Comments on: Michael Pearl Laughs at Critics

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 09 May 2010 16:04:15 +0000

Regardless of how one feels about Michael Pearl's disciplining teachings, his response was very typical to how he responds to any criticism or correction. He always responds in arrogance and pride. I have read a lot of his material, there is some good in it and some of it is ridiculous, but I can hardly stand reading or listening to any of his material because it's so hard to get past his arrogance. James 4:6 says "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble". He even makes fun of people who have confronted him about his pride/arrogance and refuses to consider his attitude. I think God will deal with his arrogance since he refuses to hear it from anyone else. Maybe it will be through all this media coverage…

By: Zooey

Zooey — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:49:01 +0000

[quote]Those are actions taken up by misguided and sinful parents, who by all accounts, never even used any Pearl material.[/quote]

On the contrary. The Schatz family followed Michael Pearl's advice to the letter.

His advice resulted in: One child tortured to death;one child tortured to the point of kidney failure;and a 3rd child with permanent injuries.Not to mention the psychological damage to the rest of the children who have (thank God!) survived torture at the hands of their parents.

There is a Day of Judgment.

There is a Just Judge.

When Michael Pearl meets Him on that day, I promise you: Michael Pearl will NOT be laughing any more.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:20:41 +0000

Very sad. Someday he will have to give account before God. God will not be laughing.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:50:36 +0000

All of the previous comments on this page sadden me; because they are all examples of how hatred is spread over miscommunication.

It is apparent that none of you have ever read any material written by the Pearls, nor have you studied them, or prayerfully considered their methods.

Anything taken out of context is misconstrued. This very thing is warned against in 2 Peter, where he speaks of unlearned and unstable men wresting scriptures to their own damnation.

Arguing against or rebutting any of the previous statements is unnecessary, for any person who is truly concerned and interested about the Pearl's teachings can find them on their website http://www.nogreaterjoy.org
If this is too much to wade through- a concise statement can be read here:
http://www.squidoo.com/Pearls_2Train_Up_A_Child
Cutting through all of the "what would Jesus do", which is largely subjective- Christ stated plainly "by their fruits you shall know them."

Beating, abusing, murder… these are not the fruits of the Pearl ministry. Those are actions taken up by misguided and sinful parents, who by all accounts, never even used any Pearl material.

What are the fruits of the nogreaterjoy ministry? Hundreds of thousands of families that have gone from strife, despair and chaos to peace, joy and calm. Hundreds of men in prison that have been saved and have gone on to start their own ministries. Countless numbers of military families that have received support when they need it most. The Bible translated into a visual format and 20 languages to date that had NEVER seen any scripture in their language.

These people have a holy burning passion for children, for families, for sinners, and for spreading the gospel.

Shame on you for disseminating hatred and false accusations. Shame on you for casting judgement without learning the truth.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:48:11 +0000

All of the previous comments on this page sadden me; because they are all examples of how hatred is spread over miscommunication.

It is apparent that none of you have ever read any material written by the Pearls, nor have you studied them, or prayerfully considered their methods.

Anything taken out of context is misconstrued. This very thing is warned against in 2 Peter, where he speaks of unlearned and unstable men wresting scriptures to their own damnation.

Arguing against or rebutting any of the previous statements is unnecessary, for any person who is truly concerned and interested about the Pearl's teachings can find them on their website http://www.nogreaterjoy.org
Cutting through all of the "what would Jesus do", which is largely subjective- Christ stated plainly "by their fruits you shall know them."

Beating, abusing, murder… these are not the fruits of the Pearl ministry. Those are actions taken up by misguided and sinful parents, who by all accounts, never even used any Pearl material.

These people have a holy burning passion for children, for families, for sinners, and for spreading the gospel.

Shame on you for disseminating hatred and false accusations. Shame on you for casting judgement without learning the truth.

By: Mimi Rothschild

Mimi Rothschild — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:28:45 +0000

Thank you for showing me the source of Michael Pearl's comments. His reaction is shocking and extremely unbecoming of a Christian.

