(Antidote to stories about child abuse, christian fisting, and Dick Cheney's inner life.)
" . . the fundamentalist view of humanity is such that humans are viewed as sinful and hell-bound by nature. This rebellion must be addressed. The best way to save one’s child from hell is by “beating the hell out of him or her.”
In Grevens’ Spare the Rod: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse (1991) the notion of using physical abuse to “break the child’s will” is explored. It is the parental responsibility to break the will so that the child will conform to the parent’s wishes, thereby learning obedience to God.
How much force must be applied?
Most fundamentalist commentators state that the parent must remain fairly emotionless and turn a deaf ear to the protests of the child.
[Thus engendering numbing and avoidance in the the parents, btw, a classic symptom of PTSD.]
The child must be struck repeatedly until s/he begins crying profusely, for that is the sign of a broken will—the objective of striking the child in the first place.
Grevens demonstrates through much anecdotal evidence that the whole notion is fraught with difficulties. . . .Citing examples of well-known Christians reflecting on their childhood, a picture emerges of children waiting during the “cooling off” period, making deals with God, and pleading with God that they would not be beaten again.
As for the love part, Ruth Wilkerson Harris (sister of evangelist David Wilkerson) in her book, It was Good Enough for the Father: The Story of the Wilkerson Family (1969), recounts how the Wilkerson children, had to face the “humbling” of embracing their father after a beating and saying, “I love you Daddy. Forgive me for disobeying.”
[Thus teaching the important lesson that people who love you get to hit you and hurt you.]
Capps, in Religion and Child Abuse: Perfect Together (JSSR, 1992), points out that this mixture of anger, pain, beating, and love is very confusing to children.
[No, really?]
They likely come to view the ritual as a pain filled affair necessary to gain the parent’s love. They must surely long for a love that might, someday, be unconditional, with no beatings attached.
[or -- they might go the way of -- Vitter?]
They plead for God to deliver them. God doesn’t. As much anecdotal evidence indicates, as adults, such children do not thank God that they had a parent willing to inflict physical punishment on them and many grow up with a very confused image of God. They have been taught that God is all-powerful, yet God did not rescue them when they pleaded with God for mercy."
Deputies say the report alleged that Joseph P. Gariano had shoved a juvenile victim to the ground and held her face in a puddle of urine as punishment for urinating on the floor.
There are also allegations that Gariano submerged another juvenile victim underwater in a bath tub because he was angry that the child was crying.
Police say they have charged the girl's father, Scott Archbold, 41, (above left) with causing the injuries including multiple bone fractures, internal bleeding and signs of prior abuse. Christina Benjamin, (above right) the infant's mother, has been charged with child endangerment for allegedly failing to get the child medical attention after the infant's grandmother suspected the abuse.(What was that the Bushist fascists were saying about how every kid needs a mommy and a daddy?)
louk, look NBFH when I cooke sundae dinnner i dont plan ahead do i. i just grab random stuff from th shelf and slap it all in a bowell & mebbe bakke it orr miccrowaqvve or evn iron it.
its just like whateverrr arises, thats kewl, u nko?
whuts rong witth thatt anyhow all yu smartypantsis wi/ yr pansy "recipp es." faugh. jusst get overr it.
"The fiancee said she saw the 6-foot-5, 285-pound Terry hit the child more than 50 times since October, the affidavit said, and squeeze the child's head, causing the couple to fear she had a concussion."
The medical examiner's report [on the child] details numerous skull fractures, blood on the brain, a lacerated kidney and blood in the lining of the abdomen, with the ultimate cause of death being blunt force injuries to the head, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said.
Provo police detective Mark Petersen testified that during an interview with Gardea, he confessed to punching Jasmin in the head and torso, hard enough that had he been hit that hard, it would have knocked him unconscious, said Buhman.
"She was indeed chained to her bed and shackled by her right ankle," the report states, noting that she was found "emotionally distraught and crying uncontrollably."
Clark County District Attorney David Roger said the accusations against the 53-year-old father are some of the most egregious he's seen in child abuse cases.
"While I've seen terrible things done to children, this tops most," Roger said Tuesday.
"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" he chortled in his joy.
