Many parents think that infantilizing children is a bad idea. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents rush the development of their children. The righteous infantilization of children is treating all children with the sustaining warmth that most mothers today treat infants. Righteous infantilization is related to the Christian acronym righteous pampering, but refers to the effects of pampering children.
Righteous infantilization refers to the effects of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission on children. 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. 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, dutifully and selflessly submitting to children just as they would to God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as extensions of God.
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, stemming 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 punishments or controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children 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 in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict 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 in his writings.
Young children in biblical times, in particular, were infantilized in the sustaining closeness of mothers. During the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness to mothers. Children never left the side of mothers, constantly wanting to be held by their mothers. When out and about, mothers wrapped up their young children in swaddling blankets next to their bosom, or wore the child on their back in a papoose bag. Babies were held constantly by mothers, instead of isolated in cribs or strollers like we have today - those accessories weren't invented yet.
Children were infantilized by the sustaining warmth of mothers. Children in biblical times frequently cried, and cried for every need they had. Parents in biblical times, namely mothers, saw crying as a form of communication that the child needed something, and thus children learned that it was okay to cry to get what they needed. Children even cried for attention, and when they did, they were sure to receive loving attention from their parents. Even older children - who were more mobile - retreated to the sustaining warmth of mothers, where it was okay to cry for what you needed as a child.
The depraved and entitled parents who provoke 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!
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