Shoshanna Pearl

[debrand]

I keep saying that I will erase my old blog because I am no longer the same person that wrote on that blog. After reading Shoshana Pearl's letter about the wonderfulness of her childhood, I am glad that I have been lazy

debrasrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/03/rebekah-pearl-part-one-her-childhood.html

At one point, the Pearls income was so low that they were forced to eat what might have been cat food. Rebekah describes this time period on her forum, 7xsunday under the thread called, How is Becca? When my family first moved near the Amish community in TN, I was 14 years old. The first winter we had cabbage, wheat, raw milk, and canned cat food or poor quality tuna (the cans were missing labels when we bought them and we couldn't tell for sure if it was cat food or tuna.)

Please keep that quote in mind as you read this letter from Shoshanna. Other things to keep in mind, she and James are living together. They are not legally married. That isn't a problem except that she insists on saying he is her husband

It’s true. I am Mike and Debi Pearl’s youngest daughter. My name is Shoshanna Rashell (Pearl) Easling and I am writing this to set the record straight. Over the years many people have commented on how surprised they were at how “normal†my siblings and I are. This makes me laugh!

Some people think because we grew up with parents who spanked us when we misbehaved that we should be emotionally scarred, socially crippled, broken-spirited, withdrawn, and so on. Boy, are they wrong! Me, broken-spirited? HA! No one that has ever known me would think such a thing. Our parents raised us to be spirited, creative, confident, successful, and funny. To top it off, I am a go-getter kind of gal (check out Mom’s Preparing book). My parents did not raise any spiritual clones! And none of us ever went through a time of rebellion against God or our parents.

I am 27 years old and married to a wonderful man, James. Everywhere we go, heads turn to check him out. Yes, he is handsome, but what catches people’s attention is the giggling baby girl in his arms, our five-year-old little rascal of a boy smiling mischievously while holding his daddy’s hand, and his glowing wife who obviously thinks he is super. We are blessed, and God is so good! I could go on and on about my amazing husband and my awesome life, but that is another article. I want to tell you how life was growing up in the Pearl house.

When I was a girl in pigtails, my mother taught me how to make biscuits. My dad trained me how to keep my stray hair out of the biscuits. I will never forget the day at the dinner table when Dad pulled a two-foot-long hair (three-quarters swallowed) out of his mouth. We laughed, gagged with him, and got a good story that day. We worked hard and played even harder. Most of my memories are at the creek swimming, lying in the sun, swinging off the rope, riding my horse, and building clubhouses.

I was well-trained, so I did not get many spankings, but I was a wild child, and there were times that I needed one. I remember that spankings were like, “what goes up, must come down.†If you are bad, you get spanked. No emotional drama, no anger, no loud voices; none of that stuff ever occurred in our house. I remember a few times as a child falling down and scraping my knees. I would go show it to Dad for some sympathy. I would always get the most from him, because every time he saw one of us hurt, he would look like he smashed his own thumb. He has always been a tender teddy bear.

When I was 13, I was over helping a young couple by babysitting their kids while they were working on a project. The couple got into a verbal fight and raised their voices. I was blown away. I had no idea couples fought. My dad and mom never raised their voices at each other or at us. I look back at my life in the Pearl house and I thank God I grew up there. I am so blessed to have such amazing parents. The more people I meet, the more I get to know, the more I realize how incredible my childhood was.

We never had any money growing up. Many would call us dirt poor. Rightly so! Oh, but if they knew, I felt like a rich princess raised on sunshine and love. My parents gave me life and showed me how to live it well. They gave me the tools I needed to be successful in love. They gave me the confidence that I could do anything, and when I got married they supported my life as a married woman. I could not ask for better parents! I got the best.

So, am I normal? I am me. I am different. I am happy. I love and respect my husband. I love and enjoy training my children just like I was loved and trained by my mom and dad. Creativity fills my life as I work with herbs, make training DVDs, and write.

