Germany Clashes with Pope over Child Discipline
By Julio
Severo (with
Associated Press)
Germany
has on Friday rejected as “unacceptable” the pope’s comments that it’s OK to
spank your children to discipline them, as long as their dignity is maintained.
Francis
made the remarks this week during his weekly general audience, which was
devoted to the role of fathers in the family.
Francis
outlined the traits of a good father: one who forgives but is able to “correct
with firmness” while not discouraging the child.
“One
time, I heard a father in a meeting with married couples say ‘I sometimes have
to smack my children a bit, but never in the face so as to not humiliate
them,’” Francis said.
“How
beautiful!” Francis remarked. “He knows the sense of dignity! He has to punish
them but does it justly and moves on.”
Verena
Herb, a spokeswoman for Germany’s Families Ministry, told reporters on Friday
that “there can be no dignified hitting,” and by comparing child discipline
with violence, she added, “any form of violence against children is completely
unacceptable.”
Completely
unacceptable is what the German government does.
German
parents who homeschool or spank their children can lose their custody. In
contrast with its harshness with parents, Germany is extraordinarily lenient
with bad behavior, in children and adults. While Germany was condemning the
pope for showing support for child discipline, American Jewish Committee was
criticizing a German court for concluding that two Muslims who firebombed a
synagogue last July weren’t anti-Semitic.
Leniency
for criminal behavior. Cruelty for parents fulfilling their family duties. This
is the U.N. way in Germany.
One
lunacy just leads to another. In Germany, corporal punishment of children is
crime. Apparently, firebombing a synagogue is not crime or even anti-Semitic in
Germany. The terrorist Muslims who firebombed the synagogue were sentenced to
perform 200 hours of community work.
Leniency
for terrorist Muslims, and no leniency for the pope and parents.
Not
only Germany has not been harsh with the Vatican over child discipline, but the
U.N. too.
Last
year, the U.N. human rights committee “recommended” that the Holy See amend its
own laws to specifically prohibit corporal punishment of children, including
within the family.
In
its written response, the Vatican argued that it in no way promoted corporal
punishment, that the term “punishment” isn’t even used in the section of Catholic
teaching and that according to Catholic teaching, parents "should be able
to rectify their child's inappropriate action by imposing certain reasonable
consequences for such behavior, taking into consideration the child's ability
to understand the same as corrective."
All
the nations that are signatory to the U.N. Children’s Rights Convention (CRC)
are required to enforce the repealing of their laws allowing parents to spank
their children. Because the Vatican is a signatory, it is not known if the pope
will be able to keep supporting parents and their right to discipline their
children.
Some
39 countries signatory to CRC prohibit corporal punishment in all settings,
including by parents at home. Those nations range from Sweden and Germany to
Brazil. Even the pope’s native socialist Argentina prohibits all physical
punishment of children, including in the home.
In
the United States, which is the only great Christian nation that, by pressure
of pro-family evangelical groups, has not ratified the CRC, parents can legally
spank their children as long as the force is reasonable.
With information
from the Associated Press.
Portuguese
version of this article: Alemanha entra em choque com o papa
sobre disciplina de crianças
Source: Last Days Watchman
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1 comment :
I am certainly not one to stand with the pope, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Without question, the pope has got this one right according to scripture.
And what is this about a firebomb and 200 hours community service... outrageous but not surprising. Anti-Semitism is on the rise while in the name of political correctness they attempt to force the acceptance of Islam.
In America, we have a guy living in the White House who embraces both Islam and homosexuality. How does that work? Please watch the following 3 and a half minute video.
http://conservativebyte.com/2015/02/islamic-leader-every-muslim-wants-death-penalty-homosexuals/
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