Wising Up to Ezzo’s On Becoming Babywise

“There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.”  Winston Churchill
 

 

 

My younger daughter turned three the same year On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep was first published. That was 1995. Over fifteen years later, Gary Ezzo’s infant training methods have divided the Christian community. There seems to be no neutral ground. A quick look at reviews of Babywise over at Amazon shows that people’s opinions are primarily at opposite ends of the spectrum.
 

I believe it was divine providence that I never heard about Ezzo while my children were young. Currently, they are both in college and will likely be getting married and beginning their own families in the coming years. I decided to check out Ezzo’s teachings for myself so that I can be well-informed and share my findings with my daughters as well as our readers here at TWW.
 

Perhaps the best starting point is to look at the credentials of the authors of On Becoming Babywise. I tried to find Gary Ezzo’s educational credentials using Google to no avail. Finally, I was able to get some answers from a Christianity Today article published in November 2000 and entitled “Unprepared to Teach Parenting?

 

Here is the answer:
 

Is Ezzo Who He Says He Is?

 

“An inquiry by CT into Ezzo's background surfaces many new questions about his training, his conduct, and his professional interactions. Parents trust Ezzo to be professional and authoritative on parenting, yet many are not aware that he has no professional background in child development, medicine, or breastfeeding support
.

Ezzo, GFI, and his publisher have attributed to him three different academic degrees that he does not have. Ezzo stated in writing that he had an associate's degree in business from Mohawk Community College in Utica, New York, even specifying a major and a grade-point average. He never graduated from that school, officials say.

 

GFI and Ezzo's publisher, Multnomah, have both said he earned a master's degree in Christian education, but he holds no such degree. The master of arts in ministry that he does have gives significant credit for life experience and is designed for noncollege graduates.”
 

Even though the most recent edition (2006) of On Becoming Babywise lists Ezzo as having an M.A. on the back cover, he never earned such a degree. 3/8/11 clarification: Apparently, Talbot School of Theology has an MA for individuals who do not hold an undergraduate degree. They give credit for "life experience." Our intent was to say that Ezzo's degree was not a typical Masters degree program. However, he does hold this somewhat unusual degree. 3/9/11 This is still in dispute. I find it absolutely incredible that millions of parents have trusted their precious babies to someone who, as the CT article indicates, has “no professional background in child development, medicine, or breastfeeding support.” It staggers the mind!
 

Such criticism would explain why Ezzo brought on board Dr. Robert Bucknam to co-author his book. Even after the addition of Bucknam, it appears that little if anything has changed in Ezzo’s methodology.
 

I have read On Becoming Babywise from cover to cover, and what bothers me the most were the intimidation and scare tactics I found throughout the book. If I were a young mother, I might have been taken in by Ezzo’s manipulation; however, I am older and wiser.
 

Here is an example of what I mean in the Preface of the book. On page 17, Ezzo writes: “On Becoming Babywise is more than an infant-management concept; it is a mind-set for responsible parenthood… This plan will not leave mom ragged at the end of the day nor in bondage to her child.” Bondage? That’s just one of many perjorative terms Ezzo uses to manipulate young parents.
 

Incredibly, Ezzo states on page 19: “Being professionals who provide health and educational services to families”… What? Ezzo has no professional training as stated in the CT article. Folks, I hope you’re beginning to understand the serious character flaws that so many have discovered with regard to Ezzo.
 

As we go forward with this book review, please remember that Ezzo begins by explaining that the primary emphasis of the book is “the nurture of a newborn”. This will be very important as we proceed with the book review.
 

Ezzo begins his scare tactics under the heading “Child-Centered Parenting”. He explains that families who use this method begin breaking apart with the arrival of a newborn. On page 22 Ezzo states:
 

“From the start, the family is breaking apart. This type of parenting puts all other family relationships at risk. Rather than welcoming children to the family, children are treated as the center of the family universe. This is the heart of child-centered parenting.”

