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[8 August 2007] - There can be no biblical justification for corporal punishment of children in the 21st century, a spokesperson for the SA Council of Churches (SACC) in South Africa has said. Keith Vermeulen, director of the SACC's public policy liaison unit, was speaking at a Cape Town media briefing on the Children's Amendment Bill, which will make it illegal for parents to hit their children. Parliament is holding public hearings on the bill next week. "Contrary to belief, there is no occasion ever in the New Testament where Jesus promotes physical punishment as a justifiable means of discipline," Vermeulen said. He said Christian proponents of hitting children sought to base their arguments on the Old Testament. However, the Old Testament reflected patriarchy and slavery as the norm, and warfare as a way of solving problems. It was problematic to attempt to transplant that text to a culture three or four thousand years later, Vermeulen said. Backlash  Samantha Waterhouse, advocacy manager of child rights NGO Rapcan, said the Corporal Punishment Working Group was aware that there had been a large backlash against the proposed ban. Some Christian leaders were claiming that parents had not only a right, but a duty, to beat their children. "This is frightening in the context of the current levels of violence against children in South Africa, and completely irresponsible," she said. Waterhouse said children were being spanked, given "good hidings", or beaten with items such as lengths of hosepipe, across the country every day. If this abuse was inflicted on adults, there would be no question that it was a violation of their rights. Yet, children were even more vulnerable than adults, both physically, psychologically and emotionally. Hitting children was a violation of their constitutional rights to be free from all forms of violence, and to equal protection under the law. Waterhouse said the corporal punishment clause would act as a deterrent, like current legislation on cellphone use while driving, and also as a way of changing behaviour. South Africa already had a very high rate of general violence, Waterhouse said, and teaching children that it was an acceptable solution to conflict would only exacerbate the problem. Further information  pdf: http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn200708...