What is a criminal?: Why children shouldn't be disciplined

Many parents believe the pro-spank narrative that if you don't spank or discipline your child, your child will end up in prison as a criminal. Many in the police establishment even (especially juvenile crime detectives and officers) - who are called to serve and protect our children - recommend to parents to punish their children somehow. This post deals with why many in the police are wrong.

We agree on what a criminal is. A criminal is an individual, usually an adult, who is reliant on punishment in order to function in society without harming others or disrupting society. We have a lot of adults who rely on earthly punishment to guide their moral decisions, and so anyone can become a criminal. That much we agree on. However, punishment begets the need for more punishment, meaning children's brains become reliant on punishment to tell them where the boundaries lay. Thus, the solution to solving the issue of crime isn't punishment of children, but lack thereof. Parents should teach by example, not imposed structure. See Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, for this is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to a Christian standard of discipline for parents in relation to children, namely one that is entitled to nothing, and grateful for everything, with children owing nothing to parents, and parents owing everything to children, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with this forming a chastened up example for children to follow, backed up by the occasional instructions as a righteous test - if children don't listen, it should be assumed that they can't listen, and thus parents should simply keep them safe, as denoted by the Greek root word νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and refers to instruction in the Lord as a righteous test in order to see how emotionally. This is all weighed by the Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) which refers to damages, meaning the slightest of personal offenses perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech. The Apostle Paul here was lifting up the Law on punishing children to Greek Christians who promoted punishing children in the name of Christ. Under the Law, punishing children carried severe penalties, with the offense incurring bloodlust in both the Old and New Testament. The rod verses in Proverbs, meaning all seven of them, are repealed verses, as they don't apply to today's society. They refer to a specific, dated form of judicial corporal punishment - the 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction, which was a final warning before putting an errant ADULT son to death. Children could not stand trial for criminal acts or civil wrongs that they committed, and so no child ever was whipped.

How do you get a child to follow your example? Christian love is the answer, meaning putting children first, and parents last, to the point of dutiful and selfless submission, with children resting in the love and grace of parents, with this safe, secure rest being denoted by the Greek root word υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo). This form of respect for parents involves not fear of parents, but feeling safe enough to confide in parents about anything and everything under the sun, not mincing words in the process. This encourages children to take up their own vocation by following their parents' Christian example, wanting to be like their parents in every respect. Children in biblical times felt safe enough around children to be naked in front of their parents. Children in biblical times went naked all of the time, and that was to strengthen the parent-child bond and equalize it, allowing for skin-to-skin closeness and a level of attachment at equal level. Children in biblical times never left the line of sight of parents, even when playing freely outside. Children rested in the presence of parents, feeling safe and secure in parents.

A criminal is dependent on punishment in order to survive in the real world, meaning many people use punishment as a way to decide right from wrong, seizing the moment when they can to do something wrong when they won't get caught. This isn't due to lack of punishment, but the fact that they were punished as children. Every time you punish a child, you make them that much more reliant on punishment to survive. Many criminals beg to go back to prison, and that is because prison had the same kind of structure as their upbringing - they didn't learn to form their own structure, and so they fall apart when opportunity arises on the streets.

A non-criminal is someone who knows right from wrong intuitively, meaning has internalized right from wrong based on example and not it being beaten into them. When you teach children by example, they will ALWAYS do the right thing, even when you are not watching, because the internalization did not involve fear, but the child absorbing moral lessons and other knowledge about the world around them on their own. When you force someone to do something, they will do it just to please you. Children are the same way - you force them to behave, and they will only behave for you, not behind your back (ex. at daycare, school). When you ask or imply that someone do something politely, they are more likely to do it for you. Children should learn on their own pace, with little adult interference, right and wrong.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger! Let them burn in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!