I’ve been telling people about this blog and asking them to read it and give me their feedback. Some have told me they think its quite good and others have been shocked by its intensity. Thus far, no one has disagreed with what I have said here. One person suggested I tone it down a bit. Having asked for feedback, I carefully considered the advice to tone it down. In doing so I thought of this analogy: when someone burns his or her self on a hot stove, the reaction of quickly jerking away one’s hand is natural. I felt burned by the words of my mother and what I have written is, as I titled it, partly reflex and then something beyond reflex. Now, if when burned at the stove, one takes an ax to it, that would be something in need of being toned down. As I did not take an ax to my mother, I think the blog is just fine as it is.
I have been thinking about the Bible a lot lately. What is it about believing in the Bible that makes people so often rigid and despising of common sense? One commenter on my blog said that what I wrote, in essence opened his eyes. So, with the though of opening a few more eyes I went to my Bible and started looking at what it says about various things. What follows are just a few of the things I have found there and what I think about them. You, of course, will have to reach your own conclusions. And, when you do, don’t fall into the trap of thinking them permanent. Everything you conclude today should remain open to revision should new information become available to you. Failing to do so, failing to remain open minded and vigilant to new information is the primary reason the Bible is itself being so poorly understood and put into practice.
I am going to start with Proverbs 31:6-7 which says, “Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish: let them drink and forget there poverty and remember their misery no more.” Now, the synonyms for anguish in my thesaurus are: suffering, agonized, tortured, painful, distressed, grief-stricken, sorrowful, angst-ridden and anxious. According to the Bible, those suffering from these conditions should be made and kept drunk. Covering anguish with intoxicants is the opposite of a effective strategy. A healthier response would be to identify the cause of the malady and bring to bear one’s abilities to rectify the situation. If one has a stone in one’s shoe and is caused discomfort, should one pop open a beer or just remove the stone? Following this biblical advice would have us a species of alcoholics because there is no way to go through life without at times experiencing anguish. Let us see this advice for what it really is, at best an attempt to alleviate suffering. Though its intent may be noble, its application can only be disastrous.
What does research say about corporal punishment? Research indicates that children who are subjected to corporal punishment are more aggressive, are involved in more fights, achieve scholastically below those who were not administered corporal punishment and those who are spanked as children have a greater incidence of failed relationships later in life. This is what the research reveals. That means, when the consequences of corporal punishment are examined, there we find its victims intellectually and emotionally damaged. Is that a price we are willing to pay because our child may be unruly or disobedient at times? Children will be unruly, they will be disobedient. Those are not character flaws in them but steps along the way to healthy growth and maturity. Spanking or beating a child because you believe its good for him or her is simply erroneous and damaging. Doing so because perhaps you are irritated says something very damning about yourself indeed.
Now, we see what both the evidence and common sense say about corporal punishment. What does the Bible say about it? In Proverbs 29:17 we read, “Discipline your son, and he will bring you peace: he will bring delight to your soul.” Before you think to yourself that this direction doesn’t sound so bad, after all, discipline can be very good for children, let’s look at what “discipline” means in a passage appearing earlier in Proverbs. Proverbs 13:24 states, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” So, we see that “discipline” means hitting the child, not with your hand, but with a rod. Its doesn’t describe what type of rod is to be used but I think striking a child with anything called a rod is just sick. Now, if you are thinking that you might just hit the child with the rod but not too severely, think again because in Proverbs 20:30 we read, “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.” Apparently, you must wound and bruise the child for the discipline to be effective. We have words for that now; assault, child abuse, felony. Can you think of a few more? Sick, twisted, perverse? Furthermore, this last teaching isn’t limited to children is it? A reasonable extension of this mandate would be to open beating stations in every market place in the world. Society would be less evil if it members received regular beatings, bruises and wounds according to the Bible. Hector and I have been thinking about opening a business. Perhaps we have stumbled on to something here. We’ll do it big time since we both really hate evil. Biblical Beatings Boutique! Just think of the jobs it will create, the tax revenue it will generate! There are over 6.5 billion people on the planet. Just manufacturing the rods alone would stimulate the global economy. I see designer rods! Which one does Madonna prefer? Maybe we could have cute Disney rods for the toddlers adorned with Mickey, Minnie and Donald? I am thinking FRANCHISE!!! Or, alternatively,we could just talk to our children when they need correction. Use time-out techniques when they need some cooling off. Always treat them with dignity and respect so they can learn the importance of those practices in human society and relationships. Perhaps in doing so, the number of broken adults will begin to diminish and indeed ln our world less evil will reside.
