Steve2 said,
The core message is: Secular law has long made a crime out of one adult hitting another adult, yet in many countries says it is okay for parents to beat children. So you can hit a child and get away with it - but you cannot hit an adult. Surely those who are most vulnerable - children at the mercy of parents - need protection.
That has always been my reasoning. I've actually asked someone if the next time they disagree with me, can I give them a good smack.
Times have changed - it is a whole different world than it was ever a decade or two ago. To cite the fact that many Witness children were physically hit by their parents at kingdom halls seems a little unfair, given that even schools were allowed to use corporal punishment.
There is a key difference, though. I don't know about NZ, but here in Canada, parents were encouraged from the platform to beat their children. My schoolmates did not get beaten in church, nor did the minister/pastor urge their parents to beat them as part of his sermon.
tal