AND, thankfully, God is still working on me.

[ILoveJellybeans]

THEY HAD TO FEED THEIR CHILDREN CAT FOOD?????????

I think the fact that she says her childhood is good, doesnt prove it was. She probably doesnt remember being beaten at the age of one (or younger, in one of the stories the kid is 4 months old). She probably blocked out a lot of the stuff we know happened, or was too young to remember it. She is happy because she is not allowed to not be happy. Shes never been taught that she is supposed to sometimes feel angry, or upset or want better for herself.

[OkToBeTakei]

Why does she say she is married if she is not? Is it the whole we do not legal papers thing?

[thoughtful]

Why does she say she is married if she is not? Is it the whole we do not legal papers thing?

It's another part of their indoctrination from Michael.

Sodomites are seeking to redefine marriage in the courts and statutes to include same-sex unions. If their concern were just to obtain the same legal benefits enjoyed by traditional marriages, they would be satisfied with “domestic partnership†or “civil unionsâ€. But no, they want much more. They want to legislate the beliefs, attitudes, and values of people everywhere! It is not just legal standing they seek; it is complete social and moral approval of their chosen, self-felt immoral degradation.

Marriage, necessarily requiring a man and a woman, has by nature been an institution of exclusion from other “pairings†of people for sexual gratification. It has earned respect and honor as a sanctified and worthy institution, the place where future generations are incubated and nurtured. On the other hand, sodomy, by its nature, has historically been understood by all cultures to be an aberration, a perversion, unworthy of praise. Queers are tired of being queer. They want to escape the stigma their sin carries by joining the ranks of the holy—holy matrimony.

All of my children but one were married by private contract. They did not ask the state for permission to marry. I wrote a one-page covenant for them, something like a private contract, that stated their commitment to enter into holy matrimony according to Biblical precepts, a few of which were enumerated. The contractual part of the wedding consisted of their verbal pledges of marriage and their signing the pledge in front of all present. Parents also signed the pledge, committing to the union, and then siblings and friends signed it as well. In unison, all present pronounced them man and wife by the power vested in us from God. They later took a copy of the document to the courthouse and had it notarized and filed.

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/holy-matrimony/

[sparkles]

According to Daddy, they're all married in the eyes of the Lord and see no need to be legally married, since they have nothing but contempt for the government and refuse to share the ritual of legal marriage with the sodomites and perverts. I wonder what would happen if one of these "spouses" had to be hospitalized, since in many cases, if you're not legally married you can be barred from having a say in the other person's care. I wouldn't imagine that they've taken any other legal steps such as a health care proxy that would allow the other partner to have a say.

I have no doubt that many children who've been brought up in strict fundamentalism do think they had happy childhoods. It's what's been drummed into them since birth and I'm sure they truly believe it. I imagine it would take something truly earth-shattering to shake them to their core and cause them to question.

[Just Not Good]

I am picturing the poor clerk of court being asked to "notarize and file this here document" and dying laughing.

[Anny Nym]

I think they say they´re not getting legally married because the ebil gayz could get married by the state too?

I just stumbled over debrasrandomthoughts.blog yesterday when reserching the Pearls and what disgusted me most were the way Michael Pearl wrote about natives of Papua New Guinea, where the oldest Pearl girl, Rebekah, claimed to have been "the first white woman they (a native tribe in the mountains) saw...).

As someone who actually studies Ethnology, this horrified me and made me laugh the same time because of the ridiculousness of this entirely made-up story. PNG is (sadly) somewhat of the "training areal" for every whackadoodle missionary group from around the world. They actually fight over the villages which they could "minister" to. Rebekahs´s story about being the first westerner ANYWHERE there and bringing them literacy in our western sense of it is complete bullshit.

Okay, enough offtopic now, this thread is about the other daughter, I know ... I just had to get my steam off :rawr:

All the Pearl children had a complete fucked-up childhood with massive brainwashing imo. Isn´t Shoshanna the one that dreams of the apocalypse?

