Christian Homeschoolers Sell Daughter in Arranged Marriage

[Buzzword]

Most appallingly, at the age of 20, Austin was told by her parents that she had been “sold” to a man twice her age, a situation that Austin and others like her say is disturbingly commonplace. She says her parents’ asking price for her was $25,000, a fee that was much smaller than the average (around $50,000), because due to her being molested as a child she was considered within her Christian community to be “damaged goods.”

Thankfully, Austin managed to escape from her appalling life, which was, to be frank, little more than an imprisonment. Escaping was nonetheless difficult. After refusing to marry the man her parents were paid to deliver her to, her mother said Austin owed the would-be husband a refund of his $25,000 down payment. Instead, she fled.

Christian Homeschoolers Sell Daughter into Arranged Marriage, Give Discount Because She's "Damaged Goods"

And here we have yet another in the massive crowd of reasons for greater government oversight into homeschooling.

That you choose to educate your child instead of taking advantage of public education does NOT give you the right to lock them down and control their lives to this kind of Orwellian degree.

My own family has seen the dark side of homeschooling.
My uncle kept his three kids trapped at home for EIGHT YEARS under the guise of homeschooling, and because they lived in Oklahoma there was ZERO government oversight and ZERO accountability...and zero actual schooling going on.
No outside interaction allowed except with family, no Internet access, no TV.
All decisions made by Father, no discussion or disagreement allowed.
Any violations or seeming violations of Father's will were met with violent retribution.

The rest of the family was legally powerless to intervene.
Nothing changed until my oldest cousin turned 18 and attempted to physically leave the house, only to be assaulted by my uncle.
My cousin ended up stabbing him and nearly killing him.

A jury acquitted my cousin after the mountain of evidence of eight years' worth of repression and abuse came to light.
Now my uncle is sitting in a cell, but his children, though now adults, are all emotionally and developmentally stunted, to say nothing of traumatized.

 

[elohiym]

Christian Homeschoolers Sell Daughter into Arranged Marriage, Give Discount Because She's "Damaged Goods"

And here we have yet another in the massive crowd of reasons for greater government oversight into homeschooling.

Because children aren't abused by their parents when they go to public school?

That you choose to educate your child instead of taking advantage of public education does NOT give you the right to lock them down and control their lives to this kind of Orwellian degree.

You want government oversight of my children while you talk of Orwellian treatment?

My own family has seen the dark side of homeschooling.

That's the dark side of your family, not the "dark side of homeschooling."

 

[Jose Fly]

My own family has seen the dark side of homeschooling.
My uncle kept his three kids trapped at home for EIGHT YEARS under the guise of homeschooling, and because they lived in Oklahoma there was ZERO government oversight and ZERO accountability...and zero actual schooling going on.
No outside interaction allowed except with family, no Internet access, no TV.
All decisions made by Father, no discussion or disagreement allowed.
Any violations or seeming violations of Father's will were met with violent retribution.

The rest of the family was legally powerless to intervene.
Nothing changed until my oldest cousin turned 18 and attempted to physically leave the house, only to be assaulted by my uncle.
My cousin ended up stabbing him and nearly killing him.

A jury acquitted my cousin after the mountain of evidence of eight years' worth of repression and abuse came to light.
Now my uncle is sitting in a cell, but his children, though now adults, are all emotionally and developmentally stunted, to say nothing of traumatized.

Were they in the Quiverfull Movement?

 

[Nick M]

There is no correlation between human trafficking (forced slavery) and education. Nor are they saints in the Body. And that fag buzzword knows it and accidentally said so in his post right here;

My uncle kept his three kids trapped at home for EIGHT YEARS under the guise of homeschooling

He wants your kids in public "school" so they go to hell, and uses the disguise (his words) of something safe.

 

[Buzzword]

Because children aren't abused by their parents when they go to public school?

Links? Evidence? Or maybe actually address the article?

You want government oversight of my children while you talk of Orwellian treatment?

Did you even read the article?
Do you have a public school experience which even COMES CLOSE to the level of abuse this young woman has suffered?

That's the dark side of your family, not the "dark side of homeschooling."

Do you have some point to make that isn't an implied ad hom attack?

Were they in the Quiverfull Movement?

Crazily enough, no.
My family's experience was not religiously motivated, which is why I didn't focus on that aspect of the article.

 

[Granite]

So who here's an advocate of arranged marriages again?

 

[Rusha]

Extremely sad and worse than a few of the cases I have *personally seen*. Some of the homeschooled children who transferred into the Christian school I worked at in California were bright and well mannered.

Then there were those whose parents would pull them from the school because they didn't want to be accountable for their child's attendance, vaccinations, certain hygiene/cleanliness issues and behavior.

My best guess is that in the situation listed in your OP, those parents wanted to make sure other kids and adults did not find out they were willing to sell their daughter (for $25,000) under the guise of marriage. Truly disgusting.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

My own family has seen the dark side of homeschooling.
My uncle kept his three kids trapped at home for EIGHT YEARS under the guise of homeschooling, and because they lived in Oklahoma there was ZERO government oversight and ZERO accountability...and zero actual schooling going on.

If no schooling was going on.... then your uncle wasn't homeschooling.

Even a public schooler should be able to figure that out. :doh:

 

[Buzzword]

Extremely sad and worse than a few of the cases I have *personally seen*. Some of the children who transferred into the Christian school I worked at in California were bright and well mannered.

