New Hampshire court orders Christian girl to public school

  A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered to enroll in public school for having “sincerely held” religious beliefs.
  John Anthony Simmons, an attorney working with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), has filed motions with a New Hampshire lower court, asking it to reconsider its order to send the 10-year-old girl to public school.
  According to Simmons, the court acknowledged that the girl was doing well socially and academically. He added that the court went too far when they determined that the girl’s Christian faith was a “bit too sincerely held and must be sifted, tested by and mixed among other worldviews.”
  Simmons said that parents have a “fundamental right to make educational choices for their children.” The girl’s parents divorced in 1999, and she lives with her mother who has been homeschooling the child since first grade. As part of the schooling, the young girl also attends supplemental public school classes.
  According to an earlier ruling by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, home-based education is an enduring American tradition and right. ADF concluded, based on that statement, that there is no legitimate legal basis for this latest court ruling.
  www.onenewsnow.com, 8/26/09