Bipolar Christianity: How Torturing ‘Sinful’ Children Produced Holy Wars


 

disinfo.com

February 4, 2011

 

From Chapter 9 of Lloyd deMause’s The Origins of War in Child Abuse:

After half a century of primary source research into the history of childrearing, I and over a hundred other childhood historians have been unable to find a single mother who did not badly beat and torture their children prior to modern times. I have long offered a prize to anyone who could find actual evidence of just one mother prior to the 18th century who would not today be thrown into jail for badly abusing their children.

\

The occasional reformers, like Saint Anselm, who sometimes questioned whether whipping children “day and night” was wise, did not raise any children themselves because they were ascetic. Despite the fact that Jesus nowhere says children should be beaten, Christians taught that He wanted them to beat the sins out of them continuously, from birth. Actually, the main reference Jesus makes to children was “suffer little children to come unto me … and he laid his hands on them — that is, he exorcised the bad spirits out of them.”

 

The central rule of Christians toward children is simply never to give the child anything it wants. “Willfulness” was the cardinal sin, and the words “I want” were “impermissible” for which children were punished severely. Even babies had to be taught the only thing that mattered was what the adults wanted; as John Wesley put it, “Never, on any account, give a child anything that it cries for … If you give a child what he cries for, you pay him for crying.” That beating and torturing “sinful” children usually “did not work” was acknowledged by all — as one mother wrote of her first battle with her four-month-old infant: “I whipped him until he was actually black and blue, and until I could not whip him any more, and he never gave up one single inch.” If the parents’ regular beating of their children still did not result in obedience, the child should be “put to death [if they] curse or smite their father or mother,” according for instance to a 1646 Massachusetts law. The only restriction sometimes mentioned by priests was that children should not be hit “about the face and head with fire shovels … hit him upon the sides with the rod, he shall not die thereof.”

If you want to believe deMause is making stuff up, don’t read the complete chapter because it has footnotes for almost everything (232, to be exact).

 

For comparison, here’s what deMause has to say about Islam.

Views: 131

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Marklar on March 9, 2011 at 5:30am

Blah, blah, blah. If you actually bothered to read the full article you'd find that it is not so much about christianity as it is about the generational perpetuation of violence. Historically the west has been largely christian for a very long time so christian culture of of widely varying sects, whether biblical or not, has played a large role in such violence whether you care to acknowledge it or not. The fact that christianity has been such a huge influence in western culture makes this inevitable. A primitive and barbaric people will use any cultural ideololgy that is prevalent to justify and ultimately perpetuate whatever atrocities it cares to commit. The specific ideology itself (in this case christianity) is rather irrelevant except to mold the outward facade that such justifications are given.

 

Glad to know you are capable of the kind of knee jerk reaction prevalent amongst christian persecution paranoids everywhere instead of giving  the full article the read it deserves though. I would expect no less from you.

 

Certainly not all christians are evil but neither are all christians good. Your christian exceptionalism is no more valid than the american exceptionalism that is constantly used to cover up atrocities however. Billions of christians have never abused children and nobody has indicated otherwise in this article, but it's also true that billions of christians have and continue to. What's that mean? Well, I guess christians are human and no better or worse than anybody else on the whole though I'm certain you could never admit to that.

Comment by fireguy on February 7, 2011 at 2:12pm

Some people's ignorance of the Bible and Christians is exceeded only by their animosity toward them both.

There is no excuse or reason for abusing children or anyone else in scripture.

 

Luke 17:1-3

"1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves."

 

Billions of Christians never abused their own or other peoples children.  Millions have given billions of dollars to feed, clothe, water, educate and heal millions of poor children around the world. 

 

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
12 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
12 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
13 hours ago
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Greetings to you John, You're right and it didn't take long for those manuals to totally…"
14 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government

We now know thanks to the legislation of FOIA access to federal documents and evidence and the…See More
17 hours ago
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
yesterday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
yesterday
John Miller commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"Brutal post... not sure it’s helping anyone though."
yesterday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Tartaria: the empire that built half the world's cathedrals, then vanished because someone…"
yesterday
Burbia commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"This movie portrayed plastic surgery as absurd. I guess the numbers in the real world are growing."
Tuesday
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Redux

"Ah yes, General Jussitri Smolletkov. Good tongzhi. Good tongzhi."
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Unusual Discoveries and Headlines

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tool dated to be 6,000 years old, but even more…See More
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

Inside Texas HOMELESS HELL – Even Cops Don't Dare Step In! - Documentary

In this powerful documentary, we explore the escalating Texas homeless crisis 2025, where cities and rural areas alike are witnessing a disturbing rise in th...
Monday
tjdavis posted a photo
Monday
John Miller replied to MAC's discussion BREAKING! UFO whistleblowers drop BOMBSHELL on D.C. | Redacted with Natali and Clayton Morris
"Crazy how these whistleblower stories are finally making it into bigger conversations. Makes you…"
Sunday
Burbia favorited tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
Sunday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Comprehensive Coverage

"That car needs an exorcism, not an oil change."
Saturday
John Miller commented on tjdavis's blog post The Dems Love Their Demons
"If the Dems are dating demons, then that AI romance shoot was basically engagement photos."
Saturday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Would-Be Trump Assassin Ryan Routh Gave Many Interviews with Mainstream Media
"Wouldn't be surprised if there's a whole lot more buried under the surface here."
Saturday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
Saturday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted