Why punishing children is sin

Many parents believe in punishing children. The majority of parents in the United States believe in the punishment of children. Most people think that not punishing your child in some way, at some point, is sin. The fact of the matter is that the reverse is true - punishment is sin. 

America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian family values. We get most of our wisdom as a society from the Bible, including our wisdom on parenting. Most people think this means spanking shouldn't be banned. The fact of the matter is that the Bible bans all punishment of children, in all its forms. Punishment of children was not part of the biblical context that we glean from as a society.

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, with parents being shut up in the Lord. Parents especially are to esteem their child above all else, putting children first, and parents last, leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every vulnerable need, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in parents. See 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 children feeling safe and secure in the presence of parents in a secure parent-child bond, with children being able to tell parents anything and everything under the sun. Children in biblical times trusted parents enough to go naked in front of them, bringing the level of attachment down to an equal level, and also allowing for skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy. 

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages, meaning the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech, with this including striking or punishing a child for any reason. The Apostle Paul was lifting up the Law on punishment and control of children. Punishment of a child carried severe penalties, and was seen as deserving of death, especially in the Old Testament where punitive parents were hanged like poultry, known as bloodletting or chenek. The seven rod verses in Proverbs are repealed verses, meaning they are only relevant to that time-period, as they refer to a dated form of judicial corporal punishment - the 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction, as a final warning before the errant ADULT child was put to death. Only adults could be charged with a criminal offense and receive a whipping for it, as minor children could not be charged with any criminal act or civil wrong due to youthful inexperience. Taking out one's anger on children is sin, in and of itself, as anger is to be saved for the courtroom exchange, and children are not subject to that Law, and cannot stand trial for moral crimes they did commit, as an age of infancy defense existed under the Law that Christ fulfilled and spread around the world.

Punishing a child was seen very differently in biblical times than today. It was seen as deserving of death. In the Early Church, it was against church ordinances to punish a child at all under age 13, with 13 being the age of majority under church ordinance. The Early Christians did not rely on Roman law on child abuse issues, but dealt with child abuse themselves, excommunicating abusive parents and clergy alike, with deacons such as the Apostle Paul cracking down on church abuse. 

Instead of punishing children, the Early Christians were attachment parents. Mothers nurtured children, providing nourishment and sustenance, meaning breastmilk and skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy respectively. Fathers related to children on a more equal, casual level, being friends with their child. Friendships between fathers and children - especially daughters - were conflated with connotational sexual attraction. To be clear, acting on such an attraction was considered evil and wicked by society then, and excommunication of abusers was seen as a fate next to death. Most fathers simply were passive around children, and were dragged around by their children like a human ragdoll. Parents then did not, on average, have physically aggressive instincts. Those that did were second-class parents then, as punishing a child at all was something very shameful and seen as pure evil then. Children were supposed to be close to parents, and even though free play was allowed, children never strayed away from the line of sight of parents, so not to be harmed by predators. Some games were high-risk, such as "marriage" (marriage, in biblical times, was defined by the consummation), were allowed, with the most stringent of penalties imposed by Christian parents then being separating siblings or cousins forcibly. Children went completely naked, everywhere they went, with mothers also being naked when in the house, with mothers wearing a thin skirt with nothing underneath but maybe their child when running errands. Child nudity was used as a means to bond with children more intimately, including to equalize the level of attachment, but also to allow for skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy, with mothers sleeping next to their children to lull them to sleep, using co-sleeping as a bonding tool...This context may be somewhat dated, but for the most part, it can be applied today, with little tweaking.

We as a nation glean from the biblical context for moral answers as to how to behave as a society. We are still learning about our values as a country. We learned we were wrong about slavery, Jim Crow, and women's oppression by learning that we were wrong about the Bible. Society now is learning that the Bible never says to punish a child. We know enough about our Bible now in the American church that we can ban all forms of punishment of children under the secular law, by passing laws redefining child abuse to be whatever the child perceives to be abuse. Defining child abuse by child/victim perception is in line with the biblical command not to provoke a child to anger.

The depraved and entitled parents 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! Let them descend into the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!