By Patricia Backora

Millions of tiny children live in a prison of spiritual fear because their parents are so eager to find reasons to beat them, in the name of Christ. Proverbs stands alone in commanding children to be beaten. But it also commands: 1. Fools must be beaten with rods Prov.!":#$ %f your pastor told an inappropriate &o'e, would he literally be beaten with a rod or &ust rebu'ed(. !. ) fool should get his mouth slapped Prov.1*:"$. +o adult Christians practice this on each other( #. ,old a 'nife to your throat if you li'e to eat a lot Prov.!#:!$. Many grown preachers do li'e to eat, as their e-panding waistlines testify. .heir for' is always in their mouth, never at their throat. /. .hose who disrespect their parents will get their eye pic'ed out and eaten by a bird Prov.1#:10$ ,ow many of you have ever had 1od forgive you for not treating your parents right, while still 'eeping both your eyes afterward( 2. .hieves shall be re3uired to pay bac' 45657 times what they stole, and for' over everything in their house Prov.":#89#1$. %f the deacon stole a few dollars from the church till, would the pastor force him to donate all his belongings to the church( Probably not. ". 4imple people who don:t have all the answers should get their bac's beaten Prov.18:1#$. ;esus praised 1od for revealing ,is teachings to babes instead of wise men Matt.11:!2< =u'e 18:!1$. 4olomon taught

that the pursuit of wisdom should be the first priority of a righteous life, but failed to use it himself sometimes, to his own detriment. 4. 0. Fools should be beaten with a mortar and pestle Prov.!0:!!$ ,ow often is this enforced in church today( 4olomon:s life left a legacy of cruelty. 4olomon wasn:t supposed to ma'e slaves of the %sraelite people, and technically spea'ing, he didn:t 5>)C.=? ma'e slaves of them % @ings A:!!$. But he charged bac'9 brea'ing ta-es and oppressed his people to the point of rebellion ! Chron.18:1*< % @ings 1!:/$. 4olomon drafted an army of %sraelite men for his building pro&ects % @ings 2:1#91*$ and they weren:t free to turn down the &ob. 4lavery by any other name is still slavery, as ta-payers of the present day 'now when they spend the first half of the year wor'ing &ust to pay the government. )fter 4olomon died, the people pleaded with his successor, Prince Behoboam to go easier on them than his dad did. But rough, rude Behoboam threatened the %sraelite people with scorpions instead of the whips his father had used on them % @ings 1!:11$. 4olomon, praised by span'ing advocates and certain Christian family authors as the world:s greatest child rearing e-pert, departed from 1od in his later years when his multitude of wives led him astray into idol worship. 4ome types of idols weren:t &ust figurines on a shelf. .hey were big, nasty, ugly brutes that had to be fed, literal furnaces where you threw =%6%71 sacrifices into their flame9filled bellies. 4olomon built child9eating idols Molech and Chemosh$ to please these heathen women % @ings 11:0$. .he Moabites would periodically sacrifice a child or two to Chemosh, their god, to ensure good weather for their crops. Molech was served the same way, and neither god would settle for chic'ens. 4creaming children were literally thrown alive into flames as sacrifices to these satanic gods =ev.1*:!1< !8:!$. %n %srael, 4acrificing your children to Molech was punishable by being stoned to death. But this didn:t stop 4olomon from sponsoring Molech worship or worshipping heathen gods himself$. 4o when it comes to dealing with children or people in general$, who should you listen to, Molech9manufacturer 4olomon or gentle ;esus( Cne %sraelite Dueen Mother lost her position at court because she built &ust C75 idol in a grove % @ings 12:1# and ! Chron.12:1"$. 4olomon wanted to stay on good terms with all his hundreds of fathers9in9law in order to avoid war. 4o to 'eep his heathen wives in a good mood, he built all the idols these wic'ed women wanted. But 4olomon stayed in