A couple of people did comment that my last blog entry was a bit on the long side. I heard what you said! So, I will stop here for now. Be confident however that I am going to continue with this theme a bit more. What I have written in this entry comes from only 4 verses of the Book of Proverbs. I encourage you to grab a Bible and read it, really read it. Don’t read it like some mystical oracle. Just read it using your common sense, intelligence and most importantly compassion. Doing this will be most revealing and though you will find wisdom there, you won’t have to read very long to find insanity as well. Next time, I will point out more of the insanities there.
I have been thinking about the Bible a lot lately. What is it about believing in the Bible that makes people so often rigid and despising of common sense? One commenter on my blog said that what I wrote, in essence opened his eyes. So, with the though of opening a few more eyes I went to my Bible and started looking at what it says about various things. What follows are just a few of the things I have found there and what I think about them. You, of course, will have to reach your own conclusions. And, when you do, don’t fall into the trap of thinking them permanent. Everything you conclude today should remain open to revision should new information become available to you. Failing to do so, failing to remain open minded and vigilant to new information is the primary reason the Bible is itself being so poorly understood and put into practice.
I am going to start with Proverbs 31:6-7 which says, “Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish: let them drink and forget there poverty and remember their misery no more.” Now, the synonyms for anguish in my thesaurus are: suffering, agonized, tortured, painful, distressed, grief-stricken, sorrowful, angst-ridden and anxious. According to the Bible, those suffering from these conditions should be made and kept drunk. Covering anguish with intoxicants is the opposite of a effective strategy. A healthier response would be to identify the cause of the malady and bring to bear one’s abilities to rectify the situation. If one has a stone in one’s shoe and is caused discomfort, should one pop open a beer or just remove the stone? Following this biblical advice would have us a species of alcoholics because there is no way to go through life without at times experiencing anguish. Let us see this advice for what it really is, at best an attempt to alleviate suffering. Though its intent may be noble, its application can only be disastrous.
What does research say about corporal punishment? Research indicates that children who are subjected to corporal punishment are more aggressive, are involved in more fights, achieve scholastically below those who were not administered corporal punishment and those who are spanked as children have a greater incidence of failed relationships later in life. This is what the research reveals. That means, when the consequences of corporal punishment are examined, there we find its victims intellectually and emotionally damaged. Is that a price we are willing to pay because our child may be unruly or disobedient at times? Children will be unruly, they will be disobedient. Those are not character flaws in them but steps along the way to healthy growth and maturity. Spanking or beating a child because you believe its good for him or her is simply erroneous and damaging. Doing so because perhaps you are irritated says something very damning about yourself indeed.
Now, we see what both the evidence and common sense say about corporal punishment. What does the Bible say about it? In Proverbs 29:17 we read, “Discipline your son, and he will bring you peace: he will bring delight to your soul.” Before you think to yourself that this direction doesn’t sound so bad, after all, discipline can be very good for children, let’s look at what “discipline” means in a passage appearing earlier in Proverbs. Proverbs 13:24 states, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.” So, we see that “discipline” means hitting the child, not with your hand, but with a rod. Its doesn’t describe what type of rod is to be used but I think striking a child with anything called a rod is just sick. Now, if you are thinking that you might just hit the child with the rod but not too severely, think again because in Proverbs 20:30 we read, “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.” Apparently, you must wound and bruise the child for the discipline to be effective. We have words for that now; assault, child abuse, felony. Can you think of a few more? Sick, twisted, perverse? Furthermore, this last teaching isn’t limited to children is it? A reasonable extension of this mandate would be to open beating stations in every market place in the world. Society would be less evil if it members received regular beatings, bruises and wounds according to the Bible. Hector and I have been thinking about opening a business. Perhaps we have stumbled on to something here. We’ll do it big time since we both really hate evil. Biblical Beatings Boutique! Just think of the jobs it will create, the tax revenue it will generate! There are over 6.5 billion people on the planet. Just manufacturing the rods alone would stimulate the global economy. I see designer rods! Which one does Madonna prefer? Maybe we could have cute Disney rods for the toddlers adorned with Mickey, Minnie and Donald? I am thinking FRANCHISE!!! Or, alternatively,we could just talk to our children when they need correction. Use time-out techniques when they need some cooling off. Always treat them with dignity and respect so they can learn the importance of those practices in human society and relationships. Perhaps in doing so, the number of broken adults will begin to diminish and indeed ln our world less evil will reside.
A couple of people did comment that my last blog entry was a bit on the long side. I heard what you said! So, I will stop here for now. Be confident however that I am going to continue with this theme a bit more. What I have written in this entry comes from only 4 verses of the Book of Proverbs. I encourage you to grab a Bible and read it, really read it. Don’t read it like some mystical oracle. Just read it using your common sense, intelligence and most importantly compassion. Doing this will be most revealing and though you will find wisdom there, you won’t have to read very long to find insanity as well. Next time, I will point out more of the insanities there.
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