Perhaps you have been keeping up with the story that has been plastered all over the news media in regards to Adrian Peterson’s switch beating of his four-year-old son. This particular story has really hit home with me because I was reared in a home where corporal punishment was administered and practiced in a very effective fashion. A great proportion of you who belong to the “baby boomers” generation can concur with me when I say, “Had not it been for the rod of correction, there is no telling where I would be today.” One has to wonder where we are headed in our nation when something as basic and intrinsically a part of our culture as the parental right to discipline children through corporal punishment is under such attack. Right here, I need to make a bold statement in regard to this matter. I am totally and adamantly opposed to any degree of child abuse in any shape, form, or fashion, as my record will prove. Few things can anger me and get under my skin like the abuse of children. This is the case whether the nature of the abuse is physical, sexual, or emotional. I have had to ask certain associates of mine, who have accompanied me while dealing with situations where we had to investigate and to make inquiries about probable child abuse in our fellowship, to refrain me if what we were investigating had any legitimacy to it. Consequently, no one can accuse me of supporting or winking my eyes at any child abuse cases.
There is another side to this issue that is not being given equal consideration. I do not know the extent of the alleged abuse that Adrian Peterson is being lambasted and villianized over by a biased and liberal media, who of late, opposes many of the practices and beliefs that are biblically based. These tried and tested traditions, in my estimation, are a part of the foundation and fabric of what has made America great. Regrettably, there are many out there in nearly every sector of our society who refuses to accept the historic significance of many of the Judeo-Christian practices, like the one we are considering as being valid and relevant for today. In their humanistic mindset and worldview, things like corporal punishment or monogamous and heterosexual marriages, just to name a few, are out dated, irrelevant, and a denial and infringement upon their civil rights and freedom to choose. Their opinions and views mirror the majority of the people on the liberal left who have been cunningly inculcated by the media, entertainment industry, academia, and liberal politicians to embrace unbiblical principles and practices that are certain to lead our culture further down the road of ruin. What I am asserting here certainly goes against the grain of political correctness and the finding of some social scientist whose “cooking of the books” research seem to indicate that corporal punishment harms and hampers the emotional and social development of children. I could, of course, produce several outstanding professionals like Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Ben Carson, and many others whose finding and lives refute their dubious conclusions. However, the greatest argument comes from the One who designed and made us and His assertions are infallible, inerrant, and absolute. In regard to this matter, He boldly declared, without any possibility of apology, error or alteration:
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:15)
“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.” (Proverbs 23:14-14)
Postscript
They say that experience is the best teacher and I believe it to be the case. The master teacher of experience has taught me well in regard to the relevance of corporal punishment.
I have gleaned much wisdom as both a child under the authority of my parents, and as a father who, along with my wife, reared two children into adulthood. I cannot say that I have graduated summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or even cum laude in the area of child rearing and corporal punishment; however, I believe that I have learned with some degree of success the art of parenting. Like my father, who was well known for saying, “I know how to raise boys,” I have some experience in parenting. According to the standards of many today in their opposition to corporal punishment, my father would have been branded as a child abuser and given some time in prison. Yet worse, I and some of my brothers would have most likely gone astray and experienced drugs, gangsterism, crime, imprisonment, and even a violent and premature death due to parental negligence and the sparing of the rod. In light of this, I am truly thankful for the beatings that served as a deterrent to keep me out of trouble. It was not the knowledge that what I desired to do was wrong that kept me in check, but it was the fear of getting caught, facing both the anger and belt of Big Jim.
I know I am expressing the sentiments of my brothers and many like us when I say, “Thanks, Big Jim, for not sparing the rod. It was an important tool in helping to shape our character and to make use the law abiding citizens and hard working men that we are today. May our children be able to commend us for being strict disciplinarians in their reflections, as we are presently able to posthumously praise you.”
