Rose,
Having read your piece responding to Heather Carson, I'm of two minds.
I think perhaps suspicion not only of the education and media complex but of pastors and priests is not necessarily unwarranted, especially given the issues that plague churches east of Eden. I’m sure I’ll get angry responses for it but its just a fact that churches have an issue with priests and pastors who can abuse their flocks. It has never been easier to look out on the world as a parent and conclude every authority other than yours is untrustworthy. And I think that much of this belief is somewhat justified.
Simultaneously, I find myself nodding along to many points in your article. I have seen, firsthand, the effects that as you put it “Generalized suspicion” that “is not asking questions” but rather “is a smothering blanket that harms relationships, and looks a lot like generalized anxiety.” One of the most notorious e-girl whores on Twitter talks often of her deeply Fundamentalist Christian upbringing, one that came at the hands of a respected Christian apologist. It is a puzzle I have yet to fully understand, and that terrifies me.
But, fear cannot govern our decisions. “Fear is the mind-killer”, the great novel Dune tells us, and trite though that may sound it is undeniably true. What we are doing (ideally at least) is not trying to keep our children away from the world as long as we possibly can, but preparing them to stand boldly in the world as herrenvolk, people who embody and champion their Faith, virtue, and patrimony. Homeschooling is at the end of the day a reprieve, a brief escape from public education. But it is not for everyone, and if we are to succeed we will need not only to escape public education but to retake it.
Hope this letter finds you well, Rose. Additionally, I hope any who read it finds some profitable insight in it.
Sincerely,
Grant