power, even though there:s no mention of him ever repenting of this gross sin. )dulterous preachers don:t get span'ed by other people. 7ot even when their sins wound 1od or other believers. )dults who cuss and swear don:t get span'ed. )dults who gamble away their family:s grocery money don:t get span'ed. )dults who yell abuse at other drivers don:t get span'ed though they might get hit if there:s a confrontation$. Christian adults who get drun' don:t get span'ed. ?et these same self9righteous hypocrites demand perfection of a tiny child barely out of its mother:s wombE 5ven if a Christian child who is otherwise obedient and blameless accidentally spills his glass of mil', he is in danger of being beaten with the rod as part of his FtrainingG. Hhat the devil is that 'id being trained for, to be a bully( %f a child is tired and sul'y, or even loo's at his parent the wrong way, he:s in danger of getting Fworn outG with a switch, paddle, or belt. Hhy the double standard( Hhy must every imperfection, every misstep, be answered with such cruel conse3uences( +on:t these misguided parents fear 1od, and how ,e might treat .,5M if they fail to live up to ,is e-pectations( )dults who fan their 'id:s bottom with a holey paddle plead with 1od to go easy on them Fbecause they weren:t in their right mindG or the +56%= made them do itE 4ure those parents hate satan, at least till they find a use for him. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy Matt.2:0$. .he flip side of the coin is this: Infortunate are the unmerciful, for they shall 7C. obtain mercyE .he same mercy you deposit in your heavenly ban' account is what you can draw on when you foul up and need love and compassion from your own ,eavenly +ad. 7o more, no less. Hhen a child is straying off the straight and narrow, gentle admonition should be tried first. ;esus ,imself commanded the disciples to F%B4. admonish an erring brother before ta'ing stronger measures to correct the problem Matt.1*:12910$. 7o mention of span'ing the offender presumably an adult$. %f he repents at the first, second, or even the third and last resort$ admonition, the problem is solved and he is to be totally forgiven and restored to fellowship. 7o mention of other church members waiting at the church door with paddles to FcorrectG the repentant memberE Hhy should a tiny child be treated more harshly than an adult Christian who sins against his brother(

.he church at .hyatira had a woman who was teaching Christ:s servants to do abominable things. ;esus gave her and her followers space time$ to repent before casting her into a sic'bed as punishment Bev.!:!89!!$. Christian parents don:t follow ;esus: e-ample in this. .hey don:t give their children space to repent so they can avoid punishment. %nstead, they fly off the handle and start hitting before they admonish their children in love and try to win them bac' to the paths of righteousness. Cften, Christian parents will even lose their temper and start beating their child before they even get the full story of what happenedE .heir FauthorityG is at sta'e if they don:t show the 'id who:s bossE .hese short9sighted parents are depositing CBI5=.? )7+ FCBC5 5Je'.#/:/$ in their heavenly ban's accounts as they act so mean that their child associates them only with fear and tears. )nd the day will come those parents will reap what they sow. Cne day when they get old and languish in some nursing home waiting for someone to visit them, their abused children, alienated from the B5)= Christ of the Bible, won:t give them the time of day. %n many cases, parental abuse amounts to a sic' power game to e-ert FauthorityG over the smaller and the wea'er members of the tribe, not unli'e savage treatment &ungle apes give each other to establish the pec'ing order. Cther times, the parent is really mad at someone else, or &ust embittered about how hard life is and so they:ll ta'e it out on someone who can:t defend themselvesE %n % .im.#:# and .itus 1:0 Paul taught that Christians are not to stri'e anyone. 7C e-ception is made to allow for the corporal punishment of children. %n the Cld .estament, where you find the C7=? support for corporal punishment of 'ids, you:ll find no such universal ban on believers stri'ing people. %nstead, the Cld .estament abounds with warriors who shed their enemies: blood in battle. Many contend they:ll feel guilty and disobedient toward 1od if they don:t span' a child for every offense, &ust because span'ing is mentioned in the Bible. ?et these same hypocrites don:t feel guilty for disobeying other Cld .estament passages. .hey don:t feel guilty for wor'ing on the 4abbath. .hey don:t fear any conse3uences for eating por' and lobster, both forbidden under the =aw. .hey don:t observe ceremonial washings commanded to the ;ews. .hey don:t stone non9 virgin brides. .hey don:t roast animals on the church altar. ;ust as Paul warned Christian slaveholders that they also had a Master in heaven to fear 5ph.":A< Col./:1$, so 1od warns Christian parents that they also have a Parent in heaven Hho is watching their lives to

