POLICE STATE, GERMANY

[Soldier4Christ]

POLICE STATE, GERMANY
Court: Homeschooling is 'child endangerment'
Gives 2 kids to government, castigates social workers for letting family flee


A court decision that categorized homeschooling as "child welfare endangerment" has assigned custody of two children to the government and criticized a social services agency for allowing a family to flee Germany, where homeschooling remains illegal.

The decision from the Federal High Court in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest court, was reported by the German edition of Agence France-Presse, as well as Netwerk Bildungsfreiheit, an organization that advocates for homeschoolers against the repression in Germany.

The report did not directly identify the family involved, but described the case of two children from a homeschooling family from Paderborn.

The court found the city and its social services agencies were "obviously unsuited" to the task of enforcing mandatory public school attendance and rather than protecting against "child welfare endangerment," the city allowed the family to move to Austria where the two children now are being educated by an "uncertified" mother.

An internet blogger's site, Principle Discovery, which monitors some such situations, also translated the report and said the Paderborn case specifically involved issues of religious belief, but the decision also could impact another homeschooling case, from Bremen, on which WND has been reporting.

In that case, the parents have been battling the government over their children's education for educational, competency, and cultural reasons, not necessarily religious reasons, but now have been relegated to begging a public court system for their own money to use for groceries after authorities froze both personal and business bank accounts to pay a fine for homeschooling.

Dagmar Neubronner, who with her husband, Tillman, runs a home-based publishing business and homeschools sons Moritz, 10, and Thomas, 8, told the Home School Legal Defense Association the couple recently got word of the lock on the accounts.

"After the bailiff/marshal could not find possessions to take away from us, today we received news that our accounts have been blocked to impound the penalty payment of 4,500 euros," she wrote. "So our work as a publishing house is blocked, too, and we cannot withdraw money to buy food."

As WND has reported, the fine is being imposed because the couple is unwilling to subject their sons to the grind of the daily school requirements in Germany.

Government officials determined to stamp out "parallel societies" are adamantly opposed to homeschooling in Germany, and the Neubronners case is one of the latest in a string of incidents in which the HSLDA has gotten involved. In this case, the organization that promotes homeschooling worldwide already has written to Mrs. Senatorin Renate Jurgens-Pieper in Bremen, asking for a continuation of previous permission for the Neubronner family to teach their children at home.

The report on the Paderborn case said although the family now resides in Austria and is homeschooling according to Austrian law, their legal residence remains in Germany, and the report noted the decision of the German court applies no matter where the family lives within the European Union.

The blogger reported that although the family's name was left out of the report, the circumstances align with the case involving the "R" family. The blog reports that family made a dramatic exit from their home in Germany and now is living at a Christian resort in Austria which has helped homeschooling families flee Germany in the past.

The state intervened in the family's education because of its expressed interests in their social development, and questioned whether the family was allowing the children to exercise the right to develop "his or her own personality."

WND has reported previously how German officials targeted an American family of Baptist missionaries for deportation because they belong to a group that refuses "to give their children over to the state school system."

A teenager, Melissa Busekros, also returned to her family months after German authorities took her from her home and forcibly detained her in a psychiatric facility for being homeschooled.

And WND has reported on other families facing fines, frozen bank accounts and court-ordered state custody of their children for resisting Germany's mandatory public school requirements, which by government admission are assigned to counter "the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views."

In the case involving Melissa, a German appeals court ultimately ordered legal custody of the teenager who was taken from her home by a police squad and detained in a psychiatric hospital for being homeschooled be returned to her family because she no longer is in danger.

The lower court's ruling had ordered police officers to take Melissa – then 15 – from her home, if necessary by force, and place her in a mental institution for a variety of evaluations. She was kept in custody from early February until April, when she turned 16 and under German law was subject to different laws.

At that point she simply walked away from the foster home where she had been required to stay and returned home.

Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."

Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."

