What is a Christian Old Earth Homeschooler to do??

[AvasMom]

DD is taking Apologia Physical Science in our co-op this fall. I'm getting a little nervous reading this. I lean more toward theistic evolution (maybe a notch or two more toward OE) but I'm in the camp that thinks we can't really know how it all began but it's interesting to discuss. I'm fine with her learning YE beliefs so we can discuss but Apologia's younger books have that "evolution is dumb and a big conspiracy" message. I'm hoping we don't have to deal with that or it's going to be an issue. *sigh*

[Lovemyblessings]

The Co-op in our town (and it is the only one) has a very detailed statement of faith, not only that, they require one to fill out a full page questionaire that asks very personal questions. All this BEFORE they decide if they want to "interview" your family.

I think for a "Christian" program, this is pretty ridiculous. Although I actually share their religous beliefs, and statement of faith, I couldn't in good conscience be part of such an exclusionary group. I believe as Christians we are to show love and encouragement to all, not just to those who live in affluent neighborhoods, those who have been married for so many years or those who have been homeschooling since their children were 18 months old :001_huh:

Frankly, I think this attitude lends weight to those who have a bad view of believers.

[kimnc]

Most of the Christian HS groups here require a statement of faith, usually of the "sola scriptura" variety. I don't think I've seen a YE one yet.

 

As a Catholic in the Bible belt, I have had good luck with secular groups. The moms are there to meet other homeschool moms and make friends. Our group has people from all over the 'religious spectrum'. Sometimes religion does come up, but mostly we talk about curriculum, homeschooling, or our kids. (Like here ... ) :D

[roxanne23]

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Edited January 4, 2023 by roxanne23

[iquilt]

Same true here. I really do love the families in our group, but..but...maybe they don't even know I am an OE-er! They are very, very strong in what they believe, and it comes out often - on field trips, art classes, etc. I've learned to just keep my mouth shut over the years, and hide the Harry Potter books if they come to my house!:)

:iagree:

I forgot that Harry is evil and admitted that I'm excited for dd7 to finish reading the first book. That comment was received in silence and pursed lips.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

:iagree:

I forgot that Harry is evil and admitted that I'm excited for dd7 to finish reading the first book. That comment was received in silence and pursed lips.

 

:lol:Can you say church lady;)

[HS Mom in NC]

:001_huh:This totally blows me away. I never knew it was such a big deal to anyone! :confused: Gosh. I will go crawl back under my little rock now. It is happier under here. :D

 

I was surprised the first time too. I suspect this crowd gravitates toward each other and either chooses to run off those who are not like minded by making it uncomfortable, or it just naturally happens that way.

 

I worry that they are a section of fundamentalist/evangelicals that are raising this issue to the level of an absolute and tarnishing the fundamentals and basics of evangelism. I think there will be some level of fallout in the future with shades of Galileo and the Pope related to it. By that I mean there is a segment of the YE crowd that will consider any view other than a literal 6 day creation to be evidence of a person not being saved/a heretic etc. I assume there are plenty of YE people who would find that alarming too, but when it comes to diverse groups of people, it's hard to make statements that are both simple and accurate.

[Mrs Mungo]

I think there will be some level of fallout in the future with shades of Galileo and the Pope related to it.

 

At one church we briefly attended? An associate pastor preached that science and the church lived in harmony until Darwin. :confused:

[TheAutumnOak]

I have never heard of young earth until I joined this forum...

[GardenTenders/Kim]

I have NO IDEA what YE, OE or anything in between is. Anyone care to enlighten?

 

We are in two homeschool groups and one has actually said no to religion at all and my DD wanted to sign Jesus Loves me and was told we didn't sing it in homeschool circle time. But they are nice people, I just know our spiritualities are not matched. The other one that I know of has no issues, but the group is still under a year old.

