On violence
Submitted by Bach on September 24 1999 at 09:27:36
In reply to Opinions please.. Submitted by honesty.. on September 23 1999 at 18:13:20
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Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord Ephesians 6:4 RSV I guess this fits into what Chris was saying. I do not believe that correcting children through violence is Christ-like. Christ preaches compassion and understanding, and foremost, love. I agree that reasoning could not work in very small children, but physical agression that causes pain is unnecessary and harmful. Christ's teachings do not include corporal punishment. Unfortunately, Christian teachings have often been caught up in the social reality in which they were interpreted. Many ideas that are "tradition" in the church, are simply not biblical. For a good explanation on pacifism as a Christian, see The Principle of Nonresistance by John Horsch. It talks about non-violence and the approach of the traditional "Peace Churches". Beating children while quoting scripture is beyond my understanding of Christian behavior. Yet, I too know of such cases. Our churches need to better educate parents on parenting and how to live out lives that build up one another instead of tear each other down. Peace of Christ, Bach 
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