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.
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
What the pastor said is freedom of speech. He didn't instigate the use of violence against children.
Last winter in The Netherlands, when it was snowing very badly, a lot of children get together to play with snow. There were 2 major incidents happened where kids and teenegers were involved in throwing ice balls and dropping people off their feet and stealing their valuables and running away. Morocanns & Indonesian kids fighting each other.
A friend of mine in Den Haag, said a lot of kids gathered in front of his house and started throwing ice/snow balls on his windows terrorising him and his young family with 2 little kids the whole 4 months of winter. He then requested them not to do so but they sarted harrassing them more.
WHY? because they know nobody can touch them or beat them up. If anyone does then he is behind the bars. So in such a case what kind of education the parents or the society is giving the kids.
Let such a thing happen in any Asian or African or Latin American countires. Parents and the society will smack them up and beat them up for doing such terrorising act. The next time they will have the fear and will not do such things
Christians can stone their kids or eat them up or bash them all they want; it's in the bible after all. That doesn't necessarily mean it is OK to do and it doesn't mean one should do it.
Well in my opinion I think that's a wrong way to educate the children ,children are brought to this world to educate them good by talking and showing love to them not to hit them in my opinion I think nobody would like to get hit if they do a mistake or something the priest is very wrong he should think and any parent who hits their kids should think before doing it, because their human beings their children that should be loved not hit well that's my opion and I hope everybody understands the meaning that hitting is veryyy wronngg
This should be respected as freedom of speech. The reverend is absolutely wrong. Parents should not beat their children, and parents who do should be punished. However, he did not beat any children is entitled to his opinion.
If his speech is not allowed then nobody's speech is safe. What's next? Can governments arrest people for taking a side either pro or con in a debate about nationalizing/privatizing some industry? They could argue that the person is either advocating violating property rights or advocating allowing rich people to violate the common people depending on which side they take.
When some subjects are put beyond debate it is a slippery slope to a closed society.
Post new comment
Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.