{"id":24647,"date":"2015-01-18T11:17:54","date_gmt":"2015-01-18T15:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=24647"},"modified":"2015-01-18T11:18:40","modified_gmt":"2015-01-18T15:18:40","slug":"michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html","title":{"rendered":"Michael Farris’s Selective Interest in Protecting Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the most recent installment of my Anonymous Tip review series<\/a>, social workers Donna and Rita forcibly strip-searched four-year-old Casey. In the comments, a reader pointed this out<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The strip-search bit sounds (to me, anyway) awfully similar to a spanking. Child is pinned down against her will, clothing is removed against her will, child writhes and screams to no avail\u2026 Casey is probably surprised that after this, the social workers just let her go instead of whacking her with a wooden spoon the way her Heroic Christian Mom would.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She\u2019s right. Here\u2019s the book\u2019s description of the strip-search:<\/p>\n

\n

Corliss was tired of going slowly. She moved with firm deliberation. She quickly grabbed Casey\u2019s other arm and held her down on the bed. \u201cRita, quick, take off her shirt and jeans and pull her panties down. Quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casey writhed in terror. Her cries turned to screams as the two social workers stripped all her clothes off.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Farris describes the strip-search in a way that is obviously calculated to arouse horror in his readers\u2014and for good reason! What Farris described was<\/em> horrifying. But what\u2019s interesting is that Farris\u2019s hero, Gwen, spanks Casey with a wooden spoon. Farris never describes a spanking episode in his book, but if he did\u2014and did so honestly\u2014there would be little difference in the accounts.<\/p>\n

Farris\u2019s organization, HSLDA,\u00a0defends parents\u2019 right to strike\u00a0their children<\/a>. HSLDA opposes attempts to limit corporal punishment<\/a>\u00a0to that which is \u201creasonable.\u201d HSLDA defends parents\u2019 right to hit their children with objects<\/a>. In fact, in\u00a02010 HSLDA opposed<\/a> a Florida bill<\/a>\u00a0that would have added \u201cexcessive bruises or welts\u201d to the state\u2019s definition of \u201charm\u201d in its child abuse and neglect code<\/a>.\u00a0And given that he had ten children of his own and certainly spanked them, he has<\/em> to know that a spanking sometimes looks very much like the strip-search he described above.<\/p>\n

My parents spanked my siblings and I. It frequently involved a struggling child being held down, and not infrequently involved pulling down a child\u2019s pants and, in some cases, underwear. I have been spanked in ways that fit Farris\u2019s above description of Donna and Rita\u2019s forcible strip-search of Casey. I have watched my siblings spanked in the same way, and\u2014sad to say\u2014I occasionally\u00a0spanked my younger siblings in ways that fit that description as well. (I have written before about how much I regret that my parents gave me the authority to spank my younger siblings\u2014I was a teenager<\/em>, I should never have been given that sort of power over my siblings.)<\/p>\n

So, all of this said, I\u2019m wondering. Has Farris simply never put these two things\u2014forcible strip-searches and corporal punishment\u2014in the same category? Or does he think there\u2019s a difference because\u00a0the one is the act of a stranger while the other is the act of a parent? In Farris\u2019s mind, is it okay for a parent to overpower and violate their child but not for a stranger to do the same?<\/p>\n

To be perfectly clear, I don\u2019t think either of these situations is okay. I understand that there are times when children must be overpowered and held still against their will\u2014say, shots, or stitches\u2014but I don\u2019t think this should be done unless absolutely necessary, and I would argue that neither corporal punishment or social services strip searches meet that threshold.<\/p>\n

You want my conclusion? Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights\u2014a violation of Gwen\u2019s rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey\u2014and we know that she does\u2014Farris would be at Gwen\u2019s side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed<\/em> to terrorize a child.<\/p>\n

Although to throw one more wrench in this, HSLDA has advised parents as follows<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Avoid potential situations that could lead to a child welfare investigation. .\u00a0. . Do not spank someone else\u2019s child unless they are close Christian friends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u00a0does not say \u201cdo not spank someone else\u2019s child unless you have their permission<\/em>.\u201d No. Its\u00a0assumption is that if someone else is a close Christian friend, you may spank their children without even asking their permission<\/em>. Let me clarify further: HSLDA advises its members that they may spank other people\u2019s children without checking with their parents<\/em> if those parents are close Christian friends. I honestly have no idea how this fits with HSLDA\u2019s emphasis on parental rights.<\/p>\n

This is just bizarre.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights—a violation of Gwen’s rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey—and we know that she does—Farris would be at Gwen’s side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,108],"tags":[198,286,166],"class_list":["post-24647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-parenting","tag-hslda","tag-michael-farris","tag-spanking"],"yoast_head":"\nMichael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-18T15:17:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-18T15:18:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html\",\"name\":\"Michael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-18T15:17:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-18T15:18:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michael Farris’s Selective Interest in Protecting Children\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children","description":"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children","og_description":"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2015-01-18T15:17:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-01-18T15:18:40+00:00","author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html","name":"Michael Farris's Selective Interest in Protecting Children","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-18T15:17:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-01-18T15:18:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"Farris is horrified by the strip search he describes not because of the harm to Casey, but rather because he sees it as a violation of parental rights---a violation of Gwen's rights. If Gwen did the exact same thing to Casey---and we know that she does---Farris would be at Gwen's side defending her up and down. The issue is not whether a child should be allowed to be terrorized. The issue is who should be allowed to terrorize a child.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2015\/01\/michael-farriss-selective-interest-in-protecting-children.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michael Farris’s Selective Interest in Protecting Children"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}