(RNS) — For Tia Levings, it was blanket training.A method where a parent places an infant or toddler on a blanket and punishes them — often by hitting them — if they stray, blanket training was a line Levings refused to cross, and a technique that made her question the teachings that enveloped her as a young mother in the Christian patriarchy movement.
“We were not to listen to our instincts,” said Levings, who raised her kids in Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1990s. “Our mother instincts would lead us to make weak choices that cater to the flesh, and instead we needed to raise our babies the way God would.”
When Levings spoke about corporal punishment in the hit documentary series “Shiny Happy People,” her story didn’t just resonate with viewers raised in fundamentalism. Though the series focused on Bill Gothard’s Institute in Basic Life Principles, the idea that spanking results in obedient, righteous children was a hallmark of mainstream evangelical parenting in the ’70s-’90s.
“Dobson taught people, spank your kid, but sit them down and put them on your lap and hug them,” therapist Krispin Mayfield said about psychologist and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, whose book “Dare to Discipline” has sold more than 3.5 million copies since 1970. This combination of pain and affection, Mayfield told Religion News Service, can …
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“We were not to listen to our instincts,” said Levings, who raised her kids in Jacksonville, Florida, in the 1990s. “Our mother instincts would lead us to make weak choices that cater to the flesh, and instead we needed to raise our babies the way God would.”
When Levings spoke about corporal punishment in the hit documentary series “Shiny Happy People,” her story didn’t just resonate with viewers raised in fundamentalism. Though the series focused on Bill Gothard’s Institute in Basic Life Principles, the idea that spanking results in obedient, righteous children was a hallmark of mainstream evangelical parenting in the ’70s-’90s.
“Dobson taught people, spank your kid, but sit them down and put them on your lap and hug them,” therapist Krispin Mayfield said about psychologist and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, whose book “Dare to Discipline” has sold more than 3.5 million copies since 1970. This combination of pain and affection, Mayfield told Religion News Service, can …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]