Worry Shouldn’t Lead to a War on Children

I am sure that you’ve found yourself changing since you’ve become a mother. You may read the newspaper or watch television and feel a greater sense of sadness. Now that you have borne a child(ren), you have a greater stake in the planet they will inherit. For some parents, this feeling leads to a greater sense of social activism and justice. For others, chaos seems unavoidable unless we, as a society, return to a very strict religious code.

In the effort to protect children, I think many people begin to see freedom of thought as the greatest threat to a family’s well-being. And, in restricting thought, especially critical thought, people forget that what is done in the name of religion is different from what is truly an act of faith.

We may all have heard the proverb “spare the rod and spoil the child,” but most of us can’t put that proverb into a larger religious context ourselves. Instead some of us allow religious “leaders” to do that for us. Incidentally, all a religious “leader” needs is followers, not proof of any detailed study of scriptures. As a result, child abuse is committed in the name of God every day.

Many faith-based books on the discipline of children have appeared in recent years. One of them, To Train Up a Child by Pastor Michael Pearl, has resulted in the death of at least one child. The “pastor” advocates, among other thing, taking a switch to misbehaving babies under a year old.

The world is a chaotic place. The peace you find in your belief system is something you definitely want to pass along to your children. But is violence against your own children really a vehicle of transmitting that peace? I, personally, can’t think of anything more heretical, offensive or damaging.