 

He then introduces an imaginary baby named Marisa to describe what happens when parents adopt the child-centered approach. He explains that Marisa will “never have to wait for anything. If she wants something, it is given to her on demand.” (p. 23). Marisa’s parents cannot go out for the evening by themselves because they take their little baby with them wherever they go. (Yep, that was my husband and me…) Ezzo then explains how this finicky eater will drive her mother nuts. “Welcome to the circus”, he declares on page 23. Are you getting the picture? This kind of intimidation is used throughout the book whenever Marisa and her parents are mentioned.
 

Ezzo goes on to explain that Marisa is “self-centered”, “ill-prepared for give and take”, and demanding. In describing little Marisa, Ezzo writes: “Given her demeanor, no one may care to help her at all.” (p. 24) Remember, the focus of this book is “the nurture of a newborn”.
 

Chelsea, on the other hand, is a Babywise baby. This imaginary infant and her parents are far superior to Marisa and her parents, according to Ezzo. He explains:
 

“Chelsea’s parents understand that virtues must be nurtured in her tiny heart… Chelsea’s parents must govern and monitor her until they are assured she bears the self-control and moral awareness needed to govern herself.”

And what does Gary Ezzo promise as the reward for using his Babywise method? Here it is:
 

“By the end of Chelsea’s teen years, a beautiful friendship with her parents will begin to blossom. Indeed, this should be every parent’s goal.” (p. 26)
 

If Ezzo’s parenting methods are so superior, then why in the world have his two grown daughters reportedly been estranged from him and his wife for years?
 

Tomorrow we will get into Ezzo’s strong criticism of “demand feeding” and his far superior Babywise alternative, which he describes as “parent-directed feeding”.
 

I would have written a longer post, but I must cut it short because my husband and I are nurturing our relationship with our grown daughters by taking them out to dinner. I guess our child-centered approach to parenting yielded the result that Ezzo was striving for – a beautiful friendship that blossoms as the children reach adulthood.

 

Lydia's Corner: Deuteronomy 2:1-3:29 Luke 6:12-38 Psalm 67:1-7 Proverbs 11:27

 

Comments

Wising Up to Ezzo’s On Becoming Babywise — 53 Comments


  1. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    Dee,

    I haven’t read the book, but it seems to me like you are putting the worst possible spin on things which could have a far less sinister meaning.

    For example, there is something to be said about the difference between welcoming a child into a family and allowing the child to become the center of the family to the point where people no long are able to live their lives in fear that the child might need to wait.

    Also, while I understand your reasons for criticizing what he says as bad advice given how his own daughters turned out, remember that it can be quite common for people to intellectually understand what is correct and incorrect without being able to follow their own advice..the person who is great at organizing someone else’s life, but their own life is in disarray…or the financial planner that’s broke, while his clients thrive. Just because the man is unable to properly raise his children does not invalidate his advice.


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    Karlton,

    I appreciate your input, but I fear that Ezzo’s grown children were raised according to his Babywise methods.

    By the way, Gary Ezzo offers a series of “Parenting Resources” which are featured on page 244-249 of On Becoming Babywise.

    They are:

    On Becoming Birthwise
    On Becoming Babywise II
    On Becoming Toddlerwise
    On Becoming Pottywise for Toddlers
    Potty Training 1-2-3
    On Becoming Childwise
    On Becoming Preschoolwise
    On Becoming Preteenwise
    On Becoming Teenwise

    After reading the first one, I can only imagine what Ezzo teaches in the subsequent books.


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    Dee, lil Marisa is “self-centered”. Good for her. I have grandchildren who seem to be of the ilk, lol. The erudite author reminds me of some ministers who are acquainted with a diploma mill. The true graduate with a phd. has to feel it necessary to declare he really graduated from an accreditied university. U can call me dr. if it makes u feel better but I am most satisfied with master. My degree fits that. Jack


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    Karl

    You are correct and I agree with everything you say. But, in this situation, I believe my fears may be correct. Unfortunately, his advice has been repudiated by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups. There have been reports of severe malnutrition and even deaths when utilizing such a methods.

