【插播】今日基督教:PDF育儿课程引发医学与属灵层面的严重争议(1997年报道)

Growing Criticism — Groups Back Away from Preparation for Parenting” (1997)

《批评声浪扩大——多个团体与〈育儿预备课程〉划清界限》（1997）

The Chatsworth, California-based organization Growing Families International (GFI) claims that more than 3,500 churches worldwide use GFIpublished resources for guidance on child rearing.But despite such apparent popularity, the list of critics of GFI—and of its executive director, Gary Ezzo— continues to expand.

总部位于加利福尼亚州查茨沃斯（Chatsworth）的组织“成长家庭国际”（Growing Families International，简称 GFI）声称，全球有超过3,500家教会使用其出版的育儿资源作为指导。然而，尽管看似颇具人气，针对GFI及其执行主任加里·艾佐（Gary Ezzo）的批评者名单却在不断扩大。

More than four years ago, CHRISTIANITY TODAY reported on questions being raised about the parenting advice offered in Preparation for Parenting, coauthored by Ezzo and his wife, Anne Marie, and On Becoming BABYWISE, a secularized version containing the same concepts but without religious references (CT, Aug. 16, 1993, p. 34.)

四年多前，《今日基督教》（Christianity Today）曾报道有关《育儿预备课程》（Preparation for Parenting）所提供育儿建议的争议。该书由艾佐及其妻子安妮·玛丽（Anne Marie）合著；《成为BABYWISE》（On Becoming BABYWISE）为其世俗版本，包含相同理念，但删除了宗教内容（见《今日基督教》1993年8月16日，第34页）。

At that time, Ezzo served on the staff at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.Recently, however, the church’s board of elders issued a public statement disavowing any affiliation with GFI and outlining “serious concerns” about the organization and its teachings, as well as concerns about accountability.

当时，艾佐在加州阳谷（Sun Valley）的恩典社区教会（Grace Community Church）担任同工。然而，近期该教会长老会发表公开声明，否认与GFI有任何关联，并列出对该组织及其教导的“严重关切”，同时也对其问责机制表示担忧。

UNCONVENTIONAL MEDICAL WISDOM:Critics maintain generally that the Ezzos advocate a style of parenting that overemphasizes control and discipline at the expense of parental intuition and compassion.They say the medical advice offered or implied by GFI materials runs counter to current medical wisdom.

非传统医学智慧：批评者普遍认为，艾佐夫妇倡导的育儿方式过度强调控制与纪律，而忽视父母的直觉与怜悯。他们指出，GFI材料中提出或暗示的医学建议，与当前医学共识相悖。

In a Web site, the Ezzos have claimed GFI is supported by “a network of health care professionals” that includes “hundreds of pediatricians.”GFI has not documented the claim.

在其网站上，艾佐夫妇声称，GFI得到“医疗专业人士网络”的支持，其中包括“数百名儿科医生”。但GFI并未提供该说法的具体证据。

Says Kathy Nesper, president of the Artesia, California-based Apple Tree Family Ministries, “I don’t know who their doctors are, but I’m not aware of a single International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who has publicly supported their program.”

位于加州阿特西亚（Artesia）的“苹果树家庭事工”（Apple Tree Family Ministries）会长凯西·内斯珀（Kathy Nesper）表示：“我不知道他们所谓的医生是谁，但我不认识任何一位国际认证哺乳顾问（IBCLC）曾公开支持他们的项目。”

Calls from pediatricians and emergency-room physicians prompted the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County to conduct an extensive study of GFI materials. Physicians had been reporting a high incidence of dehydrated and failureto-thrive children whose parents were adhering strictly to the Ezzos’ program.

多名儿科医生与急诊医生的来电促使橙县儿童虐待预防委员会（Child Abuse Prevention Council of Orange County）对GFI材料展开深入研究。医生们报告称，在严格遵循艾佐课程的家庭中，脱水及生长发育不良（failure-to-thrive）的婴儿发生率偏高。

Colleen Weeks cochaired the committee, which conducted a detailed investigation of GFI materials spanning a year and a half before releasing results in 1996.Weeks says, “We established six criteria for healthy parenting education, and our committee concluded that [the GFI materials] met none of those standards.”

