What is a criminal?: Understanding how not to raise a criminal

Many parents think that punishing their children will save them from becoming a criminal. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents want to prevent their children from becoming criminals. It is a matter of fact that the key to keeping your child from becoming a crminal is teaching them discipline. But, discipline can be taught without punishment, and in biblical times, was taught by example.

What is a criminal? A criminal has a cognitive impairment where they cannot function in society in a peaceable and orderly manner without punishment. Anyone can become a criminal. That doesn't mean everyone will. Usually, a criminal lacks moral internalization, and is used to being punished, only, when in the adult world, there won't be someone hovering over you and punishing you. Many criminals want to go back to prison, because the prison structure replicates their home life as a child. It is an addiction to structure and punishment, where you can't form your own structure. Most crimes are crimes of opportunity, not offenses committed by career criminals. The variables were just right for that crime to occur. But, one can just choose not to be a criminal, and that solves all your worries. A criminal will never make that choice, and will blame other people for their own moral defects.

What is the solution? Christian attachment parenting is the solution to crime in this country, including even gun violence. Christian attachment parenting is based off ot the Christian doctrine of mutual submission. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

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 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 their children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as vulnerable extensions of God.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of offensive touch or speech 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 and 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" here 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.

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to Christian discipline. The standard of Christian discipline is deserving of absolutely nothing, therefore grateful for everything, leading to a chastened up example for children to follow. Christian parents in the 1st Century worked on their entitlement, and did so by avoiding deservances, with their children following in their footsteps. When children were caught behaving in a disciplined manner, they were rewarded with lavish praise and encouragement. As children got older, they slowly absorbed the disciplined nature of their parents. Rarely, children were verbally admonished for behavior that was dangerous to the child or others, spiritually or otherwise, as denoted by the Greek root word translated "admonition" which is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia). This verbal admonition or instruction was known then as righteous warning, and consisted usually of a polite request from a parent for a child to stop a certain behavior that was especially harmful or dangerous, meaning amoral or risky in nature. Parents were quick to say "please" when making a request to their child, and "thank you" when children listened. Parents never made forceful demands in biblical times. Force, under Christian law, was only allowed when picking up a child to remove them from a dangerous situation, such as removing a child from the midst of a venemous snake. Only the child could issue lawful and binding orders, on their parents as a lawful petition for needs or benign wants, with their only defense from their child's righteous judgment being requests from the bottom of their heart. Parents were bound by the law of their children, with children being regarded as vulnerable extensions of God to judge righteously the charity and good will of adults. 

Children are in the providing custody of parents, primarily of their mother, and secondarily of their father. Mothers formed a secure attachment to children, and did so by providing for children nourishment and sustenance, namely attachment parenting items such as breastfeeding and skin-on-skin comfort. During the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness to their mothers, with mothers constantly holding babies, frequently holding young children, and wrapping up young children in swaddling blankets next to their bosom. As children got older, they wanted more freedom, exploring and playing outside on their own, exploring the terrain, venturing farther and farther from home, but then retreating to the sustaining warmth of mothers, usually in the form of skin-on-skin co-sleeping. Mothers and children were naked when in the home, with children being naked all of the time.

The abovementioned context illustrates how to keep your child away from the choosing to become a criminal. In a securely attached environment, children want to then have the discipline and non-entitlement of their parents. Children then do the mental work to convict themselves of their own sin natures, while their parents work on their own sins, with children following in the footsteps of their parents. Children grow up entirely on their own, but they need a good example to anchor on.

Discipline is not learned through punishment. It is learned through children having a disciplined and non-entitled example to look up to. Children who are punished cannot think for themselves in terms of morality, and instead need someone to punish them even as an adult. In the real world, nobody will be there to punish you except the police, and by that point, you are headed towards prison. A criminal will commit crimes just to get back into prison, and that is because they are used to that kind of structure. Why is this? They grew up with that structure. When you impose structure on children, they can't form their own structure. Thus, it is good to instead impose structure upon yourself, and model that self-discipline to 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!