Child punishment: Why children don't deserve punitive parenting of any sort

Many parents think that children need punishment. This is a common attitude on the part of American parents. Most American parents punish their children, including through spanking or other forms of corporal punishment. Most parents in America are punitive in terms of how they deal with children.

The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement is an adult losing their cool when they don't get what they deserve from children. Whenever adults don't get what they feel that they deserve from children, they lose their cool. Any anger on the part of adults towards children was considered parental entitlement, including moral anger at children. When this anger led to offense or damages as perceived by a child, it became 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, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and was understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting any form of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, 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. The 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 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 not have gotten along with the women of the church, but he sure loved children, and even took in a few orphaned children during his time as a deacon.

Any adult anger was deemed parental entitlement. The adult anger towards children was seen as becoming of a viper or a monster. There is no need to get angry at a child. The core driving emotions behind Christian parenting is worry or concern, not anger. Anger at a child was seen as something predatory in nature, and when it came out, everyone stood up for the child.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke not your child to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever 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!