Childcare

[Guest guest]

Dear Dev:

 

I agree - in that, I don't blame a loving parent whose " uneducated " frustration

with an unruly child results in a painful, but harmless slap. I say

" uneducated " because, (like you) I believe physical punishment is never the

correct way to discipline or teach another human being. As all good Vedantins

know, we don't " own " our children, in the sense that we have some parental

" right " to use our greater strength or authority to physically punish/discipline

them (physical restraint is another issue). We don't even own our own

" possessions, " including our " own " bodies! Each of our children is his or her

" own, " co-equal creation, who God has temporarily " lent " to us to love, care for

and, ideally, teach them how to grow closer to their Creator. (I wonder how many

times the parent/child relationship between two jivas has been reversed in

preceeding/succeeding lifetimes!)

 

The problem with " legitimizing " physical punishment, however, is that many " good

hearted " parents don't know the difference between discipline and abuse. For

Christians, the " legitimization " comes from Proverbs 13:24 ( " He who spares the

rod hates his son " ). However, I would ask any Christian if they could envision

Christ striking another human being (let alone a child), in order to teach them

a spiritual lesson.

 

Last, for the Zen Buddhists on the list, a strike to another in order to elicit

enlightenment is AOK!

 

Dev, thanks for the interesting discussion.

 

God Bless,

 

Brad