The German government's defense of its "social" teachings and mandatory public school attendance was clarified during an earlier dispute on which WND reported, when a German family wrote to officials objecting to police officers picking their child up at home and delivering him to a public school.

"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response. "... You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers. ... In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement."

[Soldier4Christ]

Parents race to escape before court takes kids
Government lawsuit seeks state custody of children


A homeschooling family is trying to arrange an escape from Germany before authorities can complete a court action that would give the state custody of their five children, according to a pro-family advocacy organization.

The case involves Klaus and Evelyn Landahl, who have been living in Altensteig with their five children under the age of 13, including four who are school age, according to officials at Netzwerk-Bildungsfreiheit.

And this case is just one of two where the parents are arranging to move out of Germany in order to provide what they consider the best schooling opportunities for their children, according to the U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense Association.

The second family was identified as Dagmar and Tilman Neubronner, who have had an ongoing battle with local authorities over the education of their children, but now have confirmed plans to leave Germany and give up residency there.

The urgent court action, however, targeted the Landahl family, according to Netzwerk-Bildungsfreiheit.

Officials there said the father already is in England, but the mother, Evelyn, remains behind in Germany because one of her children is being treated in a hospital.

"They have deregistered children and wife in Germany, but nevertheless the mayor of Altensteig, the town where the Landahls lived, has filed a lawsuit with the local family court to take custody [of the children] away from the Landahls," an organization spokesman said.

"As the mayor knows that the family wants to leave Germany and that they have deregistered, his attempt is that the family court takes custody away in a so-called … (preliminary warrant) which means that custody can be taken away without a hearing [for] the parents," he said. "The final decision of the court can be pronounced later, but its intention is to prevent the parents from leaving the country with the children."

He said in this case, authorities are seeking to deprive the parents of their right to make decisions about their children's schooling as well as their right "to determine the place of abode."

He compared the actions of the German government to those more usually associated with the old East Germany or Soviet Union in that "not only parental rights are limited more and more, also the right to choose where you want to live is restricted."

Reports said the family already had rented an apartment abroad and begun the process of moving, but then were served with a legal notice of the lawsuit regarding custody.

The HSLDA, which has been active in other cases of German families falling victim to government enforcement of that nation's Hitler-era ban on homeschooling, said the policy "is in stark contrast to all other democratic and free societies that embrace homeschooling and recognize that parents have the primary responsibility and inalienable right to direct the upbringing and education of their children."

The organization called it "tragic" that German families "must choose between living in their homeland and homeschooling their children."

"Such behavior should not be tolerated by the rest of the free world and we call on governments and private citizens to take action to tell Germany that such policies are an embarrassment to them and must be changed," the group's statement said.

The update on the Neubronner case, currently pending in Bremen, came from the family itself.

"We are leaving Germany for now, and our children and my husband Tilman have already given up their permanent residence in Germany," said a note from Dagmar Neubronner. "I will maintain my permanent residence in Bremen because I am the bearer of our small publishing house…"

"Fortunately, we have been invited to several places in Europe. That is why our new life will start with a very long journey to see all those places and meet supporting friends and families," she wrote. "Nevertheless, it is hard to leave everything behind, especially our tomcat (a neighbor will take care of him), our relatives and friends and choirs and music ensembles and sports teams, our house and garden – our town and our country."

An enclosed note from the family's lawyer said, surprisingly, the German Federal Constitutional Court recently granted the family's appeal.

The family had sued because members were denied legal aid in their contest against an administrative court over penalties that the government was imposing for their homeschooling. The request for legal aid had been rejected because authorities ruled the "prospect of success [was] too small."

While that decision has been overturned, the family still chose to leave Germany because of continuing threats from the "federal minister of education" to impose penalties adding up to $10,000, plus "further coercives."

The government already had searched the home for items that could be sold to pay the penalties, and had shut down the family's access to bank accounts.

"Only jail and loss of custody are left" as potential penalties, their lawyer concluded.