    Now there appears that there could be a correlation between those who use strict feeding methods and hyperauthoritarian behavior in many other areas. I am also theorizing that churches that recommend this material may be more authoritarian in their perspective as well. If you read the history of Ezzo, this may very well be indicated in this situation.


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    Hi Dr. Jack

    Are you sure that you don’t want to start a church in Raleigh?


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    Has anyone ever met an unselfish baby? :o)


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    Lydia

    You know how manipulative those little 5 week olders can be. They must be put in their place.


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    Lydia,

    I’m still trying to get my mind around “self-centered newborn”. Tiny babies (who are the focus of this book) are so manipulative, aren’t they? How absurd!


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    Dee: Thx for the invitation to Raleigh. Only one problem, I have this wife with over 30 yrs of co-habitation and she is “self-centered” too.


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    Karlton-

    I sat through weeks of pastoral teaching fro the Ezzo materials, and they are awful, if not an abusive way to view raising children. I have seen nothing but rebellion from families that have spewed the Ezzo line by spanking their children before they’re out of diapers, the lectures on their sinfulness, the forced feeding program, the ignoring their cries because babies are sinful-never mind that an infant has limited ways to communicate their needs and discomfort…..I don’t regret a whole lot in life, but I absolutely regret ever trying any of this junk on my eldest when they were a baby….I can not say enough about Ezzo and how awful it is…buyer beware.


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    I have come across this stuff in a previous church, and i abhor it. His scriptural exegesis is awful (I seem to remember that children must always be put in their own bed in a separate room because mary put Jesus in the manger) his concepts of infrequent feeding have been known to lead to infant deaths, and ‘first time obedience’ is not a scriptural concept — in fact I seem to remember that jesus told a parable about 2 sons that suggested that eventual obedience was a good thing too. But by their fruits you shall know them, and the parents I knew who used Ezzo were forever smacking their children and seemingly at war with them because they had to be squashed. I once babysat an Ezzo-raised child (3yo) for a couple of hours. When i told her not to do something, this look of absolute defiance sprang into her eyes, which I had never seen when raising my own 2. Treat parenting as adversarial, and what you raise will be an adversary


  12. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    I know it’s unfair, but just the name “Ezzo” makes me think of some ponzi scheme con artist. We should be aware of becoming attached to weird names, I’m sure if the name was “Smith” or “Johnson” it would not have caught on so well.


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    “Treat parenting as adversarial, and what you raise will be an adversary”

    Very wise words. And your point is excellent. They go into the relationship with the child as an adversary throwing around their power. That is a tyrant.

    In the book on Families and Grace (cannot remember correct title) Jeff VanVonderan says this type parenting method works for a while on making the “outside” behavior good. It does NOTHING for shaping their heart and raising real lasting heart change. It is scary to think what is on the inside of these children the minute they get some freedom. Not to mention they learn how to “present” themselves well…as in faking it.


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    Not being a parent, I have never read anything by the Ezzos. However, these quotes you have given seem to suggest that the Ezzos may have some underlying personal hostility toward infants, and maybe people in general. I am not sure how parents can dwell on the sinfulness of man in their infant, as the Ezzos seem to do, and foster a genuinely loving attitude and disposition toward them. I am not saying they should ignore it, of course, because it is there. But it sounds like the Ezzos are making this the focus of the relationship. Just as Lynne said, it is adversarial. It pits one set of fleshly desires (not being in “bondage” to your infant. Is that like Obama’s not wanting anyone to be “punished” with a baby?) against another (the infant’s sometimes selfish desires). Flesh against flesh? And worse, a subtle underlying hostile, adversarial fleshliness that projects its own hostility on the infant and apparently sees the child predominantly through that lens. A perfect set up for self fulfilling prophecy, as the Ezzos have proven to my satisfaction in their daughters’ estrangement.


  15. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    I am with doubtful on the regret of having had ANYTHING to do with the Ezzo “techniques”.


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    doubtful,

    I’ll take your word for it, my comment was based on only the few examples that Dee gave. I can imagine it might be quite worse if I actually had read the books.

