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Bill Maher: Santorum homeschools his kids. He wants them locked up in his “Christian madrassa”
Hotair ^ | 03/11/2012 | Tina Korbe

Posted on 03/11/2012 7:26:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

How very open-minded and reasonable it was of Bill Maher to deliver this little riff on the Santorums' decision to homeschool their children (h/t NewsBusters):

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

Let’s not even get into his use of the term “madrassa,” which refers to an Islamic seminary that teaches mostly Islamic subjects. Suffice it to say anyone concerned about brainwashing should worry less about Rick Santorum’s children and more about subjugated women and children in the Middle East.

Instead, let’s focus on the “comedian’s” own appalling lack of knowledge. What Bill Maher doesn’t know about homeschooling could fill a book he’d never read. Fortunately, Noel Sheppard offers him a handy primer:

The 2009 Homeschool Progress Report found “homeschoolers scored 34–39 percentile points higher than the norm on standardized achievement tests. The homeschool national average ranged from the 84th percentile for Language, Math, and Social Studies to the 89th percentile for Reading.” …

The 2003 study Homeschooling Grows Up offered more evidence of Maher’s ignorance: …

“Only 4.2% of the homeschool graduates surveyed consider politics and government too complicated to understand, compared to 35% of U.S. adults(Table 2). This may account for why homeschool graduates work for candidates, contribute to campaigns, and vote in much higher percentages than the general population of the United States (Figures 2 through 7). For example, 76% of homeschool graduates surveyed between the ages
of 18–24 voted within the last five years, compared to only 29% of the relevant U.S. population (Figure 7). The numbers of homeschool graduates who vote are even greater in the older age brackets, with voting levels not falling below 95%, compared to a high of 53% for the corresponding U.S. populace. Interestingly, the three participants in the age-55–69 category were also more civically active than their peers nationwide (but the sample size was so small that this category was/is not included in the figures).”

58.9 percent of homeschool grads report that they are “very happy” with life compared with 27.6 percent for the general U.S. population. 73.2 percent find life “exciting” compared with 47.3 percent.

Homeschool grads also score higher on the ACT, are more likely to volunteer in their communities as adults and read more in general.

It’s true that some parents opt to homeschool their children because they don’t want their kids to be brainwashed by educators who have swallowed the latest progressive educational theories without a second thought or by textbooks authored by academics who have their own agenda. But does it follow, then, that because the parents don’t want their kids brainwashed by others that they want to brainwash them themselves? Or might it be possible that parents homeschool their children precisely because they want their kids to be able to think for themselves?

For two years, I was homeschooled. I also have a number of friends who were homeschooled through high school (including my sister-in-law). In my personal experience, parents who homeschool think the basic premise of education is to teach children to recognize and appreciate truth wherever they find it. I encountered a wider variety of viewpoints as a homeschooler than I ever did as a private school brat or a public school rat (and, yes, I’ve been both of those, too!) because the world became my classroom. Did my parents impart standards by which to judge the validity of ideas I encountered? Yes. Do I consider that brainwashing? No. In fact, I was so aware of my standards for truth that I was able to consciously reevaluate them as an adult. The brainwashed aren’t even aware of the standards by which they judge.

If it’s brainwashing to teach kids that objective truth exists (after all, if truth does exist, it precludes the possibility of relativism pretty quickly!), then the homeschool parents I know brainwashed their children. To Bill Maher, a belief in objective truth is “close-minded.” Never mind that basic logic teaches us that the idea that “there is no truth” is a self-defeating proposition. Eh, well, as Dr. Laura says, you can be so open-minded your brains fall out.

It’s also important to note that there are as many different ways to homeschool as there are families. Such a thing as “progressive homeschooling” has existed and still exists, for example. Back in the day when leftists were still anti-establishment instead of the establishment, they saw homeschooling as a radical thing to do, a way to prevent their children from being brainwashed into thinking capitalism was the only legitimate way to allocate resources. (Incidentally, David Mills wrote a pitch-perfect piece about “Homeschooling’s Liberalism” in the January issue of First Things magazine. If you’re a subscriber, don’t miss it!)

What does Bill Maher make of that?


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2012electionbias; antichristian; atheistsupremacist; axisbilly; billmaher; boycotttimewarner; goebbelswouldbeproud; homeschooling; liberalbigot; rushlimbaugh; sandrafluke; santorum; smearcampaign
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1 posted on 03/11/2012 7:27:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I wish someone would punch him in his filthy mouth. I detest this subhuman piece of filth.


2 posted on 03/11/2012 7:30:46 PM PDT by mardi59 (I AM ANDREW BREITBART)
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To: SeekAndFind

So much better to have them taken care of people like you, right Bill? I’m sure you would be so compassionate and nurturing.


