There’s an article posted on CurrentEra.com that has really left me kind of speechless. It was written by the host of the site NoPaddle.com (I really don’t want to link to it). As you can probably guess, it is an anti-spanking site. Before I delve into the information found on the latter site, I want to tackle the article first.
This man (Jeff Charles) equates spanking with sexual behavior. Repeatedly. He links it to S&M practices and child pornography. Then to top it off, he describes it as being anti-Christian.
Many mistaught Christians are surprised to learn that spanking is not a Christian teaching at all, i.e., there is not one New Testament teaching for anyone to hit any child. Jesus and the Apostles did not spank children or teach others to, and they certainly did not have “school paddling” sessions. Nonetheless false religious teachers with a wide variety of sinister motives, often mixed with ignorance, have perpetuated the myth that spanking and school paddling are “Christian duties.”
Christians who would never dream of citing the “Old Testament” to support animal sacrifices and beating slaves to death “pick and choose” a few verses of Solomon about fathers beating their sons and selectively try to bring those Old Testament verses alone into Christianity. Theologically this is bad Christianity. The Apostle Paul warned that anyone who tried to bring even one OT law into the new was guilty of making Christ of no effect. Beyond that Solomon himself was not even an Old Testament Prophet or teacher. He was a king who had 300 wives, 700 concubines, erected idol temples, and according to 1 Kings 11 was so evil that for his practices alone God decided to rend the Kingdom of Israel in two. But even if he was a prophet and if it was God’s law then to hit children, it would nonetheless still not be “Chistian.” Child beating would belong to another dispensation, along with slavery, stoning people to death who worked on the Sabbath, and animal sacrifices.
First of all, where did this guy get his definition of Christianity? I am a Christian and my Bible contains two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. It seems that Mr. Charles is perfectly content to throw out the entire Old Testament–and misquotes the Apostle Paul in order to do so.
I am not arguing that we are to follow the Law as laid down in the OT. Since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are no longer bound by that law. But that law was laid forth in the first five books of the OT–Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Scriptures that speak of disciplining children are not found in those books. They are found primarily in Proverbs (13:24, 22:15, and 23:13-14). These verses show that a wise parent will discipline their child by spanking.
- He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. Prov. 13:24
- Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. Prov. 22:15
- Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. Prov. 23:13-14
Those are neither laws nor commandments. But it is clear what the wise parent will do. Spanking (as well as all forms of discipline) are signs of love.
Mr. Charles also equates spanking with slavery!
The reason paddling is so common there now, as well as among African-Americans generally, is due to the continuing legacy of slavery.
I’m sorry, but I find the idea utterly ridiculous. My parents spanked me as a child (I was even paddled once in school), and I never ever would have considered the notion that they were treating me like a slave.
From Rapture Ready:
Discipline is all of the things a parent does to teach a child about God and His desires for that child. Discipline is the whole process, whereas spanking is one tool that may be used in that process. The objective of discipline is to make a disciple of Jesus out of a child. Spanking is typically used when a child is old enough to withstand a swat and yet not old enough to reason the issues of life. As a child grows older, spankings should drop off–not because they are necessarily wrong but because other tools are more effective at that stage and spanking can even become detrimental (imagine a 16-year-old receiving a spanking). Spanking should never be the objective of a parent; it should be considered as one of many tools with which to reach an objective in childrearing.
Parents abuse this tool when they choose to: 1. Discard it totally. 2. Use it as the only form of training. 3. Lose sight of its objective (disciplining the child). 4. Use it to humiliate the child or to get even with him or her. 5. Use it in anger or with selfish desires.
Now, to be fair, Mr. Charles is primarily concerned with paddling within the school system (but his argument is for spanking across the board). This practice is legal in public schools in 22 states and in private schools in more than that. And, depending on the policy, I don’t have a problem with it. As I mentioned above, I was once paddled in school. But, before the deed was done, my parents were notified and their consent gotten.
Paddling is lifetime harmful to the victims, witnesses, and even the paddlers themselves, who are at a very high risk of developing lifetime sadism “on the job.” The states and districts that have abandoned paddling are doing better overall in every measurable way.