[TravelingChris]

We are moving to a new part of the country and in that part, I have found the first homeschool group that has YE in the statement of faith= or at least that was how I interpreted it- a statement that the Bible is true scientifically. The group wasn't a good fit for me anyway since it is overly paternalistic in overseeing homeschooling and since I am near the end of my homeschooling career, I don't need or want large amount of oversight. But it has made me think hard about which church we will attend. I am very uninterested in attending a church where the fellow members consider me a heretic or unsaved because of my scientific beliefs. I have also decided that while I am not going to start discussions on YE or OE, I am not keeping quiet if someone says something uncalled for.

[Annabel Lee]

I don't make it an issue either, but (no offense intended to anyone), those I meet from the YE camp are so strong in their philosophy, there seems to be no acceptance of others with differing viewpoints. :glare:

 

Hi,

Nice to "meet" you. I'm in the YE camp & I accept your differing viewpoint. I'm very firmly YE for myself, but I don't consider it a matter detrimental to one's salvation. Therefore, it's not something worth worrying about when my close friends say things about their OE views. We've even had interesting discussions on the topic - friendly, informative ones. My beliefs on the matter have more to do with my views on the authority of the Bible rather than being scientifically 100% sure of it, so I leave room in my mind that I *could*, maybe, possibly be wrong, and the OE Creationist viewpoint *could* be right. It's just not a point of contention for me.

[linders]

DS made a friend at our old co-op and we all (the moms and boys) got together at their farm to play. For the first couple of hours we had great fun, then we walked out to a gravel pit where DS startd exploring and "looking for ancient fossils" and "million year old dinosaur bones." She and her son looked at him oddly and the get-together was abruptly terminated. At a later date she point blank asked if we were YE or OE and when I gave the wrong answer she gently said she could not let our sons get together again.

 

Also at the co-op (a large one, about 50 families) I was asked to teach a fun hands-on science class (I have a science degree). I wasn't planning to use a text, just do lots of ooh-and-ahh expermiments. Several people quietly grilled me beforehand to ensure I wouldn't say anything that smacked of evolution or implied anything in the universe was more than a few thousand years old.

 

Finally, we are fortunate to have a branch campus of the state university in town with a great planetarium and science center. The science center offers very inexpensive classes but has been disheartened to find that the main homeschool groups in the area won't take them because of fears that DC might hear something contradicting their YE beliefs. Our small, very inclusive and diverse HS group is the only one interested.

 

ETA: I was in my 40s before I started homeschooling and until then I had never heard of the YE/OE debate. I don't think it's a mainstream topic.

[Soror]

I am an OE'er in the midst of all YE'ers as well. Thankfully our group is one that is open though and I haven't had it come up in conversation. I have heard some conversations about it between others discussing programs and what they taught on the age of the earth, I just stayed out of those. To be honest though we don't often discuss curriculum.

 

I hs for secular and relgious reasons here. We do teach religion but don't feel the need to have it in every subject. Lot of Abeka around here, although people do seem to be slowly trying other things. At first everybody I met did Abeka but I have met more and more who do other things.

 

FYI it is not that OEers do not have faith that the Bible is the word of God.

[Guest momk2000]

Hi,

Nice to "meet" you. I'm in the YE camp & I accept your differing viewpoint. I'm very firmly YE for myself, but I don't consider it a matter detrimental to one's salvation. Therefore, it's not something worth worrying about when my close friends say things about their OE views. We've even had interesting discussions on the topic - friendly, informative ones. My beliefs on the matter have more to do with my views on the authority of the Bible rather than being scientifically 100% sure of it, so I leave room in my mind that I *could*, maybe, possibly be wrong, and the OE Creationist viewpoint *could* be right. It's just not a point of contention for me.

 

:grouphug: I would love to find more like you in my part of the world. :)

[Guest momk2000]

DS made a friend at our old co-op and we all (the moms and boys) got together at their farm to play. For the first couple of hours we had great fun, then we walked out to a gravel pit where DS startd exploring and "looking for ancient fossils" and "million year old dinosaur bones." She and her son looked at him oddly and the get-together was abruptly terminated. At a later date she point blank asked if we were YE or OE and when I gave the wrong answer she gently said she could not let our sons get together again.

