The Jessaverse | Change and Exchange

Don’t get me wrong; I’m an enthusiastic supporter of home education if done properly. However, the current home-schooling movement has been hijacked by Christian fundamentalists who wish to brainwash their children with intolerance and bigotry. It’s one thing to take your child out of school to allow them to learn on their own, but it’s another to take your child from one form of brainwashing to another. A lot of parents see their home-schooled children as ‘property’ to protect from the ‘evil influences’ of the ‘world’, not free agents who are capable of learning on their own. This sort of home-schooling is just as inimical to youth rights as standard public schooling is. It’s the same ‘fill the child with bullshit’ mentality, even though it’s just a different type of bullshit. I’ve seen some of these fundamentalist Christian home-schooling curricula and programmes, especially since my younger sister in fifth grade is home-schooled and is being taught a lot of this stuff. The worldview espoused is obviously fundamentalist-Christian, one of the Bible courses outright insults atheists, and they are taught that Christianity is the only acceptable religion. Hyper-patriotism is taught by some programmes as well. Whatever happened to allowing people to discover religion for themselves? Some of the lessons are patronising. There is a strong support for Noah Webster, who was one of the first people to completely ravage the English language. He was a disagreeable preacher who created a censored dictionary that contained nothing that wasn’t Christian, and he took part in chopping up British words arbitrarily, obscuring their etymology or taking away their mostly French-derived beauty. Students are spoonfed conservative politics and are taught to obey anyone who has imposed their authority upon them unless they are not Christians. I have no problems with Christianity or home-schooling, by the way. I simply have a problem with brainwashing.

Recently at church, a pamphlet was disseminated inside the church programme that advocated supporting a censorship programme called ‘Cable Choice’. Apparently, the geniuses at my church want to suppress the free speech of those who don’t agree with them. Under the Cable Choice system, it is possible to pay for/subsidise only the channels that YOU personally agree with. In theory, this sounds like a good idea, but not if it is being promoted by religious extremists who only want THEIR ideas expressed on the television. Here’s a newsflash for these people” NOT EVERYONE AGREES WITH YOU! Even some CHRISTIANS don’t think the programmes and channels that you don’t like are filth. These people are so bent on suppressing the freedom of speech of other groups. Honestly, I don’t give a damn if Christian channels exist. Guess what…I DON’T HAVE TO WATCH THEM! I can just change the channel, and so can they! Don’t like MTV, Cinemax, or R-rated movies? Then don’t watch them, you putrescent imbeciles! Don’t be a fucking killjoy for all those who do! You wouldn’t see me picketing extremist Christian organisations just because they exist. That’s just fucking stupid and against the principles of freedom of speech. When will they get it through their thick skulls that freedom of speech applies to even people who disagree with them?

Write the FCC, telling them that Cable Choice, the proposed programme, is going to be used as a sounding-board for extremists.
Kevin Martin – KJMWEB@fcc.gov
FCC – 445 12th St. SW
Washington, DC 20554

Why don’t you also give the church your opinion, too?
Morning Star Community Church of Abilene
221 Oak Street, Abilene, TX 79602
destiny@morningstarabilene.com