see if ,is fruits of 'indness and mercy are blossoming in their lives as they deal with their own tiny little children. Christians H%== have to give an account of how they raised the most vulnerable members of their family when they finally stand before 1od Bom.1/:1!$. .a'e a warning from the Inmerciful 4ervant Matt.1*:!#9#2$. .hat man was forgiven a debt so vastly huge, it was a miracle he got forgiven at all. .hen he turns around and bullies somebody else who barely owes anything. %f a Christian repeatedly as's 1od:s forgiveness for B5)= sins, and then goes and whips his tiny toddler for ma'ing a mess in the 'itchen, he:s in B%1 trouble with his ,eavenly +ad. )nd how does 1od feel about these so9called Fe-perts on the Christian familyG who push the paddle as .,5 means of remedying all problems in their child:s life( .hese wolves in sheep:s clothing tell their readers who are )=B5)+? doing it anyway$ wwto hear: that it:s perfectly fine to whip little babies and toddlers who are barely aware that they:re alive in this world, who only want to be cherished and loved. Children who are trying to find their feet to stand, and only want someone to show them the way. .hese heartless authors of religious child abuse techni3ues teach you that babies need to be span'ed even before they:re out of diapers. .hey teach you to use paddles of all siJes, belts, switches, and your hand to stri'e fear into children of all ages, for each and every gum wrapper that falls on the floor. .hey teach that all other ways to discipline are forbidden or of the devil because they aren:t mentioned in 4cripture. .hen why on earth don:t they tell adults that it isn:t o'ay to pay a traffic fine with a 4wipe Card, that instead they ought to let some &udge span' them with a paddle( .heir inconsistency is glaringly obvious. .hose child9beating ministers of dar'ness hide behind the e-alted priesthood of the father as a cloa' for their sins of abuse and spiritual pride. .hey insist that the child C)77C. reconcile with a ,oly 1od without the mediation of the dad crying crocodile tears on their behalf. .he child is 7C. encouraged allowed$ to pray for forgiveness until the father o'ays it, always )F.5B a sufficiently hard beating with the implement of his choiceE %n his dar'ened heart, he:s afraid 1od might forgive that child first and wash his sin away if it H)4 a sin instead of an accident$. .hen he:d feel li'e a lowlife if he was to ta'e a child ;esus had &ust spring9 cleaned inside and beat the stuffing out of him to FcorrectG him. By

dictating &ust H,57 ;esus is allowed to FforgiveG the child for wetting his bed or leaving the cap off the toothpaste, the father is trespassing in 1od:s own territory. Hhat an arrogant airheadE Paul writes in % .im.!:2 that there is only C75 Mediator between 1od and man, the man Christ ;esus. Fathers who tell the child they:ve got to wait until their bac'side is blistered before they pray are really saying, FMove over, ;esus, %:ll be the mediator, and the paddling hasn:t happened yet, so 1od isn:t allowed to forgive this child yet.G 7owhere do you read of .emple priests assigned the Fministry of paddlingG offenders. .here were teaching priests, priests in the musical ministry, priests who offered up the incense of praise and worship. BI. 7C P)++=%71 PB%54.4E .he only mention of FpaddleG in the Bible is something you use for personal sanitation out in the woods +eut.!#:1#$. 5ven when corporal punishment was necessary, it was the 5=+5B4 CF .,5 C%.? who would administer the beating +eut.!!:1*$. %n this C75 reference, it:s an adult man who gets whipped for claiming his wife wasn:t a virgin when he married her. .he burden of proof is on the accused wife to prove her innocence, and if she can:t, she gets stoned to death for Fplaying the whore in her father:s houseG verse !1$. %f the girl:s father presents scientific proof the girl was intact on her wedding night, her husband gets punished for bringing disgrace on a pre9wedding virgin of %srael. %t:s all in the BibleE %f you insist P)B. of the Cld =aw is binding on 7ew .estament believers, then it:s )== binding on you 1al.#:18$. )nd if you don:t 'eep )== the =aw, you:re under its curse. Infortunately, Christians tend to focus C7=? on scriptures that reinforce their own power position in life. =i'e the unmerciful Pharisees in Matt.!# they neglect mercy and choose meanness. KKKKKK http:LLwaronbullying.tripod.com http:LLbanpreachergreed.tripod.com