Februay 8, 2006--translation of last article posted

 

Since two people said they wished they could read the last article, I've gone ahead and translated it. Some things might not be exactly the best translation, but it gets the ideas across. I realize that "Bible-believing" and "fundamentalist" are words used (nearly or clearly?) as accusations by some people about others in the U.S. (from non-Christians to Christians, as well as among Christians of different denominations); here, if anything, it's meant even more strongly as an insult. (Personally, although I'm not a member of "Twelve Tribes" and have no desire to be, I'm happy to say loudly and clearly that I'm proud of being guilty of being a Bible-believer!)

Private school for "Twelve Tribes"

The Bible-believing fundamentalist Christians of the "Twelve Tribes" want to spare their children from teaching about sex and evolution. The fight between the religious community and the state of Bavaria lasted years--now a compromise has been found.

The fight that has lasted for years about the compulsory school attendance of the children of the religious community "Twelve Tribes" in Klosterzimmern has ended. Representatives of the group agreed on a solution with representatives from the state and from the local education authorities. As of August a private school should be created on the land of the community in north-Swabian Klosterzimmern--with state approval/control.

The cost of the school is to be carried by the religious community. The so-called "extention school" has the status of a private school, but will be checked by the state. The parents may choose the teachers themselves that will teach their children. "Both sides are winners, there are no losers," said the speaker for the community, Holger Röhrs.

The Bible-believing parents had rejected compulsory school attendance for religious-conscious reasons and taught their children themselves. They oppose for example the state sexual education and the scientific theory of evolution.

Police involvement and jail

Three years ago the objection of the community lead to a spectacular police raid: about 50 officers forcefully took the approximately 30 children to school. In November 2004 seven fathers were jailed, and the mothers were also threatened with jail. Before this the community had not paid the high fines. (Note by Sheila: there were two kinds, one for breaking a law, and one that has the stated purpose of changing the offender's opinion. We were levied with both fines in March 2005, but they were taken back in May.)

The parents of the community claim religious reasons for rejecting the state school. They see it as a command from God to keep certain aspects of the modern world from their children. Instead of evolution for example, the Christian creation story should be taught.

The fundamentalist community "Twelve Tribes" was founded in the U.S.A. and has nearly 100 members in Germany. The name is derived from the twelve tribes of Israel.