Comments on: Do we have a right to tell people they are wrong?

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:10:00 +0000

I commented on ABC News article referenced at the end of my blog post:

The preponderance of children who land in the hospital or their grave are victims of their parents who escalated a "spanking" into a viscous beating. The dynamic is well documented by family violence investigators. Murray Straus a leader in this field has amassed an impressive amount of research on this topic (Crimes Against Children Research Center, http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/about/pressing.html). In the USA there are many state statutes that attempt to draw a line between legal physical punishment and illegal abuse. This is a fools quest because even if you say leaving a mark defines abuse, this says nothing whatsoever about the emotional damage caused by corporal punishment. For this reason a national total ban on hitting children, so called spanking, is mandatory. What is more international conventions that define the rights of children also prohibit demeaning and humiliating children verbally. Our culture is steeped in self righteous religious tradition and this is where parents receive approval for maltreating their own flesh and blood. The bible is not a valid source for healthy child rearing guidance. Our culture must come to be revolted by the very notion of hitting a child or demeaning them for any reason.

By: Richard_Collins

Richard_Collins — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 00:04:59 +0000

My blog entry was done in haste and after some reflection I should have been more specific and entitled it "Do we have a right to tell spankers they are wrong", I meant to write more about corporal punishment and the link to fundamentalist religion. People are given permission to physically abuse their children by what they infer the bible tells them. Then you have people like James Dobson, who is one sick and twisted sister. Yet millions of people buy his books and follow his instructions diligently. One of my other posts is about Dobson. Thanks for commenting.

By: john_poson26

john_poson26 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:45:36 +0000

I go a little farther by saying religious indoctrination is also a form of child abuse. I’ve believed for many years now, when children are spoon-fed religions like Christianity, Islam, and others, which instill such fear as hell, and torment. Like any other form of abuse which put the child in constant fear; it slows or stops, their mental growth and intellectual development. One only has to look at those who attended the Palin rallies, and those who attend the tea parties, to see the correlations between, religion, ignorance and stupidity.

http://mojoey.blogspot.com/2009/11/palins-ignoran…

I was setting here thinking about the fact, if we didn’t have to pay the bill for the effect of all of this ignorance and stupidity; we’d have more than enough to prevent its cause.

Good post!

John