By ROSIE WATERLAND

So, apparently domestic violence is totally okay now because Jesus says so.

This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.

A small sub-group of Christians located mainly in the United States (but with a strong online presence), are now advocating the ‘lifestyle choice’ of Christian Domestic Discipline, or CDD if that’s too much of a tongue twister. I prefer to call it DDV – Disgusting Domestic Violence. But each to their own I guess.

Followers of CDD believe that ‘traditional’ gender roles in relationships should include the man being in control and the woman being submissive to his authority. That authority allows men to practice a little OTK, BOL or ATT. For the uninitiated, that’s ‘Over The Knee’, ‘Bent Over Lap’, and ‘Across The Thighs’.

In other words: CDD is a group that encourages Christian men to hit their wives.

But don’t worry you guys, this is all totally okay and official because: BIBLE.

Most CDD websites like to cite this quote from the Good Book as justification for the disturbing practice: Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Ohhhh, a ‘harvest of righteousness’! Well in that case…

NO. NOT IN THAT CASE. NOT IN ANY CASE.

Sorry – where were we? Oh yes, men beating women in the name of Jesus.

On the main Christian Domestic Discipline website (please don’t go there unless you want to be filled with unrelenting rage), it states that “Men should love their wives. Wives should obey their husbands.” It then becomes abundantly clear that ‘love’ means ‘physically abuse them to help them be a better person’ and ‘obey’ means ‘let him physically abuse you to help you be a better person’.

Here’s how it’s supposed to go down (and, hand on my heart, this is an exact quote):

When the husband announces, “It’s time”, a wife expects her husband to know certain things without being told. Following are four things she expects:

To lose her pants early to prove he means business.

For it *to hurt* sufficiently to make her cry in repentance.

It to get though to her, so that there is no doubt, in her mind or that of her husband, that he is in control.

To feel better emotionally, mentally, and spiritually after it is over.

Women are apparently in desperate need of this abuse because “Women by their peculiar sin nature resist earthly authority and trust.” Oh women… Damn you and your peculiarly sinful natures.

So, does this have anything to do with S&M/BDSM ? Is it just some Christians going a bit ’50 Shades’ in an effort to get more members? Nope, and HOW DARE YOU even ask? These are clean-cut religious types, thank you very much. Heaven forbid (literally) they partake in anything overly sexual. That’s sin. If you want to get your rocks off you’re a bad person and you’re at the WRONG website.

CDD is purely about beating women. You perverts.

Seriously though, this is basically ABSOLUTELY nothing but a f*cked up way for twitsted men to convince their female partners that they deserve to be abused. In the name of God.

CDD is the systematic grooming of women to become caught in a cycle of domestic abuse and Battered Woman Syndrome that they cannot escape from because they think it’s their fault. And God’s will.

The proof of this? (In case, you know, the encouragement to beat women isn’t enough.) There’s a section on the website that is written by women, explaining their ‘choice’ to have the crap beaten out of them for the good of their relationships: “I am a woman, I know women. Women crave masculine authority. It is as natural to us as breathing, we just don’t like to admit we need it sometimes.”

Because every woman knows getting smacked up the side of the head is as natural to us as breathing, amiright?

Further allowing men to trap their wives in a vicious cycle of abuse is the section that basically says “Don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble cos she’ll stay quiet”:

…the wife who has had a significant disciplinary experience from the top of her buttocks to the upper third of her thighs (down to what women of a few generations ago used to call the “stocking line”) will keep the matter to herself. She will bring no further embarrassment upon her house. To the surprise of many, the deserving wife caught compromised across her husband’s knees will ask for privacy so he may continue with the task at hand. She will apologize more for her indiscretions than for her husband’s punishing her for them.

But perhaps the most disturbing part of this CDD website is the section where they explain that children should not be shielded from the domestic dicipline beatings:

If one’s children find out, it is not end of the world. Most children understand more than adults give them credit. In particular, children understand spanking far more than they understand bitterness and divorce. A child who grows up aware that mother submits to father’s discipline may be less likely to engage in frivolous and dangerous behavior as they grow older.

I’m assuming by ‘frivolous and dangerous behaviour’ they mean treating women with love and respect.

Because Jesus would never condone that.

Note: We understand that this is a fringe group whose beliefs and behaviour do not represent the majority of Christians. Members of CDD don’t represent Christians – they represent shitty people.

If this post raises any issues for you or you need information or help to escape a relationship which involves physical or emotional abuse, please contact 1800 RESPECT, or visit www.whiteribbon.org.au