Bennett Gordon, Science and Technology blog (Utne Reader):
Every diorama in the Home School Science Fair, which took
place inside a shopping mall in Roseville, Minnesota, had a biblical
quote attached to it. A young woman whose project involved teaching her
dog how to run circles between her legs decorated the words: “If you
love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15) in pink lace
fabric. This quote got to the crux of the science fair, in my opinion:
parental commandment. These parents pulled their children out of
school, away from their peers, and said, “Now prove that Darwin was
wrong.”
This blog entry gives the impression that one particular homeschool group’s Creationist science fair is “the
2008 Home School Science Fair,” perpetuating the meme that all home
school families are the same. I left a comment on the site that said,
in part, “I
understand
and appreciate your desire to protect the name of science from those
who misappropriate its terminology. I hope you’ll also respect my
desire to address misunderstandings about home schooling.” (My reasons
for choosing home schooling are not religious; my wife and I simply
don’t want to entrust such an important task to strangers — we want to
be a part of it.)
Update: Gordon e-mailed me to thank me for the comment I posted on his site. He said he had thought that the word “Creationist” in the title of his blog entry was enough to contextualize this particular science fair, but noted that the comments his blog attracted have already made a pretty good case for correcting that. I suggested that he do a profile on a homeschool family that doesn’t fit the stereotype.
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We are Christian, but chose to homeschool more for academic reasons. I'm pretty sure the point of the diorama in question was teaching obedience to God's word, rather than parental commandment. The dog running in circles is unfortunate, since humans tend to be a bit more "difficult" to train. If we were like dogs, it would be pretty easy to learn to avoid pain. Unfortunately, we can still be pretty stubborn in seeking our own way, rather than God's will.