When I was a small boy, I was beaten several times at my private Christian school, with a wooden paddle that had holes drilled in it to make the experience more painful.

Several times, I was left with bruises. I wasn't seriously injured, but I was seriously hurt. I can't remember anything I did that earned me torture like that. I think maybe the worst of my misdeeds was a late homework assignment.

The Baptist Christians who ran that school were proud that they practiced corporal punishment. The principal of the school, who was the pastor of a popular local church, often preached in chapel about, "spare the rod, spoil the child."

Of course, he also preached about women submitting to men, and despite the fact that much of the faculty the school were women, they were never allowed to teach at chapel.

To this day, most of the conservative evangelical Christians I know anything about are proud that they beat children. Just like they're proud that they teach that women must submit to men.

I don't understand why decent people anywhere put up with this.