Christian attachment parenting: Why attachment parenting is part of our Christian tradition as a nation

Many parents think that punitive parenting is part of our traditions as a country. This is a common belief among American parents. Most American parents believe that in order to be in line with our traditions, they need to punish their child "every once and a while". The fact of the matter is that Christian attachment parenting is within our traditions as a nation. The Bible is our source of wisdom and guidance as a nation, and the Bible prohibits punishing a child for any reason, and endorses attachment parenting.

The Apostle Paul wrote 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 home, sacrificing for their children, just as Christ sacrificed for His children, with children being a Godhead for parents to serve, with children resting securely in the submission of parents, owing absolutely nothing to parents, yet giving back to parents as young adults, out of grace and not lawful obligation. 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, expecting absolutely nothing in return from children or others.

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 form of punishment or controlling demeanor. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their child one last time. 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 a 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 customs 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 on the proper Jewish parenting, with the Early Church being considered a sect of Judaism in the 1st Century.

Attachment parenting was the norm in the Early Church and preceding Jewish culture. The Early Christians, and their Jewish predecessors, practiced a specific, distinct form of attachment parenting that deified children. Children in biblical times were worshipped and venerated as extensions of God, with parents regarding and doting on their children as little gods and goddesses, with parents in biblical times wanting to be seen as doting on or pampering their children. Children issued lawful and binding orders on their parents, with their every cry and demand being a lawful and binding order. Children had the right to judge their parents, and take them to court, and by the time the case got to the church elders, the case had already been decided - the church elders always sided with the child in civil cases. Children had immense lobbying power with their parents, and adults in general.

Children, in biblical times, wore no clothing, at all, until they were adults. Women only wore clothing outside the home, otherwise going in the nude, in order to serve their husbands and their children, separately. 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, respectively. The core aspect of Christian attachment parenting in biblical times was skin-on-skin co-sleeping. Mother and child slept next to each other, in the nude, in skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy. This form of closeness created a bond between mother and child, and this bond made mother and child inseparable.

America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian family values. The Bible is America's book, as we glean from the Bible and its context for wisdom as a nation. America's values are found in the 88 books of the Bible, and the context that the Bible lifts up. Nowhere in those values does it legitimately say to punish a child, as child punishment was a capital offense in Ancient Israel, with the rod verses referring to judicial corporal punishment of young adults. We have been wrong about our values before - just look at slavery and Jim Crow. Slavery was not abolished in the name of anti-religious fervor, but instead religious reform. I myself, as a child advocate and Christian dominionist, oppose taking away Christian values from America, as there is a better way - amend our values just as we have done before on civil rights issues.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children ro 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!