Yet more reason to despise and abhor this administration and what it is they stand for:
Uwe and Hannelore Romeike came to the United States in 2008 seeking political asylum. They fled their German homeland in the face of religious persecution for homeschooling their children.
They wanted to live in a country where they could raise their children in accordance with their Christian beliefs.
The Romeikes were initially given asylum, but the Obama administration objected – claiming that German laws that outlaw homeschooling do not constitute persecution.
“The goal in Germany is for an open, pluralistic society,” the Justice Department wrote in a legal brief last year. “Teaching tolerance to children of all backgrounds helps to develop the ability to interact as a
fully functioning citizen in Germany.”
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Romeike’s appeal – paving the way for the Christian family of eight to be deported.
“I think this is a part of the Obama administration’s overall campaign to crush religious freedom in this country,” said Michael Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association. His organization is representing family.
“The Obama administration’s attitude toward religious freedom, particularly religious freedom for Christians is shocking,” he told me in an exclusive telephone interview. “I have little doubt that if this family had been of some other faith that the decision would have never been appealed in the first place. They would have let this family stay.”
Had the family stayed in Germany, where homeschooling is illegal, they would have faced the prospect of losing their children. Like the Pilgrims, they fled their homeland yearning for a place where they could be free.
Farris said the religious bias perpetrated by the Obama administration is “palpable.”
“It’s a denial of the essence of America,” he said. “The Pilgrims left England to go to Holland to seek religious freedom. They came here to seek religious freedom and parental rights for their children. Had this administration been waiting at Plymouth Rock, they would’ve told the Pilgrims to go back home.”
The saddest part of it all for me, next to the pain this family must be feeling, is how little America will come to know about what's taking place here.
If however, this family had been Muslim...
A personal aside. I think highly of Mr. Farris. In 1993, he ran for Lieutenant Governor in my state. So impressed by him was I that became the chairman of his campaign in my county. I found him then to be a passionate man of faith who was smeared by his opponent and abandoned by his party. He lost that race but gained for me tremendous respect.
Here's hoping, and trusting, he'll find a way for this faithful family to stay in America, a country that used to cherish religious freedom.
Carry on.
