Washington Post blasts COS Founder Michael Farris in sensationalized hit piece

The message The Washington Post delivered in its recent Michael Farris hit piece ("The Christian home-schooler who made ‘parental rights’ a GOP rallying cry") is a simple one: Michael Farris, founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association and co-founder of Convention of States Action, is a terrifying threat to American society.

Why? Well, WP never quite explains why.

In over 3,690 words, the panicked authors drone on about the renowned constitutional attorney’s allegedly “extremist” views. Judging by the tone of the article, you’d think they’d uncovered some shocking Farris scandal. They haven’t. You’d think he’s some dangerous monster—in reality, the only blow they can land is that Farris champions parental rights, public knowledge for over 40 years.

This is the main thrust behind the WP’s sensationalized piece: parental rights are a terrifying threat to American society. Farris simply is the movement’s public face.

Of course, we’re supposed to believe that this makes him a radical, far-right fundamentalist who seeks to topple our institutions and erect a theocracy in their place. We’re supposed to fear him for this. But again, the paper’s most “damning” claim is that Farris believes parents should be in charge of their children’s education. And what’s so radical about that? What’s scarier, parents who want to protect their kids or a government (in league with mainstream media outlets like The Washington Post) that mocks and dismisses parental authority? It seems the real threat is not Farris but what he’s warning against.

SEE ALSO: 'Nation-shaping': Michael Farris and the Article V solution

According to the authors (one of whom broke the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh and the other who targeted Farris and home-schoolers earlier this year in another sensationalized hit piece, “The revolt of the Christian home-schoolers”), Farris “masterfully imported an extreme religious agenda into the heart of the nation’s politics through the seemingly unobjectionable language of parents’ rights. Some argue that it has always been the goal of the most radical Christian home-schoolers not merely to opt out of the public schools but to transform them, either by diverting their funding or allowing religion back into the classroom.”

“‘Everyone should be aware of Michael Farris and his influence on the Christian right,’ said R.L. Stollar…. ‘He is really good at taking these more extreme positions and presenting them as if they are something that would just be based on common sense.’”

“[E]xtreme religious agenda”? “[R]adical Christian home-schoolers”? What do these starling terms mean? They’re referring, of course, primarily to parents who do not believe that their children should be exposed to graphic sexual content in schools. That’s what constitutes “extremism” today. President Joe Biden himself said so when he blasted “extremists” for pushing to “ban” books that contain “graphic depictions of some of the most deviant sex acts.”

When everyday Americans are slandered with these labels, we must learn to see through the smear to the heart behind it. Parents like Farris, decried by the media, though they may be, are great purveyors of normalcy. They certainly aren’t extremists—the real extremists sit on WP editorial boards and think they can skirt parents’ objections to radical indoctrination. 

In this fight, Convention of States is proud to stand on the side of parents and honored to lock shields with Michael Farris. Our co-founder knows that a crucial step in standing up for the family is calling an Article V convention, through which we can undermine the radical federal agenda and bring power back to the American people. To join us, sign the Convention of States petition today.