# Homeschooling biology FAILURE **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352 "2013-02-05T02:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/41 "2013-02-05T16:27:54Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > **miss elizabeth** , you’re brilliant. This is undoubtedly the issue that forms the microscopic factual core of Swanson’s utterly bizarre claim. Why, thank you! Insight into insanity is one of my many talents. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/42 "2013-02-05T16:36:39Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > . . . Then I thought, hmmm I was on the pill for about 15 years. If I had all of those dead babies scraped out, how much weight would I lose? . . . Now that’s what I call an industrial grade ability to see the silver lining . . . er . . . so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/43 "2013-02-05T16:41:39Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > In Texas, the homeschool teacher gets to set the standards for everything, including graduation age. Teachers don’t have to meet any requirements at all! Hold the phone. Fuckin’… _really?!_ So if I were a homeschooling parent in Texas, I could basically not teach my children anything _at all_ - at least, not on purpose - and could then declare them graduated from HS? Could I do this at birth, even? “Well, we’re still going to have to feed and clothe this little rugrat for the next 18 years, but at least we’ve got her schooling all taken care of!” I… just… please tell me that can’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/44 "2013-02-05T16:42:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, isn’t it the whole **point** of [homeschooling](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homeschool), to protect vulnerable young minds from exposure to that sort of factual/scientifical thing? You need to get out more. Homeschoolers, like many collections of humans, are a varied group. To characterize them all as being like the silliest among them seems antithetical to the goal of fighting ignorance. It has all the intellectual merit of characterizing an ethnic group by the bad behavior of one of its members. FTR, I know seven families that have done homeschooling - in not one of which did it remotely match your description. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/45 "2013-02-05T16:50:00Z")
If he’d keep looking, he’d see that those little babies are [homunculi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preformationism), and in each of their microscopic wombs are teeny-tiny babies, and inside _their_ little wombs… I mean, it’s a good as the science he’s citing. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/46 "2013-02-05T17:14:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > They’re just sitting there, stuck to the uterine wall, waving their tiny little arms and crying out for help. Damn! Now you’ve gone and done it. Twenty years from now the “Control your gonads” folks will be citing this as a good reason to ban birth control pills. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/47 "2013-02-05T17:15:22Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, if your church is one of those sinful corrupt homo-loving feminista librul sinks of iniquity that even lets women talk in public, it would be foolish of you to get your hopes up that he might accept. > > (Seriously, though, good for you both for fighting ignorance on human sexuality, and especially for catching the ignorance before the kids are old enough to suffer from its most serious side effects!) Why thank you. Officially our church says they are sinners, but we love them like any other sinner\*, so I don’t know where that puts us. If the kids ask the church’s opinion we give it. If they ask our opinion (which \*is \* different) we give it. It has been very interesting the past few years when the kids have brought up homosexuality. They are about 90+% white upper-middle class kids raised in suburbia, (who are having this discussion in church) and for them it is a no-brainer. Why the hell shouldn’t these people have the same rights as everyone else? They also draw a direct parallel to the civil rights movement. It’s amazing what people who haven’t been taught a life of discrimination think. \*However, we can’t have these particular sinners as pastors, or perform marriages for them, or have marriage ceremonies for them in our churches. But they’re still sinners just like everyone else. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/48 "2013-02-05T17:28:48Z")
I’d love to know who these “certain doctors” and "certain scientists’ are who think there are a bunch of dead mini-fetuses “embedded in the womb”. Are they Kevin Swanson fantasies, actual sci-med loons or current Republican legislators (the latter two categories are not mutually exclusive). It should be point out though, that the link in the OP posts this nuttiness as evidence that They Are Coming For Your Birth Control, which seems a bit of a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/49 "2013-02-05T17:41:28Z")
You may scoff but the first image on Cake Wrecks today appears to back Swanson up perfectly: > **[Bikram Beauties — Cake Wrecks](http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2013/2/5/bikram-beauties.html)** > > Pssssst . You guys. I don't want to scare anyone, but I think Jen may be losing it. > I'm home with the flu, and my husband — who GAVE it to me — has me on house arrest until the fever breaks and I'm "lucid" ­­— his word, not mine. He doesn So there you have it folks. If you can’t trust the Cake Decorators of America to accurately represent _Science_, well who can you trust? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/50 "2013-02-05T17:50:54Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Why thank you. Officially our church says they are sinners, but we love them like any other sinner\*, so I don’t know where that puts us. If the kids ask the church’s opinion we give it. If they ask our opinion (which \*is \* different) we give it. > > It has been very interesting the past few years when the kids have brought up homosexuality. They are about 90+% white upper-middle class kids raised in suburbia, (who are having this discussion in church) and for them it is a no-brainer. Why the hell shouldn’t these people have the same rights as everyone else? They also draw a direct parallel to the civil rights movement. > > It’s amazing what people who haven’t been taught a life of discrimination think. > \*However, we can’t have these particular sinners as pastors, or perform marriages for them, or have marriage ceremonies for them in our churches. But they’re still sinners just like everyone else. :rolleyes: I have to ask, do you have a better attendance now than when you first started? I can tell you that if the Babtist church I went to as a teen offered any kind of sex ed along w/ bible study, attendance would have been through the roof. (Along w/ the blood pressure of some parents, but that’s to be expected.) ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/51 "2013-02-05T17:52:33Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > You may scoff but the first image on Cake Wrecks today appears to back Swanson up perfectly: > > [Bikram Beauties — Cake Wrecks](http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/2013/2/5/bikram-beauties.html) > > So there you have it folks. If you can’t trust the Cake Decorators of America to accurately represent _Science_, well who can you trust? Ewwww . . . I just changed my mind on having dessert. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/52 "2013-02-05T17:57:39Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It should be point out though, that the link in the OP posts this nuttiness as evidence that They Are Coming For Your Birth Control, which seems a bit of a stretch. Not really. The anti-abortion movement has explicitly stated that it wants to outlaw almost all forms of birth control since at least the early 80s. They don’t talk real loud about it, of course. But it’s definitely there. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/53 "2013-02-05T18:00:58Z")
As long as you’re not using it to fuck simply because you like it, they’re cool with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/54 "2013-02-05T18:04:35Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > You may scoff but the first image on Cake Wrecks today appears to back Swanson up perfectly: Well spotted, fellow wreckporter! ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/55 "2013-02-05T18:14:06Z")
No, actually, they want to make it illegal for everyone. At the very least, they are going after all forms of hormonal birth control. It’s in the literature. Last I knew they hadn’t quite gone full-Catholic, so barrier methods were still OK. But really, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that those are on the block, too, for some excuse or another. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/56 "2013-02-05T18:24:08Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > No, actually, they want to make it illegal for everyone. At the very least, they are going after all forms of hormonal birth control. It’s in the literature. > > Last I knew they hadn’t quite gone full-Catholic, so barrier methods were still OK. But really, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that those are on the block, too, for some excuse or another. Your “they” is way too broad. No doubt some minority subset of the pro-lifers think birth control is a social evil, but I don’t believe most feel that way. Unless you have some evidence otherwise…? Keep in mind that most Catholics in the US don’t follow the teachings of the Church on this anymore, and they even reflect the same split between pro-choice and pro-life as the general population (within a few %). ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/57 "2013-02-05T18:25:14Z")
In a similar case, through research I’ve conducted myself, I’ve discovered what I believe to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dead human babies which have embedded themselves into a sweat-sock that I keep under my bed. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/58 "2013-02-05T19:26:55Z")
**Jack Batty** : 😛 **John Mace** , this is one quick Google. It took me longer to type the post up than to pull up the info. I know that a lot of pro-life people don’t want to believe this, but they’re also supporting it by turning their heads. I have pro-life literature that I was handed on campus in the early 80s that states bluntly that as soon as the goal of outlawing abortion was accomplished (it was expected at any moment, after all, they had St. Ronnie, the Moral Majority, and the Conservative Coalition in power), the next step was outlawing all forms of hormonal contraception. It was in teeny-tiny print. Sure, not every single pro-life person in the country believes this. But the pro-life _organizations_ sure as hell do. Until fairly recently, they tended to keep undercover on the issue, as they were savvy enough to understand that it would cost them money and power as they lost some of the reasonable people. However, it looks like these days they’re pretty blatant. Not really surprising, when you look around at what’s going on in the wacko-right-wing. [Pro-Life Action League](http://prolifeaction.org/faq/stand.php) > [@](#): > > The Pro-Life Action League opposes artificial birth control (contraception), [http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/10/how-i-lost-faith-in-the-pro-life-movement.html](http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2012/10/how-i-lost-faith-in-the-pro-life-movement.html) [ProLife ObGyns](http://www.aaplog.org/position-and-papers/oral-contraceptive-controversy/birth-control-pill-abortifacient-and-contraceptive/) > [@](#): > > There is an unarguable logic connecting the contraceptive act and the abortive act. They are both anti-life. [Pro-Life Wisconsin](http://www.prolifewisconsin.org/proLifeIssues.asp?article=Hormonal+Birth+Control+and+its+Abortion+Causing+Effect&aid=270&id=6) > [@](#): > > Pro-Life Wisconsin is opposed to all forms of artificial contraception. [Pro-Life America](http://www.prolife.com/BIRTHCNT.html) > [@](#): > > “Birth Control” Pills cause early Abortions [The Lost Generation](http://thelostgenerations.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/does-the-birth-control-pill-cause-abortions-in-a-word-yes/) > [@](#): > > Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? In a Word, Yes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/59 "2013-02-05T20:21:16Z")
But, all of that is not really scary. The [Quiverfulls,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull) now, **they’re** scary. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352/60 "2013-02-05T20:21:38Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > You need to get out more. Homeschoolers, like many collections of humans, are a varied group. To characterize them all as being like the silliest among them seems antithetical to the goal of fighting ignorance. It has all the intellectual merit of characterizing an ethnic group by the bad behavior of one of its members. > > FTR, I know seven families that have done homeschooling - in not one of which did it remotely match your description. Indeed. My sister homeschools one of her kids, because of some very real social issues he has, which makes group learning very difficult for him. But I don’t want to hijack, so back to the thread at hand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homeschooling-biology-failure/649352.md?page=4)