Photo credit: Shutterstock via TheBlaze
My second article as a contributor to The Blaze is about an important but controversial subject.
Do you spank your kids?
On second thought, don’t answer that question, especially if you live in Michigan, where a mom faces prison (yes, actual prison) for disciplining one of her children with a wooden paddle; or Delaware, which passed the nation’s first “anti-spanking law” in 2012 by redefining child abuse laws to include any act that causes “pain.”
Now “pain” has a pretty broad meaning, particularly when you’re bringing lawyers into the picture. Does Jimmy feel “pain” when he’s grounded from electronics and suffers the indignity of actually having to make his own entertainment?
Does little Suzy experience “pain” when mom and dad make her eat something that’s good for her but that she doesn’t really want to eat, like brussel sprouts?
Do hurt feelings, or a bruised ego, count as “pain?”
Granted, none of those things are exactly what we’re talking about. What we ARE talking about, of course, are good ole’ fashioned butt whoopings, the kind most of us over the age of 35 experienced on a pretty regular basis back in the day.
And being prosecuted, regardless of the legality or illegality of “spanking” as a practice in any given state,is a legitimate concern.
Discussions on this topic tend to reflect a fundamental ideological difference between atheistic and Christian-principled governance – who owns your kids? The way our society chooses to answer this question will determine what kind of country we live in. Will we go the direction of every totalitarian dictatorship from the Bolsheviks onward, or will we choose family and freedom over tyranny?
Read the rest here!
This article was also shared today on The Blaze’s Facebook page!
Corporal punishment is one of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible. I’d be keen to discuss it more with you.
My work, which is given away freely, is featured here – http://www.endhittingusa.org/resources/sam-martin-s-biblical-studies-about-spanking
Samuel Martin
http://www.biblechild.com
Jerusalem Israel
Hi Samuel – thanks for the comment. We respectfully disagree. From this site (http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=7&article=1255) please read the following:
“Matteh and shevet are used together in Ezekiel 19:10-14 to refer to fresh tree branches. They are used in synonymous parallelism in Isaiah 28:27 as a stick used to beat out cumin/grain: “But the black cumin is beaten out with a stick (matteh), and the cumin with a rod (shevet).” They are unquestionably synonyms. If any distinction can be made between them, it is that matteh is not used to refer to a scepter (see Harris, et al., 2:897; although Gesenius, pp. 466-467). However, both are used to refer to a stick or rod. In fact, shevet is specifically referred to as a rod used for beating a human being: “And if a man beats his servant or his maidservant with a rod…” (Exodus 21:20). As Isaacs noted: “The Heb[rew] shebhet is the ordinary word for rod or club” (1959, 4:2702; cf. McClintock and Strong, 1880, 9:57-58,401).
In addition to the verses in Proverbs that refer specifically to spanking a child, several additional verses verify that literal striking of the body with a wooden stick is envisioned. For example, “Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding, but a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding” (Proverbs 10:13). “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool’s back” (Proverbs 26:3). Obviously, the “rod” is as literal as the “whip” and “bridle.” The Psalmist declared: “Then I will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes” (Psalm 89:32). Though speaking figuratively, the Psalmist aligned “rod” with “stripes.” In passages where the term “rod” is used figuratively, the figurative use presupposes the literal meaning (e.g., Job 9:34; 21:9; Isaiah 10:24; 11:4; 14:29; 30:31; Lamentations 3:1; Micah 5:1).”
Besides the points above, I think you are trying to assign a different meaning to the word besides what it means in its obvious context. Your intentions are likely good, but your interpretation does a disservice to parents in need of Biblical advice.