Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
By Patricia Backora
I doubt those tiny tots weighed forty pounds apiece soaking wet!
That polished board was thick and rounded, crafted of heavy
hardwood. The husband of the household, who had a crabby face,
must have made it himself, I thought. It looked more like Fred
Flintstones club than a civilized tool to train toddlers to love Jesus.
Wielded with sufficient force, it could have crippled a 300-pound
man. Maybe I was being a little nosy, but while nobody was looking
I picked up the massive rod of correction and tried it out on
myself with one very gentle swaying motion.
It registered. My
conclusion: These very nice-looking people wanted to make sure
they got the maximum pain out of each whack! I truly felt sorry for
their poor little kids.
I picked it up and showed it to the childrens mother. I asked her,
with a look of disbelief, Is this what you use to spank your children
with?
She sounded as matter-of-fact as if Id asked about her choice of
curtains. Well, it gets the job done.
WHAT job? Causing severe injury and/or lasting psychological and
spiritual damage to your own child? What if a husband hit his wife
with something like that? Why, shed press charges for assault! I
realized that even the weakest woman could cripple a toddler with
that thing. I recalled the flatter wooden paddles used at one country
school. They were bad enough, but this one was MONSTROUS!
Brother Bat sounds like a pretty grim dad to have. Poor kids. At
least daily life at his house was a bit more bearable on Saturdays,
the only day his children could read their comic books. If thats not
a law (legalistic behavior) nothing is.
Insofar as instilling holiness into a child, Brother Bat seems to put
the paddle on a par with the Cross of Christ. Brother Bat advises
parents to continue a hard spanking until the kids crying signals
repentance, not just pain, fear, anger, etc. The philosophy behind
this brutality is to beat the child until his or her will is broken. Thats
worse torture than water-boarding someone at Gitmo to force a
confession, isnt it? One book illustration was a semi-circular
REPENTANCE METER (should have been called a SPANKOMETER)
where you used your imagination (which is SUBJECTIVE, and varies
from parent to parent!) to move an arrow in the middle left or right
to determine what type of crying your child was doing while you
were carrying out the spanking sentence. The first point was pain.
Somewhere in the middle were other negative indicators such as
anger, fear, etc. The final point, to the far right of the
SPANKOMETER, was repentance, indicated by submissive sobs and
a sorrowful face. At that point the spanking could stop and the child
could be asked if they were sorry and wanted to reconcile with the
parent and pray a prayer for forgiveness. Evidently a repentant child
doesnt qualify to receive absolution from his Heavenly Father until
AFTER his earthly father whales the daylights outa him.
Brother Bat insisted a few swats just wouldnt do. A SPANKING IS
AN EVENT, he insisted. Well, Brother Bat, so was a hanging in the
Old West. The whole community came out to watch that event.
Brother Bat turns it into a tear-jerking religious ritual as he tans his
kids hide, then acts as the childs priest, taking him into the
Presence of Almighty God to receive forgiveness for his sin. Talk
about an egotistical head trip, at least theres a bit of glory in it for
Brother Bat.
Men have always tried to usurp some of Jesus glory. Brother Bat
contends that the Christian father-priests true motive for pounding
his kids rump steak is to make it possible for his child to reconcile
with the God of heaven. I thought Jesus Christ was the ONLY
intermediary between God and man, where dealing with sin is
concerned (I Tim.2:5)! Once Jesus applies His precious blood to a
believers sin, its GONE! I know that if a murderer gets saved
before his execution date hes still got to die to satisfy secular
justice, even if his sin has been washed away. Many Christian
parents insist the beating must still be administered whether the
child repents or not.
muscles and broken blood vessels? How can any Christian parent
beat the love of Jesus into a tiny, defenseless child? After that
destructive book made its rounds in Christian circles back in the
70s (and Brother Bat got rich and famous off it) some survivors of
its harsh teachings may have been left with a severely damaged
concept of the fatherhood of God. The very term father would
carry the connotation of brutality and terror, a big brute to be fled
from instead of loved and trusted.
Problems With Proverbs
Brother Bat used a few verses in Proverbs to justify his extreme
spanking doctrine. But why doesnt Brother Bat enforce OTHER
Proverbs in his home on an equal basis? Because he himself would
end up in traction, thats why.
How bout Prov.26:3 which
prescribes a a ROD FOR THE FOOLS BACK? Im sure Brother Bat,
like most everybody else, does or says something really stupid
every now and then and gets egg all over his face. So next time
Brother Bat makes a jackass of himself in public, let him put on a
horses bridle, then go get a fishing pole and whale the daylights out
of his own back and see how he likes it!
Next time Brother Bat does something foolish he gets sentenced to
one hundred stripes (Prov.17:10). Quit picking on kids. Theres no
fool like an old fool!
Better yet, heres something you could install on the speakers
platform of your church. Have someone build an old-fashioned
STOCKS, you know, that contraption that struck fear into the hearts
of New England townspeople back in the 1600s. The authorities
would chastise some poor guy for misconduct by forcing him to sit
on a bench with his hands and feet poking through holes in a wide
wooden board, unable to move. Next time Christians catch their
pastor staring at shapely legs that dont belong to his wife, he gets
STOCKED a la Proverbs 7:22.
