Not wanting to be accused of dealing only with the weighty issues of the day, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly has decided that corporal punishment is evil, and should be disapproved of by all right-thinking Presbyterians. Seriously. This was just passed by a vote of 334-306-9:
1. The Presbyterian Church (USA)
a. encourages its members to adopt discipline methods at home, in schools, pediatric facilities, and institutions (e.g. hospitals, orphanages, clinics, state institutions) and child-care facilities that do not include corporal punishment of children, and
b. encourages congregations to offer opportunities for dialogue and education on effective discipline of children.
2. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) calls upon all states to enact licensing laws prohibiting corporal punishment in schools and day and residential childcare facilities.
You are duly advised–no spanking!
Having settled this earth-shaking matter, the General Assembly is now going to go to Middle East affairs. Go figure.
July 6, 2012 at 11:47 am
The response of one conservative observer was this:
“We can kill them, but we can’t spank them …”
August 5, 2012 at 5:32 pm
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (Prov. 13.24)
“Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
If you strike him with the rod,
you will save his soul from Sheol.” (Prov. 23.13-14)
“The rod and reproof give wisdom,
but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.” (Prov. 29.15)
The General Assembly of the PCUSA speaks folly. We live in the midst of a people that despises discipline, and its children run amok in public schools. They are disrespectful of adults and often cannot be bothered to complete the homework assigned them. Such is the result of homes where discipline is not practiced, and such are the teen-agers that my wife must teach on a daily basis.
Certainly abuse can accompany spanking, but with all discipline, it must be administered in love and dispensed with discernment and in appropriate measure. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph. 6.4)
Although my daughter is now too young to be held accountable for her actions, I plan to use spanking sparingly but when necessary in order to correct defiant behavior. After all, I believe in the foolishness taught in the Word of God rather than in the wisdom of human councils. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” (I Cor. 1.25)
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March 13, 2013 at 2:18 am
I am without words. Pretty unreal to think that corporal punishment would be worth all that time and energy.