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People are rightfully upset about a drunken father in Philadelphia who chained his 13-year-old son to a bed with handcuffs. Here is the news clip in a nutshell: Friday night, August 24, police responded to the 2300 Block of Orthodox Street where they found a teen chained and handcuffed to his bed. The boy said he had been chained to the bed for a couple of days. Shortly after police arrived at the home, the boy's father, 42-year-old Russell Fisher, was placed in custody and charged with child endangerment. The father told police that he restrained his son in order to keep him out of trouble. Saturday afternoon, August 25, the same teenager was arrested together with buddies for vandalizing several cars and attempting to steal another.
Now both father and son are restrained.
This conflict has caused dissention throughout history and it still divides us. What is your position?
First, I will ask simple questions that are easy to answer:
If your reply to these questions is an emphatic "NO!" you may stop reading this and return to whatever you were doing before. If you were watching a football game or swatting a fly that was trying to land on your peanutbutter and jelly sandwich, your reply was false!
If you could answer any of the questions affirmatively or were uncertain, try the next set of questions:
Because I am familiar with human nature, I know that very few readers took the time to answer the above questions. You probably continued reading, expecting me to come up with answers that you can either agree with or refute.
Okay, I will see what I can do to meet those expectations. I will make a statement and you mark it "true" or "false."
If you marked the first statement as true, then you are likely an atheistic pacifist. Atheistic pacifists reject all use of force for lack of credible guidelines. They are careful not to step on insects and refuse to wash for fear of harming bacteria. Most consider church and religion to be the "opium of the people." They are quite vocal in their opposition to Americans fighting a war anywhere for any reason and oppose private possession of firearms. They are quick to defend the rights of convicted criminals and groundhogs, but fight for the “right to choose” (to kill and recycle unborn babies) and to parade their sexual orientation in the streets. Any expression of an opposing view is considered a "hate crime."
If you marked the second statement as true, you are probably a hard-core humanist. That is just a nice-sounding word for "egoist." The humanist believes that he or she is the center of the universe around which everything revolves. The humanist dislikes restraints and insists on doing whatever he or she likes or whatever feels good. Out of necessity, the humanist admits that actions should not cause conflict with other humanists, but humanists see nothing wrong with offending or hurting those who have deeper convictions about right and wrong.
If you marked the third statement as correct, you are sidestepping your responsibility as a member of the human race -- and this entire issue for that matter!
Religious pacifists are divided. Some believe that God alone (or whatever authority they believe is ultimate) may enforce his law and punish transgressors. Other religious pacifists concede that it is permissible to defend their nation and family, but they refuse to retaliate with force if attacked personally. Both groups together constitute a small minority.
The largest segment of our society is not pacifist, but motivated by a combination of prevailing humanistic and religious thought. Most believe in right and wrong and that "God" is the authority on what is good and what is evil. They believe that God is on their side, acting in their behalf and that they are on God's side acting in his behalf. Law enforcement and military service are seen as a “necessary evil.” It is interesting to note that conservative Christians are the most stalwart supporters of US military action in Iraq, and the staunchest proponents of the death penalty.
We need to get back to the matter of handcuffed kids and parents.
The atheist says that there are no naughty kids. They are only doing what comes naturally. If they get on his or her nerves, the atheist sends them over to the neighbor's house, or leaves them at home and goes to a dance.
The humanist believes they will respond to love and pampering. There is a kernel of good in every child and you just need to nourish it. The kids get whatever they want until patience or the money runs out. Then humanist parents often apply the reciprocal principal. Parents also have needs and wishes. The kids better respect them -- or else!
Most people use a system of rewards and deprivation to discipline their kids. Spanking the children or inflicting physical pain is no longer "in vogue." The humanist part of us will not allow that, nor does the law. If the promise of rewards doesn't work, parents resort to appeasing, bribing, threatening, denying of TV time or confinement to a bedroom. No parent of my acquaintance simply "turns the other cheek."
Our kids are now grown and the grandchildren live 3000 to 8000 miles away, so I can safely say that we sometimes spanked our misbehaving children. Because our children learned early what "no" meant, spankings were rare. I preferred loving and coddling our kids, but sometimes felt obliged to make compromises.
A couple of our acquaintance had two very unruly children. Several times, I requested the parents to try to keep them under control, but it was of no use. They would scold the kids, scream at them and call them unflattering names, but they didn’t believe in spanking them.
In desperation, I called them aside and said that God created children with a generous portion of fat on their posteriors that was ideal for “rearing” unruly children. They were horrified and let me know that this was contrary to the teachings of Jesus who commands us to love one another. I then said that a firm swat on their behinds would sting for a while, but screaming at them and calling them names could injure them for life.
I never asked how they managed it, but those kids soon learned to behave! I doubt if they handcuffed the kids to their beds.
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