"The Neubronners have decided that the risk to their family is too great to remaining Germany," HSLDA said. "The family will leave Germany to protect their children from the threat of being taken away from the family and so that they can continue to homeschool."

Government officials repeatedly have expressed a determination to stamp out "parallel societies" and that includes homeschooling.

German officials also have targeted an American family of Baptist missionaries for deportation because they belong to a group that refuses "to give their children over to the state school system."

And a teenager, Melissa Busekros, eventually was returned to her family months after German authorities took her from her home and forcibly detained her in a psychiatric facility for being homeschooled.

WND has reported further on other families facing fines, frozen bank accounts and court-ordered state custody of their children for resisting Germany's mandatory public school requirements, which by government admission are assigned to counter "the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views."

"Even the United Nations has called on Germany to reform the way it treats homeschoolers. We appeal to the German people and German leadership to do what is right and to protect rather than attack families who choose to homeschool their children," the HSDLA has noted.

In the case involving Melissa Busekros, a German appeals court ultimately ordered legal custody of the teenager who was taken from her home by a police squad and detained in a psychiatric hospital in 2007 for being homeschooled be returned to her family because she no longer is in danger.

The lower court's ruling had ordered police officers to take Melissa – then 15 – from her home, if necessary by force, and place her in a mental institution for a variety of evaluations. She was kept in custody from early February until April, when she turned 16 and under German law was subject to different laws.

At that point she simply walked away from the foster home where she had been required to stay and returned home.

Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."

Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."

The German government's defense of its "social" teachings and mandatory public school attendance was clarified during an earlier dispute on which WND reported, when a German family wrote to officials objecting to police officers picking their child up at home and delivering him to a public school.

"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response. "... You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers. ... In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement."

[Soldier4Christ]

Homeschoolers flee to Iran seeking educational freedom
Father reports family being sought for 'child kidnapping'

A homeschooling father and mother from Germany have fled to Iran for the educational freedom found there, and now apparently are being sought by authorities for the offense of child kidnapping for taking their son with them, according to WND sources.

And a new campaign has been launched by lawmakers to approve a provision in Germany that would allow authorities to simply take legal custody of children whose parents are trying to avoid the problems associated with the public school system there.

The two situations are the latest developments as parental rights in Germany are under attack, especially regarding the right to direct the education of their own children, homeschool advocates say.

WND just weeks ago reported on an "open season," on homeschoolers in Germany, when a government letter to school officials revealed that when parents refuse to send their children to a state-approved school, it is now considered "a misuse of parental custody rights, which violates the well-being of the child."

Now word has surfaced about a couple whose concern for their gifted son prompted their flight to Iran.

"As a family with a gifted and talented child, we fled Germany … with two suitcases and with the last of our money being spent on our flight to Iran," a letter from the Mahjoubi Assil family to "supporting friends" said.

The family includes the father, Khosrow Mahjoubi Assil, the mother, Lydia Keller-Mahjoubi Assil, and the son, Marian Mahjoubi Assil. It was written by the mother on behalf of the family.

"As things stand now, Germany is unworthy of membership in the European Community, or to speak on Human Rights in the international arena. The shadows of the Third Reich and the ideology of Adolf Hitler – if not worse – still drift over Germany," the letter said.

The family's dispute arose because of a decision in the Family Court of Wiesbaden, "with corresponding [threats] of violent compulsory measures against us," the family's letter said.

The family son, Marian, has been homeschooled since 2006, taking theater, "gifted and talented courses," foreign languages, gymnastics, horseback riding and music. He obtained a certificate from the Children's College of Rheinland-Pfalz – Gifted and Talented Center last summer stating that he "integrates himself very quickly into the groups … and has made some friendships here." It describes the student as "a friendly, highly motivated child, achieving very good results…"

But local school officials objected to the program of education for Marian, the family letter said.

