Child Training

"Spank Until You Draw Blood"

WFAA did a good job bringing attention to the physical abuse of children in Homestead Heritage. The group actually had child training classes instructing parents on how to discipline their children. Following are some notes taken during these training classes:

Who Is Being Worshiped?

Most people will never attend a Sunday meeting at Homestead Heritage unless you join. The few times that visitors have attended Sunday meetings, messages were passed to the entire church to refrain from exuberant worship. The meetings with visitors were more scripted to impress the visitor.

The following audio clip is an example of a testimony given during a Sunday meeting sans visitors. It should become apparent why the church was told to behave differently when an "outsider" was among them. I'll transcribe below the section of the clip that I have concerns about. Who is being worshiped here?

Satanic Visitations

Frightening Others With Your Sleep Paralysis

I wonder how most church attenders would respond if, one Sunday, their pastor began to describe to them a purportedly demonic experience he'd had. What if he told them that he awoke in the middle of the night one night not able to move. Not only can he not move, but he's levitating above the bed. He is unable to speak. Over him stands an old woman. The pastor assures the congregation that the devil would like to prevent him from accomplishing some super special work that God has for him to complete.

On Medical Care

"Medical Questions"

What Homestead wrote about hospital birth also applies to their position on medical care in general. 

The title of this post is actually the heading of a paper containing a list of questions and statements that Homestead Heritage handed out to members. The very wording of them is self explanatory, so I'll let them speak for themselves. Yes, Homestead can point to evidence of some members receiving medical treatment, but it is largely discouraged and treated with suspicion. 

Home Birth At Homestead

"Conviction" Or Fear-Mongering?

Most of the women at Homestead Heritage have their babies at home with the assistance of church ladies who function as unlicensed midwives. Since these "midwives" are not licensed by the Texas Midwifery Board, they cannot charge for their service and cannot take any responsibility for a woman's pregnancy or birth. If something should go wrong-- and things have gone very wrong in some situations-- a couple can only transport to the hospital claiming that they were trying to have a baby by themselves without assistance. So much for honesty. When this information was told to a founding member of the North Texas Midwives Association, the Association of Texas Midwives, and the Midwives Alliance of North America she strongly disagreed with the approach as a midwifery standard of care. 

Who's The "True Victim?"

Hint: It's Not The Sexually Abused Children

It's pretty appalling to have children sexually abused within a community. It's a mockery to have that community then consider themselves to be the "true victim." But that's exactly what Homestead Heritage said in a comment on The Wartburg Watch when the blog covered the story of multiple instances of sexual abuse of children, one of which went unreported for a year. 

(Source)

On Edudaction

"Wisdom's Children"

In Blair Adams' book, Questions Visitors Ask, one of the questions answered is, "Do you send your kids to college? Could they go if they wanted to?"

--(B.A.) If they chose to go to college, they could do so. Any of them could theoretically become any type of professional they chose. They would be more than qualified academically to do so, but by the time our children are this age we don't send them anywhere. Moreover, the whole notion, to us, is a little like saying, "What if an Ecuadorian banana seed wanted to become an Alaskan cabbage--would you let it??" Yes, we would let it. But, it's not in our power--it's not a given--to bring forth people who would fit the mold of such professions anymore than it's a natural given for a Brooklyn skyscraper architect to become an East Texas horse farmer. It may happen, but it's the exception, not the rule. This is true of people generally. We, like all others, have chosen a certain way of life that produces a certain type of fruit.