Susie-Q&A

• Mar. 25, 2006 - Guilt by Association

With news coming out about the plagiarism of homeschooled Ben Domenech, and the mother whose 4-year-old died of her discipline methods (supposedly those of Michael and Debi Pearl's), I've been thinking a good deal about the fallacy of guilt by association. Look here, and here, for more examples.

I was particularly dismayed by this thread at Phat Mommy. And this thread she pointed to.

(I can't claim to be a Phat Mommy, by the way, only a fat mommy. :) )

But anyway...I don't want to get into debates over discipline methods and that's not really my point here. Those who want to be dogmatic about no-spanking/spanking can do so on their own blogs and follow their own consciences. I'm really not interested in picking apart the Pearls' theology, either. That's been done and then some, and I have my own opinion, but nothing worthwhile or new to contribute.

Read the definition of association fallacies and then apply that understanding to what you read in Phat Mommy's comment thread and elsewhere. Think about how instances of abuse or dishonesty among homeschoolers are commonly played out in the press and in conventional wisdom.

Tell me what you think. Comments are open below.

Comments

• Mar. 25, 2006 - Phat mommies

Posted by Julie

2 things: Since when did we humans receive the authority to put our own opinions and beliefs above God and His Word? It is each Christian's responsibility (notice I said Christians--this wouldn't apply to non-Christians) to seek God's will for every area of their lives. Teaching from the Bible should be taken in context and cross-referenced with other biblical references for full understanding of meaning. Without God's Word, on what do we base our faith, opinions, beliefs, and yes, child-rearing principles? Parents should especially take seriously their accountability before an almighty God when they establish family standards. Obviously, too many know too little about God. Thing two: homeschoolers have the propensity to defeat their own purpose by airing such dirty laundry for the world to see and criticize. If we act like a bunch of radical opinion-pushers, we lose credibility and possibly our homeschooling privilege because of perceived inability to rationalize. What I've seen today was disheartening, discouraging, and worthless reading.

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• Mar. 26, 2006 - I'm floored.

Posted by Anonymous

I had NO IDEA any of this was going on. I'm guessing one individual took a whole concept WAAAAAY too far with horrible results. I wouldn't boycott something for that, though.

Hmmm... Discipline. I dropped the parenting books, most of them, after so many conflicting "Christian" points of view. Very difficult to sift through for me as a new parent. Yes, I agree, follow GOD and his Word, not someone else's interpretation, anyway. I mean, others can give you insight to God's word.

I don't know. I'm confused again. This was a shocker to read about.

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• Mar. 27, 2006 - Unsettled, but decided to stay

Posted by shaunms

General thoughts:
I thought PhatMommy's post was basically informative -- there has been a backlash against HSB, here's why, pretty neutral. I did not think the link she gave, however, was informative or that useful on the subject. The comments that followed her post were definitely not useful or informative.
I did take some time to think about the idea of a boycott, or at least moving my blog. I have sometimes wondered if I am too much of a fish-out-of-water here anyway, and I considered whether this was further evidence. From what I can tell, I would not want to be supporting the Pearls work indirectly by supporting a site that takes their adv. dollars.
However -- I have not read the Pearls work for myself. Also, I do have to agree that the line from the death of a child to the Pearls all the way to the HSB website is awfully thin. I do not want to be the kind of person who makes knee-jerk decisions based on hearsay and following the crowd. So, here I stay. And I've decided to limit my reading of blogs and, especially, comments!
I did notice that although PhatMommy mentioned the boycott, and apparently decided to move her site, she also linked to many HSB members for the Carnival of Homeschooling, as you know. ;)

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• Apr. 5, 2006 - Comment from PHAT Mommy

Posted by Anonymous

I don't believe this is really a case of "guilt by association." I would consider "association" to be reading and commenting on HSB blogs (which I do), but I consider "supporting" to be keeping a blog here (which I do not).

I am not boycotting HSB because I don't think boycotts are an effective way to promote change. I did decide to close down my blog here, partially because I do not want to support the advertising that I see here and partially because I no longer wanted to keep up two blogs (my other blog existed long before my HSB blog).

Each blogger at HSB should be evaluating for themselves whether or not they support the ideas that are being put out here. If there is another option (i.e. free blog service elsewhere) and one does not agree with the ideas that are being promoted by HSB, then keeping one's blog here is disingenuous.

(Don't mean to post "anonymously" - for some reason I can't log in to HSB - perhaps I've been "banned?")

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• Apr. 5, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

HSB has outright lied about deleting blogs of those who are supportive. They've lied about the number of bloggers who have left. Lying is a sin. I'm pretty sure you know what the scriptures say about associating with sinners.

http://www.xanga.com/mauras/463935002/item.html

http://www.xanga.com/vgarr361/464667017/hopefully-this-will-be-my-last-post-about-hsb.html

http://living-in-freedom-everyday.blogspot.com/2006/03/why-i-left-homeschoolblogger.html

http://deeshade.livejournal.com/

HSB doesn't just support the Pearls, they actively encourage that support, and delete offenders who do not tow the "company line". So much for freedom.

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