Teen beaten for not wanting to attend church

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.ajc.com/news/cherokee/woodstock-teen-beaten-for-1030079.html?cxtype=rss_news

A Woodstock teenager was beaten because he said he was too tired to go to church, according to police. The 17-year-old boy was beaten with a belt by his mother, Lolita Smith, 48, of Woodstock, for not wanting to attend church because he had awoken early to walk the dog, according to a police report.

Smith has been charged with simple battery and criminal trespassing. Police were dispatched to Water Ridge Court in Woodstock in the late morning of July 16, according to the police report, which said the victim was "extremely upset and crying a lot."

"She just wouldn't stop hitting me," the boy said in the police report.

Officer E.B. Maddox reported that the boy ran to a lower level bedroom to hide from his mother when she started beating him. She followed, broke down the door and did extensive damage to the door frame. When the officer examined the teenager, he noticed bruising and welts appearing on his right arm.




WWJD? I think Lolita needs to learn a little more about her religion.

[louis-t]

1. Welcome to the new republican Amerika.

[Fuzz]

36. Sadly, this is not a new thing.

[patrice]

2. I'd love to see a corelation study for hitting your kids : religious preference. nt

[Humanist_Activist]

3. WWJD? Hmm, let's go to the Bible...

Matthew 10:21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

I guess he would have beaten the kid, but its just a guess.

All I know is that this is a classic problem with faith, when you put the well being of God/Jesus/Allah whatever, above the well being of your fellow human beings, especially your family, then things like this happen.

[patrice]

6. Being drunk on "divinity" knows no cultural divides. It's ALL biochemistry.

[Humanist_Activist]

15. I think its too easy to blame it all on biochemistry...

if that were the case, then there are way too many unstable people in the world. A lot of kids suffer mistreatment from their parents due to being gay, converting or deconverting from their parent's religion, marrying people of the wrong faith, etc. How many honor killings, homeless GLBTQ teens, disowned kids of various stripes do there have to be before we admit that religious faith can be dangerous?

[jberryhill]

29. Yes, well, absent actual divine origin, religions are things that people cooked up

So it is simply a manifestation of something that organized groups of people do.

Otherwise, it is hard to be an atheist and claim that somebody's god is making them crazy, if you know what I mean. There are only people to blame for the things that people do.

[Humanist_Activist]

33. That's true, however beliefs have an affect on us...

its the nurture argument, I guess you could say, or the environment that can have an influence on us. Its not God making people act this way, but their beliefs that they adopted from their community and/or family.

[jberryhill]

34. Which ultimately loops back around to the way people are wired.

[Humanist_Activist]

37. Only in the most general sense...

and it can be explained through science, with no supernatural elements. Human beings evolved with two mental tools(not the only two, obviously), one is pattern recognition and the other is a sense of personal agency(note this does NOT have to be a God). Both have been useful in our survival, recognizing patterns, even when no actual pattern exists(facial recognition for example), helps us socially and in determining when and where are the best hunting grounds, for example. Personal agency is the same way, is the rustle in the bushes a lion or just the wind? A false positive here means you are more likely to reproduce, a false negative means you don't.

Now these two mental tools can help to create supernatural beliefs that over time become much more sophisticated, with rituals and the like(sociability instinct being encouraged as well). But the thing to remember is that we are not always slaves to these impulses, and indeed we created later mental tools to counteract these agents when they become counterproductive. The scientific method itself is designed to try to weed out such personal biases, and critical thinking aids in doing the same on the personal level.

[skepticscott]

53. It's their belief in

a non-existent god that is telling them what to do and that will punish them if they don't do it that's the problem.

[patrice]

30. Just suggesting that the single thing that all of those instances you cite share is

biochemistry. Not that biochemistry itself is bad, but that our means of relating to it, and thus to ourselves, can be messed up, a thing that religion really appears to be exacerbating at this point in our cultural history.

I, for one, think that if there is something that could be referred to more-or-less validly as a "God" (a term I don't care for that much, but which is the nearest commonly understood reference to the ineffable) it IS encoded in each of us and all of creation for that matter, so it would be helpful if we could begin with ourselves from that point of view, rather than from that of some very seriously confused and dishonest stuff that goes on under the general label of religion.

[Humanist_Activist]

35. I don't see any evidence for this "God" as you put it, nor would I even know...

where to begin that even relates this encoding, as you put it, to being even close to what a deity is. Sounds like BS to me. I also don't see what would be helpful with this type of belief. Biochemistry is a term about a field of science that relates to chemical reactions that help organisms function, I don't see anything magical or divine in that, and deifying it makes even less sense.

[jberryhill]

58. And then one day, you try LSD...

...and the connection between biochemistry and religious ideation becomes quite clear.