该委员会联合主席科琳·威克斯（Colleen Weeks）表示，委员会对GFI材料进行了为期一年半的详细调查，并于1996年公布结果。威克斯说：“我们为健康育儿教育制定了六项标准，委员会的结论是，（GFI材料）没有达到其中任何一项标准。”

GOD’S ONLY PARENTING PLAN? What complicates matters, according to critics, is that GFI represents its principles as being the only biblically prescribed approach to parenting.GFI materials acknowledge that the Bible is silent on such issues as infant feeding.But Nesper, whose ministry specializes in childbirth education and family life education of young Christian couples, says, “The underlying message is that their way is God’s way.” The Grace Community Church statement supports Nesper’s assessment. “Portraying scheduled feeding as the true biblical practice, GFI strongly implies that demand feeding should be regarded as an unbiblical, humanistic—even sinful— approach to caring for infants.As elders, we see no biblical basis for dogmatism on this issue.”

上帝唯一的育儿计划？

批评者指出，使问题更加复杂的是，GFI将其原则表述为唯一符合圣经教导的育儿方式。GFI材料承认，圣经对婴儿喂养等问题并未直接给出指示。但内斯珀表示：“其潜在信息是，他们的方法就是上帝的方法。”恩典社区教会的声明支持这一评估：“将定时喂养描述为真正的圣经实践，GFI强烈暗示按需喂养应被视为非圣经的、人本主义的，甚至是有罪的照顾方式。作为长老，我们看不到在此问题上采取教条立场的圣经依据。”

Phil R. Johnson, an elder at Grace Church and the statement’s main author, says the Ezzos “built their program on credibility they borrowed from Grace Church.”Johnson says that a “case could also be made to suggest that those of us with serious concerns about Gary’s character should have pursued the discipline process more aggressively.”

恩典教会长老、该声明的主要作者菲尔·R·约翰逊表示，艾佐夫妇“建立其课程的信誉，部分来自于他们借用恩典教会的公信力。”约翰逊还表示：“也可以提出一种说法，即我们这些对加里品格有严重关切的人，本应更积极地推进教会纪律程序。”

A CHORUS OF CRITICS: Focus on the Family cites the Ezzos’ “misuse of biblical texts” as a “cause for serious concern.”Focus points out that the Ezzos repeatedly cite Matthew 27:46 (where Jesus cries out from the cross “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) in support of their teaching that mothers should refuse to attend to crying infants who have already been fed, changed, and had their basic needs met.Focus says, “We see no way to make such an application of this verse without completely disregarding its original context and purpose.”

批评之声汇聚：“关注家庭”（Focus on the Family）指出，艾佐夫妇“误用圣经经文”是“一个严重关切的原因”。该机构指出，艾佐夫妇反复引用《马太福音》27:46（耶稣在十字架上呼喊：“我的神，我的神，为什么离弃我？”），以支持他们的教导——即当婴儿已经喂饱、换过尿布、基本需求得到满足后，母亲应拒绝回应其哭声。

“关注家庭”表示：“若要将这节经文如此应用，除非完全忽视其原始语境和目的，否则我们看不到任何合理方式可以这样解释。”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) may join the GFI critics. A resolution proposing that the AAP comment publicly on GFI materials is before the organization’s southeast region. If approved, similar action is likely to follow at the AAP’s annual meeting this fall.

美国儿科学会（AAP）也可能加入对GFI的批评行列。一项建议AAP就GFI材料公开发表意见的决议，已提交该组织东南地区分会审议。若该决议获得通过，预计今年秋季在AAP年度会议上也将采取类似行动。

INHIBITING EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT?While many have focused their critique of GFI on the potential health dangers to infants, others have raised concerns about possible negative psychological and spiritual effects on children’s development.In November, marriage and family counselor Barbara Francis focused on the GFI parenting program in a seminar at the annual meeting of the American Association of Christian Counselors.