 

 

Unfortunately, I am quite familiar with this type of scenario. :grouphug:

[Mrs Mungo]

I have NO IDEA what YE, OE or anything in between is. Anyone care to enlighten?

 

Old Earth/Young Earth

[texasmel]

I have NO IDEA what YE, OE or anything in between is. Anyone care to enlighten?

 

We are in two homeschool groups and one has actually said no to religion at all and my DD wanted to sign Jesus Loves me and was told we didn't sing it in homeschool circle time. But they are nice people, I just know our spiritualities are not matched. The other one that I know of has no issues, but the group is still under a year old.

 

Age of the Earth

YE= Young Earth OE = Old Earth

[twoforjoy]

I was in my 20s before I knew that anybody believed the earth was less than 10,000 years old.

 

I think it's largely regional. I grew up on the east coast, and I honestly didn't know a single person, no matter how religiously conservative, who didn't believe in an ancient earth.

 

I now live in SE Michigan, and I still don't know anybody, no matter how religiously conservative, who thinks the earth is less than 10,000 years old.

[Guest momk2000]

I was in my 20s before I knew that anybody believed the earth was less than 10,000 years old.

 

Well, I didn't learn of this until I was 40! I grew up going to church, and studied Biology at a Christian college. I must have snoozed through something.

[6packofun]

Why? Is the Catholic stance on this Biblical issue Old Earth, Young Earth or no stance at all? (Or does it vary from congregation to congregation?) I'm curious!

[AuntPol]

I understand not fitting in.

 

I kind of felt that way this past weekend at the RFWP conference because I felt I was the only person who was a conservative Christian and more on the conservative side of politics. There were quite a few moments that were uncomfortable to me. This is why I havent' found a secular group that I can fit in with. In the South, secular seems to translate to Unschoolers or Classical using Democrats. If you are not a Democrat, it's uncomfortable. It was that way in the public school too. Then with the unschoolers, it appears that unschooling now means radical unschooling and World of Warcraft addiction. I definitely don't fit in there!

 

I don't always feel comfortable in either of the Christian homeschool groups I am in either. A few are very loud about Harry Potter (none of the louds ones have actually read it though). A few get on tangents about gay marriage or other political issues where I don't tow the party line. A big segment seems to be grind your wheat and make everything from scratch, have huge families, no sleepovers, no dating until age 18 or courting, can not admit that they have any issues with their kids or husbands, etc. Personally, I am getting less and less out of both my church and my co-op (as the differences seem to grow wider each year) but my daughter flips out when I mention leaving so we stay.

 

 

I haven't had a lot of pressure or any "intentional" stuff regarding being Young Earth. However, all the others get together for this or that but I and my children never seem to be included unless it is a all-group event or an occasion that requires gifts LOL. A major reason is that most of the group uses Apologia and they have a separate science Co-Op and so they have grown closer. There is also a few that do Sonlight activities together. They also have various family small group Bible Studies together. My husband is not Christian so I can't do those. There are a few that are in other co-ops that very exclusive or limited in membership. They have mostly been homeschooling since the beginning and I didn't start until mid-way through elementary school. Therefore, when we meet as a support group, those that do outside activities together naturally gravitate towards one another. I don't fit in with the new joins either because they usually have younger kids than I.

 

Then of course, I am somewhere on that "spectrum" and I seem to lack the skills to integrate into groups, especially female ones. I'm too loud, too honest, too sensitive, too talkative, too open, too tomboyish, and get along too well with the menfolk, etc to ever really fit in with women.

Edited July 1, 2011 by AuntPol

[leeannpal]

Well, I didn't learn of this until I was 40! I grew up going to church, and studied Biology at a Christian college. I must have snoozed through something.

 

Same here!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I understand not fitting in.

