Quote:
Originally Posted by KMK  I am not asking whether it is the magistrates duty to feed and clothe children under his charge, but if he may require parents/families to do so. I guess the question is, would the princes of Israel prosecute parents who refused to feed and clothe their children? |
I think the question would rebound in the first place to the issue of property, and to what degree children are considered the "property" of parents. Regardless of the argument that such reasoning might take us back to the question of slavery, the fact is that if all
proprietary interest of a parent in his child is eliminated, then so goes all of his authority. The ungoverned State ends up claiming huge proprietary rights over its population, btw. I say this is the first issue, because I deny that a parent is bound to meet ANY conceivable "state standard" of feeding and clothing, or face a penalty. If I send my kid to bed "without supper," does this constitute a "refusal to feed"? If I refuse to buy my kid a designer jacket, or "better" shoes, can I be prosecuted? Who "owns" the children? Because to that degree the authority can "dictate" the standard of care.
Neither the Parents, nor the State has unlimited proprietary rights, over things or people. Under Moses, a man who beat his slave to the death was a murderer (Ex. 21:20). The slave's right to live was not held under the master, but directly under God. So, to draw on the principle, present governments should punish the
cruel negligence (not simply the poverty, for example) of a parent that has
withheld food and clothing of their children
to a dangerous degree, as this is would be a violation of the 6th commandment.