Category: Léo’s Blog 2015-2016 Academic Year

Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-09-28.

Planning the theme for this year’s blogs.

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: 1 Tim 2:1-6

Welcome to the 2015-16 academic year, a year that promises to be interesting, if not challenging, for Education Unlimited and the home education community in Alberta.

I have started a bit later with my blogs this fall, having had to do many things as we transition from the “old” Education Unlimited to the “new” Education Unlimited. Not that you should notice any major changes, aside from a new school name in future communications. The truck (Education Unlimited) continues to pull the trailer (parents and students), even if there have been a number of needed changes “under the hood”, so to speak.

The rather unpleasant situation that we experienced this past few months has really provided us with opportunity to get a very good look at the present state of private and home education in this province and the situation is not very encouraging, if one looks at things from from a biblical or true Christian perspective. I intend on making my findings this year’s focus in the blog.

I realize that many of you who read this blog may not actually be registered for home education through us. However, most of the issues that I will be addressing this year are common to the greater home education community and so I encourage you all to share this series of posts with other home educating families as it will be important to have open discussion and a collaborative approach to solving, what may be, critical issues ahead.

I would like to start this year with an admission of error. Like most “parents”, especially home educating parents, I have been guilty of protecting families from the “big, bad world” of politics, threats and misdemeanors associated with home education. Choosing to not burden parents with issues I felt I could deal with myself, resulted in my not adequately preparing parents to be vigilant in defending our freedoms, which are being threatened from both outside and within the home educating community. This is why I have chosen to focus on issues that threaten home education this year.

Let’s be clear: Ignorance is the single most important thing challenging the home education community today. This is largely due to the fact that those who would benefit the most from the ignorance of parents, either continue to misinform them or take advantage of their ignorance, rather than sharing the truth with them. This is assuming, of course, that those who take advantage are actually themselves aware of the truth. Preying on ignorance is far easier and more profitable than helping parents come to the knowledge of the truth. However, even when properly addressed, many parents either choose to ignore the issues that threaten us or simply to carry on in the apathy that envisions little more than “what’s in it for me”, an attitude that can only result in our eventual loss of freedom.

You should look forward to being informed and challenged this year as I plan to fully disclose what is at play in the Alberta home education scene. I want to prepare you as adults, concerned not only with home educating your children, but with vigilantly maintaining this freedom, so that your grandchildren can also continue to be educated at home as directed by scripture. Plan on developing a humble attitude of wanting to know the truth rather than of being right. Far too many people are intent on defending their right to be right rather than their duty to seek the truth.

Part of the series First Things First
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-10-05.

To be ignorant maybe normal, but it should not be a place of comfort. We should all be seeking to fix it if the opportunity or need presents itself.

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: 1 Tim 2:1-6

Although the word ignorant or ignorance is sometimes used to mean uneducated, unread, unsophisticated or some other “un” word generally used to mean “stupid”, that is not the intention here. Ignorance actually means lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact. To be uninformed or unaware of certain things is to be ignorant of them. Everyone is ignorant of something as no one can know everything there is to know. In fact what makes life interesting is that others will usually know more than you do about something outside of your experience. If your life mission includes a quest for knowledge and truth, as it should, then your ignorance of a matter becomes the motivator to learning about the things you know little about.

In the movie Forest Gump, he often repeats, “Stupid is what stupid does”, something his mother has taught him from his youth. He has learned that to choose to not learn when the opportunity or need is presented is to be willfully ignorant and doing that is “stupid”, a truth advanced by a character that was portrayed as not very intelligent. Maybe he wasn’t all that intelligent but he was not “stupid”.

Ignorance, therefore, can be willfully sought or unwittingly established, meaning that people are either ignorant because they choose to be or because there is a system is in place to keep people “in the dark”, or ignorant of what is really going on. Often, ignorance exists simply because people fail to “connect the dots”, so to speak. Sincere folks can find themselves advancing factual error simply because they have failed to think things through. If the premise upon which you are offering opinion or advice is in error, it can be assumed that the counsel will be suspect as well.

Ignorance can also be prevalent when only one side of an issue is being presented. Not knowing that there is an alternative, can lead to believing that what we do know is the truth. I once witnessed a man who had been a believer all his life, yet was shocked to hear that creation was still a viable explanation for the origin of things. He was an evolutionist by default, not by design as he had simply never been exposed to anything but evolution. This, unfortunately, is far more common than it should be. The academic world, media and tradition all contribute to a “politically correct” version of the truth, designed to keep people in ignorance.

The most important questions one can ask always has to do with finding the truth so we can minimize the ignorance and associated error. Those who would not ask questions are generally those who are comfortable in their ignorance, which is often said to be associated with bliss. Blissful as ignorance may be, it is not a formula for success. Not knowing the truth means that the alternative is believed. Most should understand that if it is not true, then it is a lie. We are constantly being exposed to variations on the truth which can only be variations of lies. CS Lewis stated once that the best lie is 95% true. Unfortunately, most of what we believe is just that, almost true, but not quite.

Those who would manipulate us are not only encouraged when they perceive that we are ignorant, but will often perpetuate this ignorance to their advantage. If we are to be free, we need to be informed. Ignorance is our greatest enemy, no matter what the issue.

Part of the series First Things First
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-10-19.

A prophet may be proclaiming the will of God by telling the truth, but if we are comfortable with our ignorance of it, we will miss the opportunity to come to the knowledge of the truth and the freedom that comes with it.

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: Amos 3:3

Assumptions! It has always been my greatest source of frustration. I seem to have an incorrigible habit of violating the first Law of Assumption which is to never assume anything! Assuming that everybody wants to know the truth; that people are honest; that others desire to serve God with the passion I have, would wish me no harm and understand what I do, along with a host of other silly assumptions, end up creating a lot of uncomfortable situations for me.

