Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay, so I wanted to read this book out of sheer curiosity after reading both the reviews and pieces of the cases of children who have been murdered by the teachings in this book. In all honesty, I don't know anything about the cases of child abuse associated with this book. What I do know is that I want to read this book, because my mind works in odd ways (I always want to know what NOT to do in any given situation and this is a perfect example), plus this book was mentioned in a group for Christian moms that I was part of. Part of my mind asks, "can this book REALLY be so bad?" and then the other part of my mind dreads knowing the answer. I was raised in a very strict Religious home. Physical punishment was at times severe and over literally any little thing. I was taught to sit quietly and do not move, no matter what. My grandfather was an Elder of our church congregation and that was a big deal back when I was growing up. A child under his care that acts up was a total embarrassment to him and our entire family. At any given time during church services you could see mothers 'dragging' their young children from the room into the bathrooms to spank them privately however many times, it took for the child to become and remain silent before returning to the service room. Now I want to stress that once a child was removed from service for a spanking, that was your only warning. You got your punishment right then and there, however severe it has to be because going back again was humiliating to the parents and the entire congregation. In other words, a child learns fast what is expected of them and that is something I learned from a very young age. Having meals withheld is something my grandparents also believed in. If you didn't behave, then you go to bed hungry. If you didn't like what was served, then you don't eat. Simple as that. See, my grandparents were raised by parents with heavy hands and violence back in their day was not frowned upon. Openly beating a child black and blue, or even to death was something their parents believed in. So, the principles of this book are not so shocking to me. What shocks me most is that parent's still do these things and that it is accepted among Christians. I will say that right away in this book I found where the author talks about a mother saying no to her child '666 times', which stands out to me right away as a warning (the sign of the devil). That did not sit well with me. Why not choose another #? Then, the idea of training a child is referenced by that of training an animal. Children are not animals, so why use the same techniques of breaking the will of an animal to break the will of a child? In this book, discipline is referred to what takes place after the child has misbehaved. Training is preventing the bad behavior before it ever has a chance to start. Some of the techniques such as whipping an infant on the hand or even whipping a child with a tree branch are old fashioned at most and uncomfortable for me. I was not raised in the time my grandparents were and grandma is 92 years old, still remembers her father beating her siblings to the point of them almost dying from the severity of the beatings. And I do mean they were beaten with chains, horse whips and many other objects. It is disturbing to hear stories of my grandmothers youth. Now I come back to this book. Training a child. The author talks about love for her children and speaks about this training being loving. There is too much reference to training an animal and comparing that to training a child. In this book, it seems like animals and children are no different species from the other and both are trainable, the same as you'd train a dog or a horse. Train to obey. Scripture is quoted in this book as well. I have found that quoting Scripture without fully understanding the true meaning is taking God's Word out of context and in a sense, rephrasing what God has said. If you don't fully understand what Scripture means, then don't quote it and try to make it sound like you know what you're talking about. Again, I come back to the book. I understand the idea of having a well behaved child, because that is how I was raised. What I do not understand is how someone is allowed to publish a book based on Scripture, which they know absolutely nothing about because if they did, then they would know that Jesus was gentle with his Disciples and did not use violence or pain to guide and win over their trust, respect and obedience. Throughout the Bible, both Jesus and God use love, kindness and their words to gain the trust, respect, love and obedience of those who believe; not direct violence, pain or punishment through direct physical punishment. Jesus was abused and died for our sins, our ignorance and as our punishment. Why go further by punishing a child that does not know any better after Jesus has already died for us? My last point. Putting a book of this nature in the hands of a parent/caregiver with mental illness, including 'baby blues' is absolutely dangerous. Someone without the capability of rationally thinking will take this book way out of proportion and the results will be devastating to a child. Do you honestly want to put this book in the hands of someone who suffers from rage and extreme violent episodes to rear up a child on their own being led to believe this is good, sound advice? That is probably why no less than 3 children have already been murdered from the techniques listed in this book. Those are my thoughts. I personally grew up in a home where physical violence and abuse were acceptable by the church and something that no one talked about because what happens behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors. This book to me is disturbing and if anyone ever gifted it to me, I would lead that person to my front porch where I would set their book on fire, hand it to them and slam the door shut.