Forgiveness and Child Abuse: Would YOU Forgive? by Lois Einhorn

PLEASE NOTE: ALL ROYALTIES FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK WILL GO TO WORLD PEACE.

Also available on Kindle as an e-book/click here.

Attention all college professors and all professionals working with abuse:
In this intimate and brave book, Forgiveness and Child Abuse:  Would YOU Forgive? author Professor Einhorn shares her horrific story of ritualistic child abuse and asks a variety of people what they would do if they had her background.  Fifty-three (53) people responded, including Patch Adams, Bernie Siegel, Ed Asner, Laura Davis, Albert Ellis, Daniel Quinn.  Because the responses are so varied, everyone will resonate with some.  This book is destined to evoke discussion and debate, and it is a must-have book for anyone with issues of forgiveness.
Lois Einhorn deals with one of the most despicable aspects  of crime that plagues modern society. - Arun Gandhi
Full of wisdom, insight and truth from a powerful assembly of scholars, writers and visionaries.  Profound reading. - Dr. Bernie Siegel
An indispensable healing companion for anyone who has suffered any kind of abuse. - Tamarack Song

The terror set in on Fridays. Would this be a weekend of lengthy ritualistic abuse?  Employing techniques similar to those used in Nazi concentration camps, author Lois Einhorn’s father and mother physically and sexually abused her and her sister. They forced the girls to torture each other and to torture and destroy live and stuffed animals. Dying would have been a relief. For years, Lois suffered agonizing anguish and guilt because she acquiesced, complied, and succumbed to her parents’ power.  Could she ever forgive?

During her healing process, Dr. Einhorn shared her story with influential people from a variety of fields, including clergy, politicians, authors, entertainers, doctors, professors, psychologists, and even death-row prisioners. She asked them: “What would YOU do? You are a child in a family that sadistically abuses. You are forced to torture and destroy. What should you do now as an adult? Do you forgive your parents? HOW do you forgive yourself?” 

Readers cannot agree with all 53 responses: they are inherently contradictory. This is a unique and powerful book destined to encourage discussion, dialogue, and debate. The responses to Lois’ questions exemplify a wide variety of viewpoints, some prone to stir controversy and many to stimulate changes in personal, community, national, and international consciousness. For example, Arun Gandhi’s response essentially says that the problems in the Middle East result from the Jewish people’s inability to forgive Hitler.

Terrorism won’t end, Lois argues, until we end violence in all its forms – racism, hate crimes, domestic violence, child abuse, abuse of the Earth, wars – the list goes on. We need more than ever to deal with forgiveness and rise above the desire for revenge.  

About one out of three girls and one out of seven boys are sexually abused by the age of eighteen, and revelations of abuse in the Catholic Church are widespread. Child prostitution and child pornography are multibillion-dollar-a-year businesses. In addition to the many personal crimes against children, we are living through a war that many citizens oppose, and we deal daily with fears of terrorist attacks.   Forgiveness and Child Abuse:  Would YOU Forgive? challenges readers to move from a paradigm of revenge and fear to one of love and forgiveness – regardless of the severity of the atrocities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Lois Einhorn, Ph.D., has been a Professor of Communication at Binghamton University in New York for over thirty years.  Highly accomplished, she has published five previous books and many articles; and she has received many honors, awards and grants including five major teaching awards—often the youngest then and since to receive these honors.  Dr. Einhorn was honored as a 2004 Heroine of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Peace by The World Forgiveness Alliance.  Dr. Einhorn created a unique University Course called Compassionate Communication and in response to some of her students created a book called Compassionate Fairy Tales: A Mother Einhorn Collection. She also wrote Why Do We All Love Dr. Seuss?