Attachment parenting traditions of the Bible: Why attachment parenting is part of our Christian heritage as a nation

Many parents believe that to oppose spanking and punishment of children is to fall back on the Christian tradition and heritage that guides this nation. This is a common excuse to keep punishing children, with over 60% of parents punishing children. The fact of the matter is that attachment parenting is part of our Christian heritage as a country. I say this as a Christian dominionist and conservative myself. A Christian nation does not have to support punishing children at all.

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. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, sacrificing for their children, just as Christ sacrificed for His children, with children being a Godhead for parents to serve, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents. Parents are the enemy of children, just as mankind is the enemy of God, with parents being subservient to them just as they are to Him. 

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 a 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 its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, punishment and 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. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen then as holding your child hostage merely for things they did wrong. Paul here was lifting up this legal context to a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment of a child. Paul, here, was lifting up the Law in order to educate Greek and Roman parent newcomers on the proper Jewish way of raising a child, which was attachment-based in nature.

Attachment parenting was the established norm in Ancient Jewish culture, including the Early Church. The Early Christians, as well as their Jewish predecessors, practiced a form of attachment parenting where children were deified. Children were worshipped and venerated as extensions of God, being seen as little gods and goddesses deserving of being spoiled and pampered by parents. Parents then wanted to be seen as spoiling or pampering their children, and thus they were regarded as extensions of God by parents, worthy of the best treatment possible. The every cry and whim of a child was a lawful and binding order binding on parents, and if parents didn't provide, they could be sued in court by their children. By that time, the case had already been decided - the child always prevailed in court against their parents. Parents could not countersue in court against their children, due to the child's youthful age and inexperience, meaning children were sacrosanct in the Bible. Parents then saw their children generally as either royalty or angelic figures deserving of awe and veneration.

Children, in biblical times, wore no clothing, at all, until they were adults. Women only wore clothing outside the home, and otherwise, went in the nude in order to serve their husbands and their children. Mothers served their children by way of providing for them nourishment and sustenance, namely breastmilk (until age 3) and skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy. The central focus of Christian attachment parenting then was skin-on-skin co-sleeping. Children slept next to mothers, and were comforted by the skin-to-skin contact involved. By day, children ranged next to mothers, clinging to her from time to time. Fathers also nurtured, but from a distance. Mothers acted as mediators in father-child relations, not allowing children to be with their father if the interaction would be unsafe - fathers usually had a parent attraction to children, with the good fathers spending away the attraction using masturbation as a tool to discharge the sexual thoughts about their child.

The Bible is America's book, and governs what our Christian heritage consists of. Attachment parenting is a part of the Bible, meaning the whole parenting context of the Bible is attachment-based in nature. Thus, our Christian heritage does not involve the spanking or punishment of children. Our Christian heritage involves nurturing and loving children, just as Christ nurtures and loves His children. We have been wrong about our values before, namely concerning slavery and Jim Crow. This is one of those times where we have gotten our values wrong, and thus we need to regroup and rethink how we treat our children.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be forever cast 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!