 

I kind of felt that way this past weekend at the RFWP conference because I felt I was the only person who was a conservative Christian and more on the conservative side of politics. There were quite a few moments that were uncomfortable to me. This is why I havent' found a secular group that I can fit in with. In the South, secular seems to translate to Unschoolers or Classical using Democrats. If you are not a Democrat, it's uncomfortable. It was that way in the public school too.

 

I don't always feel comfortable in either of the Christian homeschool groups I am in either. A few are very loud about Harry Potter (none of the louds ones have actually read it though). A few get on tangents about gay marriage or other political issues that I don't want to discuss. A big segment seems to be grind your wheat and make everything from scratch, have huge families, no sleepovers, no dating until age 18 or courting, can not admit that they have any issues with their kids or husbands, etc. Personally, I am getting less and less out of both my church and my co-op (as the differences seem to grow wider each year)but my daughter flips out when I mention leaving so we stay.

 

 

I haven't had a lot of pressure or any "intentional" stuff regarding being Young Earth. However, all the others get together for this or that but I and my children never seem to be included unless it is a all-group event or an occasion that requires gifts LOL. A major reason is that most of the group uses Apologia and they have a separate science Co-Op and so they have grown closer. There is also a few that do Sonlight activities together. They also have various family small group Bible Studies together. My husband is not Christian so I can't do those. There are a few that are in other co-ops that very exclusive or limited in membership. They have mostly been homeschooling since the beginning and I didn't start until mid-way through elementary school. Therefore, when we meet as a support group, those that do outside activities together naturally gravitate towards one another. I don't fit in with the new joins either because they usually have younger kids than I.

 

I think that for me, one of the solutions has been to instigate groups for things that interest my kids. For example, I'm heading up the writer's group for our co-op because my son has an interest in writing. Next year, I may try to pull together a math investigation/Math Counts class. I am fully expecting to run a home science lab when we get to high school.

 

Just looking at your siggie line I can think of a couple things that my kids would love to get together about. Maybe that can be a way to help you form closer friendships.

 

I do understand about feeling like an outsider when it seems like others have known each other longer or have more overlapping interests.

[Soror]

I had planned on starting a science club it didn't occur to me now that others might be paranoid about our beliefs. Of course as I have discussed it perhaps they just assume it is the same, not that I had planned to bring up any of that. Very interesting.

[abacus2]

We're the only homeschoolers at our church and probably the only Old Earthers as well. I dunno. (Any Baptist Old Earthers? Anyone? LOL!! We go along with the YE view which occasionally pops up--let's face it, we don't talk about origins every day of our lives--and our kids know where we stand.) I go elsewhere to discuss those things and everything else is hunky dory. I'm also the only person I know who says "hunky dory", but I'm OK with that. LOL

 

There is one other family, new to our church, that is just starting to homeschool and they are totally militant about it. She's trying to start a Classical Conversations group and is trying to recruit BIG time. I hope that if people want to know about homeschooling that they get to me first for a more moderate view. LOL :D

 

Is it lonely sometimes? Sure. But just like searching out resources for homeschooling itself, I search out like-minded folks when I feel the need and try to chill about the rest. Chilling is not easy for me, but I'm trying.

 

Baptist Old Earther here. :D I think the Biblical, theological, foundation for YE is very weak. It is not straight-forwardly in the Bible at all. I believe that we as Christians never need to be afraid of the truth and that, as the Bible teaches, truth is found in God's Word and through observing His creation. Since the earth looks old, I think it's either old, or created with the appearance of age like Adam and Eve, which scientifically is the same as the earth actually being old.

[kristavws]

I am an Eastern Orthodox Old Earther.

 

Make of it what one wishes ! :001_smile:

 

I am too! Many of my friends are YE, and they know I am OE, but do not have a problem with me :tongue_smilie:. I am usually asked to teach science when we participate in group co-ops, so I guess they don't have a problem with it. Honestly, it just really never comes up.

