A four-year-old boy was killed by his adoptive mother. The boy refused to stay in bed at night so the mother wrapped him so tightly in blankets he suffocated. Other children in the family were badly beaten.

The liberal media has pointed out that the mother read the book To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl. This story has led to an amazing backlash.

Several homeschool bloggers are demanding a boycott against The Old Schoolhouse and HomeschoolBlogger (hosted by TOS) because TOS accepted ads from the Pearls.

There exists a long-standing and ongoing friction between those who hold a Christian homeschool philosophy and those who are secular in their approach to homeschooling. Some in both camps strive for unity but it rarely works because of the vast difference in world views.

Those who cannot reasonably defend their views often resort to attacking their opposition in an effort to divert attention and redirect focus to something or someone else. You’ll see this often in politics (the liberal left does this all the time). Those who cannot win their argument create a persuasive diversion to keep their message alive.

The motivation for the boycott is an attack against a Christian magazine and blog host. The boycotters would have you think their efforts are sincere; that they are trying to rid the world of evil, but don’t be deceived.

The boycott is not an effort to ban the book. If the goal was to get rid of the Pearl’s book, the boycott would include libraries, Amazon, and other bookstores and vendors carrying the book.

The boycott is not an effort to find and stop the motivation behind the reason the abuser killed her child. If it was they would also look at other influences in the abuser’s life such as medication, mental illness, violent TV shows and friends, family, etc. They would investigate the woman’s home and boycott other authors as well as businesses that advertise or have advertised those authors. They would then call a boycott of all such influences. To blame one book as the reason for the abuse is ridiculous; the abuser obviously had several mental and spiritual problems.

I visited several blogs of those advocating a boycott and found that most are secular homeschoolers. A quick browse through their blog-a-sphere revealed anti-Christian tirades, pagan god teachings, witchcraft, profanity, tarot cards, new age beliefs, etc.

My post is not an endorsement of the Pearls’ book. It has been several years since I read this book and I don’t remember everything in it. However, I certainly think I would recall any discipline methods that could lead to death.

I don’t feel a need to encourage TOS to get rid of any advertisers. I know the staff at TOS and I know they make decisions based on prayer and the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The father of lies continually attacks Christian companies like TOS because they are bringing motivation and encouragement to Christians. Pray for TOS.

If you have a comment please post on my regular blog at http://heartofwisdom.com/blog

I moved to my blog to HeartofWisdom.com  a few months back but I am posting this here because  it is about homeschool Blogger.