I'm what you might call a traditional Christian, but I believe there has been a fundamental misunderstanding of certain parts of the Bible, upon which Dobson and his ilk base their brutal ideas. I'm 100 percent anti-corporal punishment. The fact that I have such wonderful and trusting relationships with my children (now 19 and 15) is Exhibit A in proving children don't go off the rails if they aren't soundly thrashed. When they were younger, they were exceptionally well-behaved if you took them out, and people often remarked on the fact. In fact, some parents asked what the secret was. Quite honestly, I can't be sure, but I believe taking them seriously had something to do with it. Never talking down to them. Being honest. Letting them take risks in the great outdoors, roaming the moors, the woods, climbing trees, etc, and showing them scary movies maybe - Hahahahaha!

Seriously though, I have observed many times, having been raised in traditional evangelical culture, children that were ruthlessly caned and the like, becoming adults who are unsure of themselves, lacking in confidence, depressed, easily prone to the whims of bullying managerial types, and dangerously compliant and trusting of those who deserve neither compliance nor trust. Fertile ground for something like Nazi Germany. It's frightening.