    Thanks for the warning 🙂


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    ” However, these quotes you have given seem to suggest that the Ezzos may have some underlying personal hostility toward infants, and maybe people in general”

    I would disagree. Once again, we see the ugly face of the “authoritarian focus”. It is about power and authority. This focus on power and authority within Christendom is everywhere.

    Yes, parents are their children’s authority. But, HOW we operate in that authority is the key. Let’s face it, your authority over your kids does not grow. It becomes less and less as they age. Let us hope they “mature” in the faith because they saw a model of love, grace and firmness of purpose. Not first time obediance out of fear. How will they learn consequences of wrong actions if they are little automans?

    And never forget. One day they will be choosing your nursing home. :o)

    Let us raise them in love and grace. Not tyranny.


  18. Notice: Undefined variable: button in /home/guswo2wr8yyv/public_html/tww2/wp-content/plugins/quote-comments/quote-comments.php on line 127

    I meant to say that as your authority grows less with your kids as they age your INFLUENCE should increase. Because they trust you.


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    Lydia/Karl and everyone else

    You will not believe what we learned today! We called Talbot and we have some news to share with you all. Read today’s post when we get in up in a few hours.
    TWW does investigative journalism and we freely admit we do not have a degree in such a field.


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    Lydia

    Your comment about the nursing home choice is priceless. Will we need to obey them?


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    Even creating imaginary babies and contrasting them is reflective of an advesarial mentality that is Gary Ezzo (and, unfortunately, many of his cohorts within church leadership.)

    Babies are born self-centered, that is a given, the poor baby is not manipulating his parents, he can’t even control his bladder and bowel movements and Ezzo, who hasn’t taken a single psych or development class says the baby is manipulating his parents.

    I have parented using my own variation of attachment parenting and I’ll take my final product over anyone I know that has followed Ezzo’s draconian methodology any day.


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    I have been concerned that many of our new moms are trying the Ezzo methods at the encouragement of our pastor and his wife! I have never read any of his books, but from what I understand, the whole scheduling thing goes too far – feed, sleep, keep awake on a 3-4 hour cycle. As Grandma used to say, never wake a sleeping baby and feed the baby when he’s hungry! 😛


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    Lydia,

    I like your comment about Authority and Influence, very nicely said. Nice to see we can find some common ground…even if it makes Gilligan’s island look like Australia. 🙂


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    Dee and Deb,

    Thanks for airing the Ezzo issue on TWW. There are many people that I know of who have educated themselves about what Ezzo teaches and have turned away from it, or not even started being “Babywise”. Hopefully your posts here will increase that number and encourage young parents to find better counsel.

    There were many conversations about Ezzo in now defunct discussion boards in the 90’s and onward, but I fear that mothers and fathers of today are unaware of the concerns about what the Ezzo’s teach. Why is that?. Are they used to being followers and not questioning what they are taught? Are they exercising first-time obedience to a book without examining thoroughly? Does peer pressure have more influence on them that being truth-seekers? I don’t know. But it grieves me greatly to see the results in both the Ezzo’s own life and in the families I know who truly believed that the teaching was right.

    Whenever I feel it is necessary to suggest to parents that Ezzo’s teaching has problems that they should research before following, I try to help them understand that reading all the articles and publications and volumes of firsthand reports is a daunting task.

    I feel for the young mom or dad who is being told that the book that they believed was “right’ is wrong. It stirs up many questions, doubts, anger and possibly changes their relationships with the “likeminded” Ezzo followers. It is similar to realizing that your church is dysfunctional and filled with abusive leaders. Many of the same things that have been written about how we deal with spiritual abuse and recovery can be applied to those who are now finding out about Ezzo’s abuses against children and parents.

    Hoping many find freedom and grace in their parenting,

    Heather


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    Heather,

    Thanks so much for your comment. You have expressed exactly why we are publicizing Ezzo’s dangerous teachings. There are many young couples out there who don’t know about the negative press of a decade ago.

    We will be focusing on Babywise at least through Friday. I’m hoping some of our commenters will submit their testimonies like DB. I want to get their info up ASAP!!! Hint, hint…


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    Deb,

    I was offered “Babywise” to read with my 4th child, but gave it back when I saw the bad advice about nursing babies. I knew that what they were teaching was wrong based on my own education and experience.

