By Eric Norford
Paul said in Ephesians 6:1-4, “Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” God’s system in the home is simple: parents have authority over children and children are required to obey their parents, even when they don’t want to. Fathers are responsible to see that the children are raised in the ways of God. It must be done if we are to have a home pleasing in the sight of God.
Under the old law, children were told the same thing. God says in Exodus 20:12, “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” This principle still applies today. Under this law those who would not honor their parents were to be put to death. Exodus 21:15 says, “And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.” Exodus 21:17 says, “And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.” Leviticus 20:9 says, “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.” God demanded obedience from the children. I am thankful we don’t live under that law today, but it doesn’t change how God feels, he still commands that children obey their parents.
Often there comes a time when the child is going to do something wrong, it is up to the parents to administer discipline in order to correct the child so he or she will not do it again. What kind of discipline should be given to the child? That depends on what he did and what the parents want to do with the situation, but there needs to be some kind of discipline.
In our country today, as has been the case for the last 25 years, there has been an uprise in those who believe that children do not need discipline, particularly in the area of corporal punishment (spanking). Many people believe today that in order to correct the child, the parents ought to talk to the child (I agree there are times when this can be done, but their view says this is to be done 100 percent of the time; there is to be no spanking). These views were recently aired on ABC’s “20/20” program. lam sure some of you watched or heard or even read about. The views are taking a drop in the bucket as to what humanists have been teaching for over 30 years in this country. A generation in this country has been raised with this philosophy and we are going to see the results of it.
I was recently given a newspaper article about this very subject that I would like to share with you. It was taken from the The Dominion Post (Morgantown, WV, January 1!, 1993). It was written by Terry Hagedorn of Reedsville, WV and this is what he had to say about this subject. All I can say is “Amen!”
The “20/20” program for October 30, 1992, focused its myopic lenses upon the issue of spanking children. Sarcastically, the narrator opened the segment stating: “There’s a long tradition of spanking kids to teach them.”
The Bible recommends it: “Withhold not correction from the child; he’ll do better if thou beatest him with the rod.”
The Old Woman in the shoe knew what to do: She whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
Could hundreds of years of nursery rhymes, tradition and the Bible be wrong? Today, most every researcher who studied spanking says yes, they are wrong.
I beg to differ with the announcer. The Word of God in Proverbs 13:23 does not say, “He’ll do better if thou beatest him with a rod.” God’s word says, “for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.”
These Scriptures are a warning to parents to take whatever loving correction is necessary to prevent their children from being spiritually reprobate and, even worse, prematurely dead — two conditions that our children are suffering from in catastrophic numbers!
Sociologist Murray Strous appeared on this “20/20” pro-gram as one who disagrees: “It’s probably the best-kept secret of American child psychology that spanking kids produces kids that are more trouble, more hassle for parents, less well-behaved, and besides that, you’re putting them at risk . . . of severe problems when they grow up.”
This expert, like so many other so-called “experts,” offered no empirical scientific evidence to back up his allegations. American child psychology is not monolithic, let alone an empirical authority on the issue.
There are many disputes among American child psychologists of what is best for children in the area of child rearing, including spanking.
One need not he a scientist to see what 40 years of experience clearly teaches. Look at the condition of our children today compared to those from the years prior to ”expert” pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock’s and Dr. ”The Father of Modern Education” John Dewey’s humanistic theories becoming the absolute authority for parents.
Here are some of the top offenses in our public schools in 1963: talking; tardiness; chewing gum; throwing spit balls; rudeness; making noise; running in the halls; getting out of turn in line; wearing improper clothing; not putting paper in the wastebasket; and smoking cigarettes (probably the worst offense).
Today, we find: murder (metal detectors at the school doors are used to find guns and knives); rape; assault and battery (schools now have shooting and bombing drills); arson; bombing; suicide; vandalism; extortion; drug/alcohol abuse; gang warfare; sexually transmitted diseases; an explosion in teen pregnancies; abortions; protection devices given out; and sexual perversion being taught in the school curriculum.
American children have been sacrificed to the secular social experiments of godless humanists who control virtually every aspect of our society; the mass media; public schools; government; the home; and even some churches!
”20/20” is wrong. The humanists are wrong, God is right! Speak up America. It’s your right and responsibility.
May God give us Christian homes where humanism can not get in and tear it apart.
Guardian of Truth XXXVII: 7, p. 1
April 1, 1993