Christian Delusions: The Bible and Child Abuse
Read Time:3 Minute, 50 Second
When we hear the words “Child Abuse,” many images come to mind. The Catholic church notwithstanding, most of the time when we hear these words we think of decidedly irreligious motivations.
Scenes from popular television programs and public service advertisements play in our head that involve a drunk parent beating on their kids or a depressed parent holing up in a room neglecting their children with terrible results.
However, those of us who are well informed are all too familiar with the widely accepted ideologies and doctrines of Christianity that often justify the abuse, neglect and even the death of children. This abuse remains prevalent in our societies and will continue to be practiced as long as religion is part of our social construct because so many individuals have been duped into believing that Christian morality is the pinnacle characteristic of goodness and rearing a child according to biblical standards will result in an upstanding and trustworthy adult.
We know different, though. We understand that religious belief is a memetic virus of the mind and the natural progression of many mental illnesses often results in a bad outcome. Christianity can be classified as delusional because it teaches many things to be factual that have been proven false. Willful ignorance, being one of the primary symptoms of delusion, causes the believer to maintain acceptance of proven falsehoods regardless of widely available evidence to the contrary.
The physical abuse of children is so common within Christianity that it is not even considered criminal, and in many cases it is condoned as a perfectly acceptable form of discipline. The problem is that there exists no amount of twisting and bending that can cover up the fact that Christianity demands that a parent beat their children into submission. Not all Christian parents are guilty of this form of child abuse, but if they are not, then they are guilty of being poor Christians, because corporal punishment is Scriptural.
The bible is regarded by many believers as the inerrant word of god, suitable for teaching and reproof, and scripture justifies child abuse via the following bible verses:
Prov 13:24: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently).”
Prov 19:18: “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”
Prov 22:15: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”
Prov 23:13: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.”
Prov 23:14: “Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (Shoel).”
Prov 29:15: “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
Many Christians believe that it is preferable to start physically abusing children at a young age. Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, one of the most influential personalities in Christian circles and widely regarded as an expert on child rearing, recommends spanking children as early as 18 months of age. Many Christian parents hold that that the physical abuse of their children is the only effective method of discipline and routinely reject non-violent techniques. The problem is only exacerbated as many primary and secondary schools still “paddle” school children.
To make matters worse, the paddling is usually carried out by the school principal. When a child is abused at home, in school and supported by the church, there is absolutely no refuge available to them. Most of the time the child grows into an adult who abuse their own children because hitting children teaches them to become hitters themselves. Many children are assaulted with switches, paddles, bats, bike chains, open hands, closed fists, axe handles, canes and whatever else is handily available. A well known evangelical website states:
“A thin dowel rod most closely matches the ‘rod’ of discipline being referred to in the Bible for children. A dowel rod can be purchased at any home improvement store. We prefer the 1/4″ diameter for our medium aged children and a slightly thinner one for the younger ones”
This form of child abuse, while reprehensible to anyone who has an ounce of compassion and a rudimentary understanding of child psychology, pales in comparison to the parents who allow their children to die in the name of god via the reprehensible practice of relying on faith healing.
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I was terrified of my adoptive father. He was an Anglican minister. He physically assaulted me regularly, even though I was very well behaved. I broke a measuring cup once but other than that, I was a model child. I had to be, in order to survive. He made reference to “spare the rod, spoil the child” constantly. I was slapped, spanked, whacked on the side and back of my head, struck on the palm with belts, wooden spoons, rulers, spatulas.
A kid at school noticed a particularly bad bruise. He said it was called child abuse. It took me two years to get up the courage to say this to my adoptive father, “What you’re doing is called child abuse. If you ever hit me again, I’ll call the police.” He got all red in the face and was silent for several minutes. He said, “I can’t wait until you’re sixteen because that’s when the government says I can legally kick you out.”He never hit me again, but the verbal and emotional abuse got even worse after that.
The fact that most people who got “spanked” say the same old rhetoric, “I got spanked and I turned out okay,” proves how brainwashed we are as children by parents who can’t be bothered to find a non-violent way to raise their children. To those who say that, I ask, “Do you hit your kids?” And the answer is almost always yes and the justification is that it’s for their own good. Many people who were never hit as children turn out just fine. Our jails aren’t full of those people, they’re full of the ones who did get hit.
Physical discipline isn’t necessary. The proof that you survived something doesn’t mean that it was okay to endure in the first place. Nor does it mean you should make your kids endure it either. Parents hit their kids for their own benefit. It gives them instant results, without all that silly “talking” to their child. WHACK! Problem solved. It’s called lazy parenting. If you can’t handle situations with your child without resorting to hitting them, that’s pathetic. The fact is, if you go up to someone on the street and slap them across the face, you are charged with assault. If you do the exact same thing to your kid, it is not considered assault. That’s seriously messed up thinking, folks.
I’m sure six million Jews wish Hitler hadn’t been abused as a child. Yeah, he turned out just fine, didn’t he?
My dad took the belt to me one last time when I was about 16. I took it away from him, along with his whiskey, and called the cops. They took him away. He went to jail, then rehab, and is now my best friend. He became an Atheist and never again picked up a bible.
My dad didn’t spare the rod from me! Good thing too – it drove that ‘foolishness’ named religion far from my mind!
Works most of the time! However, my dad yeas an agnostic.
Huh? My dad was agnostic. He whipped me. I am atheist. It all depends.