Then there were those whose parents would pull them from the school because they didn't want to be accountable for their child's attendance, vaccinations, certain hygiene/cleanliness issues and behavior.

My best guess is that in the situation listed in your OP, those parents wanted to make sure other kids and adults did not find out they were willing to sell their daughter (for $25,000) under the guise of marriage. Truly disgusting.

Well said.

I don't personally have an issue with religion-based private schools, as long as they are not censoring information based on the personal biases of those in charge.

The problems start when religion is used as an excuse for repression, whether that means demonizing human relations or relationships, teaching false information as if it is scientific fact, or stifling natural psychological and physical development.

If no schooling was going on.... then your uncle wasn't homeschooling.

Even a public schooler should be able to figure that out. :doh:

You didn't notice my use of the word GUISE, did you?
All he had to do was SAY he was homeschooling, and no further inquiry by any government official or agency would be made.

It helps to start re-read before you re-ply.
As my PUBLIC SCHOOL 8th grade English teacher used to say.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

I don't personally have an issue with religion-based private schools, as long as they are not censoring information based on the personal biases of those in charge.

Do you mean like what Public Schools do?

 

[Nathon Detroit]

You didn't notice my use of the word GUISE, did you?
All he had to do was SAY he was homeschooling, and no further inquiry by any government official or agency would be made.

Someone needs to start re-reading before re-plying.

That's the point.... just because your uncle was a moron doesn't mean the government needs to interfere in the business of people who are NOT improperly homeschooling.

 

[Granite]

That's the point.... just because your uncle was a moron doesn't mean the government needs to interfere in the business of people who are NOT improperly homeschooling.

I don't think "moron" quite covers it.

The problem with lack of any oversight is that certain people can flash a homeschooler badge as a means of getting away with an awful lot. I saw that happen a few times and the results are incredibly grim.

 

[Jose Fly]

I don't personally have an issue with religion-based private schools, as long as they are not censoring information based on the personal biases of those in charge.

The problems start when religion is used as an excuse for repression, whether that means demonizing human relations or relationships, teaching false information as if it is scientific fact, or stifling natural psychological and physical development.

Actually, I don't really care what they teach at private religious schools (within reason of course). But if they don't teach up to standards, they can't expect to be accredited or their graduates to be given course credits when applying for college.

Can't have it both ways.

 

[Buzzword]

Do you mean like what Public Schools do?

Proof?

Because the Creationist Museum and its backing organization provides an awful lot for the case against religious educational institutions.

I don't think "moron" quite covers it.

The problem with lack of any oversight is that certain people can flash a homeschooler badge as a means of getting away with an awful lot. I saw that happen a few times and the results are incredibly grim.

This.

If there is no oversight (call it "interference" all you like, but it's the government's JOB), then there is no legal differentiation between those parents who are actually educating their children, and those who are keeping them locked down on the farm in a sadistic power trip.

I have never been an opponent of actual homeschooling.
Several of my friends in college had been homeschooled by parents with doctorates in the subjects they were teaching, and several of them developed many learning aptitudes earlier than many of their public school counterparts due to the individual attention.

That there are millions of parents doing it right and a only small amount of sadistic, disgusting monsters inflicting grievous and permanent harm upon their children does not in any way lessen the need for oversight and the rule of law.

 

[Rusha]

Well said.

I don't personally have an issue with religion-based private schools, as long as they are not censoring information based on the personal biases of those in charge.

I am biased TOWARDS private schooling and wish it was an alternative for more children.

The problems start when religion is used as an excuse for repression, whether that means demonizing human relations or relationships, teaching false information as if it is scientific fact, or stifling natural psychological and physical development.

The only subjects I noticed any difference in were science (no evolution) and obviously, there wasn't any type of sex education outside of abstinence only. Which would have pretty much been covered in the four years of required Bible.

In the school district my children lived in while in California, they actually offered a school for independent study that worked fairly well.

The kids came in one day a week to pick up and go over their assignments and then returned to have them corrected as well as taking any tests or quizzes. The school district provided the books, lunches (for those who qualified), etc.

It was the best of both worlds. Homeschooling and guidance provided by the certified teachers employed through the district.

 

[elohiym]

That's the point.... just because your uncle was a moron doesn't mean the government needs to interfere in the business of people who are NOT improperly homeschooling.

I home school but still have to submit test results to the public education superintendent. The government is in my business.

 

[Granite]

I home school but still have to submit test results to the public education superintendent. The government seems to be in my business already.

Yeah, you and everybody else.

 

[aCultureWarrior]

I home school but still have to submit test results to the public education superintendent. The government seems to be in my business already.

I'd venture to say that much of what you teach your children is being taught in the more liberal public schools throughout America.

 

[elohiym]

I'd venture to say that much of what you teach your children is being taught in the more liberal public schools throughout America.

They don't teach kids in public school to love people like you.

 

[aCultureWarrior]

They don't teach kids in public school to love people like you.

I've mentioned in other threads that my pastor's wife is a public school elementary teacher and many people who go to my church are involved in public education. I do some mentoring at a nearby school as well.

While I know that the purpose of this thread was twofold: to bash Christianity AND private home schooling, I'm just letting people know that pubic education isn't a total loss because of people of faith who haven't abandoned it.