Religion and corporal punishment
larry pillars
during the Puritan movement were anti-authority, somewhat
"RADICAL" (in the political sense), and by being populist and grass-
roots, tended toward a kind of liberalism. Indeed, those first ersatz
groups are sometimes lumped as the "left wing of the protestant
REFORMATION." If the first "reformation" of Luther and Henry VIII
were conservative forces aligned with State Power, this second wave
were outsiders and slightly "revolutionary."
But the Bible churches of today, especially the "gospel" variety of
strict interpretationists, tend toward a right wing ideology (not
always of course), and are often associated with strongly pro-
authority attitudes. In many cases, these modern groups tend toward
strongly pro-spanking attitudes. Scholars have a wide open field for
study here. Why do these modern grass roots groups, with less
economic standing, lower educational attainments, and frequently
literal views of scripture, tend to be so favorable to CORPORAL
PUNISHMENT.
I have personal experience here. This is a whole realm of research
for those interested in VICTIMOLOGY. What happens to a child who has
been the recipient of corporal punishment? Well, I can tell you that
sometimes the person is dogged by a pre-occupation with authority, or
(other side of the coin) something of a martyr complex. What is wrong
with me? You can be possessed with self-doubts. Do I bring it on
myself? Do I provoke these encounters?
One anecdotal narrative I saw online by someone named Bethany
Fennimore, a sensitive and obviously very intelligent woman who grew
up in one such fundamentalist group. A victim of an authoritarian
upbringing, she forthrightly shared her own trauma, and the long, hard
path out of darkness. Talk about Stockholm syndrome. Those of us who
have experienced it know the inner conflicts, the self-inquisitions,
the arduous path toward healing, the challenge of self-disclosure.
Vernon Weihe is one scholar who has studied the relationship between
groups which could be tagged FUNDAMENTALIST (gospel churches on the
religious right, for the most part) and the prevalence of corporal
punishment associated with them. The children are infected with the
virus of such an upbringing.
NO KNOWN CURE:
No, but as affluence spreads, and education levels rise, these
attitudes are sure to ameliorate.