Righteous pampering: Why God wants children to be pampered

Many parents think that pampering children is an irresponsible choice as a parent. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents think that pampering children is not the best thing to do. However, children need pampering, and the good Lord has noted that fact.

Children were pampered in biblical times. Children were pampered in the context of the Christian doctrine of mutual submission, where children surrender to the loving arms of mothers for her tender loving care. 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 submission of parents. Parents are the enemy of children, just as mankind is the enemy of God, and are to submit as such. This surrender to parents came with strings attached on the part of parents, with children being able to issue righteous demands to parents, usually when parents weren't pulling their own weight.

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, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or or other 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 secular writings. Paul may have not have gotten along with the women, but he sure loved children, and took in a few orphaned children in his time. Indeed, Greco-Roman fathers did use the scourge of cords to punish their children, but NOT the Christians among them - the Early Christians were hated largely for being "too soft" on their children.

Righteous pampering is when children are nurtured in a certain way, with this way being spelled out in the context. For the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness with mothers, meaning that wherever the mother went, so did the child. The Early Christians practiced birth nudity, where mother and child are quartered in the nude next to each other, in skin-on-skin closeness and intimacy. Whenever a child cried, mothers immediately swooped in and comforted the child by holding the child to her bosom in mammary closeness, after cooing at the child as a primal way of validating children's upset. Most gentle parenting advice says to kneel before the child. However, children in biblical times were held when they cried, and held close to the mother's bosom. When mothers were out and about, children were swaddled next to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets. Come nightfall, children co-slept next to mothers, in skin-on-skin comfort and sustenance. This co-sleeping lasted until the onset of puberty in children, which is when children wanted their own place to sleep.

Once children left the home, and were baptized into the church, they bowed down to their parents, surrendering to their parents. This surrender to parents was thanksgiving for all of the fond memories of being pampered by parents. Care-dependent adults were not required to bow down to their parents. However, children that moved out of the house, and were baptized into the church, had to obey their parents. If children, however, perceived abuse from their parents, they could easily shun their parents, and possibly take their parents before the council to be excommunicated. However, most children gave thanks to their parents, by surrendering as thanksgiving for being pampered as children.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke your children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them forever be 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 day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!