Secularist State Tyranny in Europe II: Germany

In Germany, home-schooling is illegal. The state claims responsibility not only for protecting children from abuse and neglect in their homes, but also from their parents' teaching and values. In a recent case, a mother of 12 has been sentenced to prison for refusing to enroll her children in sex ed classes. Such classes, as in the U.S., normalize premarital sex.

A German mother is in prison as a result of resisting state measures to force objectionable “sexual education” on her children. Her husband has already served his 43-day sentence. The couple bring the number of Christian parents imprisoned for this reason to 10.

In January 2010, a U.S. immigration judge granted political asylum to a German family persecuted by the German state for wanting to homeschool their children.

Tennessee Judge Lawrence Burman ruled that, after several years of run-ins with the authorities in Germany, the Romeike family’s human rights were being violated in their own country and that they had “a well-founded fear of persecution” if they stayed there. Burman said homeschoolers “are a particular social group that the German government is trying to suppress” and this was “repellent to everything we believe as Americans”. Strong stuff, and it is not yet clear what political actions may follow.

(Retrieved March 4, 2011 from http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/german_homeschooling_family_granted_political_asylum_in_usa/)

Another German family sought asylum in Alberta, Canada after fleeing there to avoid persecution in their native country.

Canadian Member of Parliament Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, CPC) has decried the German law, and called on the Alberta board to protect the rights of this family.

“Canada has a strong legacy of parental rights and home schooling has been an accepted expression of these rights in Canada,” he said. “I commend these valiant parents for the commitment and devotion they have to the best interests of their children. I hope the Immigration and Refugee Board in Alberta gives a favourable hearing to this case.”

---

Mother of twelve jailed in Germany for refusing to enroll children in sex ed classes
BY MATTHEW CULLINAN HOFFMAN
Wed Feb 23, 2011

Authorities Ask German Homeschooling Family to Give up Custody of Other 5 Children
GERMANY, February 23, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A mother of twelve has been sentenced to 43 days in jail in the German town of Salzkotten for refusing to enroll her children in the sex education program in a local elementary school, according to two German Catholic news sites, Kath.net and Katholishes.info.

The woman, whose name is not revealed in the articles, is reportedly a Baptist who is opposed to the program based upon her religious convictions. The couple says that their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Germany is a signatory, are being ignored.

They cite article 2 of the convention’s first protocol, which states: “the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.” The local elementary school has reportedly ignored this right since 2005, and is being supported by the judiciary.

The woman’s husband says that “his wife has really missed her family, but finds her solace in God” according to Kath.net, which also reports that the younger children “miss their mother,” but that suffering injustice is part of the experience of being Christian.

The persecution of Germans who homeschool or reject government sex education is an ongoing phenomenon. In April of last year the website Kopp Online reported several cases of German mothers who reside in Salzkotten spending up to a week in jail for refusing the local sex ed program for their children. Similar persecution was reported in the same town, which is located in the district of Paderborn, in December of 2009.

In January of 2010 a German family was granted asylum in the United States after years of harassment by the German government for homeschooling their children.

Contact information:

Embassy of Germany in the United States
2300 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
Phone (202) 298-4000
Email: http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/Kontakt.html

Embassy of Germany in Canada
1 Waverley Street
Ottawa, ON, K2P 0T8
Tel.: 613-232-1101 Fax: 613-594-9330
Email: germanembassyottawa@on.aibn.com

Embassy of Germany in the United Kingdom
23 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PZ
Phone: 020 7824 1300
Fax: 020 7824 1449
Email: http://www.london.diplo.de/Vertretung/london/en/Kontakt.html

Retrieved March 3, 2011 from http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/mother-of-twelve-jailed-in-germany-for-refusing-to-enroll-children-in-sex-e/