One of the favorite sports for folks of the Christian Right is hitting kids. It makes them feel important, powerful, authoritative, and in control. They take a secular position (physical punishment is good) and then thumb through the Bible for passages that seem to support their position. J. Richard Fugate is yet another practitioner of this kind of child abuse wrapped up in biblical launguage. Of course, one could choose the same method to posit biblical support for adultery, incest, polygamy, slavery, the rigid suppression of women, and infanticide. The truth is that Mr. Fugate's counsel has nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth who would be lothe to hit children. [...]