Ron Paul at the 2007 National Right to Life Convention, held at Crown Center Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, MO; June 15, 2007, (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Although I haven’t really looked into it, I just read about another reason to support Ron Paul’s educational curriculum that has homeschooling families talking. The Huffington Post doesn’t like it. That’s a pretty much good enough reason for me to at least look a little deeper right?
I think it’s funny that in the HuffPost article the writer says:
Critics like The Atlantic’s Philip Bump suggest the curriculum is simply another means to push Paul’s political views and pump out mini-Ron Pauls. Fox News is skeptical too.
Hmmm? Another case of do as I say, not as I do? Hasn’t public schooling been pushing a political agenda of their own against family, religious and moral values over the last few decades? I always thought it was funny how I would see students catching flack for a boldly morally uplifting shirt for pushing their beliefs on someone, but nobody ever really questioned the Slayer, Megadeth, Quiet Riot or Marilyn Manson t-shirts and what they promote. I remember one of my favorite shirts to wear when I was in school (and in public) was one my oldest brother got me that boldly said “PRACTICE SAFE SEX! – Get married and be faithful!”
Has anyone checked out The Ron Paul Curriculum in depth? From their website header, here are four key points it says students will learn that use the curriculum.
- Liberty vs. coercion in Western history
- How to defend the freedom philosophy
- What it takes for success in college
- How to start a home business – Ron Paul
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Honestly, I’m skeptical when a politician or celebrity comes out with anything related to homeschooling or parenting. It seems like they’re trying to take advantage of homeschoolers to promote themselves.
However, as I look into a little further I get the feeling he’s being genuine in his desire to provide good homeschool education. Offering free material for grades K-5 helps.
I’ve gone from ‘highly suspicious’ to ‘cautiously optimistic’.
I’ll generally agree with you in that I’m skeptical of any politician or celebrity. I’ve heard a few different media clips of Paul talking about education and homeschooling and believe he does truly value this effort and the families involved. I also think given his Libertarian view in general, his idea of government involvement in our lives is far less than anyone else. My biggest issues with Paul and Libertarians in general is usually just on international affairs and national security.
Do you have any idea what you’re promoting?
Gary North and Ron Paul are religious fundamentalists of the most extreme kind:
“Ron Paul Curriculum Launched by Reconstructionist Gary North and Neo-Confederate Thomas Woods”
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2013/4/9/124434/9216
Ron Paul on Separation of Church and State ‘Myth’ – “The War on Religion”
In His Own Words (Posted at LewRockwell.com) – Dec. 2003
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul148.html
Backup: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/02/ron-paul-never-thought-there-should-be-separation-of-church-and-state/
Ron Paul: No Church/State Separation:
http://atheism.about.com/b/2007/08/06/authoritarian-or-libertarian-ron-paul-on-churchstate-separation-secularism.htm
Ron Paul “Civil Libertarian” – Not So Much: “6 Rights You Could Lose Under President Ron Paul”
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/profiles/tp/6-Rights-Lost-Under-Ron-Paul.htm
Saint Paul: Inside Ron Paul’s effort to convince conservative Christians that he’s their man:
[Paul tells Yahoo his policy ideas are rooted in scripture – see former Paul staffer Gary North’s “10,000 page exposition on “Biblical Capitalism”]
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/saint-paul-inside-ron-paul-effort-convince-christian-150637605.html
Treat Ron Paul with Extreme Caution… Ron Paul, Christian Reconstructionists and the John Birch Society
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/7195-adele-m-stan-alternet
Rand Paul [and Ron Paul]: We Wouldn’t Need Laws If Everyone Were Christian
“Howard Phillips, the former Nixon administration official who founded the Conservative Caucus and Constitution Party (formerly the U.S. Taxpayers Party) and co-founded the powerful Council for National Policy, claims Rushdoony as his mentor…” http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/sarahposner/2654/rand_paul%3A_we_wouldn%E2%80%99t_need_laws_if_everyone_were_christian
Ron Paul Proposes Legislation to Allow States to Ban Birth Control
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/ron-paul-birth-control
