Do all Christians spank their children?

Question

Seeing as it says in the bible 'spare the rod, spoil the child?'

Is this your justification for hurting children?

Answer 1

It has nothing to do with religion. People who spank or even worse hit children, don't know what impact it has on them.

Nobody can discipline by hurting somebody. All the children will learn is "it is okay to hit".

So, I don't care what excuses the parents may have "My kid is very spoiled", "My kid deserves it", My kid drives me crazy" or "That is the only way my kid would listen" IT IS NEVER OKAY TO HURT ANOTHER LIVING BEING.

Answer 2

In common English grammar a comma is usually a separation of thoughts. So it would be spare the rod. Spoil the child. Better to spare the rod and spoil the child than spoil the child by not sparing the rod. There are to many other ways to discipline a child. Time out, good old fashioned corner time, chair time, learned not to send mine to their room because that was play time. Corporal punishment should be the very last resort. If all else fails, then yes. My sixteen year old is a great kid. He has probably had 3 spankings in his whole life, one when he had a temper going and decided it was time to fight mom. LOL It shocked him beyond belief. Once when he thought it was a good idea to throw things at other people. I can't remember the last. He believes in the Lord, he has saw the miracles that can be done by the Lord, and he loves the Lord. I never have a problem with him and I am as truthful with him as I know how to be about everything. There is never a question to embarrassing to answer. He may be considered by some as slightly spoiled and by others as spoiled rotten. That is Ok, my husband and I love him to death. There are no justifications for hurting children. They are a small gift from God. He sent us one of his angels for our keeping. My own personal opinion so don't look for that in the Bible. One more thing, if it is worth keeping it is worth putting up. So if you don't put it up and it gets broke, oh well. I am a Christian.

Answer 3

NO! It doesn't say "spare the rod and spoil the child." It says, "He that spareth the rod hateth his son. He that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." It means that if parents DON'T correct a child when it does wrong, then when that child grows up, there will be nothing but hatred, indifference and regret between parents who've sat idly by and let "influence" raise their children, causing the arguments and strife that usually start with children "giving lip" and such things; the beginnings of disrespect caused by a lifetime of neglect that give the appearance (in God's eyes) of hatred between parent and child. If that child dies in their sin without proper spiritual and physical guidance and/or punishment, God may hang those sins to the parent's charge! Also,it means that if you LOVE your son, you'll punish him accordingly when he does wrong, not beat him everytime he turns around! The Scripture says, "Train up a child in the way it should go; when it grows old, it will not depart." In other words, when done lovingly and with the Word of God to guide the parent, the child will not be hated in the spiritual sense and will grow up to do the same for it's children. There is no justification for hurting and abusing a child in the name of "correction." Spanking and "time outs" are one thing; beating a child until its bruised, burnt, broken bones etc, is a crime and an ABOMINATION to God. So, don't get confused about the difference between "beating" and "spanking". One teaches correction, the other is done in rage.

Answer 4

When I was younger and I saw parents spanking their children and I SWORE I'd never spank. My parents are pretty strong Christians and I was spanked when I misbehaved, a few times dad broke a ruler on my butt, and I remembered how awful it felt to be on the other end. I have no animosity toward my parents... they did the best they could with the info they had, but thankfully, once I became a parent, we had better information.

Then I had a child. I used all the touchy-feely liberal methods of discipline and I'm here to tell you that it just doesn't work with some kids. My son is extremely gifted, headstrong and willful, which all the doctors have told me is a good thing (we've instilled in him good self-esteem), but boy, is he hard to discipline.

When we tried time-outs, he caught on within two days that he could go ahead and break the rules then put himself in time-out. We took away toys and he'd bring us a toy then break a rule (or the other way around, depending on his mood). We tried ignoring tantrums and that just made them escalate until he'd just plain check out. We did Love and Logic and he found the loopholes with that one, too. We've had limited success with techniques we've learned on Supernanny, but even those aren't always successful.

When he's reached the point of no return (standing in the "thinking" spot, screaming so loud (from frustration or anger or both) that the next county can hear him... sometimes a swat on the behind is the only thing that gets his attention.

