When contemplating a title for this webpage, I had initially thought to name it: "Slap Kids." Upon further reflection, however, I came to the conclusion that such a title would probably be misunderstood and somewhat abhorrent to potential webpage readers, because it had the aura of being indiscriminately abusive against particularly innocent children. God knows that a lot of adults non-fairly do not pick on someone their own size, and use their belligerant bossy position and power to arrogantly "treat" those who are smaller and weaker with inferiority-complex-backround contempt and senseless hostility for whatever mentally sick cause they do that.
That brings up the subjects of human authority, people's attitudes toward it, and proper forms of punishment and correction for or against those who go against God-given and not Satan-driven legitimate authority. As always, I will relate pertinent, appropriate, and applicable Scripture verses to such.
"Change!" was the theme, catcall, and buzzword in the 2008 presidential election among the sons and daughters of disobedience, as the Bible would put it:
Change generally is never pleasant, and it usually shows childish, immature, and wayward discontent. Sometimes, however, it is engrained in the human course of typical progress, if one can call it that - whether that includes trying to find and date a potential spouse, getting hired into or fired from a job, having to dispose of and get a different car, giving birth after nine months, dying in the hospice section of a hospital....changes are frequently neither convenient nor a time for enjoyable relaxation.
It is interesting as one studies Scripture to see who took the aggression toward whom in the process of mate acquisition. God brought Eve to Adam, Sarai brought Hagar to Abram, Rebekkah went to Isaac, Jacob went to Leah and Rachel, Potipher's wife tried to get to Joseph, Pharoah's daughter was brought to Joseph, Ruth went to Boaz, Samson went to Delilah, Bathsheba exposed herself to David and the David went to Bathsheba after going to Abigail, Hosea went for the prostitute and possibly another one, and so forth. I myself went to my wife, every step of the way, and she thankfully allowed it.
Some of the women mentioned in the Bible apparently did not have much of a recorded sex life. Hagar the secondary spouse of Abram was driven out into the desert with her son Ishmael (see Genesis chapters 16 thru 21); the daughters of Lot their father apparently each did a one-timer with their own dad and both got pregnant from it (Genesis chapter 19); Genesis chapter 38 tells us of Tamar who did a one-timer with her father-in-law; Judges chapter 11 reminds us that Jephthah's virgin daughter was innocently burned alive by her dad without having any sex at all; "Michelle" (i.e. Michal the daughter of Saul) had no child to the day of her death, according to Second Samuel 6:23.
Speaking of the dating scene, it is a neat trick to tell enough of yourself to only the one right person (if monogamous) and for them to tell enough of themselves to you, without the embarrassment or even danger of both you and them NOT keeping such info private and hidden until later. Detailed police-record, Facebook-disclosure, disfavorable past-employment referrals, FBI-backround-check-like mate selection questionnaires are telling, but who has the guts to give such personal info to someone new, and expect them to give such personal info of themselves back?
It takes enough of if not frank and rude at least polite and friendly or congenial interest in someone, along with time, circumstance, coincidence, and patience, to facilitate various degrees of success - although how many times have we heard the exclamation: "Wow, I never knew THAT about you (or him or her)!"
Getting back to the title subject of hitting brats, whether for plain retributional punishment and/or correctional discipline, rightful authority of the punisher and understandable grounds for punishment must be established before what types and severities of retaliation are administered.
Recall that the LORD Himself commissioned the patriarchs of the Old and New Testament, whether by burning-bush enounter, the fiery finger of God etching commandments into mountain rock, The Voice of God coming from wherever, angels appearing and declaring whatever, and by what appeared to be supernatural signs or miracles -- all substantiating authority from God.
When asked by accursed judgmental legalists and hypocrites to show registration, permits, diplomas, credentials, license, certification, and so on, we read the following:
Matthew 21:23 And when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"
Matthew 21:24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Matthew 21:27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Mark 11:28 and they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?"
Mark 11:29 Jesus said to them, "I will ask you a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Mark 11:33 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Luke 20:2 and said to him, "Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority."
Luke 20:8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
Second Corinthians 3:1 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?
Whenever I hear babies or toddlers all of a sudden bellering out a horrific blast of satanic terrorism by suddenly shrieking at the tops of their lungs, I think of the evil spirits from Legion causing the screaming pigs to plunge to their deaths in the sea per Christ's command. I think of instances of devil-dog/hound-of-hell demonic looks from snarling and viciously-barking dogs I have stared down.
What should be done against such painful-to-hear vocal outbursts and/or a flurry of sudden fatal gunfire by a lunatic crazy nonexpectedly going ballistic?