Solomon contradicts his own advice in Proverbs 27:22. He states
that even if you grind up a fool with a mortar and a pestle, you
cant beat the foolishness out of him! For Petes sake! If a good ol
grindstone wont do the trick, surely a fly swatter wont do any
better! First Solomon preaches the power of THE ROD to drive the
foolishness away from a child (Prov.22:15; 23:13-14) and save his
soul from hell, then he admits that foolishness CANT be driven out
even with a mortar and pestle! Cmon now! This aint Burger King!
You cant have it both ways.
charged religious rite administered by Daddy, the teary-eyed, allwise punishing priest of the family.
Can you imagine Brother Bat kneeling in the candlelit woodshed as
his kid bends over waiting for the Spanking Ceremony (excuse me,
EVENT!) to begin, and Brother Bat waves his arms and sings, I
bow at thy shrine, O paddle divine!
If pain is what drives kids to faith in Jesus, then how big does the
stick have to be? Are we talking about a boat paddle or a fly
swatter? Is a kid has been worn out with a three-inch thick holey
paddle, is he any holier than the child who gets two swats with a
wooden spoon? Is a puppy holy because he gets swatted with a
rolled-up newspaper when he decorates the floor? How many licks
should your child get for dropping a gum wrapper on that same
floor?
Many years ago a bunch of us young people would ride together to
church meetings.
Juanita, this divorced lady started driving
several of us around to different Christian events. Juanita had an
adorable two-year-old son, always full of life and questions. I never
saw Joey do anything bad and couldnt figure out why he kept
getting in trouble with his mom. Maybe he whined just a little
because he was tired from all the excitement. But whatever the
reason, Juanita would jump on it as an excuse to use The Rod to
train her little boy. More than anything, Juanita believed in the
power of The Rod to turn children into fine upstanding Christians.
It wasnt just the spankings, it was the WAY they were carried out!
Personally I dont think that two-year-olds who moan and groan
because theyre tired are mature enough to realize theyre
committing some terrible sin that merits punishment.
On several occasions, Juanita would decide it was time to chastise
Joey for the vague offense hed probably already forgotten about.
Shed pull over by the roadside. Her friend Mary would carry out
the sentence. Sharply shed order Joey to pull his pants down.
Mary would switch his backside until he started crying. Then shed
tell the toddler she was trying to train him with The Rod. Id sit
there feeling embarrassed for the poor child with his BVDs exposed
to everybody in the car. Though Id been told this treatment was
good for Joey, for some vague reason Id feel grieved deep inside
my heart. But is this the Christian way to treat a toddler, a human
being barely out of infancy who cant yet tell his right hand from his
left (Jonah 4:11)?
unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little
child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
Quite a number of little children came to Christ. Chances are, a few
of those kids might have been naughty instead of nice, at least a
little bit. But you dont see Jesus whipping off his belt and laying
into any of them. He didnt beat them, He BLESSED them!
Proverbs was written under the Dispensation of Law, by a King who
built demonic idols to please his pagan wives, idols that burnt up
babies thrown into their big belly furnaces. Did Jesus ALWAYS
literally apply the law to each and every situation? He broke the
Sabbath to obey the higher law of mercy (Matt.12:1-8; Mark 3:15). Jesus saved an adulteress from executioners (John 8:4).
What would King Solomon have done? Most likely, this very same
man who didnt have himself executed for idolatry would have stuck
to the letter of the law and ordered her to be stoned. He
condemned hypocrites but acted like one himself. In Proverbs youll
see warnings against sloth written by a king who lived luxuriously in
his scented harem and knew no hard physical toil. Youll see
proverbs about marital fidelity written by a king who had a
thousand wives to choose from. Youll see proverbs written by a
king who urged mercy towards the poor, but beat his own workers
and taxed the people mercilessly.
But not a single proverb
condemning idolatry. I wonder why.
What was Jesus attitude toward certain harsh Old Testament laws?
Matt.19:8: Matthew 19:3-10 (KJV) 3 The Pharisees also came
unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man
to put away his wife for every cause? 4 And he answered and said
unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the
beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:
and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more
twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let
not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then
command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts
suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was
not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth
adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit
adultery. 10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so
with his wife, it is not good to marry.
In the Old Testament, it was (legally) okay for a man to divorce his
wife just for burning his toast, if she were no longer attractive to
him or just because the husband felt like it. Jesus stated that this
law permitting husbands to divorce wives FOR ANY REASON was
permitted by God because of the hardness of peoples hearts.
Christians resort to spanking FOR ANY REASON because they feel
bound by biblical law to do it, not because its always the wisest way
to respond to a childs real or suspected misbehavior. And BECAUSE
OF THE HARDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS, Christians, like the
Unmerciful Servant of Matt.18, will exact every last ounce of
retribution they can out of a tiny defenseless child. Jesus did not
say that the Unmerciful Servant had no LEGAL right to throw the
debtor into prison, perhaps it was the law of the land. But the
Unmerciful Servant, who had been FREELY forgiven a much greater
debt, had no MORAL right to deal harshly with his helpless fellow
servant.
