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In Micheal Pearl’s world, Lydia Shatz is better dead than spelling that word wrong.
They were trafficking Liberian children for the glory of God’s kingdom. And, they were preying upon highly Conservative, Patriarchal, Evangelical and often Quiverful families  … These children adopted from Liberia are survivors. They do NOT ’submit’. They fake it, but they don’t mean it in their hearts. And, Pearl flat-out says to BEAT THEM AGAIN, make their heart reflect submission. Hit them over and over and over again until their heart complies to what you want, or you will condemn them to the pits of Hell if you don’t.
by “Jo” ~ this post comes from the No Longer Quivering discussion forums.
The is the HEART of Micheal Pearl’s teachings. Its a STRONG belief in QF/P circles in general. But, its paramount to Pearl.
If you take these traumatized children and you decide that the only way you can parent them is to force them into a SINLESS life, its a death sentence.
Those who don’t lose their lives often lose their souls. The Reactive Attachment Disorder this creates is often insurmountable. But, for a few, it is so much worse because it becomes literal, physical death.
And, what Micheal Pearl is NOT putting in his latest press release is quite simple. His theology and parenting philosophy taken to its logical conclusion is an acceptance that these children are better off DEAD than not having attained the sinless life that is required of them.
In Micheal Pearl’s world, Lydia is better dead than spelling that word wrong. Plain and simple. Read his site (with a BIG bowl to puke in) and its everywhere. He is very MUCH responsible for this child’s death and the threat to the others. And, the sickening fact is that wackadoo’s sphere of influence is GROWING and infilitrating the non-Quiverfull/non-P Evangelical community at large.
I know what its like to parent these children from the war ravaged regions of W. Africa. My son is one of those children. He’s one of the FEW who has fully resolved his PTSD through intensive and specialized trauma therapy. His former therapist still consults with families whose children have been adopted from the region because the success rate of helping these children heal is SOO low.
My son is so very resilient and lucky. But, for most of these kids, its that resiliency that can then backfire. My son actually trained his brain to maintain a sleep-dream state of conciousness at all times. He had to re-train his brain to have a concious alert state because the coping mechanism was not necessary anymore. So, even wide awake, he was slow to respond, showed NO emotions (again a coping mechanism to keep you alive when you are in the precense of true evil) and was really retreated into himself…except when his PTSD would get triggered and he wasn’t there at all but was raging against the monsters and the demons that weren’t there. I was there. I took the brunt of those monster and demons. I got his siblings to safety and restrained him to keep him safe until they passed for YEARS.
I really and truly get what its like to parent these kids.
I also am fully, FULLY aware of what the 2 main facilitators who were placing children from Liberia were doing at the time this particular family adopted their children. I personally reported one of those facilitators to the US Embassy. And, I got into some bitter disputes with the personnel of the other facilitator.
They were trafficking, one for cash and the for the glory of God’s kingdom. And, they were preying upon highly Conservative, Patriarchal, Evangelical and often Quiverful families for the cash the needed to continue their ‘work’ (and hefty paychecks but that’s not to be discussed). Most adoption agencies don’t work with Quiverfull families for the simple fact that you cannot get pregnant in the process of adopting. You cannot adopt within 6-12 months of having a baby (depending on the agency and the country). And, you cannot continue with an adoption if you get pregnant.
During our international adoptions were actually the only time in our QF years when we were deliberately using birth control. It turned out I had health issues which left me with secondary inferitlity. But, we were using birth control so we COULD adopt.
Liberia attracted a lot of QF/P adoptive families because these 2 faciltiators targetted those families. The ‘godly’ facilitator was heavily marketed via Above Rubies. Though, I’m sure they never declared to that sect they were not a true adoption agency and had been cited by the state they were in repeatedly for lying about it.
Both groups were actually stealing children from families in Liberia and selling them. It was AWFUL and the QF/P movement contributed wholly to the situation. The only dvelopment in adoption that made me happier than seeing Liberia closed to international adoptions was the day Charles Taylor was captured and transported to Sierra Leone to face his victims. On both days, I actually danced for joy to read the news.
So, the situation when this family brought these girls was AWFUL. The Liberian children were in HORRIBLE conditions. The UN had snuck into the grounds of one facilitator’s compound with Liberaian officials and tried to get them closed down. The children were traumatized, often stolen from their families, treated like second rate citizens and shipped off to do-gooder Americans as bounty.
And, into the hands of those Americans, these facilitators encouraged the writings of Micheal Pearl. Now, to be fair, most of these families were already avid followers of the nut job. Most of them were well versed in their plumbing tubing and had raised their armies will great success for years already.
But, they brought traumatized children into a situation where strangers were beating them…in much the same manner their ‘rescuers’ in Liberia had done. They knew how to survive, but they most definitely did NOT know these people were family, parents, protectors. And, when these people acted like foe, these children respond in the same fashion.
When you put Micheal Pearl’s work into the hands of families with these traumatized children, its a recipe for disaster. Four years ago, a little boy came out of the foster system traumatized and into the hands of a woman who was die-hard adovate for Pearl. Sean Pollock lost his life for that mistake. Lynn Pollock could NOT distinquish where a ‘line’ was when she disciplined Sean. And, the reason she couldn’t find the LINE is because if you strictly follow Pearl’s teachings, there is NO LINE. The LINE is when the child submits, with a cheerful spirit, and nothing less. These children are survivors. They do NOT ’submit’. They fake it, but they don’t mean it in their hearts. And, Pearl flat-out says to BEAT THEM AGAIN, make their heart reflect submission. Hit them over and over and over again until their heart complies to what you want, or you will condemn them to the pits of Hell if you don’t.
Micheal Pearl’s teachings are death to a child who is not attached to his parents. Because, its NOT Pearl that establishes a line that keeps children alive. Read his work. Go to his website. Its very quick easy to realize that there is NO line for Pearl. The real LINE is the small voice in the back of a mother’s heart that says, this is wrong, I must stop, I will do damage if I push through any further.
For these children and their detached parents, that voice doesn’t exist. These mother’s hearts are NOT turned to their babies to protect them because their hearts don’t recognize those as their babies anymore than these children recognize them as mother. The danger is in flat-out in following these teachings at all with adopted children, especially traumatized adoptees.
Good, reputable adoption agencies would NEVER promote anything close to Micheal Pearl. The few adoption agencies that were working in Liberia had specific stances against all spanking for these children. Even the largest Christian adoption agency in this country, Bethany, has a policy against spanking adoptees. While agencies cannot screen out every die-hard, they do know to watch for it and to not place children where they truly suspect it exists.
This safety was not in place in Liberia with these facilitators. They encouraged Micheal Pearl, Garry Ezzo and Ted Tripp. They facilitated everything about their adoptions as a Christian duty to rescue these heathen children. And, they firmly espoused that those children had to be trained by the rod to be rescued from their heathen ways.
No, Micheal Pearl didn’t kill this child again. But, he put a gun in her volatile mother’s hand and told her to only use it to intimidate the child.
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