    I didn’t know then that there were many other serious problems with Ezzo and at one point I would have said that one “Christian parenting” book was as good as another. But I was challenged to look into that, and my life has not been the same since! lol

    Researching Ezzo led to finding out about Gothard which lead to understanding the freedom and grace of New Covenant theology and in reading about that came the realization that what we were seeing at our old church was spiritual abuse. All of that took years of reading and talking and learning – like peeling back the layers of an onion. I expect to be doing that the rest of my life!

    And now I am seeing that it is all connected! Much of it is about misunderstanding authority – for many Ezzo is the authority on how to parent so many do not question him, for many Gothard is the authority about how to live “Biblically”, and many churches get all twisted up when they hold their leaders up as the authority, rather than following Jesus.

    Finding these answers was worth taking the risk of asking the questions!

    Heather


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    “TWW does investigative journalism and we freely admit we do not have a degree in such a field.”

    Which is why I love you guys so much!


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    “I like your comment about Authority and Influence, very nicely said. Nice to see we can find some common ground…even if it makes Gilligan’s island look like Australia. ”

    Thanks, Karlton. Maybe on the secular things we can get to England size. :o)

    By the time I turned 25, my mother, all of a sudden out of no where, became brilliant, wise, intellectual, etc. :o)

    And I started to seek her advice on most things.

    When I went to college and was independent (I worked my way through) she never offered advice. I had to ask. I can see now the great wisdom in that. When you ask…you actually listen. :o)


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    Lydia

    Here is an interesting question. Remember the original comment that got me going on this whole topic? Dumb sheep with their fancy PHDs strutting around thinking they are more than dumb sheep?

    What do you call a dumb sheep strutting around pretending he has a degree?


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    Trinitywatcher

    Grandmas. They are so comforting when you bring home your baby for the first time. My kids’ grandparents spent the early days walking around and holding and cuddling them. I still remember feeding my son. I breast fed my first two but could not do so with my son because my daughter was very sick with her brain tumor and we were in and out of the hospital-he was born between the first and second surgeries.

    Well, he was a slow eater. I am sure Ezzo would have thought he was being manipulative at 2 weeks old. My father was feeding him and I commented how slow he was eating. My father, from a Russian immigrant family who worked hard all of his life, said to me “Leave the little guy alone. He’ll be rushing all his life. Let him have some time to enjoy life.” Nuff said.


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    My experience with watching this stuff like “Growing Kids God’s Way” in the mega’s is that it looks like the anecdote to the permissive parenting culture. People always “overcorrect” a movement that has gone way to far.

    The Danvers statement was a response to the feminist culture of the 70’s which was small but very vocal and in your face. Pretty soon, because of the media, many start thinking everyone who wants basic equality for women as in equal pay are just like the ones on TV burning their bras. This is group think at its worst.

    I see GKGW as similar. It is a drastic response to the permissive parenting culture. I met some people who literally moved across the country to participate in that ONE program at the mega. Scary stuff. It has cultic overtones. If you don’t do it, you are considered a permissive parent.

    I also know people who lasted in it for a few weeks and got out because it seemed so rigid. But I also know some in high level ministry people who were sold out to it who had their daughters married by 18…even though they still paid to educate them in Bible college while married. Isn’t that strange.


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    “What do you call a dumb sheep strutting around pretending he has a degree?”

    Sheared?


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    “Dumb sheep with their fancy PHDs strutting around thinking they are more than dumb sheep?”

    And what about the celebrity pastor who insults PhD’s as lacking humility yet promotes a fake who lies about his credentials about something as important as raising children? Why lie? Why not admit he is just a dad with no credentials. After all, you guys admit you are not journalists while you practice journalism. :o)

    Should his pew sitters trust his judgement? I think not.

    I would say he has some “splaining” to do, Lucy. but they are so PR savvy with “splaning” it is hardly worth the effort to ask. How does one explain that away? Gee, we never thought to actually check the guy out with a simple google before we promoted his book and program to our people and the world on our website. We just liked what it said. Never mind, there is not real biblical justification for the position without some serious twisting. Even our Lord had more grace for us than Ezzo has for children in this program.

