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..
PS For more parenting/ travelling / thrifty blogging follow through Facebook or Bloglovin or even just enter your email to get them pinged into your inbox. I don’t rant and rave THAT much…
16 Comments
Great news! This has made me very happy indeed.
There is another disgraceful book called ‘Shepharding a Child’s Heart’ by Ted Tripp that is just as disgusting, advocating beating children into submission in the name of Christianity, maybe we should get the word out about this book too? But I’m glad that you have made a start with ‘To Train Up a Child’ as the book makes my blood run cold! X
Yeah, we could go for that one too, eh? How do these books exist?
I have only just heard about this book, so i checked my go-to book retailer; Book Depository, and they are selling an older version so i have just emailed them to request they remove it. Fingers crossed!!
Amazing, Terri! Hope you hear back soon- let me know 🙂
Unfortunately the book depository is run by amazon.
Yes .. they are .. and I wrote to them both about a year ago and got NO replies whatsoever. And while Amazon have stopped selling it in the UK it’s still available from Amazon.com [and the Book Depository – along with dozens of other books by the Pearls like ‘Born to be his Help Meet’ and ‘Born to be his Help Meet’ .. ugh !!!
I’m an atheist so I don’t really understand. Would I believe in God if my parents had whipped me? Is that the point? I did think Jesus Christ was all about love, I wonder if he ever hit another human being. I’m quite glad I didn’t grow up with such mixed messages.
I too have contacted my two favourite Christian bookshops and urged them not to stock this, and also emailed amazon UK
thanks for alerting us!
blessings xx
Angela Almond recently posted…I’m Sleeping With Darth Vader!
[…] parenting blog Lulastic reports that Christian bookseller chain Wesley Owen has apologised to a reader for selling To […]
You can’t even imagine how many people took actions, boycotted, called, emailed, signed petitions to Amazon to remove that book. We flooded their Timeline on Facebook, shaming them and demanding to remove it. They said it 1 st amendment issue and they can’t do it.. So if this is true – this is sorta a miracle.. https://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-refuse-to-carry-books-which-advocate-the-physical-abuse-of-children
This is so interesting. The political climate in the US is just so different from the UK, isn’t it.
Freedom of speech has such a different history of defence and attack, and with membership of Europe, the UK now has strong, modern human rights protections which are making a difference to lots of laws. The fact that hitting children is now illegal in the UK is probably the key difference for this campaign. What’s the story in the US with assault of children?
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I believe that spanking children in the UK is still legal unfortunately. Illegal at school for years .. but at home you can spank unless you ‘leave a mark’ ….. sick …
[…] Lulastic tells us that some other online retailers have decided to pull the book. She also discusses her reasons for trying to get the book pulled and gives us some ideas for how […]
It is crazy that books such as this exist never mind people stocking them – glad you’ve managed to make a difference on this.
Pinkoddy recently posted…No matter how big or how small we can all help #Blogfest #MotivationalMonday
[…] other retailers who stock this book and asking them to do the same. @lulasticblog wrote about one retailer that has stopped stocking it so we’re getting […]
More good news: the BBC website has a feature on this today! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25268343
It also mentions that, unfortunately, Amazon is not giving in. Hopefully this story on the BBC will encourage more people to put pressure on them.
Thanks for helping to bring it to so many people’s attention in the first place.
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