American conservatism, as espoused by so-called "social-conservatives" has long been described as being ideologically affiliated with right-wing authoritarianism. Modalities of thought include the following attitudinal and behavioral motifs: a high degree of submissiveness to establishmentarian authorities; a hyper-aggressiveness "against deviants, outgroups, and other people that are perceived to be targets according to established authorities"; and a high-level of adherence to" traditions and social norms that are perceived to be endorsed by society and its established authorities." Coupled with these authoritarian themes is a theological framework that claims that its adherents are oppressed and victimized by elite powers that emanate from Western secularism and liberalism.
In 2008, a German family with Evangelical Christian roots, abandoned the Fatherland to seek political asylum in America. According to Der Spiegal online, the Romeikes sought refuge in the United States, because the German state prevented them from withdrawing their five elementary aged children from school altogether and "home-schooling" them.
The Romeikes also wanted to spare their children from the "un-Christian goings-on" at German schools. They said that their children were being "educated according to an anti-Christian worldview" in public schools, and that textbooks are filled with obscene language, swear words and blasphemy. "They're more about vampires and witches than about God," says Uwe Romeike.
Despite their desires, courts in Germany have confirmed that it is the "government's responsibility to provide education in a pluralistic society" and therefore the "public has a rightful interest in preventing the formation of 'parallel societies' based on religion or worldview" through home-schooling. Furthermore, "the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Germany's mandatory school attendance policy, along with the corresponding ban on homeschooling, is compatible with both European law and the European Convention on Human Rights."
For the flat-earth believers and self-appointed moral-police of America, it wasn't enough to pollute America with indolent and regressive half-wits intent on converting all of America to their bigoted quackery. The Romeike family was resettled in Tennessee with the assistance of an evangelical Christian lobbying group called the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). On the claim that they believed that there was "a well-founded fear of persecution" based on their religious convictions, they were awarded political asylum.
HSLDA attorney Mike Donnelly claimed, "This is simply about the German state trying to coerce ideological uniformity in a way that is frighteningly reminiscent of past history." Judge Lawrence Burman, who adjudicated the case, stated that, "We can't expect every country to follow our constitution," and opined that it was his belief that the family's basic human rights were being violated.
It is always nice to hear from conservatives, who claim to strongly believe in the rule of law and constitutional prerogatives, that the US constitution has applicability to non-citizens. Oddly enough these laws don't apply to citizens of their own country who see their homes being searched by government officials, their phone calls llegally listened to, or holding them indefinitely without charge, when issues of the global war on terrorism arise. Nor does it seem that the US constitution is applicable to non-citizens held in concentration camps where they are subject to torture. The level of hypocrisy of America's social-conservatives is always admirable.
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