Is Child Abuse a Virtue?

[RobertMadewell]

Take a read at this (Link). The blogs name is The Virtuous Woman. I see nothing virtuous about instilling fear and guilt into a young child.

Thursday, 30 October 2008
A four year old who knows she needs a saviour!
O wretched little girl she is, who will deliver her from her body of death.
First thing in the morning my 4 year old daughter normally says to me, "I am going to be a good girl today mummy". When she says this she really means it, and I can see how she longs to finish even just one day in her life without doing anything wrong. However my daughter knows as well as I do that within at the least an hour of saying she is going to be good, that promise will be broken. Sometimes during the day or before bed, she always asks me if she has been good, and I always try to be as honest as I can with her, and I will tell her what she has done wrong if I can remember. If she has been better than usual I will praise her and tell her. I have never said to her she has been a perfect little girl who has done nothing wrong all day, If I say that to her then I am a liar and I will be doing her more harm than good. I do not believe in teaching children self esteem or that they should feel good about themselves, because they should not. My daughter is a normal 4 year old who loves to play with her dolls and dress up, but everyday she finds that she is doing things that are wrong like doing something to upset her baby brother or not doing what she is told by her mum. So we have a problem, and this is an everyday battle. The problem is sin. I never taught my daughter to sin. This is because she, and as well as the rest of the human race have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. From the moment we are conceived we are sinners, Pslam 57:5. We are born with a desire to sin. We are all born God hating and evil.
However this morning my daughter shocked and amazed me. As usual first thing when she woke up today she said, " I am going to be a good girl today mummy" , and I nodded and said, "OK". She was quiet for a while as if in deep thought then she said, " But mummy, everyday I try and I want to be a good girl, but I can't do it. I can't be a good girl". I didn't know what to say to her at this point so I asked her why she could not do it. " Because there is only one person who can ever help me to be good", she said.
So not knowing where this was going and a little confused by what my daughter was saying, I asked her who it is who would help her to be a good girl, thinking maybe she was going to say me, she said- Jesus. Yes my four year old daughter told me that the only person who would ever help her to be a good girl was Jesus Christ, because she could not do it on her own. I have never told her this. I would have thought this is too deep for a four year old to understand. That she was a sinner, she could not control her sinful nature. She wanted to be good but she could not, instead she did things that where wrong no matter how she tried to be good. Her theology is far deeper than that of many preachers today. I mean she gets it. It is only by the finished work of Christ on the cross that we can be delivered from sin. The righteousness of God is imputed to us when we forsake our sins and believe, 2 Corinthians 5:21. It is Christ who works in us enabling us to do good when we are saved, otherwise all our good works are like filthy rugs before God. She sounded like Paul in Romans 7, " O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? And she understood the answer, that it is only through Christ that we can be delivered and freed from the bondage of sin. I was so amazed by God's power that I wanted to cry. I have never shared this with her, so how did she know? It can only be the work of the Holy Spirit. For a little girl to know that she can not be good on her own, that there is only one who can help her, that is Jesus is beyond my comprehension. When she said that all I said to her was that she was right. I did not say anything more as I was in shock and I did not want to ruin what the Lord was doing in her heart. I am not saying she got saved, she is only four. But one thing I know God is definitely working in my little girl's life. It encouraged me to pray for her even more. She is a wretched little girl, who knows she is a wretched sinner who needs only a good saviour to help her. Glory belongs to God!
Posted by Jean Gasho-Musuka at 09:35

Who would call a 4-year old little girl wretched? Not me.

[Dardedar]

quotes:
...my four year old daughter told me that the only person who would ever help her to be a good girl was Jesus Christ, because she could not do it on her own. I have never told her this...

DAR
What a complete reeking load of crap. This parent is either lying or so delusional they have convinced themselves that they haven't pounded this particular religious tenet into this kids soft little head. Kids are good at sucking up, playing their parents for fools and telling them what they want to hear. That's what this is. The kid has just outsmarted her dumb mom. It is guaranteed that reward actions (even subtle) followed this comment and more will follow. This is how pets, and religious children, are trained. The difference is, pets aren't (usually) made to believe stupid things when they are trained.

