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I was curious is sexual abuse of a child against The Bible?
I know people get enraged and point fingers at homosexuals but was there anything about sexual perversions regarding children or pedophiles, it seems to go vastly ignored with Christianity. You don't hear much shaming about that, but you hear a lot of shaming and belittling of homosexuals. Your thoughts on that.....
Those quotes really didn't say anything explicit.
We all know child abuse and especially child sexual abuse is pure evil but why isn't that made clear and obvious in the bible?
I was curious is sexual abuse of a child against The Bible?
I know people get enraged and point fingers at homosexuals but was there anything about sexual perversions regarding children or pedophiles, it seems to go vastly ignored with Christianity. You don't hear much shaming about that, but you hear a lot of shaming and belittling of homosexuals. Your thoughts on that.....
I grew up in a highly-respected Christian family, one where the motto "spare the rod and spoil the child' was often acted on.
I believe this sour bit of parental guidance comes from somewhere in the bible - does this qualify as child abuse?
Once, when my father lost his temper with me, I was left striped with black and blue welts from my shoulders to my calves (I was about 11 at the time). My mother was very concerned that I should not strip for games at school for a few weeks after that lest my condition be spotted, not until the bruised had healed, anyway.
So acting on Biblical advice when bringing up children is obviously fraught with danger - beating children is never a good thing - but in this case it actually led to breaking the law of the land.
Years later, my elder sister, by then a social-worker and ex-nurse, referred to the incident, which she had witnessed and never forgotten, when nursing my mother in her final illness. My mother's reaction was strange - could the authorities still turn up to question her, she worried! (she was 91).
Yet, in the small law-abiding village where I grew up, where my father was a devout and popular lay-preacher, this small tragedy went unnoticed, although my treatment was rather more extreme than was common.
Strange to think that my God-fearing parents would, these days, have a criminal record for child abuse, but they could always blame the bible for it, I suppose...
Forgiveness? that word has no meaning for me.
Last edited by brianrees; 10-19-2008 at 07:28 PM..
I grew up in a highly-respected Christian family, one where the motto "spare the rod and spoil the child' was often acted on.
I believe this sour bit of parental guidance comes from somewhere in the bible - does this qualify as child abuse?
Once, when my father lost his temper with me, I was left striped with black and blue welts from my shoulders to my calves (I was about 11 at the time). My mother was very concerned that I should not strip for games at school for a few weeks after that lest my condition be spotted, not until the bruised had healed, anyway.
So acting on Biblical advice when bringing up children is obviously fraught with danger - beating children is never a good thing - but in this case it actually led to breaking the law of the land.
Years later, my elder sister, by then a social-worker and ex-nurse, referred to the incident, which she had witnessed and never forgotten, when nursing my mother in her final illness. My mother's reaction was strange - could the authorities still turn up to question her, she worried! (she was 91).
Yet, in the small law-abiding village where I grew up, where my father was a devout and popular lay-preacher, this small tragedy went unnoticed, although my treatment was rather more extreme than was common.
Strange to think that my God-fearing parents would, these days, have a criminal record for child abuse, but they could always blame the bible for it, I suppose...
Forgiveness? that word has no meaning for me.
I am sorry you had such a trumatic experience as a child. It will probably surprise you to know "Spare the rod and spoil the child", is NOT a Bible passage. I believe what you are referring to is Proverbs 13:24
He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Please note the phrase "careful to discipline him". The word careful not only precludes abuse it also involves timing. Do not discipline when you are angry or in front of peers. There is a proper time and place. In private, after you have calmed down. There is a world of difference between abuse and discipline. There is a lot more on this subject but it will become a 45 min sermon. I'll save that for church.
I was curious is sexual abuse of a child against The Bible?
I know people get enraged and point fingers at homosexuals but was there anything about sexual perversions regarding children or pedophiles, it seems to go vastly ignored with Christianity. You don't hear much shaming about that, but you hear a lot of shaming and belittling of homosexuals. Your thoughts on that.....
dear sweet artsyguy,...
God does NOT condone any kind of abuse of a child.
It is certainly a shameful thing for anyone to mistreat a child in anyway and anyone who abuses a child will be judged for it.
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
The guys who wrote the bible books lived in a time when children were chattel, so, for example, children were told to "honor" their parents but parents weren't told to honor their children.
It's only in the 20th Century, and only in industrialized cultures, that children began to be considered, officially, something other than possessions.
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