To Slap Or Not To Slap?

[Brother Adam]

Corporal punishment is an acceptable form of discipline in some situations. if the young man knew what he was doing then I would say he got off light.

Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die. - Proverbs 23:13

I cannot think of a situation where it would be okay for an inferior (layperson) to slap a superior (priest).

[Tridenteen]

[quote name='Brother Adam' timestamp='1283895292' post='2169319']
Corporal punishment is an acceptable form of discipline in some situations. if the young man knew what he was doing then I would say he got off light.

Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die. - Proverbs 23:13

I cannot think of a situation where it would be okay for an inferior (layperson) to slap a superior (priest).
[/quote]


JMJ
There was a situation in a town I knew of where a priest said something inappropriate to a young boy, who told his mom, who went back and backhanded the priest across the face twice. That was enough for him, as he never said anything to the young boys or men again along that genre

[HisChildForever]

Not to detract from the topic at hand, but just to throw this out there - what would have happened if this was a young woman and not a young man? Do you think the priest would have slapped her?

[Tridenteen]

[quote name='HisChildForever' timestamp='1283895444' post='2169322']
Not to detract from the topic at hand, but just to throw this out there - what would have happened if this was a young woman and not a young man? Do you think the priest would have slapped her?
[/quote]


JMJ
I think he would have, or would have just yelled and humiliated her. At that point, he was so mad I don't think it would have made a difference

[CatherineM]

Had it been a girl, I don't think he would have slapped. It's a matter of chivalry I'd think.

I can think of a situation where I would slap a priest. If he made a pass at me, I'd slap him like only a Southern Belle can slap. I have never had that situation happen by the way.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

Desecrating the Eucharist is a grave offense, and certainly should not be allowed, or even passively overlooked.

That said, based my specific cultural upbringing, I wish that the priest could have delivered his strong message without the slap. The priest's actions of dragging the young man out of church, and shouting "blasphemer" delivered a very strong message, in and of itself, to both the young man, and to the rest of congregation of the seriousness of this offense. Personally, I try to avoid actions such as slapping, if at all possible. But, I also know and understand why others have a different view.

However, as HCF said, I wish we had more information. I might feel differently if I knew more about the specific circumstances. For example, I wish I knew how old the young man was, and whether he had a previous history with this priest or this congregation of desecrating the Eucharist. I wouldn't say a slap was never appropriate, just that my personal preference would be to avoid it, if possible.

For example, we don't know the age of the young man. Certainly, if he is a minor and lives at home, the priest should involve the young man's parents. But, if the young man in question is old enough to be considered an adult, and the young man has no one in authority to supervise him, the slap could have been necessary in this specific case to strengthen the priest's message.

Also, we don't know anything about the young man's "history," such as whether he has done this before, and whether or not the priest has had previous contact or bad experiences with this young man.

Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't know enough about the rules of the Church to know whether the priest has the authority to deny the Eucharist to the young man in the future, until the priest has spoken with him, and the young man has repented of his behavior. And, unfortunately in this case, the young man is free to attend another church.

Also, we don't know about the culture in this particular community. It may well be that a slap might be an accepted (and even expected) action by the priest in that particular community. I don't know what is standard behavior in Spain, or in this specific community in Spain.

So, although my own preference is to avoid physical actions such as a slap, it may be that the slap was exacty the right thing for the priest to do in this specific case. If this happened in the U.S., I would be more hesitant about the priest using physical actions, but without knowing the values of the specific community, and the age and "history" of the young man, I can't make a definitive statement either way.

The reason I would hope that any adult, but particularly a priest, would avoid physical actions, is that the priest is a role model for his congregation, and even to others outside his parish. The priest's slap could result in reasoning by someone else that, if a priest is allowed to slap someone in anger or frustration, then it is acceptable for any adult to slap anyone, child or adult, who makes them angry or frustrated. The person who resorts to slapping someone else in anger might temporarily forget the grave circumstances that caused the priest to slap the young man, or might not know, for example, whether or not the priest might have had a long history of dealings with the young man, and the slap was the result, not only of the young man's actions that day, but of previous encounters, as well.

The article certainly brings up an interesting (and very important) issue. But, I do wish we had more information.

Edited September 7, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[Johnny]

I think it's appropriate in this situation. I'm reminded of the time that Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple with a whip. Jesus saw men desecrating the temple by conducting business out of it, thus making "the house of God into a den of thieves."

[Semper Catholic]

Priest does that to one of my kids he'll be getting some of his own medicine from me.

[dUSt]

This thread needs Slappo.

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Semper Catholic' timestamp='1283897136' post='2169339']
Priest does that to one of my kids he'll be getting some of his own medicine from me.
[/quote]

If my child [i]intentionally[/i] blasphemes and desecrates our Eucharistic Lord I would thank the priest for his intercession if he slapped him and dragged from the church.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='CatherineM' timestamp='1283896528' post='2169333']
I can think of a situation where I would slap a priest. If he made a pass at me, I'd slap him like only a Southern Belle can slap. I have never had that situation happen by the way.
[/quote]

If a priest made a pass at me, I'd still try to avoid slapping. (I can deliver a pretty effective verbal "slap.") But, I would immediately report the priest. However, I might slap the priest, even if it went against my instincts, if I thought it would strengthen the case that the "pass" had not been initiated by me, and was very unwelcome. Unfortunately, since it would probably come down to my word against the priest's, if I slapped the priest, it would be much harder for him to argue that I had encouraged or welcomed his behavior.

I also have never faced that situation with a priest, but, then again, I have also had little one-on-one contact with a priest or pastor of any denomination.

One good thing about my former employer was that, even before the stronger federal rules on sexual harassment came into effect, my employer had very strict standards about what was considered inappropriate behavior in the workplace. And, when the stronger federal rules did come into effect, my employer's standards became even more explicit. Both women and men treated each other with respect, and one thing that I especially appreciated was that, for most of my co-workers, mutual respect came naturally, and they would have behaved appropriately, even without the federal rules and my employer's standards. However, since I worked for a human resources consulting firm, I heard of all too many workplaces where that was not the case.

Edited September 7, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[Selah]

[quote name='Semper Catholic' timestamp='1283897136' post='2169339']
Priest does that to one of my kids he'll be getting some of his own medicine from me.
[/quote]

beaver dam right!

[HisChildForever]

[quote name='Brother Adam' timestamp='1283898092' post='2169344']
If my child [i]intentionally[/i] blasphemes and desecrates our Eucharistic Lord I would thank the priest for his intercession if he slapped him and dragged from the church.
[/quote]

Agreed.

[dUSt]

This reminds me of what I am telling my daughter's teachers tonight when I attend Jr High open house. I'm going to tell them that if they see her looking at, talking to our walking within a 5 ft radius of any boy, to slap her, and send her to the office.

[IrishSalesian]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1283899740' post='2169354']
This reminds me of what I am telling my daughter's teachers tonight when I attend Jr High open house. I'm going to tell them that if they see her looking at, talking to our walking within a 5 ft radius of any boy, to slap her, and send her to the office.
[/quote]
How old is your daughter?