"Because the public school authority of Wiesbaden has no suitable schools for a highly gifted and talented child such as our Marian, they, along with Child Protective Services, wanted to force him to attend the Special Education branch Friedrich-von-Schiller School for children with behavioral problems and for low performing children," the letter said.

Marian already had experience at that school, because it was there when he was 6 that he was struck by a teacher who later faced a criminal complaint making accusations of Willful Aggravated Battery in Office, the family said.

"Because we resisted the educational poverty, the boredom and the violence in the schools, Child Protective Services moved in Family Court to strip us of custody of our son and place him in a foster home, in an illegitimate trial without our being present or having an opportunity to present the circumstances from our perspective, so that the state could destroy and make pliable the mind of a gifted and talented child who intellectually stood in their way," the letter said.

"Our situation in Iran is an emergency situation, because we are living off of support from our parents. Marian suffers from an asthma-like illness, and has health problems due to the extreme air pollution, as well as insurance and medical insurance coverage and other support services not being available here," the family wrote. "Our social benefits in Germany have been completely cut off … "

"Father has told me that he has received calls that we are being sought for child kidnapping," said the mother.

"I come from a Frankfurt civil servant family, and am a certified biologist, while my husband comes from an Iranian family of doctors (civil servants) and is a scientific colleague in pharmaceutical security. For this reason Marian and I both hold dual citizenship (Germany/Iran)," the mother wrote.

She said an attorney has begun submitting paperwork to pursue the family's case in Germany.

Iran has been described by Christian Solidarity Worldwide as having "earned" what was described as "an appaling reputation on the subject of human rights. Arbitrary detention, torture, disappearance, summary trial and execution are not uncommon."

The organization reported even the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has a special representative submitting ongoing reports on the situation. The nation's constitution official allows "minority religions" including Christianity and Judaism, but the right to practice a religion of choice often is crippled by the nation's laws providing for "the need to safeguard the interests of the state." Iran provides for the death penalty for "apostasy" and bans proselytism.

Such provisions, however, may play a less significant role in this family's case, since family members did not base their desire for homeschooling on the German school system's anti-Christian bias, as a multitude of families have, but instead on a need for a higher quality of education than available.

The second new development was reported by Jan Edel, of the "Schulbildung in Familieninitiative" organization that seeks alternative methods of education. It is associated with Netzwerk Bildungsfreitheit, a homeschool advocacy organization working on behalf of families in Germany.

"The devil appears to be loose [in Germany educational bureaucracy]," the note from Edel said. "A large-scale campaign is being aimed at parents who are not able to come to terms with the available educational provisions and 'exit' seeking the alternative model of homeschooling."

A high-ranking politician from Hessen confirmed a new law would target parents "who are convinced of the inadequacy of public education and 'make themselves a nuisance,'" the report assembled by Edel said.

"After all, parents cannot be allowed to begin to think independently about their children's failure in school and cause a sensation and riot through choosing alternatives to school attendance," it said.

The report cited a telephone call with a representative for a legislator who is pushing for a law that would take custody away from parents if their children aren't in public schools.

"She also mentioned that up to now, it has only been possible to restrict the parents' custody (i.e. in matters of schooling and in the choice of the children's residence) but now the state will be able to take full custody away from the parents when the law was passed…," the report said.

The letter from governmental officials to school leaders recently revealed that not only did the bureaucracy consider homeschooling a violation of children's well-being, local officials were expected to act if they had knowledge of such cases.

"We ask for acknowledgment and compliance," the letter, signed by N. Hauf., director of school affairs, said in the letter

Numerous homeschooling families in Germany have run afoul of that nation's Nazi-era law banning homeschooling, and being fined or otherwise penalized. In recent days, however, the threats against homeschooling parents frequently have included loss of custody of their children, and several families already have fled.

Even advocates for homeschooling have begun to fear for their safety of their families.