[VIDEO] Ron Paul Rejects Evolution:
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2011/08/ron_paul_rejects_evolution_too.php#more
[VIDEO] Ron Paul’s powerful pro-life ad:
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/10/14/video-ron-pauls-powerful-pro-life-reminder/
[VIDEO] Ron Paul on Fox Business: Global Warming is a Hoax – Nov. 4, 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCc5Gk1nops&feature=player_embedded
Anti-LBGT: Ron Paul Proposed Family Protection Act with Anti-gay Provision (HR-7955) introduced in 1980: Title V: Domestic Partnershipshttp://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:HR07955:@@@L&summ2=m&
Anti-LGBT: Ron Paul introduced Anti-Gay Marriage Protection Act (2004):
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul197.html
[VIDEO] Ron Paul’s Full Speech at the Christian Fundamentalist Values Voter Summit 2011
Listen to ALL of it. Paul says that government has no place in education and that the responsibility for educating children should fall solely to the family. Reiterates elimination of the Dept. of Education.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnj-5z9NJoY
Waiting for the Day When We Can Say We’re All Austrians: Ron Paul’s Brand of Libertarianism [The Theocratic Kind]
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2012/1/4/234938/0298
Ron Paul’s Christian Reconstructionist Roots
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/01/02/ron-paul-s-christian-reconstructionist-roots.html
Ron Paul [Election 2012] Hires Christian Right Political Activist with American Family Association for Church Outreach:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/mike-heath-resurfaces-ron-paul-iowa
“Scary Gary” North’s “Biblical Capitalism” [Christian Reconstruction]
http://www.garynorth.com/public/department57.cfm
Rachel Tabachnick on Gary North, Christian Reconstruction, and the Religious Right’s War on Progressive Economic Policy
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/2/1/132159/0192
Random Book Blogging: Gary North, AIDS, Ron Paul, and Christian Reconstruction
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/random-book-blogging-gary-north-aids-ron-paul-and-christian-reconstructionism
Ron Paul: Stealth Dominionist:
http://www.religiousrightwatch.com/2011/09/exposing-religious-fundamentalism-in-the-us.html
kfreed, What I know is that I’ve agreed with a lot of what Ron Paul has said and disagree with him on various items as well. Given the state of things, I’d actually be very open to siding with a religious fundamentalist for a while to try to offset the general curve to the left this country has been taking for the last decade or two. I do appreciate the links you’ve included and will try to read up on them and gather more information for myself.
The previous post had a lot if anti Ron Paul info but the man seems to be pro family. We have looked at the curriculum and what I like is that you can uses pieces of it and not the whole thing. I do have reservations about Gary North but I have looked at Tom Woods stuff and like it a lot.
They are also going to teach public speaking and presentation skills, how to create a blog and other Internet creation content. I like that and the pricing is very fair. We will more than likely use some of these resources.
I agree Scott. Although it’s sad that sometimes we have to fall back into a the lesser-of-evils comparison, I have far fewer concerns about the views of Ron Paul and others than I do with the more mainstream talking heads that get their voices heard more in public venues and the educational system.
Update on this topic as of October 2013: We are taking a few of the courses now and it is working well. The Ron Paul part is only his endorsement – he doesn’t actually administer or teach any of the courses or have any day to day involvement. The individual teachers are teaching their subject matter a la KhanAcademy.org style and were chosen for their specific specialties and ability to be a talking head. There are currently quite a few math and science classes with more material being recorded for the months ahead. To be clear, these are courses for the motivated parents and students. It is not an online academy where you get one on one tutoring. Not bad so far, at least for the paid courses. Currently it is a family entry fee of $250 per year, with then an additional $50 per course per student in your family. I would use the RonPaulCurriculum as a supplement to your existing homeschool goals. If you are heavy on math or science or conservative/libertarian history courses, you will love it. I use the courses in combination with other courses. For example, they don’t plan on offering such things as foreign languages as they feel that is not their strength of focus. Hope this inside impression helps a bit.