3 posted on 03/11/2012 7:30:58 PM PDT by pieceofthepuzzle
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To: SeekAndFind

Given the choice between a “Christian Madrassa” and a marxist indoctrination center increasingly run by pedophiles, think I’d take my chances with the madrassa.


4 posted on 03/11/2012 7:31:23 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Bill is not happy with God. Calls God names, calls people who worship God names. Bill’s friends do the same.
Why do we care about Bill, what He says or what He thinks?
I sure don’t


5 posted on 03/11/2012 7:32:00 PM PDT by reefdiver ("Let His day's be few And another takes His office")
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To: SeekAndFind

What I don’t understand is how these people earn as much as they do. The only thing I can figure out is their agents, lawyers, managers, publicists, etc all kick the studio big whig back under the table. They get Maher $10 million. He gets $2 million. That leaves $8 million to divide up among themselves minus the kickback to the crook that agreed to give him $10 million in the first place.


6 posted on 03/11/2012 7:32:56 PM PDT by Terry Mross ("It happened. And we let it happen." - Peter Griffin)
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To: SeekAndFind

No need to get this guy a bigger shovel. All we need to do is give him a bigger loudspeaker and wait for election day.


7 posted on 03/11/2012 7:33:32 PM PDT by Dapper 26
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To: SeekAndFind

For a self-proclaimed Libertarian, Bill Mahrer sure loves State Indoctrination of chil’run a socialist medical programs and confiscatory taxes and...


8 posted on 03/11/2012 7:35:45 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Barack Obama continued to sponsor Jeremiah Wright after he said "G.D. AMERIKKA!"Where's the outrage?)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m surprised that people still talk about Mill Maher. He is the quintessential type of little punk who must have spent his juvenile and high school years getting his ass kicked for making snide comments about people.

Maher is a pathetic fraction of a man how actually bares more resemblance to a rodent if anything.

It is Jews like Maher and jon stewart who are traitors, utter disgraces to their race - the type of which eventually lend to stereotypes that are the cause of persecution of Jews world-wide.

But a useful communist idiot like Maher would no doubt, like Soros, sell Jews to a death camp for a few extra plaudits.


9 posted on 03/11/2012 7:36:04 PM PDT by publius321
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To: SeekAndFind

Filthy garbage coming from an upright walking scab.


10 posted on 03/11/2012 7:36:55 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (EXTRA! EXTRA! 0bama loses Iraq and Afghanistan! 0bama's fault!)
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To: SeekAndFind

what an ignore-a-muss.


11 posted on 03/11/2012 7:38:18 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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To: SeekAndFind

Here in Texas we request that after you finish working in the stock pens that you scrape the Bill Maher off your boots before entering the house!


12 posted on 03/11/2012 7:39:22 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (There's a pill for just about everything ... except stupid!)
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To: TribalPrincess2U

So proud to hate Christians or anyone who talks about God that he doesn’t give a damn whether he understands what they really do, or what people think of him for not giving that damn.


13 posted on 03/11/2012 7:39:57 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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To: SeekAndFind
A Madrassa is a Muslim school. Rick Santorum is a Catholic. Mahler shows his ignorance. Maureen Dowd in the NYT used Muslim terms to attack Santorum. Liberals and Democrats use Muslim terms to attack sincere Christians. They would never say a word about actual Muslims waging a jihad against America. They apologize to Muslims who kill Americans.

Home school aducated children do far better than than children in the failed government schools.

Can't FReepers realize how the establishment, the MSM and the Hollywood slimeballs all hate Rick Santorum. They also hate all Christians. They also hate America.

14 posted on 03/11/2012 7:40:06 PM PDT by detective
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To: RetiredTexasVet

That comparison gives bullshit a bad name.


15 posted on 03/11/2012 7:40:35 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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To: cripplecreek

Marxist indoctrination center or how about ‘Marxist Madrassa’.


16 posted on 03/11/2012 7:43:15 PM PDT by taterjay
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To: SeekAndFind

Bill Mahler is a vile piece of scum. His being on TV shows the lowly degraded evil state of media AND the segment of the American population that enjoys his perversion.


17 posted on 03/11/2012 7:43:15 PM PDT by The Truth Will Make You Free
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To: SeekAndFind

Someone seriously needs to take Maher behind a building and pound the snot out of him.


18 posted on 03/11/2012 7:44:02 PM PDT by ScottinVA (A single drop of American blood for muslims is one drop too much.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I wonder if he was abused as a kid.


19 posted on 03/11/2012 7:50:33 PM PDT by longhorn too
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To: SeekAndFind
Islamophobe! Islamophobe! Madrassa used as a pejorative!
A fatwa on this blasphemer!
20 posted on 03/11/2012 8:00:16 PM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba (This Message Contains Privileged Attorney-Client Communications)
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