimed an official "homeschool week" as governor of Texas, and Herman Cain joined other candidates at a homeschool conference earlier this year.
So far, no candidate has emerged as the favorite -- in part because so many fit the bill.
The candidates are not just after votes. They need volunteers to make phone calls, knock on doors and persuade neighbors to leave their warm houses in the middle of winter to sit through an often-lengthy caucus process.
With a national grassroots network and a tradition of activism, conservative Christian homeschoolers are among the most enthusiastic volunteers a Republican can hope for.
Their suspicion of government, borne of decades of skirmishes with education authorities, fits with the small-government Tea Party ideals that loom large this year.
"This go-round, they will definitely be an important voice," said Bob Vander Plaats, a Christian conservative leader who served as state chairman of Huckabee's 2008 campaign. "They have such an amazing network and they're used to volunteering and used to being active."
'STOP THE IRS'
For Des Moines grandmother Linda Brewer, that means battling her shyness to work the phones for Santorum. "I take a deep breath before every call," said Brewer, who homeschooled her four children. "It's not my most favorite thing to do."
For David Keagle, that means driving a red, white and blue school bus painted with slogans like "Stop the IRS" in local parades as his nine children wave Ron Paul signs.
"He's spot-on on lowering taxes, and when it comes to Christian values and morals, he's spot-on on those as well," Keagle said.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Just makes sense as many independent studies over the last few years have established the academic excellence of home-schooled children.
yes, it does show the example of how brainwashing works, don't let them get any ideas, let's just push a christian based ideology down their throats and that is why these kids are becoming republicans, as that is the party that aligns itself as the christian conservative party (who want christian sharia law)
I won?t be mentioning my teacher?s name in this. Mainly because I have three weeks left of class, and I don?t want to be failed. Once class is over, I will be reporting this the way I need to go about it.
I?m still in absolute shock over this. Last night, I attended my college Biology class. Our topic for the night was evolution and the different kingdoms of living things. An hour into the five hour class, I had to leave because I was completely disgusted with what my teacher was saying.
He started off his discussion by saying that there are two ideas (not theories, but ideas) of how life became how it is on Earth. He closed the classroom?s door. Once the door was closed, he glossed over the scientific explanation very quickly (less than 20 seconds), then explained Creationism for about five minutes (5000 year old Earth, no evolution, etc). He then said that accepted scientific thought is the first, and that?s what the school wants him to teach, ??but we all know which one is right.? WHOA! Back the f**k up! After he finished his Creationism lecture, he opened the classroom door again.
It got worse. When he got to descriptions of virii, he proceeded to lecture the class on abstinence. He said that the AIDS virus (he never called it the HIV virus, which I think is a more accepted term but I may be wrong) is so small, that it will pass right through a condom. ?So if you get AIDS from premarital sex, I?m not going to feel sorry for you.? Not only is this wrong, this had no place in the current discussion, let alone in the class as a whole. As soon as he said that, I gathered my things and left.
Biology is a science. As such, I?m in this class to learn science, not the teacher?s religious views. If that?s what is going to be taught, why the f**k is it a prerequisite for me to get into the higher level biology classes I need to take for my degree? If I wanted to get Christianity?s take on Biology, I would have attended a seminary school. I?m attending a state college.
What the hell is wrong with some people?
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-ONE college students at three colleges were questioned about their beliefs about the age of the earth, the origin of humans, and the origins of all living things. Survey results indicate that few college students are sympathetic to the teachings of Young Earth creationist or Intelligent Design organizations. Commonly held beliefs included gap creationism, natural evolution, and a form of theistic evolution in which descent with modification occurs through completely natural processes. The survey results also indicated that beliefs regarding origins are more complex than is sometimes thought, and that it is not uncommon for an individual to have belie? that are inconsistent and contradictory. Statistical analyses were used to determine how factors such as religiosity and the manner in which a person interprets religious texts predict belief in evolution and belief in the age of the earth.
As expected, more highly educated adults believe in "evolution:"
74% of people with post-graduate degrees believe in "evolution," as do:
48% of college graduates
50% of adults with some college
41% of adults with high school or less.
More frequent attendance at religious services correlated with a lack of belief in "evolution:"
Quote:
Only 30% of Republicans believe in "evolution;" 68% do not.
61% of independents believe in "evolution;" 37% do not.
57% of Democrats believe in "evolution;" 40% do not.
The five main reasons why people say they do not believe in "evolution" are their belief Jesus Christ, belief in God, "due to my religion or faith," "not enough evidence," and belief in the Bible. 3
I'll use an analogy I heard about the evolution against creation arguments. Lets say Evolution is a picture of puppies in a basket. Creationism is a picture of a child eating an ice cream cone. Now, imagine the real picture of how species these days came to be was cut up into many pieces, like a puzzle. With science, we have over the years, slowly collected pieces of that puzzle. Find a few here, find a few there. Put them together, make links, and soon the picture starts to become visable.
So what have we seen? Bits that look like a puppies head. Over here these pieces make the picture of a tail. Here we have a basket handle. This whole section looks like the bottom of a basket. The picture isn't complete, but we can still tell it's a picture of puppies in a basket. Unfortunatly, the picture is not complete, but with what we have, we can make a pretty good guess as to what the final picture will be. Puppies in a basket (or evolution). But there's an instruction manual in the box that says the picture will be a child eating ice cream. And people read this manual and look at the picture and ignore what they see. They beleive the picture will be of a child eating ice cream. They say it cannot possibly be puppies in a basket, and say those who say it is are wrong because the picture isn't 100% complete. They refuse to acknowledge puppies in a basket until the puzzle is completely finished. Unfortuantly, over the years, some puzzle pieces have been lost. Many of them have in fact. So there is no way the puzzle can ever be completed.
Does that make sense to you?
Beliefs elsewhere in the world:
Belief in creation science seems to be largely a U.S. phenomenon among countries the West. A British survey of 103 Roman Catholic priests, Anglican bishops and Protestant ministers/pastors, perhaps conducted in 1999 showed that:
97% do not believe the world was created in six days.
80% do not believe in the existence of Adam and Eve as actual persons.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
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