When his own lord found out about this two-faced
hypocrisy, he was so enraged he took back his forgiveness of the
Unmerciful Servant and reinstated the original penalty!
How many harsh, overbearing, scripture-spouting, paddle-waving
parents have been forgiven by their own Heavenly Father for
infinitely greater sins than their tiny children have committed (if
these little beings know the difference between right and wrong at
all)? Let them beware. It would be far better for them to be sunk in
the sea by a millstone than to drive little children away from Jesus
with these words: Jesus told me to spank you and I must obey
Him. No! Solomon, builder of child-eating idols is the ONLY Biblical
writer who commands corporal punishment. Just like he mentioned
other punishments adult Christians conveniently neglect to apply to
their lives: Beat a fool (of any age) with a rod (Prov.26:3), or lock
him up in the stocks (Prov.7:22). Do this to the spankster preacher
next time he sneaks a peek at porn TV!
Just like the lord of the two servants was enraged by the cruelty of
the forgiven servant, God, Father and Lord of the Christian, will
spank the unmerciful, hot-headed, heavy-handed Christian parent
who demands grace for himself and law for their helpless child.
When horrible retributive judgments fall upon them, they will moan
and groan about how unfair God is treating them!
Brother Bat related an incident where he spanked one of his kids for
something he didnt even do. Brother Bat said, I cant unspank
you. But will you forgive me?
The boy said, Sure, dad, can I have a peanut butter sandwich?
Brother Bat was trying to reassure parents that even if they get it
wrong sometimes and spank an innocent child, itll all come out in
the wash. When I read it, I felt like saying, Bend over, Brother Bat.
You spank your children and leave them with a blistered butt even if
their guilt isnt established beyond the shadow of a doubt. You tell
parents to punish children when their tiny hands spill milk at the
dinner table. So why should you get off the hook when YOU have
an accident?
In John chapter 4 Jesus spoke with the woman at the well about
salvation. This particular woman had a long string of former lovers.
She wasnt even married to her present partner. Jesus didnt tell
that shameless hussy to bend over the well so he could spank her
for unchaste conduct. And in John 8:3-11 he dealt kindly with
another woman who committed adultery and was about to be
stoned by a mob of enraged men. Jesus helped this woman escape
the penalty stipulated by the law: death by stoning (He knew He
would soon die to pay the penalty of her sins). Jesus asked the
crowd if they were any better than she was. He told her to go and
sin no more. No mention of any whipping being necessary to
discipline her flesh or break her will.
The men who dragged this woman to judgment did just like King
Saul when he only PARTIALLY obeyed Gods orders. In I Samuel 15
God ordered Saul to totally annihilate ALL the Amalekites and ALL
their livestock.
Saul butchered a bunch of Amalekites and
Amalekite animals, but let the Amalekite king and the best of the
Amalekite animals live. Samuel chewed Saul out for keeping Gods
orders his own way. In Gods sight, partial obedience is the same
as DISobedience. The adulterous woman was taken IN THE VERY
ACT (John 8:4). It takes two to tango. They could have seized the
man and brought him to Jesus too. Didnt these good Jews read
their own Bible?
Lev.20:10 specifically states that BOTH the
adulterer and the adulteress had to die.
Even if the Roman
occupation didnt permit the Jews to put MEN to death at that time
(see John 18:31) they were still disobeying Gods commandment by
sparing the guilty man. Oddly enough, that catch-22 didnt stop
them from stoning Stephen, a male, in Acts chapter 7.
The above examples are an illustration of SELECTIVE enforcement
of law over grace.
The angry mob were probably misogynist
Neanderthal brutes who hated women anyway, so thats why it
didnt bother them too much to dump all their fury on the woman
while the man got off scot-free (to go hit on somebody elses wife).
But when Stephen preached Christ to hostile Jewish men and
pricked their evil conscience, the angry mob ignored the Roman law
against Jews carrying out executions and unleashed their fury on
him. Just like the mob would have killed the woman if Jesus hadnt
shamed them out of it with His wise words.
Fundamentalist Christian parents can be very SELECTIVE about who
gets law and who gets grace in their home. Some are so strict that
even if their four-year-old child tearfully apologizes after dropping a
dish, theyll get the switch out anyway and let her have it to train
her (for what? To be afraid of them)? Thats law. But when Daddy
hits his thumb with a hammer and takes the Lords name in vain,
hell ask Jesus to forgive him and go on his merry way as if nothing
had happened. Thats grace. Unmerited mercy and forgiveness that
arent first earned by enduring a spanking.
Bubba the Butt Buster
Imagine an affluent pastor visits a poor family of six, and theyre all
gathered at the dinner table. The three eldest childrens backsides
are all swollen and sore from the bad beating Daddy gave them
yesterday. Hazel, their mother, bless her soul, is worried itll
happen again before their blackened buttocks get the chance to
heal up.
