Adult authority: Why it doesn't exist in the Bible

Many parents and adults believe in adult authority, which is a hegemonic, authoritarian concept intended to oppress and keep down children. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't exist. Adult authority is a pagan concept infiltrating the very fabric of our Judeo-Christian family values in America.

Every single parent and adult is guilty in relation to children, and is deserving of DEATH and DESTRUCTION merely for existing in relation to children, with parents/adults being meek and shamefaced in relation to children, shut up by the Lord, only speaking to children at their cue and consent. Parents especially are to esteem their children above all else, putting children first, and parents last, leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every need, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting securely and safely in the loving presence of parents. It says in Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents, with parents being attendant caregivers and bondservants to their child's needs and redress of grievances, with children owing nothing in relation to children. Attachment parenting was the norm in both Hebrew and Christian circles alike. Think a mother holding pales of water, with a young child wrapped up next to his mother's bosom in swaddling blankets, and an older child in the nude in tow next to her mother, with the mother gathering water to cook for with and to drink. This was how parenting was in biblical times. 

The Greek root word translated "parents" is γονεύς (Latin: goneus) and refers not to authority or headship, but to a form of leadership, in the form of being an attendant, selfless caregiver to children. Parents and adults alike are servants to children, and children have absolute power to demand and order their needs, and then parents bestow onto children their needs. This also refers to any adult in place of parents either in a school, daycare, youth center, etc. Adults are to be like waitstaff and give unquestioning care, in the form of sustenance and nourishment.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages, or the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including the slightest of offensive touch and words perceived by the child. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul to lift up the Law concerning punishing or otherwise using controlling measures with children. The penalty for punishing children was severe in both the Old and New Testament, and such acts towards children incurred bloodlust. Punitive parents were excommunicated from the Early Church in the 1st Century, as well as anyone who defended them, with excommunication being seen as a death sentence by parishioners in church communities in the Early Christian churches of God. The rod verses in Proverbs and Hebrews do not refer to spanking, but to a dated form of judicial corporal punishment - the 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction, intended to cleanse ADULT children of guilt as a last warning before death (Prov. 20:30). Minor children were never whipped, and if they were, it was outside of the Law, and punishable by death in the Old Testament - bloodletting parents like poultry, before hanging them on a cross for three days to warn against further abuse of children in the extended family unit. Whipping was a rare form of punishment, only occurring after many warnings. In the Early Christian churches, including that of the Hebrews, it didn't occur at all, as it wasn't a function of church discipline. Wife-spanking was a thing in the Early Church, but most men did not spank their wives, as it was seen as emasculating - a Christian man had to be in complete and total control of himself and his drives, and thus losing your temper with your wife, even, meant being less of a man.

Adult authority did not exist in ancient Jewish and Christian cultures. Children were given much freedom, albeit while being supervised, with even high-risk play being allowed. Most of the games played by children in biblical times carried sexual undertones, as children were not shielded from sexual realities like they are today. The most high-risk game allowed was "marriage". Marriage in the Early Church was defined by the consummation afterwards, but since children did not have the necessary drives developed in them for consummation, they embraced instead, with children being completely naked throughout childhood, with clothing seen as an adult thing. Children that did attempt to have sexual intercourse were separated and supervised even closer. The moral of the story in this context is that parents shouldn't have control over children, but that children should sort out self-control for themselves, with parents as an example, but with children having the freedom to play freely and absorb the world around them.

Parents were caregivers, not lawgivers, in ancient Israel and adjoining churches. Children were cared for selflessly and in a servile manner, with parents being servants to children. Though children played freely to the point of high-risk play, a parent was always there to supervise, usually with subtle supervision that rarely intervened in the lives of children. Children up until age 6 almost never left their mother's side, and often were wrapped up next to mothers' bosom in swaddling blankets, resting in warmth and sustenance of mothers, with mothers giving sustaining warmth, with both parents being a safe place for children to unload their burdens and upsets, both day-to-day and rare troubles. Children were waited on hand and foot by parents, with parents not questioning their parents or expecting anything in return.

Adult authority should not even exist in schools. Schoolchildren should be friends with their teacher, not afraid of punishment from them. Ditch the paddle, the detention slip, and the discipline referral. Teachers should teach on the child's level, in an individualized way that gets to know every single student. Younger school-age children need frequent breaks, meaning 5 minutes of work, and an equal amount of time as break, so they can go on the computer and surf the Internet. I am of the camp that every child should have an IEP, not just certain children. Children should not be paddled or secluded by school staff, and should only be restrained with the least amount of force necessary in order to keep the school community safe. Teachers should not be distant figures - here in Pennsylvania can embrace or hold a child who is in need of affection, and I encourage teachers to act in place of a parent in that regard. Most states do not allow children to be even touched by adults, so children in Pennsylvania are lucky in this regard. Think children learning on a floormat, and the teacher peering over their work, on their level, constantly wearing a smile - that's the type of teacher that should be teaching. School should not be demanding at all for students, meaning the school environment should be relaxed, not regimented. All students should be in an environment least restrictive given their age and development.

Adult authority, today, no longer directly mirrors the lies told again and again about the Bible, but is an indirect biblical lie dressed up as behaviorism. Behaviorism is for parents and adults to impose on themselves, and then children too as a vocation taken up by the child alone. Children naturally learn how to control themselves by way of parental example, meaning they want to be like their parents naturally, as part of instinct in children to follow the herd, meaning the family. When you try to control a child, you end up raising a child that wants to control others, in which case the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The depraved and entitled parents and adults who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them burn in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death, prepared for Satan and his accomplices. There is a grand investigation going about, and if you are not on the side of children, you are not on the side of God. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!