D.

[Doug]

First thing in the morning my 4 year old daughter normally says to me, "I am going to be a good girl today mummy". When she says this she really means it, and I can see how she longs to finish even just one day in her life without doing anything wrong. However my daughter knows as well as I do that within at the least an hour of saying she is going to be good, that promise will be broken.

DOUG
I think this is proof that the parents, in fact, HAVE ingrained their little brand of horse manure into their daughter's psyche. They have taught their unfortunate victim/daughter, day by day, lie by lie, that she would like to be a perfect girl but there is absolutely no way that she can manage it, and they are unable to forgive her for it. She is disgusting and deserving of torture, they teach her. And if there were any justice in the world, she would get whipped to shreds every day. In fact, far worse awaits her in the next life. Fortunately, if she becomes a slave to an imaginary friend, she will not get the agony she so richly deserves. Although her parents cannot forgive her for her wretchedness, the imaginary slave owner can. And he might. Then again, he might not, and if he doesn't, she has no right to complain.

It IS child abuse, no doubt about it.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

My mother left "christianity" at the age of 12 after watching a cute little 4-year-old sing "Amazing Grace" - that 'saved a wretch like me' line was just too much for her. Some 20-odd years later she was still of the opinion (expressed to me when I was 12) that 4-year-olds are only wretched in having parents that teach them that.

[Doug]

... 4-year-olds are only wretched in having parents that teach them that.

DOUG
Oh, by the way, I think the letter about the little girl is just complete fantasy. So many alleged events in these viral e-mails promoting God are complete fiction, and this one also has the hallmarks of fiction, that I am convinced none of it ever took place. It sounds instead like the typical false stories uttered from the pulpit which distort the fundamentalist view of human nature and human interaction.

[RobertMadewell]

Oh, by the way, I think the letter about the little girl is just complete fantasy. So many alleged events in these viral e-mails promoting God are complete fiction, and this one also has the hallmarks of fiction, that I am convinced none of it ever took place. It sounds instead like the typical false stories uttered from the pulpit which distort the fundamentalist view of human nature and human interaction.

It's not an email. It was a blog post (link here), by a very serious fundamentalist minster woman from Zimbabwe. She goes around to churches in the UK giving her testimony and relating how horrible conditions in Africa are. Of course you may be right that the story is fiction. It does have that told from the pulpit, sermony quality. I do believe that this particular sermon is hers. I don't think she got it from another source. Whether it's actually true or not, I wouldn't know. However, by posting this story on the net, she has stirred up some trouble. Just read the comments to her post.

[Doug]

It's not an email. It was a blog post (link here), by a very serious fundamentalist minster woman from Zimbabwe. She goes around to churches in the UK giving her testimony and relating how horrible conditions in Africa are. Of course you may be right that the story is fiction. It does have that told from the pulpit, sermony quality. I do believe that this particular sermon is hers. I don't think she got it from another source. Whether it's actually true or not, I wouldn't know.

DOUG
If I had to bet on it, I'd say it is fiction. But it is so standard regarding the "kid knows she can't be perfect" line that has been repeated so often from the pulpit, I'd give even money that she got the idea from another sermon. Plug in her own kid's name, and off you go with another inspirational story. It happens all the time among preachers.

[RobertMadewell]

Todd Friel has featured this story on his podcast: The Way of the Master. Friel screams and yells and makes a total bass out of himself. It's not really worth listening to and he didn't even quote me. (I linked to the blog post and my link was displayed at the end of the comments.) He just quoted all the hateful comments.

[Doug]

Todd Friel has featured this story on his podcast...

DOUG
Last year his people contacted me to arrange a debate between us, but they could never get a university forum to host the debate, and they refused to debate (apparently) outside of a university setting. So the debate never came to pass. Pity.