[Guest]

Doesn't everybody look back at their childhood as happy and idyllic? My childhood was kind of nightmarish, but whenever I look back on it, I remember the happy parts. I have no doubts that all of the Pearls, along with the Duggars and many other fundie children, have awesome memories to look back on and have heartwarming stories to tell of a time when their parents did something really great for them, but it doesn't represent their childhood as a whole.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

I am 27 years old and married to a wonderful man, James. Everywhere we go, heads turn to check him out. Yes, he is handsome, but what catches people’s attention is the giggling baby girl in his arms, our five-year-old little rascal of a boy smiling mischievously while holding his daddy’s hand, and his glowing wife who obviously thinks he is super. We are blessed, and God is so good!

Again with the over-the-top Christian pride. Give me a fucking break. I'm sure the whole family farts rainbows and where ever they go they stun people with the brilliance of their halos.

[longskirtlotsakids]

I actually really like Shoshanna's youtube channel. Her kids are often helping her and they are cute and hilarious. She comes across as an extremely articulate and intelligent woman-as evidenced by her bustling herb and nutrition business.

I wonder what advances she might have made to society had she not been pummeled into her limited role.

[Chicken bones]

According to Daddy, they're all married in the eyes of the Lord and see no need to be legally married, since they have nothing but contempt for the government and refuse to share the ritual of legal marriage with the sodomites and perverts. I wonder what would happen if one of these "spouses" had to be hospitalized, since in many cases, if you're not legally married you can be barred from having a say in the other person's care. I wouldn't imagine that they've taken any other legal steps such as a health care proxy that would allow the other partner to have a say.

I have no doubt that many children who've been brought up in strict fundamentalism do think they had happy childhoods. It's what's been drummed into them since birth and I'm sure they truly believe it. I imagine it would take something truly earth-shattering to shake them to their core and cause them to question.

Hospitalization??! No need for things like that. There's always some herbs they can take. Like for preeclampsia, ya know. (Wait, that was Rebeka, not Shoshanna.)

[Dollypeeps]

If abuse happened and they are suppressing it, it will come out one day mine did and it wasn't pretty being happy and putting a face on will only work for so long and then the facade will crumble.

[JMarie]

It's another part of their indoctrination from Michael.

nogreaterjoy.org/articles/holy-matrimony/

They don't trust the court's definition of marriage, yet they went to the courthouse to get their "marriage contracts" notarized??

[dairyfreelife]

So basically...we are all amazing and perfect and no one ever fought or yelled and it was nothing when they got a little switch once in a blue moon cause it really was so rare, but we all instantly obeyed our parents and there was never any trouble and my children are all little perfect, bright angels too and my husband is so hot and we are so amazing, everyone is always staring at us and how beautiful and awesome we are and we are so much better than everyone else we turn heads in public.

I just looked out my window and must have missed all those flying pigs today.

[debrand]

The Pearls don't call hitting with switch a spanking. That is one of their forms of training. A spanking is more ritualistic in the Pearls' world. Shoshanna was probably getting hit plenty of times, she just wasn't-in her mind-being spanked.

There is a story in the Pearls' book, To Train Up A Child where the dad discusses a training session that includes barking random, senseless commands at his kids and switching them for not instantly obeying with a smile. So, yeah, she was hit often.

[doggie]

Daddy showed sympathy when she fell down? This same dad who writes that parents should just tell the kid to shut up and take it ? A lion has more compassion for its prey then that sociopath has for anything under him.

[debrand]

It is a long story but notice that five year old Shoshanna was spanked every day for two weeks.

One hot summer day, Mama Pearl had all five of us children helping shuck and cut sweet corn. It is a long, tiring job. Shoshanna was only five years old at the time, two years younger than I was, and she was not much of a worker. She quickly grew weary of the hot job. She said to Mama Pearl, “I’m too tired and hot to work. Can I quit?†Mama Pearl told her she was free to go in the house and take a nap.

