Keeping It Catholic

 More Strikes Agains the NACHE Organization

The Wanderer published a "kiss and make-up and compromise" article aimed at Mary Hasson of NACHE and Dr. Mary Kay Clark of Seton Home Study (7/29/99). NACHE (National Association of Catholic Home Educators) banned Mary Kay Clark from having a table at the home-schooling conference in July. In the article, Jeff Minick, the author, alluded to the differences between these two ladies as a "conflict of opinions" and "based on hurt feelings." He sees superficial differences and seems to be oblivious to the very fundamental problems with NACHE.

 

Mary Kay Clark, who has been working to help families save their children's souls by her pioneering efforts in helping launch the homeschool movement, is a courageous supporter of the Church's teachings, especially on the inalienable right and duty of parents to be the educators of their children. The actions of NACHE have been in opposition to these sacred rights. NACHE is favoring diocesan homeschool guidelines in an effort to give Bishops (who seem to have lost their faith) authority over the parents in their children's education. The Church has spoken very clearly that education in matters of sexuality is the domain of parents. Here again, NACHE favors sex education programs under diocesan control even for home-schooled children. These are not minor disagreements but serious differences and NACHE is doing a lot of harm.

NACHE is among those groups who want to be thought of as conservative, but whose actions of the past few years belie that position. NACHe has become very cozy with William Cardinal Keeler, inviting him to be keynote speaker at their 1997 conference. Bishop Keeler embraces the worst kind of sex education programs in his diocese and has not been a friend of parents. Parents who tried to have a serious classroom sex ed problem resolved without scandal were shamefully treated by Cardinal Keeler and his diocesan bureacracy. NACHE has:

 

-continued a close alliance with Cardinal Keeler, inviting him to be a member of the NACHE advisory board

-cooperated with the NCEA (National Catholic Education Association) and strongly advocated diocesan guidelines for all home educators

-invited Fr. Kris Stubna, author of Bishop Wuerl's sex program Catholic Vision of Love, to become a member of the NACHE advisory boarfd

-alienated Catholic home school vendors from their conference, yet invited Protestant homeschool vendors.

 

Keeping in tune with the sex ed leanings of NACHE were two featured speakers at the conference, Connie and William Marshner, both advocates of "chastity" sex education. Mrs. Marshner has had a long relationship with protestant groups, and her writings are much in line with their thinking. For example, she often writes for James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" magazine. (Dobson is pro-birth control, including the abortifacient pill). In one such article, Mrs. Marshner blatantly ignored the child's "age of innocence" or latency. Regarding the "birds and the bees," she wrote, "The younger the child is, the easier it will be, because he won't read into your embarrassment...Plunge right into it and get the focus of attention of you and onto the subject. The next words out of your mouth should be 'Do you know how babies are made?' "

 

Connie Marshner's book, hawked at the [NACHE 1999] conference, titled Decent Exposure: How to Teach Your Children About Sex, is supposed to be advice for parents, but the advice is typical Planned Parenthood rhetoric. For example, Connie Marshner's book asks the question, supposedly coming from the child, "When was the first time you had sex?" The answer give is "The first instant you were conceived." Not only is the answer questionable but [so is] the question itself. A child, properly educated according to Church teachings, should not ask such a question, and if they did, the fact that it is improper should be addressed.

 

Another serious concern is Connie Marshner's treatment of masturbation. In the book, she calls it a "minor problem" saying, "Masturbation is at best a sign of immaturity. At worst, it's a bad habit." What is completely left out, and is of utmost importance, is that masturbation is sinful. This is a serious concern in today's culture that promotes homosexuality as normal and commonplace. The lax attitude is not only sinful but also unhealthy as masturbation can become addictive and easily lead to perverse homosexual experimentation.

 

As mentioned, her thinking is like that of Dobson's, whose sex education book Preparing for Adolescence, for 10-15 year olds, says that "the Bible is silent on this point [masturbation]." And that Dobson "believes that masturbation is not much of an issue with God," that "it is normal...does not cause disease, [and] does not produce babies."

 

Taken together, that is no small concern. NACHE's actions, and [that of] those associated with them, show a fundamental distancing from the teaching of the Church.

 

Most of the Catholic home-schooling parents today are not doing so because it is something they want to do, but something have to do if they want to preserve the innocence and faith of their children. It's sad that the NACHe people have gone in this direction, and we hope the next time Mr. Minick writes an article, he will dig a little deeper and get the real story.

 

Credit: Mothers' Watch, Summer 1999 Issue (Volume 4, Number 2)

Address: Mothers Watch, PO BOX 2780, Montgomery Village, MD 20886-2780

Mothers' Watch is published quarterly; it is a non-profit, tax-deductible organiztion. Please send a contribution of $20 to receive their newsletter.

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