Another child dead from punishment… The crime? Rebellion…
Murder charges for parents who left girl outside
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016361753_hana30m.html
“The couple repeatedly denied her food, locked her in a dark closet and beat her with a long plastic tube, according to an affidavit from the Skagit County sheriff’s office.”
“They also made her sleep in a barn, shower outside with a garden hose and even sit outside while the family celebrated Christmas inside.”
“If guests came over, the affidavit says, Hana was allowed to sit at the table but was given only bread to eat…”
“A report on her death concluded she’d died from “a culmination of chronic starvation caused by a parent’s intentional food restriction, severe neglect, physical and emotional abuse and stunning endangerment…”
“Both [adopted children] were disciplined for being “rebellious,” one family member told investigators. The punishment included eating outside, away from the family, and having cold leftovers topped with frozen vegetables…
“One person told investigators the couple had a book called, “To Train Up A Child,” which teaches parents to switch their children with a plastic tube, starting at the age of 1. It also advocates putting children in cold-water baths for toilet training or putting them outside in cold weather, having them miss meals and sleep on the floor as punishment, the affidavit says.”
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? Isn’t it about Christ coming to die on the cross to take the punishment for our sins? Isn’t it about “doing to others what you would have them do to you”?
Some parents are hell-bent on dishing out punishments to their children. Children do not live up to their parents’ expectations, so the parents act as judge and jury and sentence their children to whatever punishment they think their children deserve. (This is where Christ’s sacrifice is key. We deserve punishment and death, but Christ bore our punishment on the cross!)
What happened to the biblical notion that the parent without sin can cast the first stone! Punishing children will not make them perfect. If it could, then why did Christ have to die?
Parents are so quick to distance themselves from the “abuse” in the above heartbreaking news story. They would never do THAT. They only “SPANK”. They would never “BEAT”. Each family draws their own line between “DISCIPLINE” and “ABUSE”. They continue to play the game of semantics. They make their own extra-biblical rules of childrearing.
Are parents afraid to live the gospel in their own homes? Do they worry their children will turn out bad if they are not punished? Maybe they are afraid they won’t be able to tell the difference between discipline and punishment.
Forgive yourself, and forgive your children, and walk in grace.
Edited to add:
I remembered reading them, but I didn’t have the stomach to look up the quotes from Pearl’s book about the outdoor gardenhose and food deprivation. Hermana Linda did the work for me, and I will copy two of the quotes from her excellent website. They are both taken from Michael Pearl’s writings.
TTUAC linked to Hana Williams’ Death
http://whynottrainachild.com/2011/10/01/ttuac-linked-to-hana-williams-death/
“So, my suggestion was that the father explain to the boy that, now that he was a man, he would no longer be washed in the house. He was too big and too stinky to be cleaned by the babywipes. From now on, he would be washed outside with a garden hose. The child was not to be blamed. This was to be understood as just a progressive change in methods. The next dump, the father took him out and merrily, and might I say, carelessly, washed him off. What with the autumn chill and the cold well water, I don’t remember if it took a second washing or not, but, a week later, the father told me his son was now taking himself to the pot. The child weighed the alternatives and opted to change his lifestyle. Since then, several others have been the recipients of my meddling, and it usually takes no more than three cheerful washings.” Michael Pearl
“Now, there are some flavors or textures that we just have an aversion for. Allow each child one or two dislikes, just don’t let their preferences be too limited. If a child doesn’t like what is on the table, let him do without until the next meal. A little fasting is good training. If you get a child who is particularly finicky and only eats a limited diet, then feed him mainly what he doesn’t like until he likes it.” Michael Pearl
About The Author
I’m both crying. . . and angry. . .
Thank you for pointing us as parents back to Jesus.
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