Pastor Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For Teaching That Parents Should Spank Their Children

The American Dream ^ | May 25, 2012 | The American Dream

[daniel1212]

Pastor Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For Teaching That Parents Should Spank Their Children

Do you believe that parents should be able to spank their children?  Do you ever express that opinion to others?  If so, then you could be sent to prison.  Sadly, that is exactly what happened to one pastor up in Wisconsin recently.  A minister named Philip Caminiti was sentenced to 2 years in prison for simply teaching that parents should spank their children when they misbehave.  Please note that Caminiti was not accused of spanking anyone or of physically hurting anyone.  He was put in prison simply for his speech.  He was put in prison simply for what he was teaching others to do.  Whether you agree with spanking or not, this should be incredibly sobering for all of us.  Increasingly, speech is being penalized in the United States.  Much of the time, the focus of the attacks by the forces of political correctness is on religious speech.  If this trend continues, many of you that are reading this article might be put in jail for the things that you say in the coming years.

***Please Note: I am not defending anything that Phil Caminiti does or teaches.  In fact, a lot of things that he teaches are dead wrong.  What I am alarmed about is that a minister was put into prison solely for things that he said.  If they will do that to him, how soon will it be before they start putting other ministers in prison?***

When many of us were growing up, once in a while our parents would take out a belt or a wooden paddle and give us a paddling on the behind when we did something wrong.

Was there anything wrong with that?

Of course not.

Yes, there is real child abuse that goes on out there, but in the vast majority of instances spanking does not do any lasting physical harm.  Rather, it benefits the child because it helps them learn what is right and what is wrong.

I know that when I got a licking on the behind as a child that helped me to remember not to do the same thing again.

But Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi was absolutely horrified that some parents would actually use a wooden spoon to spank their little children when they misbehaved.

Perhaps that judge should actually try to spank someone with a wooden spoon some time.  You simply cannot do much damage with a wooden spoon.

Instead of going after the parents who were doing the spanking, prosecutors chose to go after the pastor instead.  They claimed that Caminiti was "the spoke in the wheel of this conspiracy".

Even after Caminiti leaves prison, he will be forbidden from having any contact with his old church....

Caminiti will be on extended supervision for six years after his release from prison. Despite objections on constitutional grounds by Caminiti's lawyers, Sumi ordered that he not have any contact with the Aleitheia Bible Church and have no leadership role in any church.

What in the world is happening to this country?

Criminal predators are literally eating the faces off of people, and yet authorities want to go after pastors that are encouraging their congregations to follow the teachings of the Bible?

Have we stepped into a really bizarre episode of The Twilight Zone?

Sadly, this is not the only example of how our free speech is under attack these days.

Up in New York, a new bill was recently introduced that would outlaw all "mean-spirited and baseless political attacks".

I think that would cover a whole lot of people that leave comments on my blog.

The following is how a recent article by Kurt Nimmo described what this new law would require....

New York state government is attempting to pass the measure in both the Senate and the Assembly. The legislation has been referred to the Codes Committee in the Senate, and the Government Operations Committee in the Assembly.

Both proposals are identical and would effect messages posted on message boards, blogs, social networks, and “any other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.” The law would require websites to post email addresses for “removal requests, clearly visible in any sections where comments are posted.” Those demanding the removal of content they find objectionable, however, would have their anonymity protected.

“Had the internet been around in the late 1700s, perhaps the anonymously written Federalist Papers would have to be taken down unless Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay revealed themselves,” notes David Kravets, writing for Wired.

Will we soon see laws such as this nationwide?

Will all blogs and websites soon be at the mercy of the politically correct police?

Up in Buffalo, New York it is apparently now against the law to hand out Christian tracts on a public sidewalk.  At least that is what one man was told recently when he attempted to hand out tracts outside of an Italian heritage festival.  The following is from a recent WorldNetDaily article....

While handing out tracts to willing recipients on a public street during a public festival, Owen was approached by a police officer who declined to identify himself but told him that the Buffalo Police Department is “the law” and he should stop handing out tracts.

According to the lawsuit: “Subsequently, another police officer, Officer Slomka, arrived on the scene. She quickly informed Owen that they could not hand out tracts in the festival and explained that the prohibition was ‘by our orders.’ Owen asked for her name, and she replied: ‘Slomka, write it down.’ Owen advised that he believed the tracts to be free speech; nonplussed, Officer Slomka reiterated that they couldn’t hand out tracts there and had to go outside of the festival area to continue with their expressive activity.”

Then, “Owen inquired as to whether they would be arrested if they continued to hand out tracts in the festival area, to which, Officer Slomka replied: ‘Yes.’”

That almost makes me angry enough to take a trip over to Buffalo and hand out tracts right outside the police station.

Even if you do not ever distribute literature, you should be alarmed at how our freedom of speech is being eroded.

The truth is that whenever anyone has their freedom of speech attacked it is an attack on all of us.

If we are not careful, we are going to end up just like Canada.

At one high school up in Canada recently, a student was suspended from school for a week for wearing a shirt with the following message....

"Life is wasted without Jesus"

The student was told that the shirt was "hate talk" and that he would be suspended for the rest of the year if he tried to wear it to school again.

They are coming for our free speech ladies and gentlemen.

They are not going to be satisfied until they have either shut all of us up or put all of us in prison.

It is imperative that we all stand up for free speech while we still can.  Once our freedom of speech is gone, the loss of the rest of our freedoms will only be a matter of time.

[daniel1212]

Link to full story here

[Vaduz]

Vast majority of instances spanking does not do any lasting physical harm.

And lession is learned,spare the rod spoil the child.
Look at all the brats we have today,pick an age any age.

