Here's a New One

The AP is reporting a story about a family moving from Washington state to Idaho to avoid child labor laws that prevented them from employing their sons, aged 11 and 13, in their house-moving business. That's house-moving as in "drive backhoes, bulldozers and tractors and move low-hanging cable and telephone lines while riding atop a home." Yeah, okay.

This is the first time I have heard the Bible invoked to avoid labor laws. "Doty and his wife, Angela, a Central Washington University graduate, have a parenting philosophy defined by their Biblical beliefs - 'home birth, home school, home business' - that they say requires them to put their children to work at an early age."

"I think it's pretty clearly outlined in the Bible," said Zach. "It says to be with your children all the time, 24/7."

I am pretty certain this is not in the Bible, although I would welcome the reference to check for myself. It would not surprise me at all, though, if this is the first of a flood of anti-competitive, anti-labor law Bible thumps. Really, it was only a matter of time before this particularly conservative loop was closed.