Are Parents Felons For Misuse of the Rod

Written By: Dan Stanley  |  Posted: Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Presently there is a bill in the Mississippi Legislature (SB 2180) that, if passed, could result in a life sentence for the parent applying the rod to a child, according to American Vision News. They were referring to the observations of the Home School Legal Defense Association. The bill was introduced by Senator Bruce Wiggins (District 52 - Jackson) of Mississippi according to this report. The bill gives the appearance that extreme conditions must exist for this to happen, but, as they say, "the devil is in the details."

Well, we would say the devil is in more than the details. He is in the bill. How so? Plainly so. Here is a father (or mother) disciplining their child. He "whips" (to use the language in the bill) his child for misbehavior. Not only does he "whip" him, the correction results in bruising to the buttocks of the child. Let us go further and suggest (as happens at times) the father was angry in an uncontrollable manner. His spirit is not under control, so he applies the rod harder or longer out of frustration. Mind you the child was recalcitrant and deserved the rod in this supposed case, but the father was excessive relative to the infraction. Now what do we do? Let us say we end up in court pos- sibly due to unforeseen circumstances.

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