    Best to just get the information out there so people can know to stop trusting these celebrity pulpit guys.


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    Lydia

    My husband pointed out an inconsistency last night. He remarked that Ezzos parent controlled stuff is similar to those parents who have kids and dump them on nannies, sitters, etc so they can carry on with their lives. He thinks Ezzo has more in common with the liberal culture than those who really love their kids and sacrifice for them.


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    Lydia

    So this meeting I had in my former church with the pastors who were pushing early marriage was logically inconsistent. One pastor said he wanted married students dorms to be the norm on college campuses. I asked them how these adult, married kids would support themselves and get a college education. The other pastor said he would still pay for college and support them. I said that adults no longer need mommy and daddy supporting them so wasn’t this more like playing house then actually being grownups? No answer.


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    “After all, you guys admit you are not journalists while you practice journalism.”

    Actually Lydia, English was one of my majors at Duke, and I had short stint writing for our college newspaper, the Chronicle. Also, most of the letters to the editor I sumitted to our local newspaper have been published. That should count for something… 🙂

    As an aside, a few weeks ago I took my daughter to lunch at Panera Bread. As we were walking out a lady who used to be in a Bible study with me grabbed my arm. I haven’t seen her in a couple of years. She said, “I haven’t seen any of your letters to the editor in the paper lately.” I just smiled and said, “That’s because I haven’t been writing any.” What we are doing here at TWW is so much more important!


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    Lydia

    Today we will offer a post from a Christian cruise company who said we were a little rough on them. They are really nice guys with good hearts and we are going to post their response. Being open and honest mean that we present the other point of view and admit that we can be wrong or at least not thorough at times.

    I can only hope that some pastors will see the error of putting Ezzo’s stuff out there. They push early marriage and lots of children. Then, for help, they give them Ezzo. Many of these young people are clueless.

    Mark my words. One day, Betty Lou, who got married at 18 per pastor direction, has a baby at 19. High likelihood said baby will be low birth weight which happens with young people giving birth. Betty Lou, following said pastor applies Ezzo at his recommendation. Baby lands in ER 2 weeks later on death’s door due to severe dehydration and malnutrition. There will be a lawsuit coming one of these days. Pastor will most likely not be convicted but will be made to look very stupid especially when all he would have to do is google “Ezzo” and see the pages and pages of documentation.


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    Three comments removed as requested.


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    “The other pastor said he would still pay for college and support them. I said that adults no longer need mommy and daddy supporting them so wasn’t this more like playing house then actually being grownups? No answer.”

    Ok, I am astonished at how much I am seeing this happen. It is exactly like playing house.

    I really think it is an outflow of rise of patriarchy in the church. Mohler is advocating young marriage, too. (Wonder if his daughter is marrying before she gets out of Union…or is she out? She was rooming with Steve Gaines’ very provacative daughter)

    Parents paying for married children’s college, room and board. It boggles my mind. I can remember my brother getting married in college (eloped) and my dad cut him off saying if he was man enough to marry he could make it on his own. And he did…he became very successful. And still married to the same woman. This did not mean my dad did not slip him some bills now and then but the point was the main parental support was over.

    Is this one of those subtopics that really needs looking into? What is going on? Because I am seeing this more and more.


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    I found your site through a friend of mine – I unfortunately live in Mt. Pleasant and used to attend Seacoast Church (seacoast.org) which is a mega church. The Ezzo’s moved from California (where their daughters and grandchildren lived) and moved all the way to a bedroom community outside of Charleston and have heavily promoted their “Christian” parenting program within Seacoast. I took the “Along the Infant Way” class , read the books and tried desperately to follow it so I would have a “good” child as described. It was 12 weeks of H*LL. What I’ll never forget is going to the nursery one Sunday to get my child and she had been crying almost the entire service – no one would feed her. It was shortly after that I realized that there was something really wrong with the program. I spoke to Pastor Surratt – and he defended the Ezzo’s and the program – the “program” is being used by several members now in his family and they all think it’s great. I no longer attend there – I don’t think it’s proper for a church to be telling me when to feed my child or when and how to discipline. I also don’t like the “like minded” culture of it all. All of the GKGW leaders are totally into the program and they only like to hang out with other parents who “follow”.