[Humanist_Activist]

64. I believe some people call that better living through chemistry.

:evilgrin:

[gateley]

9. It's the FEAR of God/Jesus/Allah. A loving God/Jesus/Allah? Thank

heavens my parents weren't that "loving". :eyes:

[brooklynite]

10. Let's go to Proverbs...

Chapter 13 Verse 24 says “He who spares the rod, hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him” and Chapter 29 Verse 15 says “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.”

[timtom]

32. Deep understanding you got there.

Must be an ex-seminarian or a serious bible scholar.

[Humanist_Activist]

44. Very flippant attitude you have there based on one post...

What biblical subject would you like to tackle? Its authorship? The various gods mentioned, from El Shaddai(God of the Mountains), God of Abraham to Yahweh(God of the Armies), God of Moses, or how about the less popular, over time, cults of Asherah or Baal? What about sourcing, or what is actually accurate in the Bible and what isn't, historically? Would you like a linguistic analysis, or what about the apocrypha, the books that never made it, such as the gospel of Mary(Magdalene)? So what would you like to talk about?

[timtom]

45. Perhaps I misunderstood your post #3

"I guess he would have beaten the kid, but its just a guess."

It looks like you were being sarcastic, for, with all your powerful command of things biblical, you couldn't have been serious with that statement. I apologize for misunderstanding your intent.

[Humanist_Activist]

46. Jesus suffers from the same problem as most of the rest of the Bible...

an unreliable narrator, and more than one, which is more confusing, my comment was flippant, not sarcastic, Jesus was both violent and non-violent in the New Testament, even more so in some of the apocryphal gospels. Generally speaking, anyone who thinks they get anything profound out of the Bible can justify their positions from within the Bible, and ignore the rest. This is true of both the Old and New Testaments, this speaks more to their own biases than of any "truth" contained within the Bible itself.

[timtom]

49. "anyone who thinks they get anything profound out of the Bible"

I DO get something profound out of the Bible. And I get something profound from e e cummings. And I get something profound from James Joyce (although that takes a bit more effort). We all of us find our profundities from any number of places. For Zen enlightment, it might come from the glint of moonlight on a placid lake.

Speaking of cummings:

"seeker of truth
follow no path
all paths lead where
truth is here"

Not to mention Yeats.

But, I see the Jesus who holds up children to be protected and venerated for their guilelessness. It's a pity we all lose that.

Actually, linguistics and scholasticism aside, it's a pity we can't sit down face to face and dig in and discuss some of these matters. Although I've always been attracted to linguistics and languages (I majored in Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, but dropped it and switched to Rhetoric and German as soon as I was introduced to Noam Chomsky' transformational grammar.)

[Humanist_Activist]

50. Probably should have said something like if you are looking for some absolute truths...

or something beyond human understand, etc. Its hard to quantify, but let's say people treat it more than a book of literature or even of culture or history, but divine instead.

[timtom]

52. I operate from the standpoint that

in this corporeal existence, we cannot know absolute truth. But that does not rule out the possibility of the divine. I believe that every choice we make is, at bottom, an act of faith. And the Jesus I choose to accept is the one completely at odds with the powers that be. He would be totally against the things done in His name these days (indeed, as it has always been). Who(m) would Jesus bomb? An excellent question that demands a truthful answer from those who profess a belief in Him. The answer, of course, is startlingly clear. No one.

Enjoyed chatting with you.

[Humanist_Activist]

63. Its interesting that you proclaim no one can know absolute truth yet claim you know the mind of...

Jesus and I'm assuming God. Of course, instead what you are doing is projecting your own values on these beings, disregarding anything in the Bible that contradicts that, to reinforce and justify your own values. The God and Jesus you worship and believe in are no more than reflections of your own values, there is nothing startling clear about either one of them, who would Jesus bomb? I don't know, and you don't either. In addition, not every choice people make is based on faith, I prefer making informed choices as much as possible, thank you.

[libodem]

4. Lord

You would have thought he was money changing at the temple.

[patrice]

8. A - W - E - S - O - M - E !!!

:applause:

[Ignis]

47. Well played.

:thumbsup:

[RKP5637]

5. I think this is her religion, her god justifies brutality. n/t

[hifiguy]

11. Take a look at the Old Testament

Its "gawd" is a genocidal psychopath.

[RKP5637]

19. And yet many believe in that crap. n/t

[hifiguy]

27. Well, stupid, fearful and/or insecure people do.

I just finished reading Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and it was a delight. Dawkins' relentless logic, scientific method and rapier wit completely destroy the edifices of religion (notably he exempts Buddhism and Confucianism as "ethical systems or philosophies of life" because they have no godhead) and then smashes the remaining bricks to atoms. The man is simply incapable of intellectual shortcuts or bullshit of any kind. What a treasure he is.

[KansDem]

7. "Goddammit! You're going to church to worship God!"

She'd better hope she can take her little Jesus figurine to prison...

