US Representative Ed Markey has sponsored a bill to ban the manufacturer and sale of devices specifically to beat children. However, another Representative is needed to co-sponsor this bill to help it reach the floor for debate and vote. Contact Rep. Markey’s aid Jeff Duncan at 202-225-2836. You can read the bill at www.nospank.net/Markey.pdf
Devices used specifically to beat children are found in many outlets—Internet, souvenir and toy shops and Home Schooling Supply retailers. If you see a device, which is being sold specifically to beat children, please notify Stop The Rod at www.StopTheRod@stoptherod.net
Chastening, a.k.a. hitting/switching/whipping/corporal punishment, can weaken the survivor’s immune system according to Dr. Frank Putnam of the National Institute of Mental Health and Dr. Martin Teicher of Harvard Medical School. Putnam conducted studies of 170 girls, 6-15 years old for seven years—half had been subjected to ‘corporal punishment,’ —half had not. The girls who were 'chastened' displayed symptoms such as:
• Abnormally high stress hormones, which can kill neurons in brain areas crucial for thinking and memory
• High levels of an antibody that weaken the immune system.
Teicher completed a series of brain studies on 402 children and adults, many of whom had been physically abused. His findings revealed that physical abuse creates:
• Arrested growth of the left hemisphere of the brain which can hamper development of language and logic
• Growth of the right hemisphere of the brain (the site for emotion) at an abnormally early age
The result of a weakened immune system includes more profound as well as seldom recognized physical aftereffects such as: vaginal, ovarian, prostate, testicular or breast cancer, PMS, MS, fibromyalgia, to name a few of the most prominent illness as a result of surviving physical abuse.
Louise Hay in her book, Heal Your Body—The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Ways to Overcome Them, cited her own vaginal cancer as an example of a weakened immune system due to physical/sexual abuse and how Metaphysical healing can heal the body.
Our laws and our cultural values are unambiguous concerning adults who physically attack or verbally threaten adults. Such behavior is recognized as criminal, and we hold the offenders accountable. Why then, when so much is at stake for society, do we accept the convoluted thinking and excuses of child of child abusers—all in the name of religion?
We are responsible:
• “Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat it.” –Sartre
• “We are not only responsible for what we do, but also, for that what we don’t do.” —Voltaire
• “The worst way you can choose is to choose no way at all.” —Friedrich II
• “Every choice we make, every thought and feeling we have, is an act of power that has biological, environmental, social, personal and global consequences.” —Caroline Myss
It is time to do whatever you can to stop the sanctioned and barbaric practice of child abuse—in the guise of Biblical command.
Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, "If I'd Only Known...Sexual Abuse in or Out of the Family: A Guide to Prevention, specializes in: Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net | 