 

Krista

[justamouse]

Why? Is the Catholic stance on this Biblical issue Old Earth, Young Earth or no stance at all? (Or does it vary from congregation to congregation?) I'm curious!

 

It varies.

 

BUT, the Pope favors Theistic Evolution, and HERE

 

Lest there be any doubt about Pope Benedict's views, the academy has prefaced its booklet with a lengthy papal quotation from last July.

 

"I see in Germany, but also in the United States, a somewhat fierce debate raging between so-called 'creationism' and evolutionism, presented as though they were mutually exclusive alternatives: Those who believe in the creator would not be able to conceive of evolution, and those who instead support evolution would have to exclude God," the pope said.

 

"This antithesis is absurd because, on the one hand, there are so many scientific proofs in favor of evolution which appears to be a reality we can see and which enriches our knowledge of life and being as such. But on the other, the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query, especially the great philosophical question: Where does everything come from? And how did everything start which ultimately led to man?" he said.

 

Easter Homily

 

At the Easter Vigil, the journey along the paths of sacred Scripture begins with the account of creation. This is the liturgy’s way of telling us that the creation story is itself a prophecy. It is not information about the external processes by which the cosmos and man himself came into being. The Fathers of the Church were well aware of this. They did not interpret the story as an account of the process of the origins of things, but rather as a pointer towards the essential, towards the true beginning and end of our being.

 

And says that a literal interpretation of Genesis is not Catholic

 

“It is not possible to apply the criterion of inspiration or of absolute truth in a mechanical way, extrapolating a single phrase or expression,†the Pope wrote in the message released today at the Vatican.

 

[...]

 

In his message, the Pope said clearer explanations about the Catholic position on the divine inspiration and truth of the Bible were important because some people seem to treat the Scriptures simply as literature while others believe that each line was dictated by the Holy Spirit and is literally true. Neither position is Catholic, the Pope said.

 

 

 

Here is a Catholic resource for interpreting Genesis

[GardenTenders/Kim]

Oh my... how we try to make God's word speak where it's silent is funny! :001_huh:

 

Seriously, does it matter how old the earth is or isn't? It's kind of like asking the question, "Did Adam have a belly button?" Does it matter????? Does it pertain to our salvation (for those that are Christians)?

 

:confused:

[AvasMom]

I understand not fitting in.

 

I kind of felt that way this past weekend at the RFWP conference because I felt I was the only person who was a conservative Christian and more on the conservative side of politics. There were quite a few moments that were uncomfortable to me. This is why I havent' found a secular group that I can fit in with. In the South, secular seems to translate to Unschoolers or Classical using Democrats. If you are not a Democrat, it's uncomfortable. It was that way in the public school too. Then with the unschoolers, it appears that unschooling now means radical unschooling and World of Warcraft addiction. I definitely don't fit in there!

 

I don't always feel comfortable in either of the Christian homeschool groups I am in either. A few are very loud about Harry Potter (none of the louds ones have actually read it though). A few get on tangents about gay marriage or other political issues where I don't tow the party line. A big segment seems to be grind your wheat and make everything from scratch, have huge families, no sleepovers, no dating until age 18 or courting, can not admit that they have any issues with their kids or husbands, etc. Personally, I am getting less and less out of both my church and my co-op (as the differences seem to grow wider each year) but my daughter flips out when I mention leaving so we stay.

 

 

I haven't had a lot of pressure or any "intentional" stuff regarding being Young Earth. However, all the others get together for this or that but I and my children never seem to be included unless it is a all-group event or an occasion that requires gifts LOL. A major reason is that most of the group uses Apologia and they have a separate science Co-Op and so they have grown closer. There is also a few that do Sonlight activities together. They also have various family small group Bible Studies together. My husband is not Christian so I can't do those. There are a few that are in other co-ops that very exclusive or limited in membership. They have mostly been homeschooling since the beginning and I didn't start until mid-way through elementary school. Therefore, when we meet as a support group, those that do outside activities together naturally gravitate towards one another. I don't fit in with the new joins either because they usually have younger kids than I.