Bubba, the childrens daddy, wants to impress the pastor with the
reverent atmosphere of his household. Bubba wants to prove how
blessed he is even if he aint rich. Bubba had been flabbergasted
when the pastor invited himself to come over to get better
acquainted. Funny how Hazel only smiled, as if she werent too
surprised. Very few folks from the poor side of town ever got a visit
from this popular pastor. Laid off from his last job because of his
bad temper, Bubba had to dip deep in his piggy bank to be able to
afford this feast. Normally the family subsisted on starchy junk like
noodles and pinto beans, or anything they could forage from the
local food bank.
Soft pillows have been placed on the childrens chairs. Only baby
Jason is able to sit without pain. Roast beef is on the table, along
with dishes of mashed taters, gravy, butter beans, corn bread and
black eye peas. Theres even a vase of fresh flowers on the clean
white tablecloth. Soft hymns play on the same CD player which
usually churns out Blue Grass country. Every head is bowed and
every eye closed. The preacher, given the seat of honor at the head
of the table, smiles at the tranquil scene before him. He wonders
at the way the well-mannered children sit so reverently with bowed
heads and folded hands. Not one eye dares to open to peep at the
mouth-watering treats on the table. The preacher shuts his eyes
too.
Before the preacher can utter the first word of grace, the silence is
broken by a loud, deep bullfrog burp. The children hold their noses
to stifle their nervous snickering but they cant help it. Starved of
fun and laughter for so long, they tumble out of their chairs in
uncontrollable hysterics.
The toddler watches the older kids
laughing and joins in, so excited he makes a puddle in his high
chair.
HIS moment of glory has been ruined! All year long Bubba has
waited for HIS chance to impress the senior pastor of his 5,000member church. That wonderful Christian leader in the fancy blue
suit will probably never drop by this heathen home again.
That rich pastor must think were all a bunch of ignorant hillbillies,
Bubba fumes, mad as a junk yard dog robbed of a rump roast.
Alvin! Bubba yells at his oldest son. You done that on purpose!
You got in trouble yesterday, so I know it was you that done it! Im
gonna burn up your britches, boy! Bubba unbuckles his belt.
Daddy, no! Alvin cries, cowering. Dont hit me!
NO! his wife pleads. Leave him alone! It was me! I couldnt hep
it cause my innards always growl when I git hungry!
Just look what you kids made that baby do! Bubba yells. Its adrippin all over the floor and that dumb dogs a-lickin it up! Right
in front of the pastor, too. Oh, Pastor Hibbins, how will God ever
fergive us for the unholy things you seen here today?
To his surprise, the preacher laughs too. Brother Bubba, Im used
to stuff like that. I was raised in a family of seven children and we
had our awkward moments too.
Still, theres gotta be dizpline in this here house, mean old Bubba
grumbles. Alla you kids laughed, so go stand off to the side of the
table and bend over. The baby made a mess so it gets punished
too.
His wife jumps up from the table and picks up the wailing baby, who
cant understand plain English, but responds to all the fear and
tension in the air. Dont you dare hit my precious little baby! Hazel
cries hoarsely.
You hush up, woman! Bubba booms, raising his big bulky body
from his chair. My Bible teaches you to submit to your husband! I
can do whatever I want to around here. Aint that so, Pastor?
And I laughed along with the kids, the pastor coolly admits. Its
a good thing you werent laughing, Bubba, because you wont like
what I have to say.
Huh? Bubba blinks, looking up from the meat hes carving. He
keeps on slicing, mouth open, staring into space, until
Dadgummit! I cut muh durn finger! Hazel, go fetch the Bactine!
Bubba picks up a paper napkin to stop the bleeding as his frazzled
wife flees the room.
There you go again, Bubba, says the pastor.
swear.
Wrong again, Bubba. Read Hebrews 12:6 and youll discover how
risky it is to provoke God to anger like youre doing right now by
being mean to your family. God disciplines every son whom he
receives, not just those under 21.
Bend over, Bubba. The Bible says the father is supposed to set a
godly example for his family. If your children have to get spanked
every time they foul up, so do you.
But pastor
No buts, Bubba. Except the one I came here to beat.
Spankianitys Destructive Teachings
Did Bubba comply? Ill leave that one hanging. Some Christian
adults sing and shout about how they live under Gods grace and no
longer fear being under his wrath as imperfect human beings. Yet
they deny grace to their own tiny children, who are expected to
behave like perfect ladies and gentlemen ALL the time! Perhaps
because adults brought their child into this world and pay for their
upkeep, they feel they own these tiny human beings and are
entitled to threaten and beat them how and when they please. To
them, its no big deal to wear their kids out for acting cranky when
theyre tired or for not eating all the peas on their plates.
Are adults any better? Christians sometimes envy other Christians,
they sometimes get mad at God, they gossip about other Christians,
they sometimes act uncharitable or dishonest toward other people.
