Spanking is not biblically mandated. In fact, spanking is not
even addressed in the Bible (I’m serious.). Do not tell me I have to spank my
child or she will turn in to a horrible hellion monster. In
fifteen years, if she is, indeed, a horrible hellion monster, you have
my permission to say “I told you so.”
Thank you, that is all.
Spacemonkey1812 | 19-Sep-05 at 6:35 am | Permalink
Word.
mamafish | 19-Sep-05 at 9:29 am | Permalink
and considering that lots of horrible hellian monsters I know are or were spanked…they wouldn’t even have much ground to say I told you so.
thecubbiebear | 19-Sep-05 at 9:39 am | Permalink
it talks of spanking in proverbs
wingsofdawn | 19-Sep-05 at 9:55 am | Permalink
it talks of beating with a rod in proverbs.
timwylie | 19-Sep-05 at 10:00 am | Permalink
no nick, it does not.
mamafish | 19-Sep-05 at 10:42 am | Permalink
spanking is not a word used in the Bible, so if you’re going to hit your kids, at least call it by it’s name…beating. and since proverbs speaks of hitting with a rod, I want to see the proper tool used. when I see spankers hitting their kids with large sticks and not talking about arbitrary standards and guidelines for age, methods, etc, spankers will at least gain a bit more respect in my eyes for being consistent.
dchalenburg | 19-Sep-05 at 12:55 pm | Permalink
Allow me to jump in on the Proverbs thing a little bit here. There are 4 passages in Proverbs that are traditionally used to advocate spanking: Prov. 13:24, 22:15, 23:13-14, and 29:15. That one is easy to agree on right? I have translated the 1st 2 in this series and am assuming that the other 2 follow the same pattern (which they seem to when you read the English translation in the NIV). What I have found is that the emphasis is not on the rod but on the discipline. The rod appears to be at least partially figurative (some would advocate completely figurative, others would advocate completely literal). I especially like my translation of 13:24 which goes like this (from the DRSV Dave Revised Standard Version): “The one who witholds the rod hates his son but the one who loves him seeks him early with discipline”. The 2nd part that says “seeks him early” really struck me. It seems that the writer believes that there is a point at which it is too late for discipline (which we have all seen from experience with others). Anyway, the key is discipline. I don’t think Proverbs is a legitimate place to go to prove Biblical precedent for spanking. I am saying that if you don’t discipline you child (or children as the case may be) you will most likely end up with a “hellion” on your hands.
dave
Ps I really like the phraseology of Prov. 23:13: “…if you punish him with the rod, he will not die”. I think it’s funny (once again pointing out that “the rod” is at least partially figurative).
mamafish | 19-Sep-05 at 4:59 pm | Permalink
yup, exactly. which is why I said that once I see spankers beating their kid to the brink of death with a long, large staff we will have some common ground on which to discuss the issue. but clearly, they interpret that verse…why is THEIR interpretation any more valid than mine?