I don’t have an answer, but I can share my confusion. Check out the link I have provided after you read the post. Inevitably, it raises more questions:
“To give up the use of the rod is to give up our views of human nature, God, eternity.” — To Train up a Child by Michael Pearl.
The man who wrote these words is currently at the center of a conflict (surprising, right?) but that conflict is more serious than you might think. Pearl’s words are central to a philosophy that advocates severe corporal punishment in the rearing of children. Although the book was self-published, it has been brought into the public eye after several parents, convicted of killing their children, were found in possession of the book.
The problem (among many) is that Pearl’s words, already radical, are being interpreted in the extreme. Children’s deaths that have been linked to the case show signs of Pearl’s punishment methods, methods derived from training used for “stubborn mules.”
So, how is this news anything but alarming or sad? How is it dramaturgical or theatrical?
Well, I was thinking of this explosion both in terms of translation and playwriting. It is a prime example of how the interpretation of words is crucial. How one interprets or renders the words of an author can lead to the heightening and positive influence of the work in the world, or, as seen above an absolute disaster.
Pearl claims no responsibility in the deaths of the children, nor is he being charged with anything. In a sense, despite the cruel and radical implications of his work, he is not to blame for how it was interpreted. Here I come to the fuzzy line that I feel like I’ll be staring at for the rest of my life. It is the point where a work of art, a compilation of words, passes from creator to viewer. It is in the liminal space of responsibility. In that moment, who is responsible for the effects of the work in society? Artist or absorber? Both? Neither?
Is Pearl completely absolved of these deaths despite him being the author of the language that drove them? It is a hard line to scrutinize, as an artist, as anybody. And when God and faith are called in to question, as in this case, the spheres of responsibility only become further blurred.
