While people are entitled to personal opinions within a broad range, there are some views within the patriarchy movement that go too far. Women are not to be the de facto slaves of men. Women are created with dignity equal to that of men. Women have direct and unmediated access to God. Daughters should not be taught that their only and ultimate purpose in life is to be the “helpmeet” of a man. While being a godly wife is a worthy ideal, the only statement that is universally true for every woman is that she should love and serve God as her highest priority. 

Two prominent speakers on the homeschooling circuit have experienced dramatic falls from favor due to admitted sin. Bill Gothard and Doug Phillips have both been accused of serious sins involving young women. The accusations are sexual in nature. Both men have admitted to some form of sin with regard to these accusations, although each has disputed some of the details. Gothard disputes that his sins were sexual in nature. Phillips admits to an improper physical “relationship” with one young woman.

HSLDA has served our members—you and homeschool parents like you—for 31 years. Our mission since we were founded in 1983 has been to defend and advocate for homeschool freedom in the courts, legislatures, and media—nationally and internationally. And that will never change.

We have shared our concerns about patriarchy because of our longstanding passion for homeschool freedom and strong families. But we want to make sure that each and every one of our member families, and each and every homeschool family considering membership, understands that we will always stand ready to defend your right to homeschool.

We serve all homeschooling families—regardless of their religious or cultural views. We will never ask parents if they agree with us before we will defend their fundamental liberty to direct the education and upbringing of their children.

And so whether or not you agree with our position on this issue or any other issue doesn’t affect our representation of you. We will always be here to serve and defend you, your family, and homeschool freedom.

Although some people want HSLDA to be the police force of the homeschooling movement—removing those who miss the mark in some manner—that is not our role. Even though I have been uncomfortable with the teaching coming from each of these men for several years, it is not my place to try to remove viewpoints from the homeschooling community just because the HSLDA board or I hold a different view. Our role is to defend the freedom of everyone to homeschool.

But with these recent scandals in view, we think it is now time to speak out—not about these men’s individual sins, but about their teachings. Their sins have damaged the lives of their victims, and should be addressed by those with the appropriate legal and spiritual authority in those situations, but their teachings continue to threaten the freedom and integrity of the homeschooling movement. That is why HSLDA needs to stand up and speak up.

Frankly, we should have spoken up sooner. How much sooner is hard to say. There is a subtle difference between teaching that we simply disagree with and teaching that is truly dangerous. While we did not directly promote their teachings using our own resources, we did allow Vision Forum to buy ad space to promote their products and ideas. We were wrong to do so. And we regret it.

What has changed our minds are the stories we are now hearing of families, children, women, and even fathers who have been harmed by these philosophies. While these stories represent a small minority of homeschoolers, we can see a discernible pattern of harm, and it must be addressed.

Mike Smith and the HSLDA board of directors join me in apologizing for failing to speak up sooner. We intend to change that, starting now.

PATRIARCHY & LEGALISM

The philosophies of Gothard and Phillips damage people in multiple ways. To keep this article at a reasonable length, I will focus on the threats to our liberty caused by these philosophies.

If public policy makers believe that the homeschooling movement promotes teachers and teaching that have a strong likelihood of damaging people—particularly children and women—then our freedom will suffer. Treating children well and treating women well is intrinsically the right thing to do. But it is also the necessary thing to do if we wish to preserve our liberty.

Phillips’ teaching of patriarchy goes far beyond even a very traditional view of Scripture’s teaching about the roles of men and women. Some people who subscribe to nothing more than traditional complementarian views (as do I) have occasionally used the term patriarchy(something I would never do). However, there is a real distinction between complementarianism and Phillips’ form of patriarchy. In this article, we seek to address teachings about the subservience of women, which can never be justified from Scripture.

Phillips’ teaching is representative of a larger group—albeit a small segment of the homeschooling world—called the patriarchy movement. It offers an imbalanced and (in my personal opinion) unbiblical view of the roles of men and women. It particularly teaches a distorted view of raising daughters.

Contrary to the assertions of the patriarchy movement, the following propositions are notuniversal commands from God:

>> Patriarchial teaching: Women should not vote.

Example of this teaching:

“ … God does not allow women to vote (cf. 1 Tim 2:11ff). But by ignoring God’s law, American Christians both destroyed their own credibility … and the integrity of [their] own families … [W]hat practical benefit does allowing women to vote provide? If husband and wife agree on an issue, then one has simply doubled the number of votes; but the result is the same. Women’s voting only makes a difference when the husband and wife disagree; a wife, who does not trust the judgment of her husband, can nullify his vote.”¹

>> Patriarchial teaching: Higher education is not important for women.

Example: “[D]oes it really make economic sense to invest tens of thousands of dollars for a woman to get an advanced education (often having to go into debt to finance that education) that she will not use if she accepts that her highest calling is to be a wife and mother?”²

>> Patriarchial teaching: Unmarried adult women are subject to their fathers’ authority.

Example: “Until she is given in marriage, a daughter continues under her father’s authority and protection.”³

In sum, patriarchy teaches that women in general should be subject to men in general. The Bible teaches no such thing.

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