However, I believe that I am not the only one who has the habit of thinking others believe the same things I do, understand the same things I do, and care as much as I do about things that should concern us all. In fact, it is likely a result of our fallen nature that leads us to believe we are the standard for the universe. That is why we need to stop assuming and to start over, using a reliable point of reference.

Before engaging in my goal to clearly enlighten the home education community regarding the things that both threaten and motivate us, it is imperative that we all start from the same page. I realize that I am not the center for comparison and that diversity of thought and action is what makes mankind interesting, intriguing and, at times, challenging to deal with. However, if we are to proceed together, we must agree upon some basic foundational principles, clearly articulated, rather than assuming they exist.

Therefore, to minimize misunderstandings, let me clearly disclose the “assumptions” I am making before proceeding with this agenda of enlightenment.

First, I am assuming that everybody reading this blog truly understands God’s provision of His son as a propitiation for our sins and that there is no way to reach God but through Jesus Christ. I am also assuming that everybody who has accepted the gift of salvation, loves the Lord and desires to serve Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, regardless of the cost. What I am saying is that I assume that my audience is made up of sincere followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ and that they would be prepared to die before compromising their relationship with Him.

Secondly, I am assuming that the readers share my passion for seeking and knowing the truth. Not some version of the truth but the absolute truth as discovered through a working knowledge of the Bible as foundational to other works. I trust that others believe that right and wrong are established by God and not by general consensus, popular opinion or political correctness. I want to believe that we are all ready and willing to admit error and to sincerely want to replace wrong with right thinking. Not that I expect to clone myself, as that would be disastrous! I simply desire to see everybody yearn for the truth and the freedom that it provides.

The third assumption that I am making is that everyone desires to serve God first and not man, his institutions, or his directives. We have become so used to having media, government, schools and churches tell us what to do that we seem to have lost the ability to think for ourselves and to question the veracity of the statements and demands made under the banner of truth. We seem to have adopted the directive to not think, but to trust that those claiming “authority” have our best interest and well being in mind and, as a consequence, we are perilously close to becoming mindless automatons, unable to engage in any meaningful challenges to the status quo.

I am assuming that the readers of this blog are sincerely seeking the truth, will allow it to challenge their thinking, and are willing to admit error when confronted with it. I sincerely hope that there is an honest desire to purge the near ubiquitous secular ideologies in favor of biblical knowledge, in order to please God in whatever we say, do, or think.

I am coming from this world view perspective. I trust you agree and are willing to walk with me.

Part of the series Hangups
Written by Léo Gaumont, published on 2015-11-16.

What comes natural is often what we should be overcoming.

We are generally all ignorant of what is actually happening around us. This ignorance can either be perpetuated and capitalized upon or fixed to empower the masses. It is time to enlighten home educators who have generally been kept in the dark respecting what is occurring within their community. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Bible Reference: 2 Tim. 3:1-7

In an ancient movie entitled “The African Queen”, Rosie, a missionary, is mortified to find her rescuer drunk as a skunk. Charlie, the rescuer, is likewise perplexed by Rosie’s reaction and states that the gin, which he has consumed in abundance, is natural. Rosie responds with words that we have repeated, times innumerable, in our house. She says, “What comes natural is what we should be striving to rise up above”. True words, rarely spoken!

It is natural for us to see ourselves as the standard for all things, but standards can only be established by someone or something outside of the system we are in. The only standard that could possibly be outside of ourselves as people is something bigger than people and that can only be God. If God is not seen as the center of the universe, the essence of love, the way, the truth, the life, the standard by which to measure all things whether good or bad, we default to making ourselves these things. Therefore, if we don’t focus on the standards as outlined in the Bible, we make up or become the standard, which is to be self-centered. In fact, there really are only two possible gods; the real God… or ourselves!

We are born behaving as though we are god and until we meet the real God, we go on as though we are the center of the universe. Yet, as much as it may be necessary for us to correct this natural inclination, it requires both resolve and effort to do so and if we are to do this, we must be able to admit that we can be wrong or in error. This does not come naturally.

Why should it be so hard to admit we don’t know or to confess error or to say we are sorry or to ask forgiveness? Even professing Christians, who had to admit they were less than perfect before accepting Christ’s salvation, find it very difficult to do so. Again, it is because we are naturally in competition with God for the centrality of all things.

Bringing this discussion to our focus on education, our limited understanding of what truly constitutes biblical training and teaching within the confines of what God has created, limits our knowledge, and when combined with the fact that we see ourselves as the standard, causes us to advance the secular education we have experienced as the standard. Simply put, if we are the standard and all we know is secular education, then secular education is the standard, since we cannot be wrong. Never mind the fact that most of what we believe is a combination of lies, errors and omissions advanced as normal, right and acceptable. If it is all we know, and we are the standard, it becomes true because we believe it. Even more disconcerting is the fact that we are incorrigible when we begin any argument on the premise of being right.

Until we are fully prepared to step down from our natural pulpit of self-centeredness and the naturally associated self-righteousness and to give place to God as the center of all truth, we will go on, not only advancing, but defending school and all of it’s associated faults as the norm. In fact, if growing in number or making more cash is the objective, those purporting to be advancing home education would do well to play on people’s self-centered notion of being right about what they erroneously understand about education.

Since we are naturally more inclined to advance something from “2 Opinions” than from “2 Corinthians”, we are more likely to advance the only thing we know as truth, even if is not. We default to a secular education mindset, perhaps trying to “Christianize” it in a vain attempt to fix it, because that is all we know and we cannot be wrong. This is what comes naturally, and what we should all be striving to rise up above!