[urbanpovertylawcenter]

Will Wisconsin jail a Muslim Imam for a similar teaching?
Doubt it.

[kenmcg]

The judge should be thrown in jail for violating the pastor’s right of free speech.

[kenmcg]

The judge should be thrown in jail for violating the pastor’s right of free speech.

[cuban leaf]

I wasn’t in the courtroom and therefore have no opinion on this other than to say he was not charged, found guilty and sentenced simply for teaching spanking - at least according to the story.

As is true with many of the “they’ve gone too far” stories, this one may contain details that would cause even a normal “spanking advocate” to agree with the verdict.

[LastNorwegian]

And his freedom to practice his religion...

And once again we see the failure of conservative leaders who constantly shy away from these issues.

[daniel1212]

Note that “Black Earth” refers to the location of Aleitheia Bible Church, where the man pastored.

I think infants are too young to be spanked, but once they understand cause and effect for actions, there is a place for such. And the physical place is usually on the behind, and my dad, thank God, used his hands, which hurt more than i think a wooden spoon would.

The same hands that hug (and they should) must also sometimes spank, and every child is different.

But the western liberal minds, who want a Garden of Eden without God, and without moral laws and that which the Fall requires, would charge God with child abuse for His loving and necessary discipline.

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. “ (1 Corinthians 11:31-32)

Who/what will be next? ping

[MrB]

There is no state in the USA where spanking is illegal,
though almost all social workers believe it is,
and will “enforce” this to the full extent of their ability.

There is a fairly new legal group whose mission it is to protect parental rights against social workers who seek to remove children from parents’ “weird Christian influence”.

See “heritage defense” for more info.

They claim that no client of theirs has had any social worker enter their homes, nor has any child of their clients been “interviewed” by a social worker.

[metmom]

ping

[daniel1212]

See my #8 comment. While there are excesses, failure to discipline is also a form of child abuse, and under the liberal idea that man is basically good, and that people do bad things because of men like George Bush (who, despite his faults, expressed a basic moral view of good vs evil that the liberal ethos cannot tolerate), this is encouraged.

[daniel1212]

Good question, and if the man had preached against Islam then that would also weigh against him.

[chae]

This was posted before. As I recall, he was saying that infants as young as either 2 or 6 months old should be spanked with wooden dowel rods for reasons such as excessive crying. The charge as conspiracy to commit child abuse and members of the church are also charged with child abuse. And anyone who advocates hitting an infant for any reason is evil.

[raybbr]

I would never use a wooden spoon. If you think it wouldn’t hurt as much go ahead, whack yourself on the thigh with one and the hit your other thigh with your hand. Let us know.

[sickoflibs]

Wow, some poster boy for free speech, beating infants, who is next?? Jim Jones?

“ The victims included 12 children ranging in age from infancy to 6 years old, according to the sheriff's office.
During interviews with detectives, Phil expressed his belief that the Bible dictates the use of a rod over a hand to punish children. He stated that children only a few months old are ‘worthy’ of the rod and that by ‘one and a half months,’ a child is old enough to be spanked,” according to the sheriff's office release.
“Throughout the investigation, the church members were open with detectives about their ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child’ philosophy. They described using wooden dowels and wooden spoons on the bare skin of children, starting as young as 2 months old,” the sheriff's office said.
“If you spank early and it is done right, then kids will be happy and obedient,” Philip Caminiti said, according to the criminal complaint.
According to the sheriff's office, the dowels were described as being 12-18 inches long with a diameter about the size of a quarter. The parents told detectives that “redness and bruising” were the “common effects of the spankings.”
“One person described the children being emotional, grumpy or crying as behaviors that would constitute a spanking with a dowel,” according to the sheriff's office.
“Three sets of parents are among the six others charged, including two of Philip Caminiti’s children and their spouses: Matthew Caminiti, 27, and his wife, Alina, 24; and Maria J. Stephenson, 29, and her husband, Timothy, 28. Also charged are Andrea L. Wick, 26, and Timothy J. Wick, 27.
The children often were punished when they cried or failed to sit still during church services, a former church member told authorities. “Phil was very strict about children being quiet during church,” the complaint states.”

Wisconsin Church Members Charged With Abusing Infants

[sickoflibs]

see : #15

[Westbrook]

Daddy’s Hands ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOAjAWToYMI

[daniel1212]

“the sentence, in part, was intended to send a message that
child abuse will not be tolerated
and to prevent Caminiti from once again teaching members of his church to spank their children with wooden objects to cure them of selfishness.”

Judicial activism anyone? Discipline selfishness (note that infants are too young for this i think, as i said, but that was not the only objection)?

Note this is Wisconsin. Is it not selfish to demand the government “forgive” all student loans (which presently only occurs if they work 10 years for the gov., or a secular non-profit, while making their payments), and take care of everyone who (votes Democratic) sees themselves as a victim of the Biblical ethos that the laborer is worthy of his wage, and that charity calls for a positive response to become a helper of others.

BTW, i originally picked up this story from http://www.newsforchristians.com/, which has many stories pertinent to or faith.

[Vaduz]

****vast majority of instances**** spanking does not do any lasting physical harm.

Dr. Spock was wrong,note today’s brats.

[raybbr]

Thanks for that music video. Reminds me of what fathers are for...

Me and my sons a few years ago. I just realized that there are few pictures of my hands with my sons. I use my hands all the time for work. I used them to spank my sons when they needed it. I ALWAYS talk to them after I spank them and tell them I love them. I told them why they got spanked. I always comforted them after a time so they would always know that I did not spank them out of anger or because of some power trip.