old testament garbage

I've been feeling frustrated by the uproar surrounding this proposed anti-spanking legislation in California...and the fact that I haven't posted on this yet is 1) an indication of how busy I've been lately 2) the realization that there is no way I can adapt to an audience that thinks it's okay to hit kids...and any response to this is pretty much just nodding heads with folks that agree with me! But...what do you say? Ready to nod heads?

What really has my stomach turning is the indignation from people who want to be assured of the right to hit children under the age of three! With studies/experts overwhelming agreeing that spanking is harmful and not helpful...and a predecessor to what is acceptably defined as "child abuse!" It's not acceptable to hit your partner, your friends, people who piss you off in traffic, but people think it's okay to hit defenseless little children because they are "my kids!"

It just seems to me that if you asked the question "Are people free to physical hurt other people" without the word "child" as part of the equation, overwhelming people of all walks of life would largely agree that hurting others is not okay!

As far as this argument/concern I keep hearing about people making a mistake and losing their kids...that's such a bunch of crap! Someone who has a temporary lapse in judgment...a one time offender...is unlikely to cause an injury or do this in front of a witness! People who hit their kids in public hit them much harder, and much more frequently, when other people aren't around! The people who make a "mistake," or the one time offender...are overwhelming not the people who have to worry about these types of consequences.

And some people think it's about the government telling people how to raise their kids, well yay! yay! yay! when it comes to hitting defenseless people! I'm all about freedom...but we are not free to hurt others. Our freedom ends as soon as it infringes on the safety of others. What could be a more important role of government than protecting children from physical harm?

And then you hear the religious arguments..."spare the rod, spoil the child" garbage. If you are going to base your parenting on an old testament bible verse, why not stone adulteresses to death, stone your rebellious teenager, sacrifice animals to atone for your sins, demand that unmarried women continue living in their father's houses, require women to wear head coverings when they leave the house and ban them from teaching positions or from talking to strangers...or loads of other old testament garbage that are overlooked by sane people. It's the old testament folks...for Christ's sake!