Posted on 03/02/2007 8:00:12 AM PST by Sopater
ALBANY, Ore. - The arrest of an Albany pastor on assault charges stemming from the spanking of his son with a paddle has raised the issue of corporal discipline and child abuse.
Pastor David Lee Fink of the Potter's House Christian Fellowship in Albany was charged with assault after police say his 17-year-old son called authorities to report an incident involving his younger brother and his father.
Police say they found "extreme" red marks, welts and bruising on the buttocks, thighs and arm of Fink's 13-year-old son on Monday.
Police took a 16-inch wooden paddle into evidence. The cracked paddle is time-worn and wrapped in duct tape in two places. "Board of correction" is written on the paddle in ballpoint pen.
Fink reportedly struck his son 10 times with the paddle.
Police say the spanking crossed the line into assault. One woman disagreed and said the police have gone too far and that the pastor had done nothing wrong.
Christina Niskanen said "I believe in the Bible and what does the Bible say about spanking? That's how we raised our children. I'm sorry, my children lived through it. I'm sure everybody else's will."
Another woman who did not give her name disagreed with Niskanen, saying, "I'd rather raise my voice than raise my hand. And even though in the Bible it says 'spare the rod, spoil the child,' I still feel spanking your children is not an appropriate measure, there's other means you can take."
The investigation is continuing in Albany.
I wished, I PRAYED that someone would have come in and stopped my parents when it was welts and bruises .... because after that, comes the burning matches, the wire hangers, the blood dripping down the back, the broom handles, the two by fours etc.
Good grief, I had the "Board of Education" applied to my backside more than once IN SCHOOL, let alone at home. And that was a PUBLIC school.
/s = end sarcasm
Bollocks, my Grandma used to keep a willow switch above every door in the house. Step out of line too long or too often and you got to know that willow switch. Your butt heels quickly, bad behavior lasts a lifetime.
See my #21
I'm sorry that you had to endure that, but I don't see it as being progressive. Mine ended when I was 12 years old and ran away from home for a night after getting my tail tanned for poor school. It was the first time I ever "stood up" to my dad and he had enough respect for me to realize it wasn't working as he had been raised to believe and it was the last time he ever did it.
I'd like to know what the "incident" was that got him 10 paddles. Maybe he really screwed the pooch, nevertheless the 17 year old kid is going to find out just how bad he messed up by asking the government into his life.
So the older son called the police on the father beating the younger son? Whatever the truth here, sounds like this family has real problems.
"An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. "
"He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?)"
Agreed, and then it should be carried out using a bare hand if possible.
Mine ended when my parents started to come at me with a knife and I pulled my dad's gun and told them that at least one of us was going to the hospital because I was not going to take it anymore.
2 months later I shipped out to Basic with everything I owned and never went back.
If true, then that is tragic, but let's not create a nanny state over the exception and not the rule. The vast majority of people who got spanked as kids were not the subject of Torquemadian torture. Spanking your kids is not usually the slippery slope down evil.
I don't want to create a nanny state either. But, anytime marks are left, a review should be conducted. This will serve as a warning to parents who are going to far or have the mind set that will cause them to escalate.
The second time this happens, the parents should be ticketed and required to attend anger management.
The third time they should be charged.
So, did you ever need to leave extreme marks on their butt, arms and legs?
I personally found that one whack square on the rearus endus was enough. I actually went more for the big sound than the big hit (cupping your hand will do that). By the time the kids were 13, though, this was not necessary at all.
Obviously, not being there, I can only imagine, but the kind of marks left here (if the story is accurate) reflect that the parent was hitting not to discipline, but as a means of acting out his own issues.
IMHO, if you are still resorting to spanking when your child is in the 8th grade, you might want to reassess the approach you are taking with the kids. Again, for you serial spankers at age 13 and beyond, this is JMO.
The bible is not wrong, but the point of discipline is correction, not abuse. Any spanking that leaves bruises or welts is abuse.
Bingo!
"I thee so I beat thee" is such a perverse context I won't even bother going there.
Saying "No" to your kids and teaching them consequences that arise from their actions is a form of love. Preparing them for the real world is a form of love. Teaching them values and self respect is a form of love.
Beating them and leaving marks is not.
http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/shanklin_archives/OK_to_Spank.asx
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