Reply #18: I have become increasingly disturbed, reading political boards,

[woo me with science]

at how corporal punishment has become almost a type of "street cred" for those on the right, in order to prove they are good conservatives. If you go to right-wing political boards, you will see knee-jerk replies to almost any news story about crime or a social problem, exclaiming that the young criminals probably didn't get whipped enough as a child.

These replies come in the form of both guffaws and deadly serious statements quoting the Bible's "spare the rod and spoil the child." They are often paired with disparaging comments about all those liberals out there who spoil their children.

It is almost as though physical punishment of your child is becoming in their minds a core tenet of conservative parenting. If you don't believe in hitting your kids, you can't be a real conservative.

I am not an anti-spanking zealot, and it distresses me when some liberals use the term "abusers" for parents who deliver a swat on the butt to a toddler headed into the street. However, I am increasingly disturbed by this trend on the right to consider hitting your child a duty of parenting and proof that you are a good conservative.