Sometimes Christian marriages break up because of adultery,
spousal abuse or desertion. Occasionally you hear of some famous
Christian Bible teacher whos on his third or fourth divorce &
remarriage. Can you spell hypocrite?
Adults act no holier than the children they punish. But theyre eager
to cast the first stone. Perfection is expected of tiny children who
have just entered the world. But grownups who have had many
years to learn the difference between right and wrong expect
others to overlook their own flaws and imperfections. Just like
dictators can get away with crimes peasants get punished for, adult
authority figures are held less accountable for what they say and
do.
When some little children were brought to Jesus for His blessing,
the disciples thought they were being a nuisance (Matt.19:13-15).
But Jesus welcomed them with open arms and blessed them. He
didnt do like one popular televangelist who yelled that little
children, even newborn babies, are vipers who need to get their
spiritual education out in the woodshed.
Human will is evil, Brother Bat asserted in his manual. So evil it
must be broken in early childhood to make us pliable in the Hands
of the Lord (or other peoples hands?). Human nature is wicked,
desperately so. But sin cant be beaten out of the human heart.
SPANKIANITY is bad theology and dangerous error. SPANKIANITY is
a form of a heresy I call Supplemental Suffering Salvation. Other
ways this might be practiced are:
1. Many medieval saints tried to earn their own salvation by
enduring poverty, enduring bad treatment, sickness and disease.
Some of them wore scratchy hair shirts crawling with lice to
discipline their flesh.
2. Many nuns and monks fast or flagellate themselves to punish
their bodies for sin.
3. A Pentecostal might vow to God that hell fast every Wednesday
from now on, if only God will forgive him for cheating on his wife.
Spanking kids who are ALREADY repentant teaches them that they
must pay matching funds with Jesus to persuade God to forgive
them and clear their account in heaven. Only when theyre grown
up do they escape the shadow of the paddle (Law) and enter the
realm of grace like their daddy, who doesnt get his backside
blistered when he uses a swear word. This unfairness makes
children wonder if Jesus sacrifice on the Cross works better for
Mom and Dad, who dont owe any extra suffering for the sins they
commit!
Far from seeking to crush the human will, God repeatedly affirms its
crucial role in human life.
Acts 5:4: WHILES IT REMAINED, WAS IT NOT THINE OWN? AND
AFTER IT WAS SOLD, WAS IT NOT IN THINE OWN POWER? why
hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied
unto men, but unto God.* * * *Peter tells Ananias that while he had
his own land in his own possession, Ananias had the right to do
whatever he wanted with that land. That implies the right to
personal human will! God did not break Ananias will to FORCE him
to sell his own land. Ananias sold it out of greed, not fear. Ananias
and Sapphira knew they could live off the church common fund if
they lied to the apostles and said theyd given away all their assets
to the church. So they kept back part of the price of the land and
kept their mouths shut about it. Incidentally, Ananias fatal sin was
lying to the Holy Ghost, not refusing to give all his cash to the
church. Notice, that Peter did not scold Ananias for possessing a
human will. The sin was in the misuse of that will to lie to God!
I Cor.9:17: For if I do this thing WILLINGLY, I have a reward: but if
against MY WILL, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto
me.* * * * *Pauls will is involved here as to his own personal
choice. Paul does not condemn the possession of a human will.
I Cor.7:39: The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband
liveth; but if her husband be dead, SHE IS AT LIBERTY TO BE
MARRIED TO WHOM SHE WILL; only in the Lord.* * * * *Paul does
not advise a Christian widow to have God break her will so shes
forced to marry some mean old wife beater who will teach her
patience and longsuffering. She uses her OWN free will to freely
choose any new husband God approves of.
This phrase, break the human will appears NOWHERE in Scripture,
only a willingness to discover and live by the perfect will of God
(Rom.12:2). This is done by the RENEWING of your mind, not
through submission to torture meted out by an authority figure.
There have been cases where nuns or monks try to beat selfishness
and other vices out of themselves, thinking that abusing their body
can drive out the carnal nature and help them make it to heaven.
Brother Bats teaching on breaking a child is sort of like this. The
very idea that you can achieve holiness through bodily suffering is
the same reason some Catholics crawl up a mountainside on bloody
knees to reach a religious shrine.
These deceitful religious teachings slipped in by satan seem to be
oh, so spiritual because they involve a false humility (drummed-up
self-abasement) discouraged by Col.2:23. But theyre deadly to
true faith in the grace of God, which is FREELY bestowed through
the righteousness and obedience of Christ (Rom.5:15-21). These
punitive practices do nothing to counteract the weaknesses of sinful
flesh. These ways APPEAR to be wise because of the discomfort and
difficulty involved in such self-abasement.
Some see certain non-Biblical teachings
as being binding
principles of the Christian life. Many are deep into Christian
mysticism, a practice of searching for deeper truths of God hidden
in the Bible, instead of being content with its plain content. Only
more mature believers understand these hidden gold nuggets of
secondary and tertiary meanings distilled from selected scripture
texts while the rest of us dumb yokels just take the Bible at face
value. Much of Brother Bats rationale for harsh paddling springs
from his Christian Mysticism point of view. Jesus suffered terribly
so in order to make your kids holy, so it follows that in order for
them to walk THE WAY OF THE CROSS (as defined by Brother Bat),
they have to suffer terribly too.
