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Thursday, March 29, 2007

One last thing...

This from another report about the anti-anti-smaking protest (also known as the pro-child-punching protest):

Police made one arrest, charging a 23-year-old anti-smacking protester - who
wore a New Zealand flag towel over his head and introduced himself as Jesus, Son
of God - with disorderly behaviour, obstructing and assaulting police.

Given the large Christian contingent in the protest I'm surprised none of them recognised him.

3 comments:

llew said...

Well, we'd expect the messiah to be in trouble with the authorities wouldn't we?

Anonymous said...

pro-child-punching..? It would seem that stupid terms like that cloud the issue somewhat. No reasonable person would advocate child punching but this shouldn't be confused with smacking. Perhaps we should adopt the traditional Maori way of doing it? Perhaps you can say how you discipline your children? or are you one of these 'spectators' sorts. The type who like to have an opinion but have never been in the game to qualify having one.

Hadyn said...

Actually I would say that it doesn't cloud the issue at all. The bill was put forward to stop parents from physically abusing their children and then claiming "resonable force". The phrase "anti-smacking" is actually clouding the issue.

Perhaps we should adopt the traditional Maori way of doing it?
Talk about clouding the issue! I'm not even sure what this means but the tone is slightly sinister.

And finally I don't have children, so I must be a spectator, Anonymous (ah, the irony). But this isn't a technical standpoint issue. We're not discussing chemical reactions or the best way to build a bridge or causes of economic fluctuation; we're talking philosophy (specifically ethics) and, I suppose, some psychology.

The question before us is, should children be hit as a corrective measure after an incident. This is not the same as hitting your child's hand away from a power-socket or forcibly pulling them off the fence to the lion enclosure. Do you see the difference?

I do hope to be a parent one day but hopefully becoming one doesn't make me want to hit children. That would be a stange transformation: "Now I have a child I feel a weird compulsion to hit it".

Anyhow read these Anon:
More Arguments
In Case These Questions Crossed Your Mind
If You Don't Hit Them, You Must Hate Them