Germans Persecuting Religious Minorities Again

As I have stated before, my wife and I plan to homeschool our children. Our motivation is only partially religious, but I err on the side of religious freedom for those whom it is the primary or sole motivating factor. I also do not believe that the government has any business running any schools. The temptation for the majority to purposefully suppress ideas of minorities is too great. I support the devolution of public schools through vouchers, and I recently wrote how public universities should be privatized.

From Foxnews:

Romeike, his wife Hannelore, and their children live in a modest duplex about 40 miles northeast of Knoxville while they seek political asylum here. They say they were persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and homeschooling their children in Germany, where school attendance is compulsory.

When the Romeikes wouldn't comply with repeated orders to send the children to school, police came to their home one October morning in 2006 and took the children, crying and upset, to school.
...
He had to pay fines equivalent to hundreds of dollars for his decision, and he's afraid that if he returns to Germany, police will arrest him and government authorities will take away his children, who range in age from 11 to 3.
...
Lutz Gorgens, German consul general for the Southeast U.S., said he's not familiar with the Romeikes' specific situation but believes the claim of persecution is "far-fetched." He defended Germany's requirements for public education.

"For reasons deeply rooted in history and our belief that only schools properly can ensure the desired level of excellent education, we (Germany) go a little bit beyond that path which other countries have chosen," Gorgens said.

Germany's approach to homeschooling is starkly different to the U.S. and other European countries. Homeschool students have been growing by an estimated 8 percent annually in the U.S. and as of 2007 totaled about 1.5 million.

If you read between the lines in the article, what is apparent is that Herr Gorgens believes, along with much of Germany presumably, that it is the role of the state to properly engineer good citizens. They don't like minority viewpoints or value, so they actively seek to crush those viewpoints. If you resist, they will take your money and your children.

I support the Romeikes, and the United States should rebuke this kind of thuggery by granting them asylum.