Writing Samples

Opinion

Spare the rod and spoil the child…?

How long has this biblical quote been the used in support of violence against children. The belief appears to me as: if you do not rigidly discipline by applying the rod children they will be lost in sin. But I wonder what you could surmise if you held this quote against another 'rod' quote: 'thy rod and thy staff they comfort me'. Taken this quote and the fact that 'the lord is my shepherd' I wonder if there isn't something the disciplinarians are choosing to over look.
I friend of mine who is greater in Christian knowledge then I believes that the 'rod' spoke of represents the bible; if you withhold the teachings of the bible from your child they will never know the way of God. I think that is a fair enough interperation.
I look at it this way however. If 'the Lord is my shepherd", no doubt that shepherd will be carrying the tools of his trade. Those tools traditionally have been the rod and the staff or shepherds hook as we know it. The shepherds 'hook' could be used for rescuing sheep that had gotten themselves (see entry below) into a sticky situation as a rather stiff but serviceable collar. The rod was simply a shepherds hook without the hook. Both of these tools really served to extend the reach of the shepherds arms as he herded them from pasture to pasture. The rod and the staff were used to guide.
I don't know a whole lot about sheep. I do have an acquaintance that raises sheep however. She claims they are not very intelligent animals, followers , that tend to panic when confronted by confusing situations. Certainly biblical shepherds would have known the same things. If the herd started heading in the wrong direction they had tried change divert them, by say, hitting some of the sheep with the rod they probably would have ended up with a herd of panicking sheep running any which way. I would imagine any animal, if threatened with beating and pain enough would resort to the flight, fight, or freeze response. Shepherds would have to learn how to gently guide their flocks to food and safety. The rod would be one tool to do this gentle guiding with.