I received the following from Dr. Russell S. Schierling. The people could have prayed and waited for God to do something or they could have prayed and then acted on those prayers. Can you imagine what Christians could do if they reacted in similar ways on other issues?
Dear Gary,
Homeschooling is alive and well in the state of Missouri! Let me show you an example of the political power that homeschooler’s wield when they band together.
On Wednesday evening at about 8:00 pm, my wife (who does the newsletter for our Scenic Riverways Homeschool Organization) received an urgent email alert from both HSLDA and FHE. There had been an 11th hour amendment attached to a huge omnibus education bill (part of the stimulus junk) that had some language which was very detrimental to homeschoolers. They wanted people to drop whatever they were doing and come to the Capitol on Thursday for a rally. The bill concerned the state being able to determine exactly what a homeschool credit was and then mandate compulsory school attendance for anyone 16 or older that they thought was not within their guidelines.
We started the phone tree Wed evening and literally saturated our local politicians with calls. From our rural Ozark-Region homeschool group, we had 10 families travel the three hours to Jefferson City THE VERY NEXT MORNING (kind of Minuteman style) for a rally on the front steps of the Capitol building.
We got there early and watched the minivans, full sized vans, and other vehicles crammed with kids began to arrive.
To make a long story short, thousands of people from homeschooling families showed up. Folks were packed down the steps, into the lawn, and all the way to the street. One lawmaker said it was the most people he had seen in his 5 years (and the whole thing was organized literally overnight)! I could not hear everything that was said because the speakers had no PA system, but one of the things that I picked up on, intrigued me greatly.
Over a dozen lawmakers came out and stood with the speakers, and they were literally clamoring over each other to apologize for the “oversight”, denounce that portion of the bill, amend it, and voice their support for homeschooling.
It was one of the most awesome displays of grass-roots political power that I have ever witnessed, and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. Just thought I should share this with you.
Dr. Russell S. Schierling