Punishment of children: Why this violates the unwritten law of the land

Many parents think that it is okay to punish children to gain cooperation. This is a common view among American parents. A good number of parents actually believe that it is okay to use corporal punishment in bringing up children. Do they not know that the entitled and punitive parents will not inherit the Kingdom of God? 

Parental entitlement is the main moral crime harming children, and it is prohibited specifically in the Bible, in offense format. See Colossians 3:21 KJV:

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

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by the child, coming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in the context in which it was given, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishment or controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children too many times, and received many warnings that their parenting habits were out of compliance with the Law. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined as the slightest of damage or offense stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen then as holding your child hostage merely for things they did wrong. Paul was lifting up this historical legal context for a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. There was no such parenting custom among the Early Christians, as the Early Christians used attachment parenting in order to gain cooperation from children.

The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement in the New Testament, and cross-referencing the Old Testament, is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonkektés) and refers to, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, this word refers to wanting things from children, period. Child abuse is the offense or damages perceived by a child due to this entitlement. It is not good to want things from children, but we all want something from children, so we as adults need to ask children politely to do what we want them to do, and earn their every trust. When we impose our wants onto children, that leads to offense, which is the very definition of child abuse. Nobody can control a child. The only person we can control as depraved and decadent adults is ourselves, and then maybe influence children with our example, if we can earn their respect. Opposition to and avoidance of parental entitlement is the definition of children's rights, in the conservative tense. I myself am a depraved and decadent adult and abuser, and have no right to any of my wants or desires from a child, as I am a pedophilic adult who wants to force affection on them in a way that isn't loving at all, mistaking my own actions for "love". I provoked children to anger as an adult by approaching them with intent to create a romantic relationship with them.

According to the Hebraic context of the Bible, any parent who merely showed anger towards their child was seen as a viper and a monster towards their children. Jewish and Christian parents in the Bible never were angry with their children, as they held no parent anger against their child. Being angry with your child was seen as an unlawful accusation against them, as children could not be held liable in court for their behaviors. Children were instead to be talked down and reasoned with by parents. Parents, instead of getting angry with children, were simply tired by the end of the day, and had a good night's sleep. Getting angry at a child, in biblical times, was shocking to the point where the parents who did get angry with their children were a social pariah. 

America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian family values. We as a nation glean from the Bible and its context for wisdom as to how to set up our society. Nothing in the Bible can legitimately be interpreted as allowing for or commanding punishments of children. The verses that are commonly interpreted as commanding or allowing for punishment actually are poetic verses that refer to the rod of correction as a metaphor for enduring hardship, referring to an adult son. We as a society have been wrong before on how we treated a minority. Children are a minority, and we are treating them with disrespect and hatred. That mindset is going the way of slavery and Jim Crow. When enough minds are changed, change can effect itself. Punishment of children violates the unwritten law of the land. Now, we need to convince the public that such is the case. God's Law is above the law of the land.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive or other abusive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!