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.”

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.

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.