Oct 22, 2002 2 min read

Three months in jail hardly seems just punishment for a pastor who believes that public flogging of children is a righteous response to disobedience. The Rev. Arthur Allen Jr., upon conviction by a Georgia jury of aggravated assault and cruelty to children, was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 10 years probation and an $8,000 fine. The 70-year-old pastor of the House of Prayer, along with four church members, were brought up on charges for whipping two boys in front of the congregation. (Six other church members still face prosecution on child cruelty charges.)

During his sermon Sunday, delivered before reporting to jail, Allen took off his belt and waved it at a teen-age boy in a mock whipping. This, after the judge ordered him and his followers to use only an open hand in swatting their own children’s buttocks, rather than bringing them to church to be held down and whipped.

“I can’t maintain discipline in my home by just hand-spanking our children,” Allen told the congregation.

In that case, Allen shouldn’t be permitted near children upon his release. In the meantime, since Allen has already demonstrated a disobedience toward a court order, the judge should amend Allen’s sentence to include a public flogging of his own.