proverbs 23:13

"Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."

AWESOME!!! I knew christianity was the religion for me, now if my kid lips off I can beat him with a rod! I'm sorry I ever doubted christians, child abuse won me over, nothing says I love and care about you like a couple shots with a rod

 

yep, there's some pretty powerful verses in that book...

 

How inspiring. Behold, therein lies the word of God. Literal and direct. The flock tends to be simple minded, keep your statements direct and they'll get the picture. Big bad wolf keeps them at bay, the mighty sheep dogs keep them in march. Heed these words of wisdom.

 

now why doesn't any good christian board member explain the verse to me...or do they tend to disregard any evidence that their 'good book' might contain some not so good info

 

its probably speaking about being stern with ones children, and that teaching them lessons will not kill them, but it will help them in long run. I doubt its advocating child abuse with a literal rod.

 

I dunno, "if thou beatest him" is pretty cut & dry if you ask me.

 

but the "he shall not die" part seems like its saying its okay to correct your children, theyll be better for it. Of course a person knows that if they beat a child enough the childs going to die, it doesnt take a proverb to assure you of that.

 

but how many people in this society aren't the type of people to take it metaphorically...I'm sure there are millions of christians worldwide that say 'well the bible says its alright to beat my kid if he doesn't mind me...as long as I don't kill him' so you know a beatings just inches from death are cool

 

Why do you only bad-mouth Christianity, when it is a Jewish proverb? And as if Christians (and Jews) are the only ones who beat their children...

Of course, I find this passage abhorrent, and despite the fact that it may (or may not) have a deeper meaning, one must realize that a deeper meaning does not negate the "shallow" meaning. It's there in black and white, saying it's ok to hit your kids. Aren't we all to the point that we realize that violence, ESPECIALLY TOWARDS CHILDREN, is not helpful in any way?

 

if you love your kid you'll discipline them is the basic message.


if you dont love you kid and dont care what they do, you won't.

Any good parent will open up a can of whoop ass once in awhile, if they want thier children to remember something. I have 3 boys and they all need spankings once awhile.

if you lose your freaking mind and beat a kid without ceasing, yep they'll probably die.

Isnt moderation always the key? Dont we have enough heart and intellect to know when enough is enough?

 

It may not have had such a shallow meaning in the orignal text and the text might have read differently in society back then who knows
or maybe jews are just evil

 

No child "needs" physical assault.

After I learned that other alternative methods worked EVEN BETTER than the dinosaur method, it became clear that violence "begats" violence.

The key is understanding, flexibility and consistent discipline. And NEVER discipline a child while angry. Shouting and "whoop ass" (as it was referred to) teaches them to react to situations they don't like the same way.

My son (who isn't perfect, but is a good kid) understands that violence accomplishes nothing. I've always told him to defend him if he has to, but never iniate violence, because it may be temporary, but it is no solver of problems.

My son hasn't had a spanking in two years (he only had maybe four his whole life), and he is even BETTER behaved. Much better.

 

i saw a cool show on dinosaurs last night.

 

i havnt had to spank my twins in a looong long time either. Hope i didnt give the impression that i'm slapping the crap out of my kids. Lib, your outlook on parenting sounds basically the same as mine.

I think that the point of the scripture is that discipline is necessary for children and that without it, kids will not respect thier parents.

 

I've seen some christian parents really go after their child's backends with wooden spoons, belts, paddles, all kinds of stuff. And not just a swat or two, but a real beating. Stuff that would make my jaw drop - and if they were doing it to their kids in front of me I wonder how bad those kids had it when none of their friends were around.

Children never need to be assualted to be disciplined. Spanking a child makes them feel angry, not sorry. Spanking them while you are angry teaches them that aggression is an appropriate response to anger. Pparents are a child's first role model, your child will imulate you. If you respond to their misdeeds with "whoop ass" they will use that same response against their brothers, sisters, and friends. There are other ways to set and enforce rules and boundries than assualting your child. If the only way you can keep control of your child or keep his respect is to beat him and make him fear physical retribution for his wrongs then maybe child rearing just isn't your cup of tea.


Ugh, I hate that "spare the rod spoil the child" crap.

 

There's no guarantee what our kids will or will not do to others. They dont always mimic us, they do have thier own minds.
you can beat your kid and they might not hit a person in thier life.
you can not beat them and perhaps they will be violent every time they get a little peeved.

All i know is that kids need discipline. Some need more intense discipline than others. For my little cousin, just my aunt being mad was enough to make him feel very sorry...so she didnt need to do much else because her being upset was enough. There are some kids...we've all seen them, that are simply defiant. They hit, bite, and throw things at thier parents. If those parents don't show them who's boss, and keep trying to talk them out of thier bad behaviour, they might get a knife in thier back while watching tv one night.

I dont believe in child abuse. That's different. I was beaten for the first two years of my life before the children's aid stormed into my house, stripped me down to see my scars and bruises, and took me away from my crazy doped up 16 year old mother.

it comes down to every child needing the necessary discipline for them to grow into healthy adults...without the parents being walked on, or on the other end of the spectrum, abusive.

 

Did dinosaurs spank their kids?

 

no but sometimes they ate them =\

 

Well, I'm against that (not to bash dinosaurs or anything).

 

Begets. Violence begets violence. Begat is past tense, begets is present tense.

Just thought you would want to know for certain.

[Insignia of the English Zealotry Syndicate]

Wise words from Sera. =)