Your ideas on child rearing are sick
Question:
Just in reading over your website and all your perverted, sick thoughts on child-rearing, I don’t think you have a clue about love and compassion. Read the New Testament, you ignorant, sick person.
Answer:
The above comment was edited to remove the profanity within. I find it amazing that a person who criticizes my writing as lacking "love and compassion" does so by expressing hatred and foul language. Of course, the study Raising Godly Children in a Wicked World quotes heavily from the New Testament. But since you rather express your foolishness, a reasoned discussion of the Scriptures is not possible.
"You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matthew 7:16-20).
Question:
If I am so foul-mouthed and foolish, why even waste your time with a reply to me? Stop hiding behind your Bible. This “spare the rod” nonsense came from Solomon, who viciously abused his servants, wives, and children. I suppose I am just too foolish to understand how inflicting violence and physical pain on another human being does them, you, or the world, in general, any good. Choice, behavior, and the realm of human emotion and experience is infinitely more complex than “we’re born sinners and need to be violently abused to realize the error of our ways and become godly.” I contend that it is possible to raise healthy, happy children who grow into well-adjusted and successful adults without beating them.
PS. Watch out, I’m going to get offensive again. It’s sad, really, and if you have had kids I feel very sorry for them. Tell me, if you were my father and caught me masturbating, how many bruises and welts on my backside and thighs would give me a “clean slate?” How long would you beat me? What instrument of torture would you use? What sort of evil, manipulative things would you say to me? If I sobbed and wailed, would that mean I’m making a “big scene” and need more punishment, or that I was finally “contrite?” Indeed, what would Jesus beat me with? “The rod?”
Answer:
I answered because even a foul-mouth fool deserves to learn from God's word. Remember, you are the one who initially took the time to write. "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:15-21).
Being a preacher, I am obligated to teach the Bible. "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God" (I Peter 4:11). If you didn't want to hear what God had to say on a matter, you came to the wrong place.
Paul taught, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17). All Scripture would include Solomon's writings in the book of Proverbs. Where you see Proverbs as words of a man, I see a man inspired of God recording the wisdom of God. You claim that Solomon viciously abused those around him, but such is not found in the Bible. You are erecting a strawman to give credence to your desire to ignore the reasoned teachings found in the Bible.
Yes, you are foolish to think that you know more than the God who made you. You are also ignoring the documented evidence of modern-day studies that continue to show that God has been right all along. Corporal punishment has been used successfully for multiple thousands of years. It is only within the last century or so that people have begun to argue against it. In case you missed some of the studies:
- "UC Berkeley study finds no lasting harm among adolescents from moderate spanking earlier in childhood," August 24, 2001.
- "Corporal Punishment of Children," Paul Poelstra, Ph.D. Links and references to research on corporal punishment of children in the home and critiques of the anti-spanking research.
- "To Spank or Not to Spank," Den A. Trumbull, MD, FAAP, Pediatrics, Vol. 103 No. 3 March 1999, pp. 696-698
- "Spare the Rod? New Research Challenges Spanking Critics," Den A. Trumbull, M.D. and S. DuBose Ravenel, M.D.
- "Not Without Reason: The Place of Physical Correction in the Discipline of Children," Families First, June 2001. It should be noted that CRIN.org (Families First) has since changed their original position and joined the ranks of the anti-spanking crowd.
I could go on and on, but these are sufficient to make the case that you don't understand the complexities of human development. For that matter, neither do I; but the Lord God Almighty is competent in this and all other areas, "as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue" (II Peter 1:3).
You know, you really should take a moment to read before writing. It makes you look foolish when you present arguments against things that cannot be found on this web site. You make a quote that "we are all born sinners ..." Such is not taught in the Bible and is a topic I argue against. (See "Is Sin Inherited From Adam?" as just one of several examples on this web site.) You ask if I would punish masturbation, once again proving you did not do your research, but blindly shot at what you assumed was my position. See the answer to the question: "Is masturbation unacceptable?" Nor will you find any teaching that spanking removes sin and gives a person a "clean slate." For a list of responses to questions about spanking, see Information on Spanking. For my writings about child-rearing, including the role that spanking plays in the discipline of children, see Raising Godly Children in a Wicked World.
Question:
For each scripture, ABC and study DEF that you quote, you know I can quote scripture GHI and study JKL that says or “proves” just the opposite. Even as a “foul-mouthed fool” I recognize that it’s all a matter of faith. You REALLY believe in your God, you’ve made that evident, and I REALLY believe in mine. I’m sorry if I wasted your time or offended you- I was just trying to get your attention. You need to look over your website, because it does make certain implications through the quotes, your advice, and the letters you post from people writing in (ie the “clean slate” notion). Again, sorry about being a jerk (or a foul-mouthed fool), but I believe in a much different God than yours.
Thanks for your response anyway, it was very enlightening. I wish you nothing but the best.
Answer:
Thank you for the kind response. I'm glad we are getting to understand each other. You are correct; it is a matter of faith. Faith is not whether the facts exist, but what a person sees as being behind those facts. I see the Bible as the product of God, recorded by men. Thus, every word is precious to me and a guide to my life.
I know you feel that the Bible can be used to prove anything. In a way you are right, but it is not because it contains multiple conflicting messages. The variance comes from people's approach to it. Some only want proof for what they already believe, and thus, they are selective in what verses they will use and accept. Even though the Bible states that "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever" (Psalm 119:160), they feel that any piece is sufficient if it supports what they want. Others really don't care what the Bible says. If they happen to find something that matches their beliefs, well and good, but if it doesn't it is no problem because "it's just the product of men anyway."
I would be happy to talk about the Scriptures in full with you. Let's see what you have gleaned from its pages and allow me to show you what I have found. Then we can put our thoughts together and begin to understand the mind behind the Bible. Just as I can't know you without talking to you, you and I cannot understand God without examining His words. "But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (I Corinthians 2:9-13).