[madinmaryland]

12. More "christian" values on display by the fundies. eom.

[Humanist_Activist]

21. I see nothing in the article about which church she attends...

so to say they are fundies is unfounded, could have been of any sect of Christianity.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KamaAina]

14. Spare the rod and spoil the child?

:wtf:

[AverageJoe90]

55. Not in the way the fundys and all the other CP lovers think..............

"The Influence of Corporal Punishment on Crime"
http://www.nospank.net/maurer1.htm

[MineralMan]

16. They just misread the bible, and though it was:

"Suffer, little children!"

[lunatica]

17. Is it the Crazy Screaming Christian lady from Trading Spouses?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAVbtTZa2u0

[Deep13]

18. "I think Lolita needs to learn a little more about her religion."

Prov 13:24: "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (diligently)."

Prov 19:18: "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."

Prov 22:15: "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."

Prov 23:13: "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die."

Prov 23:14: "Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (Shoel)."

Prov 29:15: "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame."

[FLPanhandle]

23. Okay, I guess Lolita knows a lot about her religion.

Maybe as an atheist, I need to learn a little more about her religion.

[Humanist_Activist]

24. It is best to be educated about what beliefs motivates others. n/t

[ThomWV]

39. Are you in some way saying there is ever justification for hitting a child?

That is heinous.

[guruoo]

20. In lieu of repentance, mother was handcuffed, and transported to the Cherokee County Adult Denten

'Maddox reported that Smith went back into the home and continued to act irrationally. He continually asked
her to calm down so she could tell her side of the story. Smith was eventually handcuffed and led to the police car,
while she continually called Maddox an "S.O.B"

'Smith was transported to the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.'

[smirkymonkey]

22. "I'll beat the love of God into you yet, you little bastard!" n/t

[monmouth]

Diet coke on keyboard...OMG..Woman needs mental rest...n/t

[FLPanhandle]

26. LOL

:rofl:

[HughBeaumont]

25. That dumb fuck.

Only piss-weak losers in life beat defenseless kids.

[dmallind]

40. 17 yr old males defenceless against women? Really......? nt

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

42. Authority and control over one's livelihood, more often than not, trumps muscles. -nt

[immoderate]

28. Belief in god trumps anything...

It's a NO-BRAINER! :shrug:

--imm :rofl:

[mzmolly]

31. "God is love."

:eyes:

[MountainLaurel]

38. Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world*



*Except the ones who don't go to church

[RebelOne]

41. OMG. That's the town where I live.

I have not heard or seen anything about this on the news.

[Initech]

43. Lord please save me from your followers!

[Evoman]

48. Should have popped her in the face.

There is castigation, and there is abuse.

He has a right to defend himself from the latter.

[ZombieHorde]

51. Proverbs 13:24- “The one who withholds the rod is one who hates his son.” nt

[AverageJoe90]

56. Originally, it didn't mean a whipping stick.

Shepherds used rods, not to whip sheep, but rather, as a guiding tool of sorts............can't these fundys think for themselves?

[Mariana]

60. Originally, it didn't mean a whipping stick?

From Proverbs 23 (KJV):

13 Withhold not correction from the child: for thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

Where do shepherds and sheep come into it? I don't see anything in that chapter to suggest that "rod" doesn't mean a stick to hit a human child with, or that "beat" doesn't mean hitting a human child with said stick.

[AverageJoe90]

62. The mistranslations have been going on since pretty much the book was first translated into English.

Maybe even earlier. The Church in general has always relied on fear to control the Christian populace and they certainly were NOT above twisting the scriptures to make them fit their personal worldviews.
There was a site that some of the Christian DUers may find to be quite interesting:
http://bible-truths.com/
(There was one on CP, I think, but I can't remember which one)

[AverageJoe90]

54. Just another reason why corporal punishment should be ILLEGALIZED.

What else do I need to say? This kind of thing needs to stop. IMO, what makes this just a little sadder is that this woman appears to be a member of the African-American community; why do I say this? Well, it's really because of the oppression and propaganda forced down the throats of black Americans everywhere since time immemorial, amongst other things. Here, this may interest some of you:
http://www.nospank.net/slavish2.pdf

(P.S. when I say 'corporal punishment' I DO NOT, EVER, refer to light swats on the bottom. I am purely talking about the usage of hands, fisted or otherwise, or hard objects, such as belts, switches, sticks, etc. with the explicit intent to cause harm and/or psychological damage.)

[patrice]

59. We NEEEEEEEEEEED more and better Community Mental Health Centers!

It would help if everyone could have opportunities to learn just a little Psychology and get some refresher courses in Human Biology & Development.

[AverageJoe90]

61. That is SO true.

What else do I have to say?

[dimbear]

57. Usually people nicknamed Lolita are actually named Dolores.

Dolores means suffering. That much fits.

As to why the kid didn't fight back? Probably because the Bible tells him that anyone who curses or strikes his parent is damned.

The kid is jammed coming and going.