"Thou shalt not steal": The biblical understanding of the term "child abuse"

 Many parents think child abuse definitions are restrictive, and a secular idea. The concept is that religion has failed children, and that we need to focus on secular ideas to find solutions to prevent and end child abuse for good. But, the term has a specific meaning. It s a euphemism for one thing hidden in between the text in the Bible - damages.

It says in Exodus 20:15 KJV:

Thou shalt not steal.

This refers not simply to larceny, or theft of property, papers, or effects, but damages. Damages were a system of torts based on the concept of theft, based on the concept of tit-for-tat, meaning an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 

In the New Testament, the 10 Commandments are narrowed down to two. It says in Matthew 22:34-40 KJV:

But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees into silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, Master, which is the great commandment of the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On those two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The Greek root word translated "love" here αγαπαο (Latin: agapao) and refers to a form of service towards your neighbor, namely an attitude of submission to the world, including children. Failure to love a child damages them, and provokes them to anger. Damages, here, are summed up as whatever the other person finds hateful, meaning the slightest of personal slights. Accusing your neighbor of damages is not saying "I hate you", but instead "You hate me", in which case the correct response is to prove why you don't hate them, and instead love them. It says in Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they become discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages perceived by the child. The Bible uses sensory gaslighting for enforcement, meaning the slightest offense perceived by a child in terms of sensory input is abuse, and can remedied in divine court.

Offenses against children can be perceived to the level of din, meaning even a tone of voice that your child doesn't like can be held legally accountable in court, theoretically, with the child being morally legally permitted to interrogate their parents or enlist the authorities or another third party to do so. Whatever the child feels as abuse, to the cognitive level, is, in fact, abuse, and your only way out as an adult is to prove your good intentions to the child for the restrictions, such as reassurance and validation, meaning reflective listening that hears out and validates their big emotions when told they can't have something they want.

The depraved and entitled parents will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them suffer! Let them die! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!