Should a religious leader be able to preach that hitting children is a good thing to do?
 
A controversial Evangelical preacher has hit the headlines here in the Netherlands after telling parents to hit their children and keep on going even when the children start crying from the pain.
 
The preacher, who has three children himself, first hit the headlines a week ago when Dutch newspapers reported that he was advocating beating as an essential aspect of child rearing. Now the public prosecutor has confirmed that the man will be prosecuted after making the controversial statements.
 
Bible
The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reported the Pentecostal minister, Gertjan Goldschmeding, as saying:
 

"If you interpret the Bible literally then it says that you can hit your children and that you can continue until the will of the child is broken."
 
The quotes come from a recording of a sermon given in 2007, which the newspaper has acquired.
 
"Children realise after a couple of times that the hitting stops when they start to cry, so they start to simulate this. So you have to keep going until a real change of heart is visible, until the child shows real remorse," he said.
 
The minister, from the ACC Jouwkerk in the central Dutch town of Amersfoort, went on to add that leaving scars was not allowed but 'leaving marks on the body was no bad thing,' according to the newspaper.
 
The preacher made the comments during a conference on discipline and raising children. In an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide he confirmed his belief that hitting children is an essential part of parenting.

Police investigations were sparked when a member of his congregation went to the authorities saying he wanted to stop members of the church following the extreme advice.

Rod
Goldschmeding is also on record as saying that the Bible says that parents should use the 'rod' in bringing up their children. He explained that in his view this meant using a stick rather than a wooden spoon  because, 'kids wouldn't feel anything from that.'

 
Asked about this statement by Radio Netherlands the preacher said:

“Yes I did say this… what I mean is that if you are going to hit your child and they are not really convinced by it then you might as well not do it. The child must realise that they have done something wrong and realise that they don’t want this to happen again.”

 
He went on to say that he denied the allegations that his theories on education were tantamount to child abuse saying his comments had been taken out of context elsewhere in the media. He said that hitting a child was always a difficult decision and should be done in a clear context of a loving family and as a means to correct deviant behaviour.
 

In a statement on the church's website Gertjan Goldschmeding say he is for open debate on issues of raising children and discipline and that he thinks that the pending prosecution is an attempt to stifle his freedom of belief.
 
What do you think, should the minister be able to make these statements without fear of prosecution?

The Amersfoort Christian Centre (ACC) was founded in 1994 by the then pastor Ford Pickering and his wife Debbie. Pastor Ford came to Europe from his position as assistant pastor of the Bethany World Prayer Centre in Louisiana in the USA.