Module 1: Spec Methods

fl

t

\

,t.

, t( ,t d)l

MINOBITY PROBLEM-T

The Case of Sharon Crarber

Does religious freedom include the right to be let alone- euen from laws enacted for the public welfare?

\ brimmed black hats, and beards.

The.Amish shun almost all mod- ern conveniences. They drive horse- drawn buggies. In their homes the Amish get by without lbrge mir- rors, pictureg, overstuffed furni- ture, electrical_ appliances.

The traditional occupation of the Amish ig farming, which they consider the purest means of earn- ine a livelihood. Amish children are brought up and educated to become fa'rmers. They are immersed in Amish religion from their earli: ebt days. Because the Amish do not seek outside converts, they muet pass dowr their ietigion and cul- ture to their ehildren if their way of life is to survive.

THE AMISH consider public edgcation, with its worldly envi- ronment; not only evil but also -a threat to their existence. This reaeoning impels the Amish to forbid forrnal education beyond the eiehth erade. That is how Sharon became the center of a case called Kcnss u. C,arbn

Shaion's father, LeRov Garber, refused to send Sharon to Partridge Hish School, a coedricational pub- lic school about tcn miles from her hometown. I(ansas school of- ficials said that state law requLed her to enroll there.

Were Sharon's rights to practice het religion being taken away by Kansas school laws? A group of prominent educators and. church'

I^' 1965 when the fuss began, Sharon Garber was a petite and prettt' 14-year-old. She lived in the Kansas frrming community of Yo- der (po ,ulation 275) about nine miles rutheast of Hutchinson. Her father was a successful farm- er. He provided well for his wife and four children.

Sharon lived a way of life quite different from that of most Amer- ican teen-agers, a way that hadn't changed much in 250 years. She E?s a member of a small, tightly knit relisious minority known as, Old Order Amish.

AT THE HEART of Amish be, lief is a biblical command: "Be -- not conformed to.the world." To the Amishman this means that one should not dress and behave tike the worldly (in efrect, the rest of society) who are considered to be dominated by a Satanic King- dom. Thus Amish doctrine forbids intimate contact with persons out- side the community.

To help them keep,"unspotted from the wbrld," the Amigh have established a strict code for church members to follorry . in their per- sonal lives. The "Plain People," as they are called, wear somber, modest, old-fashioned clothing. Women wear ankle-length dresses and full bonnets. They may not *'ear bright clothine or high heels, or \+'ave their hair. Similarly, the rnen wear dark clothing, broad-

38

MINORTTY PROBLEM-T

leaders said they were. They or- ganized the :National Committee for Amish Relieious Freedom to carry the lesal battlb to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

THE CONTROVERSY beean on October 18, 1965, when the Reno County Court charged Shar- on's father with "failure to have his daughter attend continuously a public school or a private de- nominational or parochial school taught by a competent instructor."

Sharon had' finished eighth grade in Mav 1964. She attended

- the small public school that serves Yoder. Then Sharon left school to follow traditional Amish education around home and farm.

Sharon was studying basic sub- jects-math and lianEuages--€very Friday mornittg at Harmony School, a private Amish school at Yoder. Her teacher was Amos Borntrager, an Amish farmer who had an eighth grade education. There were nine other students.

The rest of Sharon's education went on at home. She spent an hour a day on correspondence courses from a school in Chicago

, and hours of on-the-job train- ing in home and farm manage- ment, taught by her mother.

This education did not meet state requirements. A few years before there would have been no problem. But the IGnsas legisla- ture in the summer of 1965 had amended the old law, which re- quired only an eichth grade educa- tion, to say that children must remain in school to the age of 16.

Amish leader's at Yoder tried to obey the law by establishing Har-

mony' School and setting down rules for home etudy. A leadins Amish spokesman had summed up the major reasons for such actions: .

We want to keep our boys and girls on the farm but we qntt do it if we permtt them to min- gle with things of the world. Their minds become filled with all these new ideas . .

E. Dexter Galloway, a Hutchin. son lawyer who defended LeRoy Garber against Kansas state charg- es, said, "This is what the, outside world doesn't understand .

The rest of us, we separate-I'm a lvlethodist and a lawyer, for example. But with the Amish there is no separation. They live their religion. lVhen you get into big consolidated schools there are kids from all areas. The Amish youngisters are throwir in with strangers. Their dress is unique.' They are picked on, discriminated against. "

Glenn Seaton, the superinten- dent of public instruction in Fleno County. took another view. He had v'isited the Partridge school, where about 25 Amish were en- rolled. He said the school was "bending over backwards to make them welcome."

He described the Amish people of Yoder as "pretty resolute. They, - just won't go along. I have noth- ing against these people at all. But I took an oath to uphold the law and they're not meeting it." Mr. Seaton also asked, "Suppose this child grrows up with an eighth grade education, Are the'parents doing a justice to that child?"

