To Train Up A Parent

An Open Letter To Michael Pearl:

Hey, Mr. P.  I'm sure you don't know me at all since you rarely deign to speak to your critics.  Your followers show up from time to time, though, when I when I write about you.  They try, valiantly, to defend you.  Honestly, for the life of me, I can't understand why.

You don't just teach about how to train up children.  You essentially train up parents, too.  You train them to ignore every instinct they have to love and protect their kids.  You train them to punish and condition their children in a way that is totally out of proportion to what they deserve, and offers no temperance, no grace, no mercy.  You train them to set their own children up to fail, and to whip them when they do.

You tell women that it's "Godly" to stay with child molesting husbands, to only report physical abuse if they leave bruises lasting longer than two hours, and to forgive all because "God hates divorce".  In fact, you tell women that the time their husbands might spend in prison for the abuse of their family, is a time to work on the "romance".  That made me throw up in my mouth a little.  What an ignorant and misogynistic thing to say.  Do you know what that means, Mr. Pearl?  Should I make the words smaller for you?    It probably doesn't matter since you've already decided that those who disagree with you just plain aren't Godly.  I'm okay with that.

You, your wife, and your organization pervert the teachings of a Peaceful Christ, to teach the abuse of women and children.  It's disgusting, and you should be ashamed of yourself.  I read on your website, how you have attributed your negative publicity, not to the deaths of children like Lydia Schatz (who died after being whipped with the plumbing line you recommended), or the many legitimate issues with the things you've said over the years, but to the Lesbians and leftists who are maliciously misrepresenting you.

Well, Mr. P, though I'm sure you could find many reasons to hate a woman like me, I would chose to stand with the Lesbians and the leftists any day of the week rather than overgrown, pompous, self-righteous, and deluded bullies like yourself.  What you teach is wrong.  And you should beg those you've harmed for forgiveness.  Not that you ever would, of course.  You strike me as a man too proud for that kind of thing.  I wonder if you could manage to fall to your knees for the Jesus you claim to believe in.

Unless there's any further news, this will be the last I write of you.  You and all you stand for disgust me.  That this is actually an issue for discussion among people who are faithful to a loving God, disturbs me even more.  I can't imagine Jesus telling people to buy quarter inch plumbing line to keep around the house for beating their children with.

One day, I hope you shut up.  Not because I particularly care anymore about what you have to say, or how you defend your bullshit methods.  More because I know that someone, somewhere will keep reading what you have to say, and I'd hate for more innocent children to die because you're an arrogant ass.