I don’t think so. Take a look around at our culture and society! It’s abundantly clear that children today receive no discipline. Crime rates are up. Children do not know how to respect themselves, their parents, authority, or anyone else. Our society is going to hell in a handbasket (where did that phrase come from, anyway?) and I think it’s directly linked to the lack of discipline in our culture. Children run the show in most households. Have you seen the show Super Nanny recently? I’m appalled that a show like that would even exist! When I was a child, if I acted remotely like any of the children on that show, I was punished. And then I didn’t do again.
I miss the good ole’ days when parents could parent their children.
Blogs who link to this post: Conservative Cat
Tags: Christianity, Spanking, Discipline
When I was a young child, I was a drama queen. (I’m sure that surprised everyone I know, lol… J/K) The effectiveness of punnishment (no matter what type) for small children is immediate action. A spanking thirty seconds after the infraction is more effective than thirty minutes after. When I misbehaved in public, my mom would swat me in the behind (never abusively) and I would fly off the handle and throw a very dramatic temper tantrum. My poor mother!
My point is that spanking is a good thing when used correctly and, even though we need to be proactive against child abuse, we do need to let parents do their jobs. If a social worker had seen the ruckous I’d made, I’d for sure have grown up in a foster home, but I’m glad I have the parents I do. No one could have better parents, spakings included.
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crime rates are up all over the world, including countries where spanking has been outlawed for many years, and those where it is still practised. My personal belief (shared by many) is that the whole TV/video game culture is what has led to lack of discipline in general, and bad attitudes in children internationally. Plus, of course, increased mass education in schools taking children away from the parental sphere and into the horrors of peer pressure.
As for the Biblical ethos behind corporal punishment – you cite about the only verses there are on the subject. If it were so important, it would surely have been written about rather more often. The rod, of course, is an instrument used by shepherds to lead sheep and show them boundaries, not to hit them. Discipline: certainly. The same root as ‘make disciples’. Jesus ‘disciplined’ his followers… but as far as we know he never hit them. The verse in Proverbs 23 which uses the word ‘punish’ in some versions may refer to hitting with a rod, but it’s talking about extreme circumstances – to avoid his death. Not for everyday use, or for minor infractions.
Having said all that, I did spank my first son a few times when they were small – only ever with my hand, only ever enough to sting lightly. Usually to avoid danger before they were able to understand. I’m not proud of it, and if I had my time over I wouldn’t ever spank him. I spanked my second son only once. It made him utterly furious. He evidently felt violated, and also as if I had done something far worse than whatever it was he had done. I instantly recalled the command in the New Testament that parents should not cause their children to become angry. I apologised to my son, and thankfully our relationship was restored. That was the last time I used any form of corporal punishment.
Were they wild and aggressive teenagers? Not at all. The older son is 19 and spending two years on a Christian ship, the other is 17 and hopes to become a minister. But then we home educated, we hardly watched any TV, and their computer time was mainly for email, writing, and programming.
(oh, and as for ‘paddling’ in schools… I’m appalled that is still allowed in the USA. It was outlawed about 40 years ago in the UK. My husband was at a private school that continued it longer than the state schools, and remembers it with horror. He said it was the most humiliating and appalling thing that could happen to anyone. He had no respect for the teachers who could do such a thing, and yes – it undoubtedly had sexual overtones).
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Six years ago, a Canadian school principal was busted for possessing child pornography. Specifically, he collected pictures of children being spanked. Turns out he’d also spanked a number of students during his career.
In 2002, the FBI broke up a nationwide child-spanking pornography ring. A few of its members even made films using their own kids, who could be heard tearfully pleading their innocence.
Now, it’s not really news that spanking can take on sexual overtones, as anyone who’s seen “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” can tell you. If you doubt it, just type “spanking” into a search engine and see what kind of results you get. And since there are people out there who are sexually drawn to children, it figures that some would enjoy spanking them.
Tragically for many victims, though, society has mostly failed to recognize the potential for sexual abuse in the practice of spanking children or even young adults. Perpetrators often deflect suspicion simply by playing the discipline card.
It’s high time we woke up to this problem.
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