When world’s collide
Here in SE Texas we are in the heart of Bible Thumping and Superstitious Christian territory. Fortunately for me I have carefully crafted a group of friends and acquaintances where that has become an oddity and I do not have to come into contact with those type of people. Not to say that I do not associate with Christians but that the type of woman I am friends with is an open-minded woman who is not afraid to have her views of the world challenged ,or confirmed, or know people who are different from her. Her faith also does not define everything about her so the fact that I am not just like her does not threaten her.
Why then are there Christian’s who are so threatened by people who are not Christian? They must convert you and will go to great and rude lengths to try to. I have heard the argument that it is because they fear for our souls if we don’t believe what they do. However, I believe it is more that we have rejected their faith so they are on the defensive. By not believing as they do we have, in their minds, told them what they believe is wrong and foolish even. Why else do they react so strongly to our smiling no thank you I am perfectly happy where I am? Why else do they refuse to speak to us or harass us or speak negatively to our children. That is where I draw the line by the way. Questioning a child about a parents belief or making them worry about their parent(s) is not ok by any stretch of the imagination. Christ would never have done such a thing. Perhaps if more people would read their Bibles and actually practice their faith, not just picking and choosing pieces of it, people would respond to that instead of thinking the greatest majority are rude and hurtful people that they do not want to have any association with.
This video is very thought-provoking and my sincere belief is that if you are offended, you are the person he is talking about no matter what your faith is.
Sorry just had to get that off my chest. A friend is going through so much and when people go after her kiddos I just sort of loose it and what better place to rant then this 
. I will now go back to my regular pictures (RENFEST!) recipes (hot cocoa bread mmmmm) and trying to figure out my homeschool style posts.
Stereotypes
We have been discussing stereotypes lately and how and why they came about. Stereotypes are everywhere and I bet that you think or say at least one every day. They aren’t necessarily meant to be mean or to promote hate but they can be hurtful in the way it sways the opinion of a person. For instance the cops and donuts stereotype while not particularly hurtful does make them sound like fat bumbling idiots unable to do their job. It is not particularly mean like some stereotypes out there but is still subtly swaying your mind to believe something. The more vicious stereotypes are meant to promote hate towards people who are different than you. Anytime you find yourself with a preconceived notion of a person take a quick look at why.
Last night while we were at our communities Trunk-or-Treat the girls convinced me to walk through the haunted house with them. The first scene when we walked in was a witch sitting by her fire stirring her cauldron. The kids were puzzled by her, especially Tav who was being invited to stick her hands or feet inside. Tav kept asking her why she would do that and after asking several ways for Tav to get in, the witch finally said she was going to cook and eat her. Tav replied why would she do that, witches don’t eat children. Go Tav! She must have puzzled over that for quite sometime because several hours later she curled up in my lap and had to discuss it because she was really disturbed by the whole thing. 
I found that brought to light some of the feelings I had buried in my busyness this October. I love Halloween. I love the colors and the pageantry and the joy of children and the inner child. I also love the excuse to put up decor I might find too stifling the rest of the year, dark things like my ravens and bats. I also enjoy the excuse to put out things that bring images of magic to my mind. Potion bottles, herb bundles and other stereotypical (there is that word!) witch imagery. I love being able to have all this stuff lying around with no one thinking anything about it. I also feel a little put out with the scary, ugly, eats children, witch stereotypes. What other religion has to put up with a whole holiday celebrating the misconceptions about you? I am not an easily offended person and I also love a bit of fun and revelry and I am sure that plays into my riding the fence on the issue. I also doubt anything will change any time soon but as for me I can do my part by educating my children into realizing that the world is a wonderful and diverse place.
Secular is not a dirty word
Secular is not a dirty word. It simply means that whatever religion I am, I choose that not to be the focus of 
my child’s education. Here we focus on Math, Language, History, Science, Geography, Interpersonal relationships, Music and Art. Did that cover our basics? Quick check… yep that seems pretty close. There might be a discussion in class on religions or even studying of world religions as a purely academic exercise. It is interesting to see how different time periods responded to different needs with different religions and how closely most of them resemble each other. I suppose that is human nature showing all through the ages with basic needschanging very little over the millennium.
Recently I was speaking to a friend and we began discussing homeschooling. He mentioned he was homeschooled for 4 years and his sister homeschools all 15 and counting of hers, though some are in college now. He was offering me that contact which I thought was very nice of him though I am going to go out on a limb and say that’s not my kind of Mom. I am sure she is nice and a great mom but hearing about her reads quiverful all over and since I am not christian she would probably cross the street rather than speak to me. Which leads me to this. While we were talking I told this acquaintance friend I was not part of the christian moms but was helping to form a secular homeschooling co-op. Lets just say the next few things out of his mouth did not sit well with me.
Apparently my choice of keeping my religion to myself and expecting everyone else to do the same was an unrealistic expectation. Why is it that people are unable to respect other people’s lives and decisions? Everyone falls on one side of the fence or the other in everything. It seems like the mentality is if you are not just like me then you aren’t just different you are ” BAD! Evil! Get thee behind me Satan!” type different. If you are not doing it just like me you are wrong! Let’s take homeschooling for instance. Every single homeschooling family does it differently even if they are following the exact same boxed full curriculum. Ok please go back and read that last sentence one more time. Go ahead I will wait. Got it? Ok moving on. You will get up at different times, you will allow different aged children to work alone while you help others or you may not let anyone work alone. You will break for lunch at a different time, you will work at a faster or slower pace, you will gloss over or study more in-depth, supplement or follow it to the letter. It is not unschoolers against families who set up a traditional classroom. Just think, all of those differences were just a few of the ones families who were using the exact same boxed curriculum experienced. Now think of all the different books, theories and styles of parenting and homeschooling there are and the possibilities are unfathomable. Homeschooling is homeschooling why do we feel the need to tear each other down when we already face so much opposition outside of the homeschooling community?
Everyone has different beliefs. We are all, every single family, different because every single person is different. Please be respectful of that.
mini rant
Image by BrittneyBush via Flickr
I have an o so small rant about something that is driving me bat shit crazy! I hate hate hate just love reading through emails and message boards where everyone abbreviates every single book and curriculum, bless their little hearts. (if you fail to get that last part it simply means you aren’t southern) For gods sake not everyone knows every friggin book! At least put the name in the first post you talk about it in and abbreviate after that! Cause googling MCT does not get you to a fascinating new curriculum, it simply makes you think about the stockmarket. Rant over, please go back to your regularly scheduled crazy day.