Concerning hapless victims attempting to counter such, the Devil's own - as self-appointed judges - would be quick to accuse and condemn parents who in whatever ways being to physically rebuke their shrieking brats.....as self-righteous wrongly-judgmental bystanders making an impulsive piously-defend-the-brats 911 cellphone call to summon police and godless themselves-arrestable-and-executionable social workers, who upon arrival at the scene would immediately prevent not-at-all-proud parents from slapping the mouths of such satanically-possessed children, whether on the spot or inside the nearest restroom.
In such cases, later-at-home physical spankings and deprivations would be the next best alternative for the sake of righteous justice, especially for pre-school toddlers who are not yet able to use 911 nor squeal on their parents to school educrats.
Admittedly, smashing a child's hand with a ruler or violently shaking an infant can cause serious and senseless injury, but the not-necessarily-bare behind (and not the sides or back of one's head) is one place to apply reasonable punitive force:
Proverbs 29:19 By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not give heed.
One has to be careful when deciding whether or not to judiciously and controllably strike a non-submissive, sarcastic, or screaming babe or toddler, because sometimes reward instead of somewhat-painful physical contact can be used to subdue and quiet the brat, like sticking a couple french fries or cookies into both hands plus one into the mouth of the offender. At other times, grounding an offender to in-house stay instead of pleasure outings, and/or confining an offender to time-out periods of face-the-corner within one's bedroom, and/or withholding luxury food or TV or other electronic devices and/or other privileges, is in fact neither considered [illegal] "false imprisonment" nor "cruel and unusual punishment."
Anything that causes unnatural bruises or bleeding should be done only for unnaturally-grievous offenses:
Exodus 21:12 "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:15 "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:16 "Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
Exodus 21:29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
Exodus 22:19 "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.
Exodus 31:14 You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; every one who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Exodus 31:15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.
Exodus 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death;
Leviticus 20:2 "Say to the people of Israel, Any man of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Leviticus 20:9 For every one who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his blood is upon him.
Leviticus 20:10 "If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
Leviticus 20:11 The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20:12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed incest, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20:15 If a man lies with a beast, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the beast.
Leviticus 20:16 If a woman approaches any beast and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the beast; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20:27 "A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them."
Leviticus 24:16 He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
Leviticus 24:17 He who kills a man shall be put to death.
Leviticus 24:21 He who kills a beast shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death.
Leviticus 27:29 No one devoted, who is to be utterly destroyed from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall be put to death.
Deuteronomy 21:18 "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they chastise him, will not give heed to them,
Deuteronomy 21:19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,
Deuteronomy 21:20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
Deuteronomy 21:21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Deuteronomy 21:22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
Deuteronomy 21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Proverbs 15:10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; he who hates reproof will die.
Proverbs 19:18 Discipline your son while there is hope; do not set your heart on his destruction.
Proverbs 22:15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
Proverbs 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Hebrews 12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? --"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
Hebrews 12:7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
Hebrews 12:9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Leviticus 19:32 "You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
Deuteronomy 5:16 "'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Proverbs 22:4 The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.
Proverbs 26:8 Like one who binds the stone in the sling is he who gives honor to a fool.
Proverbs 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
Malachi 1:6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. You say, 'How have we despised thy name?'
Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.'
Matthew 19:19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Mark 7:10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die';
Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"
Luke 18:20 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'"
Romans 1:21 for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.
Romans 2:7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
Romans 2:10 but glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
Romans 12:10 love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 13:7 Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Ephesians 6:2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise),
Philippians 2:29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy; and honor such men,
First Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching;
First Timothy 6:1 Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed.
Hebrews 3:3 Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house.
Hebrews 5:4 And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and adulterous.
First Peter 2:17 Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
First Peter 3:7 Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered.
Second Peter 1:17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"
Concerning, not regarding, the possibilities of forgiveness, parole, pardon, or only temporary imprisonment for the impenitent:
Proverbs 19:19 A man of great wrath will pay the penalty; for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again.
I guess that explains why I do NOT like TV programs and movies where there is no capital punishment for heinous criminals, in contrast to those where execution (not "murder") is performed and not committed (sometimes violently) against those (sometimes violent) who deserve it.
Proverbs 17:11 An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
We are not talking mere monetary fines nor probation nor temporary juvenile detention here.
Consider the Lord's attitude against and prophesied destiny for impenitent repeat offenders:
Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;
Second Thessalonians 1:9 They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
Jude 1:7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Revelation 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had worked the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur.
Revelation 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Revelation 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire;
Revelation 20:15 and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.