Marissa Franks Burt Profile picture
Feb 27 11 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Many Christians ardently defending "spanking" again today

Bolstered by (IMO) eisegetical claims & doctrinal interpretations, they insist that God requires adults to hit young children & claim that is what God does for us.

I find this to be profoundly unChristian. 🧵/10
Jesus did not force compliance. He invited ppl & instructed His followers to…follow His example.

He sent them out to do His healing and liberating work, saying, “Freely you have received; freely give.”

Neither did the apostles punish ppl into behaving. 2/10
Traditional Christian doctrines identify sanctification as occurring through the Holy Spirit’s inner work to transform us into the likeness of Christ.

We are not beat or punished into Christlikeness. 3/10
Indeed, we are given "one-anothering" instructions, and these, too, apply to children.

Yes, wise Christian parents instruct, teach, train, correct, but *how* they do it should align w/fruit of the Spirit & should not embitter/provoke their children. 4/10
B/c of course I think of the children. What is the incalculable impact of this kind of teaching on children?
Because they are the ones who will be on the receiving end of painful punishment from devout (or otherwise) parents. 5/10
They will be the ones who will be told their pain is a measure of their parent’s love.

They will be offered the framework of a God who finds value in dealing out injury, whose capacity to bring about transformation is apparently reduced to the methods of human Empires. 6/10
Never fails to amaze me that the bulk of “Christian” parenting teaching neglects to mention Jesus Christ, His teaching, or His attitude toward children.

Jesus who identified Himself with vulnerable children and said, “Whoever welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me.” 7/10
Jesus, who took a little child in His arms and said “become like this.”

Jesus, who, when children were brought to Him, took them in His arms and blessed them.

Jesus who had strong words for those who cause little ones to stumble. 8/10
Christian Parents, let me speak plainly & with great compassion: it will not be Wilson or whomever else is giving you this advice who will reckon with the cost of it.

It will be you navigating the losses & grief & pain of betraying your own children. 9/10
It is never too late to find an alternate course.

And to the adult children reading this, to those who know all too well the confusing pain of multiple betrayals blended with spiritual imagery?

I am so very sorry. /end
@threadreaderapp please unroll

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Marissa Franks Burt

Marissa Franks Burt Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MBurtwrites

Mar 1
It can be difficult to evaluate the impact of corporal punishment (exploration of this & linked studies in this 🧵).

That does not mean we cannot make robust conclusions about the harm.

IMO @janetheimlich's thorough work is essential reading: 🧵 a.co/d/1kxVK4l
Image
Any research attempting to evaluate CP (either as "working" or "turned out fine" or "harming" or "trauma") must consider the limitations of self-disclosure, the only data source for things happening behind closed doors.

Loyalty, shame, & memory recall all are relevant. 2/?
The vulnerability of remembering one's childhood, attachment to primary caregivers, cultural values about honoring parents, all result in understandable loyalties:

I was spanked. I turned out fine. They did their best. I love my parents. 3/?
Read 21 tweets
Feb 27
The Bible nowhere commands parents to "spank"/hit young children. Nowhere.

Neither does it tell parents that God gives them authority to hit young children.

Direct instruction given to Christian parents (repeated 2X)? *Fathers, do not embitter/provoke your children.* 🧵/4
Before someone proof-texts the Proverbs (a book intended to cultivate wisdom), consider:
✔️Applying "the rod" verses literally=beating young men w/stout rods
✔️We do not apply most Proverbs as imperatives

So ask yourself why those & why in that way? 2/4
And let me preempt Heb 12 as well:
✔️letter written to the suffering church
✔️Heb 12 encourages ppl the God who brings resurrection from death can use even evil against them for their maturity (≠God authors evil)
✔️Parents≠God

More specifics: 3/4
Read 5 tweets
Feb 20
“Christian parents who wish to sell their concept of God to their children must first sell themselves,” Dobson writes.

“If they are not worthy of respect, then neither is their religion or their morals, or their government, or their country, or any of their values." 🧵/? Image
In a moment of reckoning for American evangelicalism, Dobson’s words take on a different tenor.
After I read Fea's article for @theatlantic, I read "Dare to Discipline." Published in 1970, it sold over 2 million copies & launched a parenting empire. 2/?
In his first book, Dobson authoritatively claims that a host of social ills & undesirable adolescent behavior—everything from rebellion, STDs, pacifism, drug use—can be chalked up to parental failure to discipline their children properly, specifically before age four. 3/?
Read 23 tweets
Feb 14
When I saw the priest swipe the Ash Wednesday cross on my baby’s forehead, I cried.
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return,” the priest said, and I looked at my round-cheeked, bobble-headed, newly-born gift, and I was terrified. 🧵/?
He will die one day, I thought, and the simple truth of the human condition quickened inside me.

I spent one January in the hospital with that child when he was gravely ill, and, for a time, the doctors didn’t know how to diagnose him. 2/?
If you’ve ever lingered in a children’s hospital, you know it is a hallowed place. It rends your heart to see young bodies worn thin w/illness & bloated w/medication, to watch toddlers toting IV poles, & to find children—who should be running & jumping & laughing—bedridden. 3/?
Read 30 tweets
Feb 9
Fea’s article reads like a variation on: “It could’ve been worse.” “You don’t know how bad he/she had it” or “Remember the good times.”

Fragility & defensiveness plague evangelicalism. 🧵/12
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
Parental fragility robs individual families of authentic connection.

Its systemic counterpart in church family subcultures like evangelicalism prevents powerholders from listening to the pain of the betrayed.

Fragility/defensiveness sets trajectory of future engagement 2/12
So ppl continue to understandably exit churches (& sometimes the faith) that demand leaders/power holders be judged by their intentions & not the impact.

Whatever their intentions, Dobson & co built empires around *opinions/advice* that they claimed were “God’s Way.” 3/12
Read 13 tweets
Feb 7
Let's talk about "slander."
If we equate public critiques of books or sermons w/ cancel-culture & mob attack, or name thoughtful objections to be sinful slander, we platform unchallengeable people. 🧵/?
I was offline for many yrs before joining modern Areopagus of Twitter & have learned here's how it goes: provocative/inflammatory content (often markedly intended to stir up controversy & buzz in order to sell books or other resources) quakes through the conversation. 🧵/?
This sets off a tsunami of righteous outrage. Aftershocks of discussion follow: has the author been unfairly canceled by an online mob? Opinions & responses to responses whirl. Some say public content needs public engagement, esp if it is blasphemous, heterodox, or harmful. 🧵/?
Read 38 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(