He's pretty much a very well-behaved boy (as everyone we've ever met has told us, including strangers in restaurants) and he has no problems with hitting other kids... never has and I'm quite sure he never will.

So you cannot make generalizations about kids. With some kids, time-outs work... they don't WANT to be separated from the group and they will straighten out. With others, taking away their prized posessions works. With still others, a swat on the behind works.

Unfortunately, kids don't come with instructions and you have to figure out what works with yours on your own. Just start with the least offensive and then try other methods until you find the one that works.

Oh, and btw, I'm an atheist.

Answer 5

Christians do not use the Bible to justify hurting children.

It would be wrong to do so -- just as it is wrong for you to take a single Bible verse out of context, put a twist on its meaning, and then foist that meaning on what Christians allegedly do in a stereotypical manner.

"Spare the rod, spoil the child" is never to be used as an excuse for child abuse.

But it does convey the message that parents must discipline their children -- the discipline doesn't have to be corporal in nature -- if they truly love them and want them to grow up to be well-developed adults.

Parents who spoil their kids and let them do whatever they want without consequence are, in the long run, not doing their kids any favors.

Answer 6

My wife and I are Christians and we don't spank our children, so I can say definitively that not all Christians spank their children.

However, your very question reveals misunderstanding on your part. The Bible also says to kill homosexuals and to stone your daughter if she fornicates. Most Christians don't do these things either. Therefore it can be easily demonstrated that most Christians (even if they claim to), don't take the advice in the Bible literally. If you need more convincing, do a study of how Jesus regarded material wealth, and compare that to the lifestyles of American Christians (no judgement intended on my part).

Second, spanking children is not the same as hurting them. Child abuse does occur, but you are being disengenuous to throw that line out here in order to troll for empassioned responses.

Answer 7

The Bible is the Truth.
Spanking also works every time. I, however, rarely spank...nor have the need to...and I do not abuse, or physically harm my child in the process. My child is healthy with a wonderful disposition, and ranks near the top of her class.
Compared to those who are not disciplined this way -- like trying to reason with children -- my child is an angel.

Answer 8

You're quoting the Old Testament. Through Jesus, there is a New Covenant with God, so if you want to quote the Bible, please quote the New Testament.

IMHO, Spanking when overdone is counter productive, as the child learns to tune it out. Some parents then escalate the violence, with tragic results. When my children were small, I only used corporal punishment in those instances where the misbehavior could have led to injuries to either my child or others.

Answer 9

I'm a christian and I don't spank my children. I don't think you should ever inflict physical or emotional pain on anybody. As far as "spare the rod, spoil the child" this refers to discipline. Many christians believe discipline means spanking. I don't. Discipline is just that: discpline. Discpline comes from the word disciples. It means to lead.

Answer 10

Christianity, Spanking and Hurting children do NOT belong in the same question. Disciplining your child is what a responsible parent does. It has nothing to do with weither or not you are a christian. Besides there is a HUGE difference between necessary discipline and physical abuse!

Answer 11

My mom spanked me, and I turned out fine. Yes, she was and is a fine Christian woman.
We have a friend, however, who NEVER spanked her boys when they were young. As a matter of fact, she believed that if you just "reason" with them, or give them time-out, that's enough, and you should NEVER raise your voice to them.
Her kids are the most spoiled brats I have ever met. They have no respect for ANYONE, least of all their mother. They do nothing but talk back to their teachers, and one of them wound up in Juvenile Hall for stealing a car.
She's a Christian, too, and she thought that it was "un-Christianlike" to spank her kids.
I have another friend who never spanked her kids, and her son has got ALL KINDS of problems...or at least he DID, until he wound up in a foster home where he receives discipline.
Spankings do NOT hurt children as much as not punishing them. I have no scars, and I don't hate my parents for spanking me. Sometimes a parent HAS to be hard on their kids. My mom just tells me to never give a child more swats than however many years old they are (two swats for a two-year-old, three for a three-year-old, et cetera.) And NEVER hard enough to bruise.