AND A THICK HEAD
Why do we think that people who hear voices need psychiatric help, but people who hear God tell them to help parents beat their children are A-OK?
First, Susan Lawrence fought The Rod. Then she battled the Wee Wacker.
Now the Massachusetts mom and anti-spanking activist has zeroed in on New Kensington, home of Joey Salvati and his Spanking Paddle.
“It’s just appalling to me that people would sell things like that to make money and hurt children,” said Lawrence, director of Stop the Rod, an anti-spanking group. “I don’t think people should hit each other.”
Salvati, 44, who owns a home remodeling business and sends free wooden paddles to parents across the country, said he’s just doing what God asked him to do four years ago.
“I don’t care what people have to say about me,” he said. “I’ve got thick skin.”
Salvati, father of two grown children, said his idea to make 2-foot-long paddles and give them away came to him during his normal prayer time in the shower in 2002… “God told me to make them,” he said. “God’s going to have to tell me to quit.”
7 Responses to “AND A THICK HEAD”
 Comment by Silvia June 25th, 2007 at 11:09 am |
“Prayer time” in the shower, huh? |
 Comment by Audrey June 25th, 2007 at 1:21 pm |
Prayer time in the shower? A whacker in more ways than one, eh? Methinks the better part of his brain went down the drain shortly thereafter. |
 Comment by Nance Confer June 25th, 2007 at 6:10 pm |
Why does he need to send wood to people? Can’t they walk out to the shed and get a nice 2X4? Is this an advertising gimmick for his remodeling biz? Is his company’s name emblazoned on these weapons? Isn’t shipping weapons through the mail illegal? So many questions. So much cruelty. Nance |
 Comment by Bonnie June 26th, 2007 at 5:00 pm |
Do you think he would quit if *I* told him that God told *me* to tell him to quit??? Prolly not… |
 Comment by Crimson Wife June 26th, 2007 at 9:23 pm |
I believe that corporal punishment is not in the spirit of what Jesus preached, but I don’t think the government should interfere with how parents choose to discipline their own children. Banning paddles and whips won’t stop corporal punishment. My mom-in-law used to spank my DH with a wooden kitchen spoon… |
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Comment by Nance Confer June 27th, 2007 at 8:13 am |
Parents used to do a lot of things. Now we know better. Some of us anyway. As you say, legal restrictions are not the answer. Up to a point. Hitting a kid with a two-foot board seems to cross the line to me. But, more importantly, changing how we think about children and our relationship with them has to happen first. We’ll always have fists. Will we ever evolve enough to stop using them on children? I had the frightening experience the other day of remembering the god-awful blanket training while babysitiing my 1-yo nephew. I was handing him a plastic spatula to chew on (this and the cardboard box are, of course, his favorite toys, no matter what we buy 🙂 ) and the story of these tiny babies being beaten with a similar instrument flashed across my memory. I almost cried to think of some tiny baby like this 20-pound beauty being hit with some weapon. What sort of human being can even stand themselves after doing something like that! Nance |
 Comment by JJ Ross June 30th, 2007 at 7:03 am |
Santa Claus brought bundles of twigs for whipping naughty children, and lumps of coal for the GOOD children, once upon a time. Neither parenting myth makes sense in today’s world. |