"It is very likely that our family [will have] to leave the country this year. Maybe I have to bring my children and my wife to a place of safety within the next weeks or even days," one advocate said in a personal message to the Home School Legal Defense Association, the world's largest homeschool advocacy organization which has been involved in a number of recent cases in Germany.

cont'd

[Soldier4Christ]

"The behavior of German authorities against families who homeschool goes against the very fiber of what free and democratic societies stand for – that governments exist to protect the rights of people not to take them away," Mike Donnelly, a staff attorney for the HSLDA, said. "In Germany it appears that the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government do not care to protect the human right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children which includes the right to homeschool – a view shared by nearly all other western civilized countries."

Another family recently fled Germany for England to avoid threatened court action by family court officials. The Landahl family was facing a court case assembled by the mayor of Altenschieg.

"We are seeing what may be a severe crackdown against homeschoolers in Germany," Donnelly said. This document "appears to send the message to local school officials that it is 'open season' on homeschoolers in Germany."

He said there has been an increase in the number of families fleeing persecution in Germany, and "even American citizens in Germany are also being told that they must enroll their children in the public schools or an approved private school or else face the same measures that German families face."

Even before the 2007 court ruling and the recent letter, Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit, or Network for Freedom in Education, reported that German authorities were rigid in their interpretation of homeschooling bans, up to the point that they expressed plans to change the religious opinions of a family.

The group described a situation in which local police had picked up three children from one family and taken them physically to a public school.

When another family objected to police officers taking their child from home to school, they objected, without success.

"The minister of education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling," said a government letter in response. "... You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers. ... In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement."

The European Human Rights Court earlier affirmed Germany's homeschool ban.

That specific case addressed in the opinion involved Fritz and Marianna Konrad, who filed the complaint in 2003 and argued that Germany's compulsory school attendance endangered their children's religious upbringing and promotes teaching inconsistent with the family's Christian faith.

The court said the Konrads belong to a "Christian community which is strongly attached to the Bible" and rejected public schooling because of the explicit sexual indoctrination programs that the courses there include.

The German court already had ruled that the parental "wish" to have their children grow up in a home without such influences "could not take priority over compulsory school attendance." The decision also said the parents do not have an "exclusive" right to lead their children's education.

The family had appealed under the European Convention on Human Rights statement that: "No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions."

But the court's ruling said, instead, that schools represent society, and "it was in the children's interest to become part of that society … The parents' right to education did not go as far as to deprive their children of that experience."

Government officials repeatedly have expressed a determination to stamp out "parallel societies" and that includes homeschooling. An American family of Baptist missionaries reports being threatened with deportation for homeschooling, and a teenager, Melissa Busekros, eventually was returned to her family months after German authorities took her from her home and forcibly detained her in a psychiatric facility for being homeschooled.

"Even the United Nations has called on Germany to reform the way it treats homeschoolers. We appeal to the German people and German leadership to do what is right and to protect rather than attack families who choose to homeschool their children," the HSDLA has noted.

In the case involving Melissa Busekros, a German appeals court ultimately ordered legal custody of the teenager who was taken from her home by a police squad and detained in a psychiatric hospital in 2007 for being homeschooled be returned to her family because she no longer is in danger.

The lower court's ruling had ordered police officers to take Melissa – then 15 – from her home, if necessary by force, and place her in a mental institution for a variety of evaluations. She was kept in custody from early February until April, when she turned 16 and under German law was subject to different laws.

At that point she simply walked away from the foster home where she had been required to stay and returned home.

Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."

Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."

[Soldier4Christ]

Mandatory 'integration' of children pursued
'This is one of the great developments of the 19th century towards democracy'

A government bureaucrat in Germany says that nation demands all children attend government-approved schools because they all must be "integrated" into society the same way.

"This is one of the great developments of the 19th century towards emancipation and democracy," a recently dated letter to a homeschool advocate said.

WND has reported a number of times on Germany's aggressive enforcement of its Hitler-era ban on homeschooling, and even when parents decided they would flee to Iran to seek a less-oppressive educational environment for their child.