是否抑制情感发展？虽然许多人将对GFI的批评集中在其可能对婴儿健康造成的风险上，但也有人提出对儿童心理和属灵成长可能产生负面影响的担忧。去年11月，婚姻与家庭咨询师芭芭拉·弗朗西斯（Barbara Francis）在美国基督教辅导协会年度会议的一场研讨会上，重点讨论了GFI的育儿模式。

“The GFI model does not acknowledge God-designed levels of human development,” says Francis, adding that she is uncomfortable with the Ezzos’ advice to allow a baby to cry unattended.

弗朗西斯表示：“GFI模式未承认神所设计的人类发展阶段。”她补充说，她对艾佐夫妇建议让婴儿独自哭泣、不予回应的做法感到不安。

Francis stressed the importance of two- and three-year old children being given the space to develop a “sense of self.”Noting that, according to the Ezzos, no is not permitted, Francis says, “If a child can never say no, that child will not develop a sense of autonomy.”While “Ezzo children” may be more obedient, Francis says, that obedience will likely be rooted in “fear of abandonment or punishment rather than in love.”

弗朗西斯强调，两三岁的孩子需要被给予空间来发展“自我意识”。她指出，根据艾佐夫妇的说法，不允许孩子说“不”。弗朗西斯表示：“如果一个孩子永远不能说‘不’，这个孩子就无法发展出自主意识。”

她还说，虽然“艾佐式的孩子”可能更顺从，但这种顺从很可能建立在“对被遗弃或惩罚的恐惧之上，而不是出于爱。”

DEFENDING THE PROGRAM:Those in a position to receive inquiries about GFI agree that its materials are extremely popular and that its parenting philosophy has developed a following that reaches far beyond the influence of Grace Community Church.Critics acknowledge that amid the ideas they consider misleading or dangerous can be found much sound advise and many helpful ideas.

为课程辩护：那些负责接收有关GFI咨询的人士一致认为，其材料极为受欢迎，其育儿理念所形成的追随者群体，早已远远超出恩典社区教会的影响范围。

批评者也承认，在他们认为具有误导性或危险性的观点之中，也包含不少合理的建议和许多有益的理念。

GFI’s Web site includes testimonies and newspaper articles feature people whose family lives have improved as a result of GFI’s parenting curriculum Growing Kids God’s Way.Articles point out that the curriculum provides practical advice to help children learn to respect their parents and to put others’ needs before their own.For example, it suggests that children not be allowed to begin eating dinner until whoever prepared the meal sits down.

GFI的网站刊登了见证，也有报纸文章报道一些家庭因采用其育儿课程《按神的方式养育孩子》（Growing Kids God’s Way）而家庭生活得到改善的案例。相关报道指出，该课程提供实用建议，帮助孩子学会尊重父母，并将他人的需要置于自身之前。例如，课程建议在准备晚餐的人尚未坐下之前，不应允许孩子开始用餐。

GFI’s lengthy response to the Grace Community Church statement can also be found at its Web site (www.gfi.org). According to that response, the Ezzos are “deeply disappointed” by Grace’s decision to issue a statement.Among other things, GFI claims that for the 30 months previous to the statement, no member of Grace Church “pursued the Ezzos on any church-related issue.” Johnson refutes this claim and several others made by GFI.

GFI对恩典社区教会声明所作的长篇回应也可在其网站（www.gfi.org）查阅。根据该回应，艾佐夫妇对恩典教会决定发布声明“深感失望”。GFI还声称，在声明发布前的30个月内，恩典教会“没有任何成员就任何与教会相关的问题追究过艾佐夫妇。”约翰逊否认了这一说法，以及GFI提出的其他若干主张。

Beyond referring to its Web site, GFI declined to respond to written questions.

除建议查阅其网站外，GFI拒绝对书面问题作出回应。

By Randy Frame