Home Education and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act

A hearing will be held in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, February 9, regarding SB 568.  SB 568 is authored by Senator Scott Schneider (R – Indianapolis).   It is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act bill.

The importance of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is that it acts as a shield against government overreach.  This bill provides that a state or local government action may not substantially burden a person’s right to the exercise of religion unless it is demonstrated that applying the burden to the person’s exercise of religion is: (1) essential to further a compelling governmental interest; and (2) the least restrictive means of furthering the compelling governmental interest.

Why is SB 568 important to homeschoolers?  Our homeschool freedom rests on two pillars:  parental rights AND religious liberty.

Homeschool rights beginning in the 1980’s were secured by Christian homeschoolers across the nation who believed they were called by God to teach their own children as commanded in Deuteronomy 6:7-9, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” ESV  This is the reason IAHE was founded in 1983 for the purpose of serving the Lord Jesus Christ by supporting and encouraging families interested in home education.  With the success of home education, IAHE has seen a growth in secular home education.  Indiana Association of Home Educators serves ALL Indiana families interested in home education.

The RFRA is a shield against government overreach into a faith-based homeschooler’s rights to teach their own children.  If one pillar is weakened, the other pillar is compromised.   The Religious Freedom Restoration Act will strengthen our homeschool rights as it protects religious liberty for faith-based Indiana home educators.  It also provides protection against government overreach for any homeschooler in regards to freedom of conscience.

And that is a good thing for ALL Indiana homeschoolers.

Religious-Freedom-Restoration-Act

Important facts regarding SB 568*:

• Senate Bill 568 mirrors existing federal law (RFRA) in place in 1993:

• 19 states have similar laws, including neighboring Illinois and Kentucky;

• These federal and state laws have not been used as a weapon to “discriminate.” They have only been used to protect religious practice from a government overreach;

• When RFRA passed the US Congress in 1993, it passed the House unanimously. Congressman Chuck Schumer, a liberal Democrat from New York, carried the RFRA;

• RFRA passed the US Senate with 97 of 100 votes. It was carried by Senator Ted Kennedy and endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union. President Bill Clinton signed it into law;

• Neither RFRA, its replication in nineteen other states, nor Senate Bill 568, mention homosexuality. It concerns the religious liberty interests of all individuals regardless of their sexual behavior;

• Senate Bill 568 is a shield, not a sword for religious practitioners against the intrusion of government upon their deeply held religious beliefs.

• Senate Bill 568 does not require any particular outcome. It simply requires a court to balance conflicting interests. A court may side with the government’s interests or the religious practitioner under this language.

• Senate Bill 568 simply ensures that religious freedom gets a fair hearing in Indiana courtrooms.

*Permission granted to share facts from American Family Association of Indiana.