Special Treatment for "Closely Held Religious Beliefs"? (Discussion about religion... enter at your own risk!)

2015-02-18T20:39:52-05:00

While I was at Balad, I got into a conversation with a Major about schools. I told him that my wife and I were planning on home schooling our kids. He then said something that deeply offended me, though I didn't say so at the time. He said that he didn't think people should be allowed to home school their kids, "Unless it was for religious reasons". This impacted me deeply, and got me thinking about how we view religion, especially in the military. While I am not an atheist, I have beliefs that I hold very dearly which are not religious. Those beliefs would have been given zero weight if I brought them up to my leadership, asking them to make exceptions to policy. On the other hand, when someone brings up a religious belief, they are frequently given exceptions to policy (like wearing ashes in uniform on Ash Wednesday, the ability of Sikh doctors to grow beards, etc). Why should religious beliefs trump non-religious beliefs? Doesn't this violate the Establishment Clause in the Constitution?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 25 at 2015 2:58 PM

2015-02-25T14:58:01-05:00

Religion is one of those words that means a lot of different things to different people. Ask an evangelical if an Atheists devotion to science is religious and most will say it is... ask an Atheist and they will most likely say exactly the opposite.

If you are wanting to home-school your kids, which is an incredible amount of work, you probably have some very deeply held beliefs that IMO would probably qualify as religious. You hold a particular set of beliefs and values... that even though they are not part of any organized religion, you put into practice.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 25 at 2015 6:56 PM

2015-02-25T18:56:03-05:00

In general, there haven't been too many people who have been killed or had the urge to kill someone else over homeschooling. Additionally, you're probably not going to have an overwhelming fear that you will go to hell if you don't homeschool your kids. That's why it's different.

Response by MAJ Keira Brennan made Jun 5 at 2015 6:38 PM

2015-06-05T18:38:41-04:00

I ran into that whole religious home-schooling rabble (yes MY TERM) while in Germany. The idea of DoDDs secularist must have been somehow frightening. My partner --who brought over our kids (all pre-DADT repeal) home-schooled, but instead of going it alone, partnering with the Christian community, we used our school district and a distance-learning protocol. Home-schooling in Germany is Verbotten in almost all cases. The big exception is when someone is covered under the SOFA agreement. We have our son in a public Charter school that uses a Montessori-like philosophy. He constantly tests high and the normal standards don't fit him well. Home-schooling might be have been a consider for a situation similar to what you described. And kuddos about the whole "irrational based superstitions." I feel the same about Iron Age myths.