This letter is in reference to Dee Keith's posting about the Ezzo
curriculum.  I would like the opportunity to point out a few
misconceptions apparent in the statements she made.

Number one, there are at least 5 different Ezzo curriculums:
        a: Preparation for Parenting (also known as Babywise, which is the same
information without references to the Bible), which is the class that
most LC's, etc. have legitimate problems with.

        b: Preparation for the Toddler years, which mostly deals with training
toddlers.

        c; Growing Kids God's way, which is designed for children 2-10,

        d & e: older children and teenage courses exist which I do not recall
the names of.

Now, it would be correct to mention "Preparation for Parenting" or
"Babywise" when discussing their philosophy of breastfeeding, it is not
correct to say "Ezzos' course" without clarifying.

I have seen all the first three courses, taught the last one in my home
one time, never taught the others.  I will say that as a Christian, I
found the Growing Kids classes very beneficial as it is basically an
exegetical outline of what the Bible teaches about training a child.
You may not agree with the Bible but for those of us who do believe it,
it is unfair for you to say it is a cult.

With regard to the Preparation for Parenting/Babywise curriculum, I am
in agreement that it is poorly researched, poorly referenced, and the
Gary and Marie Ezzo have done an extremely poor job of defending their
statements in these courses.  Nowhere, however, in the course, does he
say specifically that this is "Gods' way" of feeding a baby.  At the
most, he says that he believes that God is orderly and things ought to
be done in an orderly manner.  I would agree that he IMPLIES that it is
God's way to schedule a feeding, but he does not explicitly state that.
That statement comes from the above-mentioned child rearing course
(GKGW) which does not mention breast-feeding at all.

The article you quote seems to me to be talking about the "Growing Kid's
God's way" class, which is 17 weeks long.  The "Preparation for
Parenting" class is only 6 weeks long, so the article is not talking
about the breastfeeding/bottle feeding issue.  By the way, the
introductory class is not to *screen out undesirables* but is designed
to clearly show what will be taught in those classes.  This allows
people the opportunity to decide if they want to commit to purchasing a
book and attending the classes.  Anyone and everyone is welcome (you do
not have to be a Christian to attend, although the course is taught
using biblical passages).  They make this *very clear* to prospective
joiners.

I believe that Ezzo is really off in his beliefs about breastfeeding,
and the book they distribute "Bottle Feeding Without Guilt" is
especially repugnant, but it does not help our case when we slam all his
stuff without being clear about what we are criticizing.

I hope this helps clarify this issue. If you would like the perspective
of a Christian who has done these courses and is *still breastfeeding*,
feel free to email me privately.

Anne Andis