Why people recommend it
To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl is a self-published 1994 parenting manual by Mike and Debbie Pearl that advocates for authoritarian child-rearing methods and physical punishment among infants and toddlers. Robert Evans discussed the text extensively on Behind the Bastards across multiple episodes examining fringe religious movements and harmful parenting gurus. Evans categorized the book as politically motivated child abuse and highlighted its widespread popularity among the Christian right, detailing its controversial instructions that parents should use severe physical discipline if an infant moves outside permitted boundaries during obedience training. He further referenced the book to draw direct parallels between its doctrines and the harsh practices of other insular religious groups, such as Eugene Spriggs's teachings in the Twelve Tribes cult. These discussions serve as a critical examination of extremist ideologies embedded within certain subcultures of American religious life, utilizing the manual as a primary example of dangerous child-rearing philosophies.
Who recommended it
- Robert Evans Discussed
Robert Evans — 4 mentions
“so anyway when I think of politically motivated child abuse I do think back to that book to train up a child”
“there's a very popular book among the Christian right called to train up a child”
“There's a very popular book among the Christian right called To Train Up a Child, and the basis of it is you should, when children are infants, do stuff like lay them down on a mat, and if they like wiggle to such a point that any part of their body is off of it, you like whip them! Basically,”
“when I read about spriggs's teachings here I think about a book called to train up a child which is a 1994 parenting advice book self-published by Mike and Debbie Pearl”