When the corn was finished, we went to the creek to wash the sticky corn off as we took a refreshing swim. Mama Pearl went in the house to tell Shoshanna she could go, but surprisingly Shoshanna was still fast asleep.

It was then that Mama Pearl noticed that the large red wall hanging that hung over where Shoshanna slept was cut all the way across the bottom. Ugly gashes from some kind of large pair of scissors had ruined the beautiful blanket.

Mama Pearl wondered, “Who could have done such a thing? And why?†At first it seemed too hard a job for such a small girl as Shoshanna, and where could she have found scissors? Mama Pearl said she considered all the different people who had been to their house that day. Who could have done the bad deed if not little Shoshanna?

Mama Pearl waited until everyone was together at the dinner table that evening before mentioning the red wall hanging. “Did you see that the red blanket was cut today? Who could have done such a destructive thing?â€

I jumped to my feet and raced out of the room to see. Shoshanna followed me. I couldn’t believe how awful it was, and wondered who could have done such a naughty thing. Shoshanna was loudly agreeing.

Mama Pearl told me later that she was almost sure it was Shoshanna who cut the blanket, but she knew that it was possible the blanket had been cut for several days and no one noticed it. If that was the case, it could have been someone else. She decided to wait until Shoshanna told the truth. Every day Mama Pearl told us a story about how important it was to walk in truth. She told us Bible stories and stories about the time she lied about flying in a helicopter when she was six years old.

I knew she was trying to help Shoshanna know how important it is to walk in truth. Cutting the blanket was bad, but becoming a liar was much worse. Every day Shoshanna would carry on about being afraid to take a nap in the room in case the bad person who cut the blanket came back while she slept. All us kids started to almost believe that maybe someone did come in and cut the blanket, because Shoshanna seemed so sincere and truthful when she talked about it. Who could lie that well?

One week passed, then another, and still Shoshanna worried about the bad guy coming in the room while she slept. I could see that even Mama Pearl was beginning to wonder if someone else had cut the blanket. But why would anyone do anything so silly and mean as cut a wall hanging?

Then one evening Shoshanna climbed up into Mama Pearl’s lap. Mama Pearl hugged her tight and started scratching her head as she hummed a song. Even though Shoshanna was big, she was still the youngest kid and she really liked sitting in Mama’s lap. I saw when Shoshanna turned her head and heard her whisper in Mama’s ear, “Mama, I cut it.â€

Finally, after more than two weeks, she had admitted the truth. What a convincing liar she had become! All us kids thought about how she lied to us and we did not like it. How would we believe her next time? Who can trust a liar?

Mama Pearl was glad Shoshanna had finally told the truth, but she knew Shoshanna needed to be chastened for being so great a deceiver.

I heard Mama Pearl whisper to Shoshanna, “I’m glad you finally told the truth. Being a liar is a terrible thing, much worse than cutting the blanket. But even though I am glad you told the truth, you must be spanked for destroying the hanging and for lying all these days.â€

Mama took the hidden scissors and put them away. They were large and very sharp. Mama Pearl explained to Shoshanna how dangerous they were and how glad she was that she had not cut herself. It was good that she had finally told the truth.

So Shoshanna got a spanking every day for two weeks—the number of days she had lied. And every day Mama Pearl reminded her how more than anything we wanted her to walk in truth. And that’s the story of why it is important to tell the truth.

[Oddeverything]

The Pearls don't call hitting with switch a spanking. That is one of their forms of training. A spanking is more ritualistic in the Pearls' world. Shoshanna was probably getting hit plenty of times, she just wasn't-in her mind-being spanked.

There is a story in the Pearls' book, To Train Up A Child where the dad discusses a training session that includes barking random, senseless commands at his kids and switching them for not instantly obeying with a smile. So, yeah, she was hit often.