 

Then of course, I am somewhere on that "spectrum" and I seem to lack the skills to integrate into groups, especially female ones. I'm too loud, too honest, too sensitive, too talkative, too open, too tomboyish, and get along too well with the menfolk, etc to ever really fit in with women.

 

Having been at the RFWP conference with you, I have a couple of thoughts. I think the fact that you felt like you were the only cc is interesting because someone else said that they felt like the only liberal there and consequently felt uncomfortable. I think that says a lot about perceptions and the fact that it's possibly more common than not to feel like the odd girl out. Also, I definitely consider myself a cc but I don't tow the line on all matters either so I'm not sure where that leaves me. lol! I'm usually assuming people think I'm really "Vision Forum conservative" based on appearance alone. Hey, when you dress like the Duggars it happens. lol!

 

My impression of the RFWP group was that it was a richly diverse group of people who were able to come together, learn from each other, and take home tools and wisdom to make our homeschools better. There was no silly drama, no witchhunts, and no crucifying others who had different beliefs. That's something I've never experienced in homeschool circles before so I thought it was unique and amazing for that reason.

 

As far as your last paragraph, my impression of you is that you are really cool and fun and I completely enjoyed the time I spent with you. You seem like a very "real" person who you can be yourself with and not be judged. I do, however, understand feeling like you do. I do too. After events like this I'm typically really annoyed with myself for blathering on and on and on like a complete idiot and never shutting up. Last weekend was no exception. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, big squishy hugs to you. :grouphug:

[Jenny in GA]

Just wanted to weigh in on this thread because I feel exactly the same way.

 

I live in the SE. When I was in my twenties I heard a Baptist preacher say that there were definitely dinosaurs on Noah's Ark. I couldn't believe it -- I had never heard such a thing!

 

The YE idea seems to be a big deal with all the Christians we know, homeschooled or not. At my church, for instance, where there are almost no homeschoolers, a friend of ours taught a 6-week adult SS class about how scientific evidence shows the earth is young, carbon dating is false, etc.

 

And yes, it definitely comes up. I don't do things with my homeschool group often, but before I even heard of Peter Enns or Ken Hamm, someone posted on the group's Yahoo group that "we need to know about a dangerous new curriculum pretending to be a Bible curriculum."

 

No, actually, there were two separate homeschooling lists I was on where people posted something like that.

 

I have been at social gathering with the group and the conversation will be about TV. They'll lament how "they can't even always let their kids watch PBS, because some of the science shows teach evolution." And Apologia is very popular.

 

I like these women, but I definitely feel like I need to keep our family's views under wraps. After I heard about Peter Enns, I got his older book and enjoyed it very much. But I wouldn't dare tell anybody in my homeschool group that.

[AvasMom]

Just wanted to weigh in on this thread because I feel exactly the same way.

 

I live in the SE. When I was in my twenties I heard a Baptist preacher say that there were definitely dinosaurs on Noah's Ark. I couldn't believe it -- I had never heard such a thing!

 

The YE idea seems to be a big deal with all the Christians we know, homeschooled or not. At my church, for instance, where there are almost no homeschoolers, a friend of ours taught a 6-week adult SS class about how scientific evidence shows the earth is young, carbon dating is false, etc.

 

And yes, it definitely comes up. I don't do things with my homeschool group often, but before I even heard of Peter Enns or Ken Hamm, someone posted on the group's Yahoo group that "we need to know about a dangerous new curriculum pretending to be a Bible curriculum."

 

No, actually, there were two separate homeschooling lists I was on where people posted something like that.

 

I have been at social gathering with the group and the conversation will be about TV. They'll lament how "they can't even always let their kids watch PBS, because some of the science shows teach evolution." And Apologia is very popular.

 

I like these women, but I definitely feel like I need to keep our family's views under wraps. After I heard about Peter Enns, I got his older book and enjoyed it very much. But I wouldn't dare tell anybody in my homeschool group that.