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    Let’s remember that putting yourself through college back in the 80’s meant that a whole semester could cost you $600. that is for the entire tuition. (At least that is what my boyfriend paid for his education per semester and he put himself through.) I graduated in 2009 and mine was $18,000 per SEMESTER. I don’t think we can judge kids nowadays by the standards of how things were done 20 years ago. (This is generally speaking I hope you understand.)


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    I find it absolutely incredible that millions of parents have trusted their precious babies to someone who, as the CT article indicates, has “no professional background in child development, medicine, or breastfeeding support.” It staggers the mind!

    How many thousands (if not millions) have entrusted their whole families to Bill Gothard, a 76-year-old man who has never married or had children and earned a couple of degrees in biblical studies and Christian education from a then-unaccredited college? That’s always staggered my mind, too.


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    Dee,

    Here is the follow up letter sent to Dr. Heldzinger on his endorsement of Ezzo’s books.

    Dr. Heldzinger,

    I appreciate your quick reply, but your answer seems a bit light on evidence. Your response seems to imply that simply because, in your opinion, the majority of physicians and medical practitioners are being unduly influenced by the media and attorneys that your position therefore has more medical or scientific weight. Is that correct?

    What I was looking for was more from your medical point of view, what scientific or medical evidence exists that makes Ezzo’s methodology for raising newborns a safe and healthy choice for parents, in spite of the statements like those made by the American Academy of Pediatrics which said, in part “…the infant feeding program described in On Becoming Babywise and Preparation for Parenting is inconsistent with AAP recommendations..”

    Below is a partial summary of some of the concerns that brought Ezzo’s material to the attention of the AAP.

    “For several years a pattern was observed in which numerous medical professionals across the nation noted an association with the use of the Ezzo parenting program and poor infant outcomes (such as poor infant weight gain, early breast milk supply failure, dehydration, failure to thrive, and potential child abuse).

    These professionals inquired to the AAP and expressed their concerns. Many of these medical professionals (including pediatricians, nurses, lactation consultants, and child development experts) reviewed the books and discovered that most of the medical information, which is posed as fact, was indeed false, misleading, and unsubstantiated.

    This led to a letter of concern describing these medical problems and the medical misinformation as being inconsistent with AAP recommendations. It was signed by over one hundred healthcare professionals and sent to the AAP on February 10, 1997.

    Included with this letter were:

    (1) A hospitals’ review and statement against the material,
    (2) Case stories regarding the medical problems observed, and
    (3) a review and statement against the material by the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County.”

    As a physician and someone dedicated to the preservation and improvement of quality of life for your patients I’m certain that you must have done significant research into Ezzo’s books and methodologies before publicly recommending their use to potentially thousands or millions of readers and nursing mothers. I look forward to hearing from you. Your expertise will prove invaluable in helping me make an intelligent determination on Ezzo’s book’s and methodologies.

    Thanks in advance.


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    Keep in mind that Ezzo’s website quotes Dr. Derek Heldzinger as saying, “We used the Ezzo method. It was not like having a baby in the family at all, but rather just like having another child in the family. What a blessing.”

    Why in heavens would anyone consider it a blessing to NOT have a baby in the family? Isn’t that stage just as precious as any other? Why would one be relieved that they had a baby that “was not like having a baby in the family at all”? This is troubling to me. Possibly they had unusually nightmarish experiences with their previous children, and if they did, my heart goes out to them. But there seems something extremely disturbing that they would be glad that their baby was not like having a baby in the family. Almost devaluing.


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    NotaStepfordSheep,

    You said “I find it absolutely incredible that millions of parents have trusted their precious babies to someone who, as the CT article indicates, has “no professional background in child development, medicine, or breastfeeding support.” It staggers the mind!”