One German student, Melissa Busekros, at one point simply was taken into custody by members of a team of police officers and confined to a mental institution for her crime of being homeschooled.

Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has commented on the issue on a blog, noting the government "has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views and in integrating minorities into the population as a whole."

Drautz said homeschool students' test results may be as good as for those in school, but "school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps students to become responsible citizens."

Now comes the newest response to an inquiry from a homeschooling advocacy organization, Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit, whose officials had asked the government to reconsider the ban on homeschooling.

An English translation of the response, which was in German, was provided to WND, and in it, the government stated plainly its right to educate children trumps any parental or religious rights others can suggest.

"State Secretary Siegfried Schneider and State Undersecretary Bernd Siebler have asked the responsible legal department to respond to your e-mail of Jan. 2nd, 2008. Our response to your concerns is as follows:," the letter said.

"Mandatory school attendance in Bavaria is regulated by Articles 35ff of the Bavarian Law for Education. Those meeting the age requirements and being residents of Bavaria are subject to mandatory school attendance according to Art. 35, part 1 BayEUG. To comply with the mandatory school attendance law it is imperative that a public or private school is attended. Homeschooling is only allowed when strict conditions (involving an illness) are met. Accordingly homeschooling is only possible for the long term sick children or students with health conditions, which prevent them from attending school," the letter, identified as having come from an education "ministry," said.

"Concerning the question of mandatory school attendance, in 2002 the Bavarian Constitutional (Supreme) Court decided on the basis of the Bavarian Constitution, and in 2003 the German Federal Supreme Court decided on the basis of the German Constitution that homeschooling does not meet the constitutional requirement of mandatory school attendance. These court decisions were again confirmed by the Federal Supreme Court on 31 May 2006. The state's responsibility to educate is the basis for mandatory school attendance and – according to the courts – takes precedence over parent's rights and freedom of religion," the letter said.

The letter noted the Federal Supreme Court decision even "upheld the partial withdrawal of custody rights and the right to determine where children will stay" if a parent refuses to order their children into public schools because such failure "constitutes an abuse of parental custody rights, which adversely affects the well-being of a child and which require actions by the family courts…"

Educators have been told to notify authorities if any such cases develop so they can be prosecuted, the letter said.

"The general mandatory school attendance law is considered an indispensable condition to warrant a free and democratic system and at the same time an indispensable prerequisite to safeguard the economic and social welfare of society. The purpose of mandatory school attendance is not only to convey knowledge, but particularly also to teach social competence to children," the education officials said. "Besides supporting social competence, the school also fulfills the function of looking out for the well-being of a child during class."

"The Bavarian Constitution wants to integrate all children the same and comprehensively into society by way of mandatory school attendance. This is one of the great developments of the 19th century towards emancipation and democracy," the letter said.

The homeschool advocates called it "not a day of good news."

"There is an attitude of refusal and ignorance towards the concerns of homeschooling families," a Germany organization spokesman said in an e-mail to a U.S. organization, the Home School Legal Defense Association, which has worked actively in trying to help the homeschoolers of Germany.

"It looks not good here in Germany," the spokesman said.

WND has reported that even Americans who are in Germany for various assignments, including that of a special ministry, have been targeted with legal action for homeschooling.

"German officials appear to be more determined than ever to rid their country of influences that may contribute to the rise of what they call 'Parallelgesellschaften,' parallel societies," the HSLDA said in a statement earlier. "Never mind that Germany has hundreds of thousands of genuinely truant youth hanging around street corners; school officials have determined that parents diligently educating their children at home are a greater danger to German society."

"The German education system is very hostile to devout Christian faith," said Joel Thornton, of the International Human Rights Group. "Their health education in public middle schools is very explicit regarding human reproduction. It is often nothing short of pornographic, even in the lower grades. Their science curriculum is very heavily weighted in its discussions of evolution. Also, there is a lot of teaching on occult practices."