The Breaking of the Will was a Christian Mysticism teaching
circulating in the church world back in the 1970s, taught in
Christian magazines and articles. Another one was the Breaking of
the Soul, taught nowhere in scripture as a binding doctrine on the
believer. The ONLY scripture where break and soul appear
together is Psalms 119:20: My soul breaketh for the longing that it
hath unto thy judgments at all times.* * * *The psalmist has an
intense longing for the Word of God. He doesnt beg God to break
his soul to pieces. It is NOT a commandment to Christians under
grace to torture themselves (or others) to prove to God how
spiritual-minded they are! Its the King James English way of saying
that the Psalmist aches with longing to learn the ways of the Lord,
similar to the way youd ache with longing to see righteousness
prevail in an unjust society. It is dangerous and spiritually unhealthy
to base church doctrine on one isolated verse.
The breaking of the soul (b.s.) doctrine was practiced by deep
mournful sobs of self-abasement. I almost fell for this gloomy
garbage but my pastor caught it in the nick of time and dealt with
the brother who tried to sneak it into our church. One article I read
on the Brokenness heresy was based on the story of the broken
alabaster vase which released the fumes of sweet perfume for all to
enjoy (Mark 14:3). Before the perfume could be enjoyed, the
alabaster vase must first be broken.
I believe God included that story in scripture to show that our love
for Jesus must sometimes manifest itself in extravagant ways, just
like Mary was thought to be extravagant when she used the
expensive perfume to anoint Jesus for His burial instead of selling it
and giving the money to the poor. The aim of this story was NOT to
teach Gods people to beat up on themselves!
NOWHERE in the
Bible does God demand the destruction of your soul in order for the
fragrance of Jesus to be released! Another popular heresy.
I got spiritual indigestion from Christian Mysticism teachings. They
made me a sadder Christian, not a happier one. Such negative
nonsense made me more inwardly focused, instead of being able to
concentrate on what God could do through me to bless others.
Christians dont need to complexify the teachings of Scripture to get
sufficient meaning out of it. Why isnt the PLAIN Word of God,
RIGHTLY DIVIDED AND CORRECTLY APPLIED TO NEW TESTAMENT
BELIEVERS UNDER GRACE, enough to help Christians raise their
families?
I hate to say this, but I kinda suspect that the REAL reason
Christians get swallowed up in all those deeper teachings is its
much easier to minister to ONE (yourself) than to be outwardly
focused. Inwardly-focused believers really dont relish having to
buckle down to the business of winning souls, ministering to the
hungry and sick, and generally doing good, POSITIVE things to be a
blessing to others. Satan knows you cant do more than two or
three things at once as you live out your limited time on earth.
No-nonsense James defines the Christian life in a nutshell:
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is
this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep himself unspotted from the world.
Which brings us back to our topic. Notice, James says nothing about
spanking being a Christian act of devotion. The first thing he tells
you to do to show you love Jesus is to do something kind for some
unhappy, needy person. Bring joy to someone elses life instead of
tears. James also says were to avoid being contaminated by this
world of sin. But James doesnt mention 72-hour prayer hotline
shifts, whipping, fasting, or beating holiness into a tiny child.
Perform practical, POSITIVE acts of love and clean up your own act
before you wear out some toddler who dropped his peas on the
floor! Some Christians would rather perform a three-month water
fast to make other Christians feel like gluttonous, carnal pigs than
take food to a hungry family in the church! Some Christians would
rather beat the tar out of their kids to show the love of Jesus
than spend ten minutes playing Frisbee with them in the park.
Dont feel like a failure just because you dont listen to flaky
teachings which can actually do more harm than good. I feel sorry
for children brought up by parents who are steeped in the suffering
is good and break the human soul and will heresies. They know
firsthand what that breaking involves.
Speaking of breaking, Ive read and heard horror stories of
teenagers being badly beaten and tortured in Christian homes for
wayward youth. And for such nebulous offenses as making a bed
the wrong way or being unable to memorize a long scripture
passage. What a wonderful way to instill love for the Word of God
into children! What a wonderful way to ground them in the love of
Jesus!
Kids were reportedly chained to drainpipes, forced to
swallow soap, tied up with Duck Tape, forced to kneel on marbles,
paddled black and blue, locked in a room with no bathroom
privileges and forced to sit in their own filth while audiotapes of
Brother Blastoff played full blast.
The mule stood his ground at the bank of the pond. But the man
did manage to force the mules muzzle into the water and hold it
under the surface. "Ah," said the man, "youre drinking now. Ive
won."
No, he didnt winexactly. The stubborn mule drowned because the
water went down the wrong pipe.
******
Medieval Christian crusaders forced conversions to their religion at
the point of a sword. The same principle applies to beating a child
with a paddle until he/she tearfully prays for Gods forgiveness.
