As parents, we are all making hard decisions. Many have chosen to send their children to school and endure wearing masks all day. Others are choosing virtual learning and still more options lead others to choose to homeschool. Although each choice is fraught with pros and cons, let us not forget what a privilege it is to be able to choose and to gather with like minded individuals to render support to each other. That privilege mandates protection.Interesting to me is that in each of these methods of education, people are choosing to gather together in small groups for support. Public School parents are asserting that education warrants gathering at a public school building. Many families choosing virtual learning are gathering in Pandemic Pods to unite students in similar schools and classes to maximize learning potential and aid parents who must return to work. Homeschooling families are forming small groups to provide a structure of accountability and sharing of the educational experience. This right to gather is a First Amendment Provision of our Constitution and one which the Center for Disease Control has taken the effort to protect as well in offering re-opening strategies as we recover from Covid-19:
“This guidance is not intended to infringe on rights protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or any other federal law, including the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA). The federal government may not prescribe standards for interactions of faith communities in houses of worship, and in accordance with the First Amendment, no faith community should be asked to adopt any mitigation strategies that are more stringent than the mitigation strategies asked of similarly situated entities or activities.
"In addition, we note that while many types of gatherings are important for civic and economic well-being, religious worship has particularly profound significance to communities and individuals, including as a right protected by the First Amendment. State and local authorities are reminded to take this vital right into account when establishing their own reopening plans.”
Now, one may rightly be asking how a paragraph or two from the CDC making recommendations for gathering while protecting religious freedom has any connection with our educational choices. In Nebraska one can justify removing a child from school based on Rule 12 (other reasons) or Rule 13 (religious reasons). I always choose the latter because I hold dearly the right to rear and educate my children according to the dictates of my conscience and expect my children to live their own religious convictions with integrity. The strength of our families is reflected in the strength of the nation.
A Marxist economist recognized the strength of democracy depends on individual allegiance to a Supreme Power. Our national laws are only as good as the citizen’s desire to be law abiding and answer to a Supreme Being. As parents we recognize that peace and order in our home depends on a healthy democracy where children feel a responsibility to help make and keep house rules and set and reach educational objectives. Obedience depends on each child’s determination to live accountable to God (Democracy in the home is only as strong as its theocracy.) Thankfully each child in our home wanted to love and serve his neighbor. As Todd Christopherson has urged, we must debunk those who want to define “freedom of religion [as] really only the right to worship rather than the right freely to exercise your faith in your daily life.” Thus as we choose public schooling, virtual schooling, homeschooling and the right to assemble with like minded families, we are exercising religion because we are hopefully building a strong family who loves and reveres God. To be religious is to live daily life learning, serving and improving myself, my family and my community.
In response to Covid -19, in a matter of a week our country went through a massive shut down: schools, sporting events and churches, mostly voluntarily, closed their doors to public gatherings. Like the Prodigal Son many feel the implications of those choices as precarious and are pleading that we never again allow our rights to peaceably assemble to be sidelined. Elder David Bednar stated, “Gathering, in short, is at the core of faith and religion.” “Never again must the fundamental right to worship God be trivialized below the ability to buy gasoline.” He urged, “we must not become accustomed to sweeping assertions of governmental power”.
“Freedom of religion stands as a bulwark against unlimited government power. It safeguards the right to think for oneself, to believe what one feels to be true, and to exercise moral agency accordingly. It secures the space necessary to live with faith, integrity, and devotion. It nurtures strong families. It protects communities of faith and the rich and sacred relationships they make possible.”
This delightful video is a great reminder of the things we have been forced to rediscover during Covid 19. With 2020 vision, I remember why I gather my loved ones for family dinner, why I am in charge of my children’s education whether in or out of the public system.
In response to Covid -19, in a matter of a week our country went through a massive shut down: schools, sporting events and churches, mostly voluntarily, closed their doors to public gatherings. Like the Prodigal Son many feel the implications of those choices as precarious and are pleading that we never again allow our rights to peaceably assemble to be sidelined. Elder David Bednar stated, “Gathering, in short, is at the core of faith and religion.” “Never again must the fundamental right to worship God be trivialized below the ability to buy gasoline.” He urged, “we must not become accustomed to sweeping assertions of governmental power”.
“Freedom of religion stands as a bulwark against unlimited government power. It safeguards the right to think for oneself, to believe what one feels to be true, and to exercise moral agency accordingly. It secures the space necessary to live with faith, integrity, and devotion. It nurtures strong families. It protects communities of faith and the rich and sacred relationships they make possible.”
This delightful video is a great reminder of the things we have been forced to rediscover during Covid 19. With 2020 vision, I remember why I gather my loved ones for family dinner, why I am in charge of my children’s education whether in or out of the public system.
We have or will each make individual choices and decisions about the education of our children be it in the public school system, virtual learning, or homeschooling. We are also making choices exercising our right to assemble, to gather. For these freedoms we shout Hosanna! As a community of Omaha Haven we congratulate each parent’s decision and we encourage you to peaceably assemble in whatever group best represents your views. Then vote, speak, and write with a desire to preserve “one nation under God, indivisible, with justice for all.”