I think forestpark makes an excellent point. Often we can know more about someone from what they do not do. In this case, I have read no statement from the Pearl's about the tragic loss of Lydia Shatz and the injuries sustained by her sister. By failing to do so weeks after the child's death, they display a callousness and lack of love that is repulsive to me.

I lost my own son to an unnecssary and preventable death. There is nothing worse-nothing that my brain will let me imagine, anyway. I grieve for the loss of precious Lydia and for the parents who were so duped by the false teachings of the Pearl's.

I hope that the Christian homeschooling community will continue to speak out against this outrageous teaching and its founders so that no more child suffer as Michael and Debi Pearl's twisted heresy.

Mimi Rothschild

By: forestpark

forestpark — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:00:49 +0000

I'm stunned by the comments of Michael Pearl. I think that he is not just misguided, but has some characteristics of a personality disorder … I'm not an expert, but perhaps narcissism or sociopathy? Even if you were convinced that your materials did not contribute to the deaths of Sean Paddock and Lydia Schatz, wouldn't you pause for at least a MOMENT, and express some sorrow at their deaths? Pearl's comments remind me sickeningly of a criminal in a courtroom who laughs at the victim of a crime, or at their family. I had noticed an element of hate in Michael Pearl's writings before, especially in the way he sometimes writes about children and about anyone who doesn't agree with him, but now I feel like it's come out from under the surface and he is openly showing the coldness and cruelty in his heart.

By: Beverley

Beverley — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:55:53 +0000

Like Mimi, I am cautious of giving so much space to this man's opinions on Parents at the Helm, but for different reasons. Many internet users don't spend a lot of time on each page – and in this situation a cursory glance or quick read may leave the wrong impression about this wonderful site. I would rather see a criticism using quotes pulled from his article to illustrate the danger behind following his philosophies or blindly taking his affirmations of its results on faith.

Dictators and cult leaders maintain control of their followers in many different ways. The followers often don't realise they have no control over their own lives. Most have been brainwashed by intimidation and fear to give that control away. Just because they are laughing doesn't mean they are free.

By: Linda V.

Linda V. — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:11:46 +0000

Anyone who is not sure that the quotes are really from Michael Pearl has only to follow the link (given at the beginning of the post) to verify. The quote is from his very own facebook account and if his facebook account had been hacked, he would have had plenty of time to remove it and issue a retraction.

He also has a defense there (in another note), saying that he does not teach abuse. He points out where he has told parents not to do harm. This is of little use when he fills the rest of the book telling them to do abusive things. Anyway, do check his page out for yourself. I did. It is always best to check out the source.

By: Mimi Rothschild

Mimi Rothschild — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:34:17 +0000

Michael Pearl's comments above, assuming they are his comments, reveal a man that appears to lack fruits of the spirit, humility, compassion and love. For him to repeatedly insist that his children and those raised according to the misguided view of scriptures are the leaders and the ones the rest of us will depend on and then to add to that sentiment the notion that these children laugh all the time, seems to me to be disengenuous, to say the least.

We must temper our response to any posting quoting Michael Pearl or anyone else because sadly the web allows anyone to post anything about anyone which may or may not be accurate or true or anything like what the person actually said. I myself have been terribly misquoted; there exists "statement" or allegations on the web that I never said, did or would do.

However, it is also very important for Christians to recognize, expose and shun people who teach falsehoods or manipulate scripture for their own agenda. If the statement above was made by Michael Pearl, then, imho, he is not a leader that I would trust nor does he appear to have a strong handle on who Christ calls us to be.

I am looking forward to continuing to follow the Pearl's "ministry" because if the initial reports about their teachings and how they appear to egregiously abuse the privilege of homeschooling/raising/training our children, then this is a group of people that need to be held accountable by other Christians so that the world understands our serious differences.

Mimi Rothschild

Co-Founder, Learning By Grace, Inc., a Non-Profit ministry devoted to Online Christian Homeschooling Programs