This may not be a popular post, but I felt better writing here then over at a certain other blog that I won’t mention. I DO get incredulous when I hear parents talking about how the Bible COMMANDS spanking. God does not rule us with his Hand- He rules us with grace and with mercy. So why do we think it is okay to train our children to obey just so they won’t get spanked? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Okay, I’m off my soap box. Hopefully I can resist commenting on said blog.
For more on the subject, I’d heartily recommend going here.
Update (30 seconds later):
I tried commenting on the blog, just giving the link I provided above. My comment was rejected immediately. Gotta love those gracious VF-types!
Agreed. I used to believe that and taught that. I couldn’t think outside that box… I parent so differently now and I see it as a LOT healthier for my home. I think that might be a big reason why it bothers me so much now and why I blog about it regularly even though I know it just causes trouble…
Btw, for anyone interested, a great (conservative evangelical) book clearly explaining WHY someone could say that spanking isn’t Biblically commanded is by homeschool leader Clay Clarkson: Heartfelt Discipline.
I’ve been looking for a good book on this subject. Thanks for the suggestion.
I second the suggestion concerning Clarkson’s book.
oh my gracious! … spanking is the absolutely LAST attempt at discipline! … there are so many more appropriate ways to discipline and teach that will drive the lesson home faster, quicker, and will make a lasting impression
Oh, Cally. . . for my sanity I have to avoid those who make such pronouncements.
I know I have my cultural blindspots. But like you, I’m incredulous when statements are made that are so clearly coming from the viewpoint of the Generic North American Protestant subculture, while being thought and taught that they are Biblical.
We need to be careful, though, that we don’t do the same thing that we are accusing others of – having cultural blindspots and speaking from the viewpoint of the Generic North American Protestant subculture.
If we make statements such as, spanking is the absolutely LAST attempt at discipline! … there are so many more appropriate ways to discipline and teach that will drive the lesson home faster, quicker, and will make a lasting impression, we are doing the exact same thing, albeit from a different viewpoint, perhaps.
Each child is different and some require corporal punishment. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Many think this verse could be better rendered, “train up a child in his way.” We need to rear each child in the way that best suits that individual child. Just as we should not think that spanking is the only to discipline a child, we should also not think that spanking cannot ever be done. And if we demand that others follow our own concept of how children should be raised, we are doing the same thing that the patrios do when they call women who disagree with them “White Washed Feminists.”