"To Train Up a Child" by Micheal and Debi Pearl: Premeditated child abuse, this book should be banned!

By now you must have heard of the parents of the 13 yr old adopted Ethiopian girl (named Hannah, pictured above) who beat her, starved, made her sleep in a barn, and then left her outside to die of hypothermia. We all know that we have to obtain a drivers license to drive a car, but anyone (and i mean anyone) can become a parent just by engaging in the primitive mammalian fertilization ritual.  THIS BOOK IS NUTS.  THE PEARLS ARE NUTS.  THIS BOOK SHOULD BE BANNED.  ok, now you are thinking, this guy (me) is a political scientist and i want to ban a book?  Yes.  Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the 1 st amendment decision that included the concept "you can't yell fire in a crowded theater" (or as Woody Allen says, "you can't yell theater outside a crowded fire").  This concept is imminent danger.  Creating a stampede, creating fear, which results in injury or death is not legally possible.  My opinion:  this book is no different than yelling FIRE inside a crowded theater.  

There is a fear that exists in this country, (esp in isolate, rural areas), that the greatness of our nation, our American culture, has past, and that we are living in a permissive period symbolized by indulgent parenting, a lack of discipline, "spoiled children" resulting in narcissistic children and adults.  Sending children to secular schools and even traditional christian schools results in undisciplined, uncontrollable children who make themselves, and (most importantly) their parents miserable.  The answer????

"Train up a child."  First of all, grammatically incorrect.  Its from a bible passage first written in Aramaic, then translated into Greek, and then King James had it translated in medieval English, and the result is the grammatically incorrect "Train up a Child."  Comparison?  Gov. Sarah Palin has recently said, "America needs Fixed."  Also grammatically incorrect, and on top of it she is a communications major ( I still wonder what communications majors learn, because most professors with PhD's in communication have pathological communication skills, kinda like Joseph Goebbels, but i digress).  

This book IGNORES EVERYTHING WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR, MOST IMPORTANTLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT, SINCE THE RISE OF HUMAN BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH EARLY IN THE 20TH CENTURY.  (I have read excerpts from this book, not the whole book, I plan to read it just to find out how sick these two Pearl idiots are, but i don't want to buy it and contribute to their profits, so I will look for it at the library, assuming the library actually buys dumb books like this).

Psychologists and other mental health experts have successful practices thanks to the ignorant, abusive, selfish approaches to parenting that many of us, (most of us?), experienced as children.  How can parents be so ignorant?  Well, first of all they know how to f**k but don't know what to do when the baby comes out.  Secondly, they think parenting comes naturally (I guess like an orgasm) and education or knowledge is not necessary.  Third, if they have trouble parenting (they probably shouldn't be parents in the first place) they want help, quick and easy.  And what is easier than reading a book that basically says, everything you need to know is in some old book written thousands of years ago for a nomadic tribe wandering around in the Sinai desert, and it can be summarized in one book written at the 6th grade level.  Simple, easy, even a dumb shit can become a "successful parent."

Of course, I am an intellectual, so my opinions about this book are obviously "biased."  But the truth is: PARENTING IS HARD TODAY.  Yes, we have fractured families, we have a global world where so called traditional values that provided a shell for isolated social groups are no longer reinforced, and children are exposed to a materialistic, capitalist world where marketing targets them from birth onward, telling them what they need to buy or have to be happy, have status, be popular, and enjoy life.  Quite frankly, i think our materialistic society makes children, and subsequently adults, unhappy.

The answer????  Love.  Education.  Children need to fell secure, safe, and loved.  They need a very good education so they can reason and make judgements in a very existential world.  Or else?  They end up reading a dumb ass book like TO TRAIN UP A CHILD and engage in creating another abused, screwed up human being who will be miserable during their short time on earth.

My advice to parents?  Love your child, make him or her feel safe, wanted, special, let they know what miracle they are, and make sure they have a strong education to survive in this confusing and cruel world.  Children need to learn intelligent, informed judgement from birth onward, and this is the responsibility of their parents.  All new parents should take a course in Child and Human Development from their local community college, and be required to earn continuing education credits in the same subject.

At least the Pearls didn't title their book, "Children Needs Trained Up!"