Does the child feel heartfelt sorrow for his/her sins (or alleged sins),
or do they fear a second helping of the belt if they dont pray with
the parent?
Rom.10:10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Beating a child until they surrender to Jesus is just as much
TORTURE as the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, which used
torture racks and thumbscrews to force people to conform to the
will of Catholic religious leaders.
Some heretics who didnt
conform to Catholic authorities were burnt at the stake. Even if
someone tortures you to break your will, they have no control over
whats happening inside your heart, although they can force you to
confess something to stop the torture. Maybe someday mindreading technology will be developed but at the present time our
thoughts are pretty private unless we speak them out. Only God
knows for sure if an expression of repentance is heartfelt and
genuine. Sometimes Christian parents overreach their authority and
barge into the inner sanctum of the human heart where God speaks
gently to try to reach that child with His love. Only God knows if a
childs heart is truly contrite, or if there is resentment smoldering in
it because of brutal treatment by the parent.
Children who grow up being brutalized (as opposed to fairly, lovingly
disciplined) run the risk of turning away from their parents religion
when they get older because they associate God with a razor strap.
Especially if no one teaches them what God is really like.
Psalms 103:13: Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD
pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Pet.2:24). But the teaching that our own physical pain cleanses
away sin and makes us holier people is contrary to our Gospel of
Grace.
I wonder if Solomon, who stated that the rod and reproof give
wisdom (Prov.29:15) was ever struck by his own father. If it
ALWAYS takes a beating to make a child wise, then youd wonder
why Solomon couldnt just have had his wisdom beaten into him.
Why would Solomon even bother to ask God for wisdom if all it took
was a good pummeling with a paddle (2 Chron.1:12)? Thats like
saying the way to the heart is through the backside!
The Holy Spirit gives believers wisdom (I Cor.1:30; 12:8,24). Christ
IS our wisdom, and we dont get it by being beaten. If youre
dealing with a Christian child who loves the Lord, any true wisdom
he or she has in their life will only come from God, not the paddle.
David seems to have been indulgent with at least some of his sons.
David neglected to punish Amnon, who raped his sister Tamar.
David dealt as leniently as possible with another son, rebellious
Absalom. He didnt order Absalom to be killed or even flogged if
captured. People say Davids son Solomon was the wisest childrearing expert in scripture, not just the wisest man who ever lived.
But the proof is in the pudding. Like beauty, WISDOM IS AS
WISDOM DOES! Was Solomon a great dad just because he talked
tough? How did his own son and successor, Rehoboam, turn out?
Rehoboam was an arrogant, spoiled brat who despised his lowly
subjects.
In one day this young upstart unraveled a united
Kingdom of Israel which had taken his grandfather David years of
painstaking effort and delicate diplomacy to achieve. In I Kings 12:
1-24 Rehoboam goes against the sound of advice of the older sages
to treat the people kindly and fairly. Instead of listening to the valid
concerns of his overworked, stressed-out people, he warns them
that hell whip them even harder than his dad did, and this time
hell use scorpions instead of rawhide. Result: Ten of the twelve
tribes of Israel seceded from the Kingdom.
Jesus said that decent fathers dont offer their children scorpions
when they need an egg (Luke 11:12-13). A scorpion is NOT one of
the good gifts a decent father offers his children, contrary to
modern fundamentalist child-REAR-ing theology which exalts
bruises and beatings as being acts of love. Christian parents
commonly tell their tiny children, prior to a spanking: Jesus told
me to do this, so I must obey Him. Always third-party the blame,
even if it makes someone else look like an ogre. No one can
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned
away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with
the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully
after the LORD, as did David his father.
7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the
abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for
Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense
and sacrificed unto their gods.
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was
turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him
twice,
10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should
not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD
commanded.
11 Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is
done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes,
which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from
thee, and will give it to thy servant.
12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's
sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one
tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's
sake which I have chosen.
Proverbs are included in the canon of Scripture, but they were
written through an imperfect man with an eye for the ladies. In
three places Solomon says theyre HIS proverbs (Prov.1:1; 10:1;
25:1). Much of Gods wisdom can be found in this collection, but a
cold undercurrent of sternness runs throughout the book. One
preacher rightly called it the woodshed of the Bible. Gender
inequality appears in Proverbs chapter 31, where the Virtuous
Woman slaves like a donkey around the clock while her husband sits
in the gates and praises her. Why doesnt Brother Bat enforce this
chapter and make his wife work 20-hour days like the Virtuous
Woman while he chats with his friends? Why only enforce the
Spanking Proverbs? One proverb should be just as binding on
believers as another.
After writing hundreds of proverbs to teach people self-discipline in
their own lives, King Solomon, who had more women than he could
visit in three years, wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes. In this
melancholy book, Solomon laments the vanity and uselessness of all
the ways hed indulged all his own desires. Not only did King
Solomon fail to take his own advice and go on to collect the worlds
biggest harem of worldly women, he had ugly, scary, child-eating
idols specially crafted to cater to their worship needs. Some people
soften Solomons sin by saying he didnt worship those gods
himself, he just built them for other people as an act of diplomacy.
