Rendering Unto Caesar: The Limits of Corporal Punishment‏‏

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Back in the day when orthodoxy was a minority sect of corrupt and despotic bishops, a heretical military commander was urged by orthodox advisers to practice corporal punishment on his own children. His response varies depending on who reported it. He refused to adopt the orthodox approach to child rearing because he felt it would have a deleterious effect on his children. An aphorism could be derived from this story along the lines of, "Employ the rod, ruin the child."

I witnessed the limited efficacy of corporal punishment as a wee lass. One of our family cats had a habit of walking around on the dining room table. In an attempt to break her of this habit we squirted water on her whenever she climbed up on the table. We soon discovered that it did not stop her from walking on the table when we were not around to hit her with the squirt gun. Rather than learning not to climb on the table, the cat learned not to be observed climbing on the table.

We can see a similar process at work with the effort to expand federal immigration enforcement into local law enforcement. When an immigrant community is hit with deportations they become alienated from the governing entity that does the hitting. This causes them to distrust the people responsible for the hitting. Local law enforcers become an enemy gang rather than a source of security. This enhances the power and prestige of ethnic protection organizations which prey on the vulnerability of insecure immigrants. It is ironic that proponents of the DHS Secure Communities program point to the Bologna case to justify a policy that enhances the power of the organization whose member was hired for the hit.

Here in San Francisco there is an effort under way to attempt to teach the Feds some manners by resisting the immigration law enforcers. City Supervisor John Avalos has proposed legislation that would bar city law enforcement from cooperating in the Secure Communities program. San Francisco is not alone in this boycott of federal big brotherism. Other municipalities with significant immigrant populations have already taken steps to resist the program.

Could there be a connection between the brutal policies of the US government and the orthodox mindset favoring corporal punishment as a disciplinary technique?

Links: Joshua Sabatini on Supervisor Avalos' efforts to isolate ICE. Resources on the Secure Communities program.

Comments

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

Back in the day when orthodoxy was a minority sect of corrupt and despotic bishops, a heretical military commander was urged by orthodox advisers to practice corporal punishment on his own children. His response varies depending on who reported it.

When was this and who are you talking about?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

+ 1.

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

I got some comparison between immigration reform and operant conditioning, but I had to squint.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

It was some time in the fifth century CE, or thereabouts. I believe the guy's name was Theodoric.

[404.livejournal.com]

I looked up Gibbon's writing about Theodoric, didn't see anything about sparing the rod, etc.

http://www.ccel.org/g/gibbon/decline/volume2/chap39.htm

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

It may have been one of his contemporaries. I saw it mentioned in two places. I believe Procopius mentions it in his history of the Goths.

[dwer.livejournal.com]

a time when a guy did a thing, man.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Darn orthodox and their over activity, expect on the Sabbath of course.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

The only thing the orthodox really did was point the finger, ban some books, and make up lies.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is really simplifying an entire subset of the Christian faith... or Jewish, orthodox seems to cover more then one religion.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Politically, they are more like a superset than a subset given their tendency for domination and oppression. Jewish orthodoxy is a whole different can of worms.

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

Those were the days!

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing.

[rimpala.livejournal.com]

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Which rhymes with self-flagellations.

[yelena-r0ssini.livejournal.com]

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I like the waking up gay icon.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

I patiently await the day when these posts signal that a new episode of Hawaii 5-0 is on tonight.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Who will replace Jack Lord?

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

Alex Caesar O'Loughlin.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Purists disagree.

[notmrgarrison.livejournal.com]

Hail purists!
Hail Pfeiffer !

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Careful! You might make Caesar jealous.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

If law enforcement officers cease to enforce laws, one thing is certain: their name is misleading.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

It sounds as though you are perfectly comfortable with the idea of local law enforcement participation in the Secure Communities program. Unless this is merely bait for you to respond with a more technical assertion that federal regulations should be handled by federal enforcers.

[oportet.livejournal.com]

The watergun worked, there just weren't enough people to watch and shoot the cat constantly. I assume you didn't shoot the cats that didn't jump on the table, but did you sense some resentment from them anyway for shooting the one?

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

If only we had the NSA around to keep a constant vigil on the table and zap the cat with water using a robotic enforcer. Not being good at speaking the cat language, I have no idea how the other cats reacted to the whole affair. They may have been oblivious to the events taking place above their furry little heads.