Children self-protect, adults abstain: God's order of the family explained

The children's rights debates focus on one concept - who will protect children better. Most Americans believe parents protect better than anyone else. This is simply a power grab for a group of people that isn't protecting children, and is in fact oppressing children, alongside all adults. Children have no allies in American society apart from a few survivors. Children are backed into a corner...but they can protect themselves, if given the proper resources.

The Greek root word denoting entitlement in the New Testament, including parental entitlement, and cross-referencing the Tenth Commandment, is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and refers to, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, this word refers to wanting anything from a child, period. When this sort of entitlement leads to offense perceived by the child, it becomes child abuse. 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 a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a 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 any punishment or controlling demeanor towards a child. 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 as holding your child hostage merely for things they did wrong. Paul 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 to the Christian Church about the Jewish parenting traditions that the church adopted, with the Early Church being considered a sect of Judaism in the 1st Century.

The commandment against provoking children to anger can be interpreted that whatever the child victim perceives as abuse objectively is. Children's rights, from the child's end, is empowerment to self-protect from child abuse. Ideally, a child should be able to dial 9-1-1 whenever they are afraid of an adult. Society should trust the perceptions of children. When a child is in tears, by default, they perceive abuse from an adult. If an adult refuses to comfort a crying child, that is the line where child abuse starts objectively, regardless of the secular laws on the subject of child abuse.

We as adults need to take responsibility for our moral crimes against children. We, as adults, are depraved and decadent sinners who are deserving of absolutely nothing, from children or anyone else. Adults need to abstain from all parental entitlement in relation to children, meaning avoid parental entitlement altogether. Children's rights, from the adult's point of view, is avoiding all entitlement in relation to children, namely parental entitlement. Children owe adults absolutely nothing, and we as adults owe children absolutely everything we can give them. 

Children are extensions of God in the family home. Whenever a child asserts themselves, that is a lawful and binding order, including to ward off an abuser. Children in Ancient Israel and the Early Church ruled from beneath, with children having much lobbying power in relation to adults. Children usually got what they wanted in biblical times, and rarely heard the word "no" from any adults. Children could take their parents to court in the Early Church, and when it got to the level that an elder heard the case, the elder ALWAYS sided with the child.

Children have the right to defend themselves in a court of law against an abuser, and children usually want to stand up for themselves. Adults need to focus on abstaining from parental entitlement. This is the order God set for the family. God's true order of the family can be understood in children's rights terms - children self-protect, and adults abstain. As adults, however, we should be focusing on abstaining from parental entitlement, and not rely on the lawful and binding orders of children to stay in control around children. But, at the same time, children should be allowed to defend themselves against entitlement and child abuse coming from adults.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting 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!