Online retailers begin pulling To Train Up A Child

Yes, it was a very short reprieve from the heaviness of big issues, I realise. But a quick gander at my nutcracker should be quite enough. Chop, chop! A world to change…

No doom and gloom though, just a quick, simple message about the power of one person. She’s called Libby.

An enormous number of you have taken action over the last few days in response to the book To Train Up A Child by Michael and Debbie Pearl, that one that advises parents to begin whipping their babies at 4 months old. Amazon have responded and have removed the paperback edition from sale- a gesture that seems slightly token as it is still available in other formats.

Other online retailers are making stronger statements.

Wesley Owen are the go-to people for Christian titles; despite closing many branches over the last few years they retain a big online presence and they are the main suppliers of church goer’s bookshelves.

After reading last Friday’s post on this blog, reader Libby checked their website to see if they sold it. She was gutted to discover it on their website. Libby fired off a quick email asking them to consider pulling it. “As a Christian this sort of book hugely saddens me and is so far removed from the God I know and what I believe.”

Libby got a quick reply saying they would pull it from their website immediately! Apparently Wesley Owen advertise books from many different retailers and not only were they going to ensure this book never appeared on their website again, they even apologised.

“This is not a book we would ever stock or would ever want to stock, and I can only apologise that it has been mistakenly listed on our website. We will deal with this as soon as we can.

Once again, thank you for brining this to our attention. I can only apologise for the presence of the book on our website.”

It reminds me that the most ordinary of people can make an enormous difference.* We often wait for better people, or more extreme/ ideal circumstances to Do Something.

As Jean Paul Richter (y’know, Jean Paul) says “Do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to do good; try to use ordinary situations.”

Just one simple email has resulted in an important act- an act which will put a powerful message out there about how this book does not belong on the shelves of Christian, or any, parents.

One stockist down, just a few more to go, eh? I’m absolutely convinced that, in response to people emailing, more and more stockists are going to agree this book is irresponsible and unacceptable.

Please consider checking with your local Christian bookstore and letting them know the nature of this book. And don’t let Amazon sit around like an enormous sloth doing the bare minimum you can still do these five things to encourage them to remove it from sale completely..

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