Do you believe parents should be able to spank there children?

1. 75

   910chrisposted 12 years ago

   Do you believe parents should be able to spank there children?
   
   A minister named Philip Caminiti was sentenced to 2 years in prisonfor simply teaching that parents should spank their children when they misbehave.  Please note that Caminiti was not accused of spanking anyone or of physically hurting anyone.  He was put in prison simply for his speech.  He was put in prison simply for what he was teaching others to do.  Whether you agree with spanking or not, this should be incredibly sobering for all of us. Link:
   http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/ … 963f4.html

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2. 74

   breathe2travelposted 12 years ago

   I believe we are accountable for our instruction to others.  A pastor has great influence over his/her congregants' lives.  Pastors have long held position of influence in families, communities - even on the national levels (Martin Luther King, for example).  The Bible warns that teachers are held at even a higher accountability for their teachings/instruction than others because of this influence. "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." James 3:1, KJV - Cambridge.  Another translation: My brethren, be not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the severer judgment.KJ2003
   
   According to the article, Caminiti taught his congregation to teach infants as young as 2 months old with a wooden spoon, as well as to reprimand young children/toddlers/infants for unwanted behavior, including crying.
   While I believe there is a place for discipline, I do not adhere to Caminiti's radical views of corporal punishment at such young ages.  His teachings are criminal in that he influenced children to be subjected to punishment/discipline which their minds could not possibly understand.  From what I read, his instruction indeed instigated patterns of abuse among his followers.

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3. 60

   MickSposted 12 years ago

   Yes.

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4. 0

   Longhunterposted 12 years ago

   When I was growing up, the threat of a spanking would get me to straighten up quickly. If it didn't, I got a spanking.
   
   Yes, I believe a parent should be able to spank their children.
   
   The article reads: "A Black Earth church pastor who taught his flock to discipline their children, some as young as 2 months old, with wooden spoons and rods was sentenced Friday to two years in prison."
   
   Spoons or rods should not be used and certainly not on a 2 month old, IMHO, but neither should this pastor be in jail for words as we have free speech whether someone else likes it or not.
   
   It's up to the members to decide what's best for their own children.
   
   If a person is going to use the words of their pastor as justification to beat their children, they would have done so whether the pastor taught this or not.

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5. 61

   hbentleymomposted 12 years ago

   Yes. Abuse and spanking are very different things. How you raise your children should be up to you, as long as abuse is not happening.

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6. 61

   nightwork4posted 12 years ago

   yes i do. how we let others tell us that we can't is beyond me. i realize that they claim child abuse occurs because of it but do they really think that because there is a law against spanking that abusive parents are going to quit hitting their kids?ridiculous.

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7. 66

   libby1970posted 12 years ago

   Yes I think that is a lot of what's wrong in society today! Parent's steer away from spanking and become "friends' with their kids and there's no longer a person parenting anyone! Sure we should have a good relationship with our children, but there's a line to draw.
   
   I think a loving parent knows the difference between abuse and spanking. If they don't then they don't need to be parents!

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8. 51

   pinapple123posted 11 years ago

   Hell No, and I am not even going to justify myself to anyone. It is my house. And unless you are willing to pay my monthly rent and the rest of my bills, Do not offer advice. I don't care what people think of my parenting. I care what my kid thinks of me. And if he is happy that I (out of all people) am his dad. Then that is plenty for me. No, I am not a permissive parent, because I am not passive. But, I am not subscribing to authoritarianism, because I find it absurd.

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