Girl spanked to death by parents

Publish date: 2024-06-06
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/08/15/exp.ac.tuchman.punishment.cnn&iref=NS1

If you can get through this entire thing without feeling disgust and anger, more power to you. To me, this is the true noose around the neck of religion. If you dont want to watch the video, I dont blame you, and Ill do my best to summarize.

Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz of Paradise, California, were charged with murder and torture for beating their two adoptive daughters, causing injuries so severe that one, 8 year old Lydia, died. The parents were following the teachings of the fundamentalist Christian book "To Train Up a Child." by Michael Pearl. The book contains such gems as:

If you spare your child the rod, you hate your child. If you love your child, you punish him timely. The rod, in this case, can be anything from a tree switch, a spatula, or a plumbing supply line.


The rod is a magic wand. God would not have instructed parents to use a rod if he didnt mean it for punitive measures. If dogs and cats can be trained, so can children. Any spanking to successfully reinforce punishment must cause pain.


The Schatz' followed these teachings to the letter. In fact, they beat both their adoptive daughter for seven straight hours with a pipeline, only taking short breaks to pray. Their eight year old daughter, Lydia, sufferred injuries that doctors classified as consistent with an earthquake or massive attack, and died of cardiac arrest. Their eleven year old daughter, Zariah, was in critical condition for a month after sustaining similar punishment. What were they being punished for, you ask? Mis-pronouncing a freaking word during a home-school reading lesson the day before she died. The Schatz family believed in a religious philosophy that espouses corporal punishment to “train” children to be more obedient to their parents and God, using “the rod” as a corrective tool. In this case, the rod was a quarter-inch thick plastic plumbing line.

Michael the father, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and torture, and was sentenced to 21 years in jail. The mother, Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and cruelty to a child, and was sentenced to 12 years in jail. The Schatz' parental rights were also terminated, and their children are in foster care. At the sentencing hearing, eleven year old Zariah, still recovering from her injuries, addressed her parents in open court:

Why did you adopt her? So you could kill her? Were you trying to kill me?


District Attorney Mike Ramsey said the following regarding the outcome:

“The Schatzes’ method of discipline was obviously just flat wrong and cruel. Their parental rights were terminated and the children are in foster care. “It’s a good outcome, particularly for the children, who do not have to testify. I do believe the child(Lydia) would still be alive if the parents hadn't read the Pearl book”


Michael Pearl issued the following tactless, indifferent response to Ramsey's words. It has come to may attention that a vocal few are decrying our sensible application of the Biblical rod in training up our children. I laugh at my caustic critics, for our properly spanked and trained children grow to maturity in great peace and love…When your children finally find an honest mechanic or a trustworthy homebuilder, it will be one of ours…When your children apply for a job it will be at a company our children founded.

When they go to a doctor, it will be one of our Christian children that heals them with cutting edge innovation. When your adult kids go for therapy it will be one of our kids-become-psychologist that directs them to the couch and challenges them to release their self-loathing and embrace hope for a better tomorrow.

My five grown children are laughing at your foolish, uninformed criticism of God’s method of child training, for their kids—my 17 grandkids—are laughing . . . because that is what they do most of the time… Even my chickens are laughing . . . well, actually it more like cackling, because they just laid another organic egg for my breakfast and they know that it was that same piece of ¼ inch plastic supply line that trained the dogs not to eat chicken.


To me, this is the epitome of arrogance. I had not heard of Mr. Pearl before this case, but his arrogance and tactlessness shines through here. Is he to blame for the death of Lydia? Of course not. But it does raise the question of whether or not the girl would still be alive if the family had not read the Pearl book, and followed it to the letter. The book speaks as if punishment is all sweetness and delight, and yet talks about calmly stalking the child if they run from the spanking, laughing at their frail attempts to escape. And there's so much more, yet all couched in language of smiles and happy families. But there's no mercy, grace, or freedom found within the book, just legalism, punishment, and salvation by "the rod". Ive been taught differently, but maybe thats just me. So i throw it to you:

Do you believe the young girl would still be alive had the parents not read the Pearl book? Or was this bound to happen?

Were the sentences in this case just?

Is spanking an appropriate form of discipline in any situation?

Feel free to take this in any direction you like. Any other comments or thoughts are welcome.

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