    Well, to the extent that you really feel that way, you now understand how atheists feel about people who live their life, not as they might want to do, but instead modeled after various holy textbooks and religious hucksters down through the ages…trading in this life in the belief there’s a better one to come…with far less convincing evidence than Ezzo’s baby guides.

    🙂

    just had to work a comment into the thread … 🙂


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    Hi Karl

    I wonder if an evangelical organization ever hired an atheist to do background. I have been having a good laugh about your letter. I am very very interested in the response. If you get one back, we should do a post.

    So, we have LESS convincing material than Ezzo? Hmmmm, prove it.


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    Stunned

    I wonder what their perspective was of kids? This reminds me of parents who have a baby, hire nannies, babysitters, au pairs for day, night and weekend and then claim that having kids is easy.


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    NSS

    This whole thing is a mind boggler with Gothard right in the mix. Somehow, they all seem to mesh together leading one to think this is all about who’s boss and who’s in control. The Garden of Eden played out all over again.


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    Karl, I’m with Dee. I’d need proof on this one.

    Especially in light of the fact that my philosophy professor believed there was a nearly ironclad (but of course not quite) proof of God’s existence out there. If you think about it, there’s not even a conclusive proof that you or I actually exist, so nearly ironclad isn’t so bad.


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    I just want to come in there to say that I for one do NOT exist, unless someone can prove otherwise. 😉


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    Watcher,

    Well, let’s look at what might constitute proof, or maybe even easier what wouldn’t suffice as proof. I think out of the gate you need to dismiss personal feelings, experiences or emotions. Not because they aren’t real in and of themselves, but just the opposite, virtually every believer in a supernatural being, claims that their experiences validate their belief.

    So, if I become a Christian I’m likely to have some type of spiritual experience which convinces me I’m right, but the problem is that followers of Vishnu claim the same thing and followers of Allah, and followers of Baha’ullah, all their followers claim similar personal experiences. If all of those followers claim similar validating experiences then either all of those Gods are real or we can’t use that type of evidence to validate one religion over another.

    Next we move on to miracles, evidence of supernatural intervention in this world at the request of follows of a particular deity. But once again we run into one of two issues, followers of many religions and faiths claim that their God performs miracles in response to prayer it is not unique to Christianity. Secondly, most of the supposed “miracles” attributed to one deity or another are not performed with sufficiently rigid (if any) controls which makes it virtually impossible to distinguish natural events, from a forgery or true divine intervention.

    Thirdly, we can talk about current eye witness testimony, the virgin Mary’s face in the clouds, Jesus on a cross on a waffle house waffle (smothered, covered, diced I would think), etc. I would think, to be charitable, that most of those would fall into the personal experience category.

    Fourth, we have historical evidence, in the case of Christianity roughly 2000 to 4000 year old religious writings written by people who already believe in a God and/or who are trying to persuade their contemporaries to convert. If current “miracles” seem difficult to prove then certainly ones from 2000 years ago would be virtually impossible to validate. Now some people will point to things like the 500 who saw Christ after His resurrection, but again keep in mind, you don’t have testimony of 500 people, you have the testimony of one person, in this case Paul, who “says” 500 people saw him, which is a very different thing.

    Prophecies maybe…but there seem to be just as many inaccurate ones as accurate and many of the accurate ones were written ex post facto. Then you have the problem of how to interpret a prophecy not to mention, again, that other religions also have their sacred texts which also have apparent prophecies, if a prophecy is validating for Christianity then it has to be validating for Hinduism as well.

    So the best proof ends up being the inability of those critical of the existence of God to disprove His existence. In the absence of any strong positive evidence, people tend to accept as “evidence” the “lack of evidence” from the opposing camp, but that’s a very weak argument at best, certainly not one which justifies belief or allegiance to an invisible supernatural being.


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    Karlton, would you allow philosophical proofs for the existence of a god, any god from which Christians work to the existence of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? If so, I’ll try and see if I have a copy from PHIL 101 lying around anywhere.


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    Actually I’d be very interested in reading what you have, it sounds fascinating.