Why do people use the Bible as justification for spanking?

Question

I noticed a question about spanking on here, and several people quote the Bible, saying, "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child." So, my question is, if people can use the Bible as justification for spanking or corporal punishment, why can't people use it as justification for say, Crucifying criminals, or sacrificing their children to show their faith? It all seems very convenient to be able to pick and choose parts of the Bible to justify your personal agenda.

to answer man: what is "petty and pitiful" is that for someone who encourage others to "volunteer their time to others" and "get a life" you seem to like insulting people via the internet without knowing them at all. You don't know me, so please don't judge me based on ONE QUESTION I asked.

Answer 1

In the Bible there is law and there are customs. We need to obey the law because that hasn't changed and those are the teachings of Gods. Customs are different and they have changed. You need to study the Bible with a teacher to know the difference. We don't need to crucify animals anymore because Jesus died for us. In the old testament people had to give sacrifices for their sins, but now that we have Jesus we don't have to. He was the ultimate sacrifice. God gave up his own son to us. There was no child sacrifice in the Bible. But, there was one story where God asked someone to sacrifice their child to test their faith, but when he was about to do it, God said STOP don't do it. So the child never got sacrificed. God doesn't want us to beat our children, but a good spanking on the bottom only with a good explanation of why works.

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

That's religion for you, it has what I call the "swinging door affect", where it doesn't open and close, rather it picks and chooses to apply certain perspectives and leaves the unexplainable as "life's great mysteries".

But you find people justifying a lot of what they do not only through religion, but by anything that people would see as ethical and sensible. People justify many things by saying "it is the right thing to do", when in reality it depends on the perspectives.

However, more towards what you're saying, you won't find any church telling it's parishioners to kill their kids as an act of faith. Much of the old testament, which is where the verses you mentioned come from, are parabolic and should be taken with a green assault.

Civilization has evolved from crucifying, so you won't find that as a form of capital punishment. But you still find the death penalty, so humanity has yet to evolve from it and other simillar instances. But that doesn't mean everyone should hop on the band wagon and give up on justifying good intention, if there weren't people acting on good faith then people always be in conflict. So let the good be good and let the bad fall where it will, nothing is going to stop it.

Answer 4

I grew up in a generation where spanking was a routine way to deal with discipline problems. (This was in the 50's and 60's.) During that time, I only knew of one teen pregnancy in our high school and two or three kids who experimented with drugs. There were no Columbines, no killing someone for a pair of designer tennis shoes, and a d@mn sight less crime in general.

I went to college and got not one, but two degrees. I've been married to the same guy for over 30 years, never done drugs, and never felt the urge to pick up a gun and harm someone. I love my church, I enjoy volunteering with the Literacy and Adult Advocacy programs, and there are a lot of others of my generation who feel the same way. And most of us were spanked as kids -- funniest darned thing.

Now Child Protective Services screams, "Oh, the poor little darlings are being abused if the mean parents spank them, so we have to remove them from the home!" Teen pregnancy and drug use is through the roof, there's at least one school shooting incident a year, and the police have to assign someone to a lot of schools so the "poor little darlings" don't kill themselves and take others with them.

Leaving aside any Biblical issue concerning spanking, I'd say that the "rod of discipline applied to the seat of learning" may very well be a leading factor in the difference between my generation and the present one.

Answer 5

Well, if you want a non-biblical answer as to what might justify a spanking (or any other corperal punishment) here is my thought process-

Spanking, when done properly, is more a means of introducing a child to the concept of consequences for actions (And I know that half the internet is gonna light up with "Well so does a time out"...yeah, not really. And not nearly as effectively as having a swat on the bum) I know a lot of (extremely left wing) people think that all spanking does is teacha kid that spanking only teaches that problems are solved by hitting. Not so. I was spanked as a kid, and I don't go around punching people every time that I disagree with them. And the entire generation before mine, and all the generations prior to that, got spankings, and they turned very well adjusted individuals (not to mention, corperal punishment as a part of society prevented the incredibly high crime rates that we now have)
Sya what you want about the evils of corperal punishment. But you compare the times it was around to our current times, and I see that corperal punishment worked, and what we do now, doesn't.

Answer 6

The bible can be, is, and has been used to justify just about any course of action that an individual wants to take. There my indeed be some justification for spanking, such as a swat on the backside of a toddler who is too young, or too out of control, to be reasoned with. For the very young sometimes this is the only was to communicate that you absolutly must not do some thing, like run in the street or but your hand on the stove. I believe though that once kids are old enough to be reasoned with, that is punished in other ways, spanking is really not necessary. It seems to me that it is usually the really stupid and ignorant that us spanking. As an adult you should be smart enough to use your brain and not your brawn. Unfortunatly, there are a lot of stupid, petty and ignorant people out there. For many of these people it seems that they use their kids as a way to feel powerful. They feel weak and ineffective in their personal lives so they like to assert their authority over their children. Seem sad to think that any ignorant *** can have children and usually the more stupid you are the more kids you have.

Answer 7

God even chastening us as his children. If we get out of his will - and we are truly born again he will get us good ( punish)
In John I believe it states : If you have never felt the chasten hand of God , ye are Bastards and not of the Son.
And that means once again if you get out here and willfully sin your going to be punished and if you don't get punished you are not saved.
There is a difference in spanking and beating a child. And some people don't know the difference.Spanking a child for disobeying you is not child abuse.Beating a child is!!



In my opinion that's what wrong with our youth today.The parents right to wipe their butts when they get out of line . We would not be having all these killings in schools and all the other things taking place if some parents would have gotten out that belt and wiped some butts on some of theses kids - they wouldn't be so cocky and doing the things they have - and costing other parents their children's lives.

Answer 8

If God's word taught us to crucify criminals or sacrifice our children, then we would be living in a world that did these things. But God's Word does not say such things. Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice needed. He gave it all. All we have to do is receive it and live it. However, the Lord speaks often about punishing / disciplining your children. But is always done in love, never anger, to prevent their souls from going to hell. The Lord disciplines us as well because He loves us and doesn't want us going the wrong way.

Answer 9

I don't need no "bible" of any type to know that any child who acts like a brat and does NOT respond to verbal commands of authority NEEDS to have his/her little rear-end fanned with a switch!

I remember getting paddled in public school as a child and it didn't hurt me any. The sting fades but the punishment is a harsh reminder that an unruly child needs to have SOME type of fear instilled in them to keep them in place.

Can't do that nowadays and the little evil thugs in school beat up on weaker kids, steal their lunches or money & even steal their footwear or clothes.

What does Child Protective Services do? NOTHING! "Oh well he comes from a broken home..." So what? Beat his bum! Yeah just talk to him and let him know that he can get away with anything because laws were put in place to protect the guilty. He'll grow up to be yet another societal LOSER!

Answer 10

Not everyone believes that way. My mom spanked me and it had nothing to do with the bible. I agree that it is not right to pick and choose the bible, but many people can call themselves Christians but few actullay walk with Christ.