Couple Reasserts Right to Spank
The Aylmer,
Ontario, couple who had seven children temporarily taken away from them
because of their fundamentalist Christian belief in corporal punishment,
say they will defy a court order that prohibits them from spanking the
kids. In a written statement to media, the couple, who remain unidentified
to protect the children, said the youngsters, aged 6 to 14, were
traumatized by being removed by family services officials and police July
4.
"We
maintain the right to pursue our personal religious convictions based on
the word of God, the Bible. As a result, we will no longer comply with ...
the agreement," they wrote. "It constitutes an infringement on our right
to preserve our religious freedom. We have mutually reached this
conclusion based on the word of God, of our own free will, and without
coercion from the church."
Pastor
Henry Hildebrandt, of the Church of God, whose teachings ask parents to
discipline children by striking them with a rod or switch — rather than
the hand, which is reserved for kindness — said: "Because of the teaching
of the Bible, the church could no longer encourage the family to abide by
the interim agreement, because the hearing [on the matter] was being
postponed and postponed."
The
agreement also bars the parents from taking the kids out of Ontario and
requires them to accept counseling to learn "alternate methods of
discipline." Hildebrandt said the church has no problem with those
stipulations but is opposed to social workers making unannounced visits,
which he says have "severely psychologically traumatized" the children. (Toronto
Star,
12/10/01, Internet)
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