Spanking and religion

Jesuit whipping a woman while a devil is watching (c. 1700).

Disciplinary spanking of children in the home and in education exists in all cultures and religions. Some religion's scripture, such as that of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, explicitly allows and encourages corporal punishment in justified cases, at least in their traditional interpretations.

Some religions have also authorized corporal punishment for adults, such as judicial corporal punishment, corporal punishment in religious institutions, and/or the corporal punishment of wives by their husbands.

Pro-spanking argumentsEdit

Most English language pro-spanking books and websites argument from a Christian point of view. In the U.S., the religious right (religiously motivated right-wings or conservatives) have the reputation of being particularly pro-spanking. Children in the "bible belt" states are spanked more often than the national average.

Some religious sects or denominations have a reputation of being more pro-spanking than the average population in the societies they live in, such as Jehovah's Witnesses. These may also sometimes get in conflict with the law in countries that have banned parental spanking, as in the example of the Twelve Tribes.

Anti-spanking argumentsEdit

Many anti-spanking organisations and individuals also argue from a religious point of view against spanking children. They base their arguments against phyiscal punishment on contridictory quotes from the same holy books. For an example, see Stop the Rod.

GalleryEdit

A monk punishes a nun for her wickedness in this medieval-era German illustration.
One nun flogs another in typically naughty French postcard photo, circa 1900.
Nun birching a student in painting by Austrian artist Adam Johan Braun (1748-1827).
Nun whipping illustration by Aroldo Bonzagni.
From the series "Skating in the Churchyard" by Salalo (2013).