I don’t generally ingratiate myself to anyone who could be described as a “theobro.” I’ve spent too much of my adult life recovering from the rigid theology these guys usually espouse to be particularly hospitable to very many of their rantings. Usually what I find in theobro camp is dogma trying to pinch hit for an actual relationship with Jesus. It’s just not my jam.
I'm not a fan of social media mobs, obviously. But for some perspective: I have no memory of a Christian parent (mine, or the parents of my Christian neighbors, friends, fellow congregants, and classmates) ever using the word 'discipline' to mean anything other than 'hit', and a performative sorrow was part of nearly every discussion of hitting. A lot of fundamentalist churches firmly believe that children should have their will broken by the age of one year -- blanket training, hitting them if they wiggle too much on the changing table, etc. So while the mobbing was inappropriate, the initial assumption of what he meant being that he needed to strike his four month old is perfectly in keeping with my own and many other people's experiences. The only experience I have with a Christian using 'discipline' to mean something other than 'hit' was in a Christian school, where discipline might mean a paddling or it might mean writing 1,000 lines. But usually the paddle. And with parents it was *always* hitting. There are likely many people in that mob for whom this was the *very first time* they're aware of a Christian parent saying 'discipline' to mean something other than hit. Combine that with the declaration of sorrow, and I confess that part of me isn't sure if he was trying to avoid a CPS call. If he truly means he didn't hit his four-month-old, that's great, but in my experience of Christian parents, this would be a unique usage of that word. I hope he was being truthful.
I'm not a fan of social media mobs, obviously. But for some perspective: I have no memory of a Christian parent (mine, or the parents of my Christian neighbors, friends, fellow congregants, and classmates) ever using the word 'discipline' to mean anything other than 'hit', and a performative sorrow was part of nearly every discussion of hitting. A lot of fundamentalist churches firmly believe that children should have their will broken by the age of one year -- blanket training, hitting them if they wiggle too much on the changing table, etc. So while the mobbing was inappropriate, the initial assumption of what he meant being that he needed to strike his four month old is perfectly in keeping with my own and many other people's experiences. The only experience I have with a Christian using 'discipline' to mean something other than 'hit' was in a Christian school, where discipline might mean a paddling or it might mean writing 1,000 lines. But usually the paddle. And with parents it was *always* hitting. There are likely many people in that mob for whom this was the *very first time* they're aware of a Christian parent saying 'discipline' to mean something other than hit. Combine that with the declaration of sorrow, and I confess that part of me isn't sure if he was trying to avoid a CPS call. If he truly means he didn't hit his four-month-old, that's great, but in my experience of Christian parents, this would be a unique usage of that word. I hope he was being truthful.
Good, well-balanced commentary.
Well written!
When you mentioned "ILBP fundamentalism" did you have a slip of the fingers on the keyboard, and meant IBLP?