Control from beneath: Understanding child discipline in biblical times

 Many parents in this country support the use of force in parenting, and call it "spanking". In other Anglophone countries, it is called "smacking". This is based on a false, worldly heirarchy that the "big" rules the "little". This isn't the correct commandeering terminology in biblical parenting. The little is seen as "big", in a way that fearsome enough that her needs and demands cannot be ignored. The parent must either give in, or get out of the game. It's called pro-social pedophilia, and the name has nothing to do with the disorder itself. It is a form of sequestered pro-social rebellion.

I myself want my child to lash out at me, when they feel angry at me, and, in a safe place such as at home or in the care, just explode in temper tantrum, with me enduring the brunt of the child anger. The children's rights acronyms that apply here are pro-social temper tantrum, and pro-social ragdoll. It is a meek, selfless attitude where children drag me, the adult, around like I'm some toy doll. I am a possession of hers, a vending machine that gives her everything she needs, yet turns down things she can't afford. She controls me from beneath, particularly at home. It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things, as is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they become discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to surrender coming from surrender and submission to children and their needs, with one leading to the other, like a conveyor belt. It is secure attachment and rest in relation to parents. It is a place where one can say anything to parents, and easily issue them lawful orders even, and you can expect no punishment. Only listening and validation, like a sounding board. The Greek root word denoting damages is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and literally translates to "stirring up" or "upbraiding" a child, namely short-term damages such as a pain, shame, emotional distress, larceny, and fornication, all motivated by parental entitlement.

This is from an epistle, and an epistle is a vague religious writing - a letter or signpost - that is God-inspired and God-written, and the convicting messages were written to certain groups of the church that it applied to, but without naming names. Paul's attitude could be paraphrased as "You know who you are as offenders, now get on the straight and narrow". One can use these biblical texts as reverse law, meaning internalize how the text would have been applied then, based on the author's divinely-inspired intent, and apply it strictly, as law, today, meaning the whole Bible, meaning all that applies to the reader given their circumstances. Therefore, the Colossian church had to have a problem with corporal punishment of children - and that was a major part of the child abuse problem. Paul was warning fathers that children are like mirrors, and any time you are aggressive with a child, in speech or words, that child will reflect those entitled attitudes back on you.

Punishment of any kind against a child was illegal under Jewish law, and Paul is reminding fathers of this in vs. 21. Punishment was not legal except within a judicial setting, meaning a court of law, after a criminal conviction either by a Sanhedrin (in the Old Testament) or a church community as a form of collective judgment and gaslighting.

The parent-child heirarchy, in ancient Jewish culture, was based on control from beneath, meaning the child isn't told what he/she needs, but instead makes demands, perhaps by crying or whining, and the parent discerns what the child needs from the child's demands on parents. This was especially true in mother-child relationships.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them burn! Let them suffer! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!