Not to mention having her hair pulled sharply if she grazed her mother's breast with her baby teeth when nursing. Shoshanna can spin this however she wants but she was raised by a sadist/pervert and his accomplice. He was so convinced that any time alone would result in instant masturbation that the girls had limited time in the bathroom and limited time to dress and they could not lock the doors. Their father had to have access to them even as they defecated and changed their clothes so as to be sure they were not engaging in covert onanism. She may not think this unusual or that she was affected by it but I've always maintained that people who insist their abuse as a child did not hurt them in any way are showing how much it screwed them up because they grew into people who think abusing children leaves no mark on them, physically or psychologically.

[hoipolloi]

It is a long story but notice that five year old Shoshanna was spanked every day for two weeks.

Oddly enough (or perhaps it's not that odd), one of the Pearls' sons also got spanked switched trained hit every day for nearly two weeks for lying (nogreaterjoy.org/articles/dealing-with-slick-liars/?topic_slug=girls-and-boys):

After much soul-searching and many botched ideas, I finally told Nathan that I realized he was a liar, even though I couldn’t catch him red-handed in his lies. I told him that God hated lying, that I hated it, that I had failed him, and that it was very important that he not continue to be a liar. I informed him that everyday for the next seven days, I was going to give him 10 licks at noon. He was to bring me the switch and I would spank him for being a liar. So everyday, he would bring me the switch at noon. If he failed to provide the switch at noon, he got additional licks. He was timely with the switch. It forced him to spend his mornings considering which branch to cut from the willow tree and how long he had left before the hour of chastisement was at hand.

When the clock struck twelve, I very calmly, and without pity, reminded him, “You are a liar, and lying is an ugly, hateful thing. In order that your soul shall be spared, I’m going to whip you.†That was all I said, no praying, no sermons, no “you break my heart†appeals. I would cause him to bend over on the couch, and I would give him the 10 licks.

Then there's Rebekah's story about getting spanked switched trained hit as a toddler for not being happy enough (nogreaterjoy.org/articles/how-training-pays-off/?topic_slug=girls-and-boys):

One of my earliest memories is standing outside in the springtime in a shirt and panties watching Mom and Dad work in a little garden plot with great enthusiasm.

I was probably about 3 years old. Gabe was not yet one year. The sun was shining warmly on the part in my frizzy hair (it had just been unbraided) and the wind was a little cool on my legs. That morning I was as sour as a green papaya and couldn’t think of a reason why. Of course my foul mood got me a spanking with a spring sapling, and my attitude miraculously disappeared. I remember my folks reminding me of my middle name, Joy, and calling me to the responsibility it carried. That episode was repeated consistently throughout my childhood until all moodiness was thoroughly stamped out of me. Attitude manipulation worked with my parents about as well as a one legged frog on the interstate.

Contrast this memory (published in NGJ in 2002) to the assertions she made in a 2006 form letter sent to various homeschooling blogs & other venues (nogreaterjoy.org/answers/are-michael-and-debi-pearl-guilty-as-charged/):

I remember only one spanking. I remember it because I laughed all the way through it, and so did my Dad. I had played a prank that was dangerous, but funny, and fully deserved a spanking for it, but my parents were unable to spank me without laughing. That is the only spanking I clearly remember. The others were so well-deserved my conscience was able to write off the memory once the deed was paid for.

I was never injured in body or spirit by the training I received. I was never “struck†in anger. I did receive non-injurous spankings on my fully clothed backside with a willow switch when I had clearly transgressed a known “law†of the house. These spankings did not leave bruises or abrasions, or emotional distress.

[Miggy]

I think they say they´re not getting legally married because the ebil gayz could get married by the state too?

I just stumbled over debrasrandomthoughts.blog yesterday when reserching the Pearls and what disgusted me most were the way Michael Pearl wrote about natives of Papua New Guinea, where the oldest Pearl girl, Rebekah, claimed to have been "the first white woman they (a native tribe in the mountains) saw...).