 

The word "dangerous" when it comes to ideas makes my brain twitch. :glare: To me it just screams "Chicken Little" and refusal of logical thought. I absolutely think one can use logical thought and come to a YE conclusion just like you can come to other conclusions that way. But this "Oh it's DANGEROUS!!!" bit because something differs from one's beliefs just skeeves me out. If you are grounded in your beliefs and you know WHY then how is it "dangerous" to see another idea. I just don't get it. At all.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm not even sure if my beliefs lean towards YE or OE... I think it's OE, though. The important thing is that I believe what I believe, and when Jesus returns and makes the earth new one day, we will find out the truth!

 

In the meantime, I teach secular science at home to my girls and in our co-op they are both going to be taking Apologia Zoology 1 this year. (My oldest took botany last year.) I figure that way they are exposed to most of the facts and opinions and they can also form their own opinion about what they believe in. :D

[AuntPol]

Having been at the RFWP conference with you, I have a couple of thoughts. I think the fact that you felt like you were the only cc is interesting because someone else said that they felt like the only liberal there and consequently felt uncomfortable. I think that says a lot about perceptions and the fact that it's possibly more common than not to feel like the odd girl out. Also, I definitely consider myself a cc but I don't tow the line on all matters either so I'm not sure where that leaves me. lol! I'm usually assuming people think I'm really "Vision Forum conservative" based on appearance alone. Hey, when you dress like the Duggars it happens. lol!

 

My impression of the RFWP group was that it was a richly diverse group of people who were able to come together, learn from each other, and take home tools and wisdom to make our homeschools better. There was no silly drama, no witchhunts, and no crucifying others who had different beliefs. That's something I've never experienced in homeschool circles before so I thought it was unique and amazing for that reason.

 

As far as your last paragraph, my impression of you is that you are really cool and fun and I completely enjoyed the time I spent with you. You seem like a very "real" person who you can be yourself with and not be judged. I do, however, understand feeling like you do. I do too. After events like this I'm typically really annoyed with myself for blathering on and on and on like a complete idiot and never shutting up. Last weekend was no exception. :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, big squishy hugs to you. :grouphug:

 

 

AHH TF! You're so sweet. I didn't get any liberal or conservative vibe from you. I thought you were sweet and fun loving yourself. I liked everyone but I always like everyone until they give me a reason to not like them and it has to be something major or multiple slights. However, there were a few times where opinions were expressed in a way that I had to bite my tongue and once where I felt almost attacked (But I don't think any was personal towards me LOL). Now I don't care if people believe what I believe because I love diversity! I don't care if you are young earth or old earth, liberal or conservative, Christian or not, have 8 kids or no kids, like dogs or cats, Vegan or Carnivore, etc. Unless you are a pedophile or a mean person, I really don't have that line in the sand that you can't be my friend if you believe (insert whatever). However, I still often feel that the feeling is not returned.

 

I especially wonder because I witness a lot of cattiness and gossip between people who are friends. This one says this about that one and vice versa. They are constantly questioning godliness (amongst my conservative friends) or if they are liberal enough (amongst my liberal friends). This is the south so of course everything is prefaced with "Bless her heart!" This is among friends who actually go to coffee, call and visit each other, have kids sleepover, and actually respond to facebook threads about each and every broken nail whine! If they are this way about each other, then it makes you wonder what they say about you, the outsider.

[3lilreds in NC]

Many homeschool groups without co-ops require a belief in YEC to join.

 

i'm sorry, but that is ridiculous.

 

Neither does mine. But, the homeschool group associated with the church does. Does that even make sense to anyone?

 

 

No, it doesn't. I can understand a Christian co-op asking for agreement to a SOF of basic Christian beliefs, and I suppose "basic" is subjective, but it really yanks my chain when people get militant about piddly stuff like YE/OE. It seems to me that people have taken their eyes off what's really important if this is their primary focus.