Child rearing according to the bible

At Bible Funmentionables, Michael Morris points out some of the Bible's advice on child rearing:

The Bible has been held up as the pinnacle of moral authority, so when the Bible says, "Do not lie," we don't lie. When the Bible says, "Do not steal," we don't steal. So when the Bible says,"Kill your juvenile delinquents," do we really have any other choice? The Bible delivers many examples of bad parenting. Lot offers his daughters to the rapacious mob of Sodom, so that the mob would be okay with not having their way with his male house guests. Thoughtful host, worst parent ever. This is the same Lot that impregnated two of his daughters, and according to Wikipedia, "Christians and Muslims revere Lot as a righteous man of God." In the famous story of the sacrifice of Isaac, God at the very last minute stops Abraham from killing his son Isaac.
Along with the above advice on child raising, I offer the follow Bible advice regarding family values (this is a posting on Facebook--I cannot determine the original creator of the image): Morris offer much more advice from the Bible, all of it reprehensible, including the requirement that we kill people who gathers sticks on the sabbath —Numbers 15:32-36. With regard to all of the above advice, the bottom line would seem to be this: Don't obey the Bible.

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We should raise children like we raise dogs

How should you take care of them?  According to one book I’m reading, you need to give them lots of exercise and they need to eat good food.  You need to buy a good leash and collar.  No, I’m not referring to a childcare book–I’m talking about a book on dog care: The Complete Dog Care Manual, by Bruce Fogel, president of ASPCA.

                       dog book.jpg

To use a dog book to raise a child, you’ve got to pick and choose the advice, of course.  You don’t put your children on leashes or toss them bones (except when they misbehave!).  It is interesting, though, that dog-raising books are full of good ideas that also apply to raising children.  And it’s especially interesting to compare the way we are supposed to raise dogs with the way many people actually raise children. 

My family has a dog (“Holly”) and two human children, aged 6 and 8.  I am thus an expert on this topic.

My dog-training book stresses that taking care of a dog requires a lot of work.  We need to invest a lot of time in order to have a healthy animal.  The dog book places a premium on early training?  “Your dog relies on you to train it from an early age to be trusting, even-tempered and sociable…” (page 48).  Compare this advice with the way many people actually raise children, ignoring them for long stretches and often abandoning them to the commercial wasteland of television.

Feeding is critically important, according …

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