Aversion Therapy?
Is it still called aversion therapy if they don't know they're doing it?
I grew up in a VERY religious (Baptist) household. Both parents taught Sunday School, Dad was a Deacon, mom sang in the choir. We went to church a minimum of three times a week - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening ("prayer meeting").
Now. Here's the thing. My parents, like most in the community, were very much "spare the rod and spoil the child" advocates. From the age of probably 4 or 5 - I don't remember exactly - I was expected to sit quietly in the service and pay attention.
I guess it was just not in my nature. I guess I tried. I wasn't a deliberately rebellious child at that age, but evidently it just wasn't in me to sit still. I don't really remember what I did instead, but it evidently wasn't satisfactory, because for YEARS the routine for each service was go to church, come home, get a beating.
Well, beating might be a little strong. I suppose you'd call it a whipping - it was administered by my mother, with a switch from the maple tree in the yard and while I wasn't exactly left broken and bleeding, it hurt like hell and left visible welts on my legs.
Now, I don't want to paint my parents as monsters or deliberately abusive. They certainly weren't - it wasn't unusual for my mother to be crying while she walloped me and I really think she absolutely hated doing it; she just sincerely believed it was her duty as a parent, as necessary as getting a child his polio vaccination.
Until I was, oh, probably 10 or 11, that was the pattern for every service (at least that's my memory of it) - go to church, come home, beat the kid. Go to church, come home, beat the kid. Go to church, come home, beat the kid.
Go to church, come home, beat the kid.
Five or six years, week in, week out.
Now, here's the question:
Can you think of a more effective way to make a child absolutely HATE going to church? And keep him from ever, ever willingly going to church once he's old enough to make that decision?
I grew up in a VERY religious (Baptist) household. Both parents taught Sunday School, Dad was a Deacon, mom sang in the choir. We went to church a minimum of three times a week - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening ("prayer meeting").
Now. Here's the thing. My parents, like most in the community, were very much "spare the rod and spoil the child" advocates. From the age of probably 4 or 5 - I don't remember exactly - I was expected to sit quietly in the service and pay attention.
I guess it was just not in my nature. I guess I tried. I wasn't a deliberately rebellious child at that age, but evidently it just wasn't in me to sit still. I don't really remember what I did instead, but it evidently wasn't satisfactory, because for YEARS the routine for each service was go to church, come home, get a beating.
Well, beating might be a little strong. I suppose you'd call it a whipping - it was administered by my mother, with a switch from the maple tree in the yard and while I wasn't exactly left broken and bleeding, it hurt like hell and left visible welts on my legs.
Now, I don't want to paint my parents as monsters or deliberately abusive. They certainly weren't - it wasn't unusual for my mother to be crying while she walloped me and I really think she absolutely hated doing it; she just sincerely believed it was her duty as a parent, as necessary as getting a child his polio vaccination.
Until I was, oh, probably 10 or 11, that was the pattern for every service (at least that's my memory of it) - go to church, come home, beat the kid. Go to church, come home, beat the kid. Go to church, come home, beat the kid.
Go to church, come home, beat the kid.
Five or six years, week in, week out.
Now, here's the question:
Can you think of a more effective way to make a child absolutely HATE going to church? And keep him from ever, ever willingly going to church once he's old enough to make that decision?