You call this "discipline," the rest of us call it torture...

[lunadelcorvo]

Christian discipline drawing criticism even from Christians

The two cases discussed are here and here. There is another excellent Salon article on the phenomenon here.

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When the hell are we going to deal with this crap? When are we going to realize that parents usually don't dream up this stuff on their own? In no way do I exonerate a parent who can beat their child to death without knowing it's wrong, but the Pearls and others with similar rhetoric are to blame as well. "Doesn't advocate abuse?" Seriously? In whose dictionary is advising a parent to use plumbing line to strike their child (as young as 6-12 months!) NOT abuse?

What really bothers me is that this stuff is not broadly pursued with any real vigor because it hides behind a bogus screen of religious freedom. Individuals who go to far are sometimes (but not always) convicted of what it really is: abuse, murder, torture. But the broad problem gets a minor mention at the bottom of the article, with words like 'suspect,' 'may be influenced.' Why? Why is this not a center stage issue?

I'll tell you why. First, imagine a Muslim family that did this in the US; beat a child to death in the name of religious discipline. What a shitstorm that would be! Or a Wicca parent, using a switch to instill their religious values (supposedly just as well protected)? We look the other way on this stuff because as a society, we are scared to confront the Christian gloss on it, and it perpetrators hide behind that gloss, knowing it protects them. I call bullshit!!!!!!

Comments

[x3non.livejournal.com]

First, imagine a Muslim family that did this in the US; beat a child to death in the name of religious discipline. What a shitstorm that would be!

This is an excellent example of how people are just talking past each other in America nowadays.

I just did a two-second Google search on "muslim honor killing in america", picked the first hit (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=24329), skimmed the reader comments and found this:

Can you just imagine if it was a Christian ritual to abuse the women of the house???? That would give the NY Times and Newsday headlines for a year.

See? We're just talking past each other.

[raven-moon.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, up to a point. However, there is a significant 'persecution mentality' inherent in what was far left Christianity ten years ago, and approaches mainstream Christianity today. (I have not checked the link you reference, but I am going to guess it is from either a significantly conservative or overtly Christian source?) This idea of persecution persists (witness the 'war on Christmas,' and other hot button 'culture wars' issues) despite the overwhelming majority Christianity enjoys in the U.S., and the markedly Judeo-Chritian cultural bias that goes with it.

That the rhetoric of entitlement is co-opted, however inaccurately (even absurdly!), by a majority group as a means to vocalize its paranoia of another group, in no way negates the fact of that majority's entitlement.

Admittedly, I see outrageous things glossed in the name of other faiths too. Kosher slaughter, for example, is allowed for religious reasons, even though similar practices are strictly prohibited as excessively cruel even within our nightmarish meat processing industry. However, none of this changes the fact that, of all the outrageous things which pass under the guise of religion, the majority of them, and those to which we are the most inured, are done under the aegis of Christianity.

[raven-moon.livejournal.com]

As if on cue.... I saw this this afternoon and thought of this exchange...

http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/1161437.html

SRSLY?!?!?!