Does Sparing The Rod Spoil The Child?

Many religious parents use the line, “spare the rod, spoil the child” to defend corporal punishment. That rationale was put in the spotlight when televangelist Creflo Dollar was arrested for allegedly assaulting his daughter. Host Michel Martin asks three prominent faith leaders — and dads — whether the saying still rings true in churches.

Joining us to help unpack this, Elder Harold Bennett is the president and dean of the Charles H. Mason Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. Pastor Rudy Rasmus is with us. He’s senior pastor of St. John’s Downtown Church in Houston, Texas. And from Los Angeles, Reverend Nirvana Gayle, senior minister at Guidance Church in Los Angeles, California. READ MORE + LISTEN

‘Nuns on the Bus’ take on Paul Ryan

So, asks Sister Simone Campbell, who heads the censured social justice group NETWORK, which got the most attention? The way she sees it, her “Nuns on the Bus” tour to spotlight issues of social justice — across nine states, including Ryan’s Wisconsin — is perfectly in line with Catholic teaching. “We’re sticking with the bishops on this one.’’

The tour just happens to coincide with the “Fortnight for Freedom,” the bishop’s pushback against the Obama administration’s contraceptive health-care plan. READ MORE

ALSO: NunsOnTheBus.com

Rev. Otis Moss of Trinity Church in Chicago: “Don’t Abandon Obama Over Gay Marriage”

This week there has been much speculation over whether or not the black church will abandon President Obama over his support of gay marriage. Atleast one black pastor has gone on record to withdraw his support of Obama, but others, like Rev. Otis Moss of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, are supporting him.

Rev. Moss wrote an open letter to the black community, urging all to support President Obama.

ALSO: Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III speaks out about Marriage Equality

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The Worst Ideas of the Decade: Prosperity gospel

Few theological ideas ring more dissonant with the harmony of orthodox Christianity than a focus on storing up treasures on Earth as a primary goal of faithful living. The gospel of prosperity turns Christianity into a vapid bless-me club, with a doctrine that amounts to little more than spiritual magical thinking: If you pray the right way, God will make you rich.

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Hispanics Cause GOP Hopefuls To Tiptoe

ConVICKted! Pro NFL star Michael Vick has been sentenced to prison for 23 months for financing a dogfighting operation. He has been given three years’ probation. It’s sad how so many piled up on him. Let’s hope some will muster an ounce of compassion. 

He’s rich, loves God, and doesn’t care what people think. Kirk Franklin opens up about hating his parents, the trials of Prophet Juanita Bynum, and his choice to no longer work with secular artists. 

Buoyed by a Supreme Court ruling, some 19,500 federal inmates and their families, most of them black, are hoping the U.S. Sentencing Commission is ready to make its recent easing of crack cocaine punishment guidelines retroactive. 

It was the third time in 14 months Jamaal Tinsley has run into trouble at an Indianapolis nightclub, and it comes on the heels of other professional athletes running into similar trouble. 

Plans are afoot for a Broadway revival of the 1964 musical Golden Boy – based on Clifford Odets’ classic play – about a pianist who gives up his music career to become a championship boxer. Usher is in negotiations to play the role, which was originated by Sammy Davis Jr.  

In recent years, pain-prone Mary J. Blige found true love, squashed substance abuse and won three Grammy nods (out of eight nominations) for her 2005 album, “The Breakthrough.” But despite all that, the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul Searching insists that even happiness hurts.  

Russell Simmons hit the beach with his yummy girlfriend, model Porschia Coleman, yesterday.  And the Def Jam/Phat Farm founder, 50, is doing his part to help out the less fortunate during this holiday season. The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF) was started by Simmons in order to help Africans help Africa. 

Film star Morris Chestnut [photo] breaks bread on growing up, career moves, Christmas, and his new release The Perfect Holiday. The picture also stars Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard, and Faizon Love. 

There’s trouble in paradise. A study released last week by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center showed that inroads the [Republican] party made with Hispanics during the Bush years have been more than wiped out. Hispanic voters are now overwhelmingly Democrats – 57 percent, compared to 23 percent Republicans, a bigger gap than in 1999.  

Some of white America’s political elite are finally ready to speak openly of the failed and malevolent policies of black mass incarceration, writes Bruce Dixon. That’s good news. But who speaks for the young, the black and the poor in this discussion? Presidential candidates? Democratic or Republican politicians? The Congressional Black Caucus and our black leadership class? And without relentless pressure from a black mass movement, can any of these actors be on the issue of America’s universal but seldom acknowledged policies of racially selective policing, racially selective prosecution and racially selective mass imprisonment, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” [Abraham Lincoln]