{"id":908,"date":"2011-08-21T12:42:49","date_gmt":"2011-08-21T16:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/windowsanddoors\/?p=908"},"modified":"2011-08-18T13:47:45","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T17:47:45","slug":"hitting-kids-is-not-a-religious-act-no-matter-what-anybody-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/08\/hitting-kids-is-not-a-religious-act-no-matter-what-anybody-says.html","title":{"rendered":"Hitting Kids IS NOT A Religious Act, No Matter what Anybody Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you don\u2019t know the names, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, Lydia Schatz, Michael Pearl, or the book, To Train Up A Child<\/em>, you should.\u00a0 These are the names of two parents convicted, respectively, of murder and manslaughter in the case of their 7 year-old daughter, and the self-proclaimed minister\/author of a book which teaches the biblical foundation and moral virtue of hitting kids. We need to know their names because they are part of real problem \u2013 the problem of sacralizing child abuse, of beating children as a religious act.<\/p>\n

Hitting kids is bad enough, but when people hide behind scripture to justify it, it is especially grotesque \u2013 it scars the children, and it scars the tradition which justifies it. \u00a0Tragically, this is going on, it must be stopped, and it is precisely those of us for whom the Bible is a sacred and life-centering text that must take the lead in stopping it.<\/p>\n

As is always the case, it is those closest to a tradition that should bear the greatest responsibility for it when it is being abused.\u00a0 We cannot simply distance ourselves from \u201cthose crazy people\u201d, because \u201cthose crazy people\u201d are using the same books we hold dear to commit atrocities, so who better than those who turn to (some of) the same books, to take on the responsibility of addressing the abuses committed in their name?<\/p>\n

The notion of hitting children should simply be repugnant to people, and the scientific evidence against the practice is overwhelming.\u00a0 Kids who are hit, fare no better, and often fare far worse than children who are not.\u00a0 Of course for some biblical literalists that argument will not suffice.<\/p>\n

The literalists will quote chapter and verse beginning with Proverbs 13:24, One who spares the rod, hates his child<\/em>.\u00a0 (The commonly heard, \u201cspare the rod, spoil the child\u201d, by the way, does not actually appear anywhere in the Bible \u2013 it\u2019s an expression based on this verse.)\u00a0 But, as I often wonder with such approaches to the Bible, why are such literalists not stoning those who they deem to be Sabbath violators as is demanded by Exodus 31:15, for example?\u00a0 The answer, of course, is that they don\u2019t want to kill people for violating the Sabbath, but for whatever reason, actually want to hit kids and delight in finding a biblical \u201cjustification\u201d for it.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors in the case against the Schatz\u2019s could not make an additional case for legal liability against Michael Pearl, whose book was among those found on the Schatz\u2019s shelves and which appears to have served as an inspiration to them in \u201cunderstanding\u201d the religious value of corporal punishment.\u00a0 Frustrating as that may be, that is probably as it should be given the importance of freedom of expression and the chilling effect upon it were it possible to hold Pearl legally culpable for the death of Lydia Schatz.<\/p>\n

Legal liability and moral responsibility however, are two different matters and there is no doubt that Pearl bears a measure of the latter whether he realizes it or not.\u00a0 Of course, the real challenge is not to Michael Pearl, it is to the rest of us, especially those who own Pearl\u2019s book, believe, or teach, that hitting kids is a religious act.\u00a0 This is no longer a phenomenon about which any of us can plead ignorance, and we all bear a measure of moral responsibility for every slap and punch.<\/p>\n

There is no way to bring Lydia Schatz back, or to undo the damage to her still living siblings, or any of the other children who are beaten in the name of God.\u00a0 We can however do everything in our power to put a stop to the practice.\u00a0 For the sake of these kids and for the sake of the traditions we hold dear, that is what we must do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you don\u2019t know the names, Kevin and Elizabeth Schatz, Lydia Schatz, Michael Pearl, or the book, To Train Up A Child, you should.\u00a0 These are the names of two parents convicted, respectively, of murder and manslaughter in the case of their 7 year-old daughter, and the self-proclaimed minister\/author of a book which teaches the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[67,162,163,14,161,83,82,160,159],"class_list":["post-908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-pop-culture","category-religion","tag-bible","tag-child-abuse","tag-christian-parenting","tag-christianity","tag-corporal-punishment","tag-jewish-parenting","tag-parenting","tag-proverbs","tag-to-train-up-a-child"],"yoast_head":"\nHitting Kids IS NOT A Religious Act, No Matter what Anybody Says - Windows and Doors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/08\/hitting-kids-is-not-a-religious-act-no-matter-what-anybody-says.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hitting Kids IS NOT A Religious Act, No Matter what Anybody Says - 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