Americans have a healthy way of protecting themselves from bad religion. When members of the Westboro Baptist Church attended funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty, there were counter demonstrations, as well as a healthy dose of ridicule that made it clear to bereaved families that the nation stood with them.
Among so-called “fundamentalist Christians is an insidious subculture of “Christians” who believe in a harsh, literal and distorted interpretation of “spare the rod and spoil the child”. Michael and Debi Pearl have made a career of telling people how to raise their children, selling parenting books and holding up their own family as a shining example in their “No Greater Joy “ website. A stressed out parent might feel that they have found a place with answers to their prayers when they visit the site, which is richly peppered with references to Bible quotations.
But the “No Greater Joy” web site is no ordinary ministry offering Christian guidance to believers. It offers a disciplinary approach that has resulted in deaths across the country. Indeed, there are parents serving life sentences for killing their children who used Michael and Debi Pearl’s advice . Parents who subscribe to its harsh advice are sent to Home Depot and other hardware outlets to get piping that can be used to administer a beating without leaving marks. The site offers “how to” advice on the corporal punishment of infants. The Patheos web site lists several quotes from the Pearl family’s books along with page citations. A few such offending quotes are described as follows.
The Pearls recommend whipping infants only a few months old on their bare skin. They describe whipping their own 4 month old daughter (p.9). They recommend whipping the bare skin of “every child” (p.2) for “Christians and non-Christians” (p.5) and for “every transgression” (p.1). Parents who don’t whip their babies into complete submission are portrayed as indifferent, lazy, careless and neglectful (p.19) and are “creating a Nazi” (p.45).
On p.60 they recommend whipping babies who cannot sleep and are crying, and to never allow them “to get up.” On p.61 they recommend whipping a 12 month old girl for crying. On p.79 they recommend whipping a 7 month old for screaming.
On p.65 co-author Debi Pearl whips the bare leg of a 15 month old she is babysitting, 10 separate times, for not playing with something she tells him to play with. On p.56 Debi Pearl hits a 2-year-old so hard “a karate chop like wheeze came from somewhere deep inside.”
On p.44 they say not to let the child’s crying while being hit to “cause you to lighten up on the intensity or duration of the spanking.” On p.59 they recommend whipping a 3-year-old until he is “totally broken.
Women get ample training in the book on how to submit to their husbands, even in cases of severe physical abuse, where they are advised by Michael Pearl as follows.
“Has your husband reviled you and threatened you? You are exhorted to respond as Jesus did. When he was reviled and threatened, he suffered by committing himself to a higher judge who is righteous. You must commit yourself to the one who placed you under your husband’s command.
The summary of most of the Pearl family’s advice on dealing with abusive men is to “avoid provoking him.”
The advice given by the “No Greater Joy” ministries goes way beyond “fundamentalism” and “dominionism” which involves the creation of Christian theocratic governments. It even goes way differing cultural attitudes towards corporal punishment of children. The Pearls give advice on the beating and torture of children, as well as how best to hide it. In addition, they have a spin machine working overtime that proves that the readers of their books misunderstood them. The technicalities of law and a cunning awareness of it seem to have protected the Pearls from the criminal justice system.
The word is getting out on the Christian right about the toxic and malevolent effect of the “No Greater Joy Ministries” on parents and children. More needs to be done. The Westboro Baptist Church, stopped at hurting feelings and outraging the feelings of the public. For this, they were exposed and marginalised. The teachings of Michael and Debi Pearl go way beyond that, to the point that there is a body account associated with their brand of bad religion.
What can we do about “No Greater Joy Ministries”? Like the Westboro Baptist Church, these cunning charlatans need to be exposed to the high wattage of major media coverage. The process of the Pearl family’s marginalisation must continue. Hopefully, exposure and isolation will prevent the heartbreak of a police officer who must remove dead children from the home of their parents.
Article by Rachel Held Evans from a Christian perspective
A complete presentation by Pearl
Patheos article
Talk to Action article
Here is the No Greater Joy website. (They could make a serial killer look lovable.)
Examiner article
Following are some news clips about people who followed the Pearl family’s advice.
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