- Michael Pearl
-
Michael Pearl (born 1945)[1] is a pastor, missionary, evangelist and book author.[2] He is best known for his controversial book, written with his wife Debi Pearl, entitled To Train Up A Child. The book advises parents to use objects like a quarter-inch plumbing tube to spank children. It also mentions withholding food and putting children under a cold garden hose.[3][1]
Pearl's book has been linked with the deaths of Sean Paddock[4], Lydia Schatz[5], and Hana Grace-Rose Williams, all of whose parents apparently read it.[6] A Butte County, California District Attorney who prosecuted the Schatz also investigated the Pearls' teachings and called To Train Up A Child "An extraordinarily dangerous book for those who take it literally." Pearl has stated that "The book repeatedly warns parents against abuse and emphasizes the parents' responsibility to love and properly care for their children, which includes training them for success."[3]
References
- ^ a b Erik Eckholm, Preaching Virtue of Spanking, Even as Deaths Fuel Debate, New York Times, November 7, 2011.
- ^ Michael Pearl's No Greater Joy Ministry website.
- ^ a b Thane Burnett, Was child abused to death due to advice from book?, Toronto Sun, October 08, 2011.
- ^ Is Conservative Christian Group, No Greater Joy Ministries, Pushing Parents to Beat Kids to Death? , CBS News, March 4, 2010.
- ^ DA: Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz Killed Daughter With "Religious Whips" for Mispronouncing Word , CBS News, February 22, 2010.
- ^ Hodson, Jeff (September 29, 2011). "Murder charges for parents who left girl outside". The Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016361753_hana30m.html.
External links
Categories:- Living people
- Christian evangelicalism
- American writers
- Parenting
- 1945 births
- American Christian clergy stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