As someone who actually studies Ethnology, this horrified me and made me laugh the same time because of the ridiculousness of this entirely made-up story. PNG is (sadly) somewhat of the "training areal" for every whackadoodle missionary group from around the world. They actually fight over the villages which they could "minister" to. Rebekahs´s story about being the first westerner ANYWHERE there and bringing them literacy in our western sense of it is complete bullshit.

This is so funny I had to go off topic again.

Dear Rebekah,

My husbands family were missionaries working in PNG between the two world wars! I can't give you exact dates or places but they were based on the coast and carried bibles up into the mountains. There were plenty of white folk running around PNG converting people before 1939.

Even if your tribe were so isolated they got missed by the early missionaries (unlikely) do you have any idea how many Australian & New Zealand soldiers ran around PNG during the war. The "fuzzy-wuzzy angels" are legends here for the help they gave our soldiers. I don't imagine there are too many people in PNG who weren't affected in someway by this.

Sorry Bec, you missed the chance to be the first westerner anywhere by about 100 years.

Edited to add: There is a huge difference between contact with westerners and actually becoming western. I believe it is quite possible Rebekah met people who were still living a very traditional lifestyle. I just don't believe there is anyone in PNG nowdays who hasn't had contact with westerners.

[fundiefan]

I'm betting those married by 'private contract' would be turning to the state and fighting with it if their headship dies or walks off. They'll be turning to the state to 'get their due' like death benefits, support, etc.

The state is evil unless it has something you want.

[fundiefan]

This is so funny I had to go off topic again.

Dear Rebekah,

My husbands family were missionaries working in PNG between the two world wars! I can't give you exact dates or places but they were based on the coast and carried bibles up into the mountains. There were plenty of white folk running around PNG converting people before 1939.

Even if your tribe were so isolated they got missed by the early missionaries (unlikely) do you have any idea how many Australian & New Zealand soldiers ran around PNG during the war. The "fuzzy-wuzzy angels" are legends here for the help they gave our soldiers. I don't imagine there are too many people in PNG who weren't affected in someway by this.

Sorry Bec, you missed the chance to be the first westerner anywhere by about 100 years.

Edited to add: There is a huge difference between contact with westerners and actually becoming western. I believe it is quite possible Rebekah met people who were still living a very traditional lifestyle. I just don't believe there is anyone in PNG nowdays who hasn't had contact with westerners.

I'm sure she claims they had no contact with Westerners because they were still ebil heathens who hadn't turned to Jesus. How could they possibly have encountered good Westerners and not become Christian? It's beyond comprehension to people who believe they have all the answers and know all the truths of the world. They know, dammit, and they've told you. You can't possibly choose not to believe now!

[bananacat]

I'm betting those married by 'private contract' would be turning to the state and fighting with it if their headship dies or walks off. They'll be turning to the state to 'get their due' like death benefits, support, etc.

The state is evil unless it has something you want.

Actually, I don't believe they will do this, and I think this is the true point of not getting state recognition for their marriages. The completely, utterly, 100% dependent wives would have a very hard time getting alimony, child support, or custody of their children in the event of a divorce. This means the women will have a much much tougher time initiation divorce, and they also must do everything in their power to prevent the husband from initiating a divorce. The purpose has nothing to do with gay people, and everything to do with making the women more dependent on their husbands and making it harder for them to leave. They want to recreate the old-fashioned situation where a man was all-powerful and the mere threat of divorce could make the woman fear becoming destitute and homeless. It's a way to further control the women.

Fortunately most states have some laws to recognize common-law marriages and in fact, many might even recognize these private contracts as legally binding if a the woman could provide a copy of it. It's not much protection, but slightly more than the Patriarchs want for these women.

[Coconut Flan]

The last I read most states had abolished common law marriages. The women would be able to sue for custody and child support and possibly palimony though.

[GiGi_41]

Wisconsin doesn't have common law marriage, though you could sue for child support, but 50/50 splits are very common here so child support might be pretty low.