But I Kings 11:5 records that Solomon went after, or worshipped,
Milcom and Ashtoreth, two abominable heathen gods. Two gods
mentioned above, Molech and Chemosh, were particularly horrible
because their worship involved child sacrifice, which meant throwing
little babies alive into fiery ovens. Even if Solomon himself did not
physically throw a child into the blazing belly of Molech, he was an
ENABLER who made it possible for his wives to observe the bloody
rites of their heathen worship.
Can you spell HYPOCRITE? Solomon, who partied with a thousand
wild women and made love in a flower garden while peasants drove
plows (see Song of Solomon), castigates lazy people and
philanderers! I view Song of Solomon through the eyes of someone
who abhors class inequalities and worker exploitation in society.
Admittedly Solomons poetry is lovely, but only rich aristocrats could
afford to spend whole days comtemplating the glories of love in a
sweetly scented paradise. Solomons worn-out workers hardly got
the chance to hit the hay with their tired old ladies at night!
The sheer nerve of that man, finding fault with others while he
himself lived in luxury and built idols that ate children! Solomon
exhorts parents to beat a child betimes (early) in Proverbs 13:24.
That conveys the idea of cracking down hard on the kid the moment
you catch him doing something wrong. How would such parents like
it if they felt like their own Heavenly Father couldnt wait to pounce
on them for slipping up and gave them no opportunity to change
course and do whats right? Solomon says beatings are what keep
kids out of hell (Prov.23:14). This was the very same child REAR-ing
expert who sponsored the destruction of babies in the fiery belly of
Molech! Back then you had to worship a god the RIGHT way, and a
hamster or goldfish wouldnt even fill Molechs tooth. Theres no
reason to think Solomons wives cut corners when it came time to
sacrifice to those bloody gods. Is the enabler to be excused while
those he enables to do the dirty deed get ALL the blame?
What was Gods opinion of the child-eating fire god Molech, and
those who sacrificed children to him?
Leviticus 20:1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of
the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that
giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death:
I Cor.4:21: What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, OR IN
LOVE, AND IN THE SPIRIT OF MEEKNESS?
Paul, who had suffered many unjust beatings, offers the stubborn
Corinthian believers a choice: its either the rod OR love and the
spirit of meekness. They are NOT one and the same!
Some Christian pastors believe in spanking even the tiniest children
who are barely out of the womb. But what does Paul list as the
qualifications for a church leader?
I Tim.3:1: This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a
bishop, he desireth a good work.
2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
3 Not given to wine, NO STRIKER, not greedy of filthy lucre; but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity;
5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the church of God?)
And:
Titus 1:6: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having
faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not
selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, NO STRIKER, not
given to filthy lucre;
8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy,
temperate;
9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may
be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers.
Twice Paul commands church leaders to be no striker. Christians
are not to make a practice of striking (hitting) others, though
obviously, if a Christian man has to fight to protect his wife from a
rapist, hitting might be necessary. While Paul commands Christian
leaders to maintain order in their own homes, he does not make an
exception in his no strike rule to allow for parental spanking.
When New Testament teachings seem to clash with those of the
Old, guess which ones should you give priority to in your faith and
practice?
Paul rejected the notion that the Law, with all its penalties for
breaking it, was able to make a man righteous in the sight of God.
But a lot of Christian parents still think that FEAR of punishment will
magically transform children into well-behaved, loving, Christlike
people.
Are spankers better behaved than the spanked? In one survey, half
of all churchgoing men admitted to downloading porn. Before they
wear out their kid for whining during the long, windy sermon, why
dont they take a belt to themselves? Porn is far more disgusting to
God than a two-year-old kicking the back of a pew.
Unmerciful Spanking
Years ago I was in a religious meeting. I walked over to one lady
who gave me a friendly smile. I commented about her little boy
(about 5 at the time) lying on the pew, all curled up asleep.
He went to sleep after I tore him up real good, she said.
Why? I wondered. What did he do?
He tore a page in his coloring book.
Its a widespread belief among Christians that children who get
spanked the most are the best-behaved on the planet. Not
necessarily. Years later, someone told me that it didnt work for this
particular boy because he was always getting into fights with other
kids, a real troublemaker. What did this boy learn? When you are
angryHIT!
I wonder if this particular Christian couple ever sinned, then got the
same measly measure of mercy back from their own Heavenly
Father that they showed to their own children. Why do so many
Christian parents expect a kind of mercy from God theyre unwilling
to show their own children?
WHY DO GROWN CHRISTIANS DEMAND GRACE FROM GOD, AND
LIKE HYPOCRITES, KEEP THEIR KIDS UNDER THE LAW OF THE
PADDLE?
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy
(Matt.5:7).***The flip side of the coin is this: Deny others mercy
and God wont show any to you!
******
http://kingdomage.tripod.com
http://waronbullying.tripod.com