34

THE COL:NTY COURT did not think so. The judge fined LeRoy Garber $5 for allowing Sharon to violate the law. The conviction was upheld by the Kansas Su- preme Court. On Nov. 5, 1966, the court said:

The ruturul rights of a parent are subordinate lo the police power of the state and may be restricted by municiwl law pro- uiding mintmum eduational standants . . . . The indiuid,tnl @nnot 5e permitted upon reli- gious 6:ounds to be the iudge of his duly to obey lnws enacted in the public interest . . . . Reli- 'ious liberty includes the abso- lute risht to believe but only a limitedright toact.

Donald A. Erickson, a college teacher and a member of the new committee for Amish freedom, dis- asr€ed. He defended Amish edu- cation . in the &iturday Review:

In terms of the Amish culture, the Ptaii People's apprmch to eduation may be one of tlrc most effectiue Wt deuised,. Their success in tmining the young to be farmers ltrls impressed. many agricultuml eq)erts. . . . Arnish prosperity and self-sufficiency are bgendary. These are not the clumcteristics of a prcwttion for adulthood that lr,s failed.

The Amish have lived with prob- lems like Sharon Garber's through- out their history.

In the'early 1700's the Amieh- Mennonites left Switzerland, their founding place, for Ereater reli-

gious freedom in Germany. They left-Germany for an even larger measure of freedom in America. ([n recent years sotDe Amigh may have concluded that America, too, is not a safe haven. A eroup of them recently left Arkaneas for South America.)

THE AMIS.EI situation in Pennsylvani, illustratee a tnttern of development. For years, the Amish were left alone to educate their children ae they saw 6t. But in' 1937 Pennsylvania pssed a law that raieed the age for com- pulsory education to 16 in rural argas. The state called Amish schools inadequate and ordered many of them closed.

In 1949 an Amish appeal came before the Pennsylvania Superior Court. The court ruled that the children might stay at home.

The victory was short-lived, howeter. A few months later, in another case, ihe court reversed itself. The decision left the Amish subject to arrest if they failed to send their children to school up to the age of 16. The early 1950's wbs a time of arrestsi fines, and jail sentences for the Arhish.

In 1954 a compromise known-as the "Home Study Plan," gimilar to that under which Sharon C'ar- ber studies, vvias .gpnerally ac- cepted. Some Amish cotnrnunities avoided trouble by simply holding students in the eighth grade until the age of 16. From time to tirne Pennsylrrania applied. the school Iaws to the Amish, but always found them unyielding. Pennsyl- vania compromised by fitting the school code to the Amish.

35

MINONITY PROBLEM_T

Today about 45,000 Amish live in 19 states, 80 percent of them in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. Some states have viewed the school laws broadly in reprd to theAmish.

But other states, like Kansas, insist that the Amish send their children to schooi.as required by law. In these states the issue is a vital one: Which comes first, pub- lic law or private beliel? The Amish, for their part, hold and practice one view.

l. psfining ,.Public,, and ..pri- vate." Which of the following Am- ish beliefs and practices would you consider private matters, and which would you consider public?

a. All insurance is evil. Sociat security is a form of insurance and is thus evil.

b. Tractors and automobiles mayn6t'beused.

c. Men should wear full beards. . d. An Amish youth who does

not observe the customs of the cofomunity may be banished.

e. Amish schools receiving public funds foster the Amish religion.

f. lVar iS not.an acceptable means of settling disputes. 2. Weighing a' Decision. lbn

what grounds do you agree or dis- agree with the statc court's deci- sion in Kanss a. Ciarber?

3. Evaluating Rights. Suppose in each of the following situations that the commands of parents, based on religion, go aeainst the wishes of a child. Do you. think

Persisting Questions of Modern Life

Facts of the Case

l. On what grounds did Mr. Garber refuse to send Sharon to school?

2. On what srounds did the statg of Kansas seek Sharon's at- tendanbe at school?

3. Hor{ successful have efforts been to compel the Amish to obey state education laws?

4. From an Amish point of view how successful has Amish educa- tion been?

the state should step in and over- rule the parents in any cases? Why or why not?

a. A Christian Scientist de- nies medical aid to his child.

b. A parent of one faith pro- hibits his child from associatins with children of other faiths.

c, A father forbids his daugh- ter to date boys of other faiths.

d. A Seventh Day Adventist prohibits his ehild from going to Christ'ras parties and exchang- ing gifts with other children.

e. A parent prevents his child from visiting services with a ftiend of a different faith.

f. A Jehovah's Witness re- fuses to allow his child to salute the flag in school.

g. An atheist refuses to allow his child to enroll in a high school comparative religions class. '. h. A father forbids his child to dance at school socihl affairs.

The quetioire of this ese are rmcwed for further digcusion on pp.46-4?.

36