Posts Tagged ‘Child abuse’
Don’t Put Creflo Dollar in Physical Discipline Debate
June 9th, 2012
- Creflo Dollar
Amid all of the primary conversation of whether Atlanta megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar put his hands on his 15-year old daughter (and to what extent); the secondary conversation has been mostly concerned with the concept of physical discipline of children. You have the ardent Dollar supporters who support him regardless of the charges, circumstances…or even the evidence for that matter. They will recite “touch not my anointed” quicker and more frequently than baskets in the NBA playoffs; not pausing to consider whether Dollar is actually anointed or even innocent for that matter. You have the religious cynics seizing the moment to mock Christianity generally and the pastor in question more specifically. And we can’t forget those in the pastoral community who blithely trot out the instructions to not “judge” and simply “pray” for those involved; never actually taking a stand against either the aberrant behavior or stand in solidarity with the victim(s) after the fact.
Somewhere in the midst of the aforementioned groups, we in the African-American community probably can find ourselves.
Whether or not Creflo Dollar abused his daughter…that is a worthy conversation to be had. Whether or not physical discipline has any place in the rearing of kids, that too is worthy fodder for dialogue. Conflating the two is horribly misguided and does a disservice to any attempt to sincerely address either.
Regardless of whether you believe the allegations against Creflo Dollar, just know that choking, punching (closed hand) and beating with a shoe are not examples of physical discipline. They are felony assaults in most states. It is nowhere near the neighborhood of spankings, be they with hands, belts or switches. The intent, violence and end results are in no way comparable. Choking can lead to death by asphyxiation; and sometimes does accidentally. A grown man punching (closed hand) a 15-year old girl is not “discipline,” it is cowardly and criminal. Do not conflate what allegedly happened in the Dollar house with any discussion of “tough love” or “what’s wrong with today’s youth.” They are separate, distinct and unrelated.
Let me be clear…
I am all for physical discipline, regardless of the various laws around the nation. In California, child abuse is defined as follows:
“Neglect; willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment; any physical injury inflicted other than by accidental means.”
By strict interpretation, any one of us who received a spanking or was slapped by our parents was a victim of “child abuse.”
I am NOT for the actual abuse of children. There is a difference, irrespective of how the law reads. My father taking a belt to my backside dozens of times taught me about decisions, consequences and penalties. It was to teach me in the safety of the home, before having to be taught by either the judicial system or a morgue.
When my mother shook me like a pair of dice after running into the street without scanning for approaching traffic, it was the clearest way to elucidate the seriousness and consequences of poor decision-making; without me having to actually get hit by a car for her point to stick. I was 6 years old, not mature enough to be reasoned with or politely explained the severity of the moment. When she smacked me for sucking my teeth at her later in life, it reaffirmed the separation between adult and child. There is a code of conduct for children, including how not to address adults. There’s no doubt that we need to re-instill certain values in young people. I get it. I also get that some of that if not all of that played into the events leading up to the altercation between Dollar and his daughter. But the moment the variables of fists and chokes become part of the equation, we’ve entered a wholly different realm. The discussion of physical discipline is officially over.
I can’t come before you and articulate exactly where the line is, separating corrective physical discipline and true child abuse. But I can say, punching and choking are way on the other side of it. This is not one of those gray area discussions. The only discussion in relation to Dollar should be if he’s guilty and if so, how long should he go to jail; not whether the child somehow had it coming or whether youth today need more discipline.
Regardless of the circumstances, such a physical response from a grown man could never be deemed proportionate or justified in nature.
Never, not ever.
A grown, healthy man punching and choking a child (by all determinations) is not, was not and will never be an acceptable manner in which to mete out punishment or to deter future disobedience. Not only that, it begs the question as to how severely lacking the parental process was in the years leading up to altercation. You don’t arrive at throwing haymakers and making daughters “tap out” MMA-style, overnight. There was a progression of preceding events.
If we as a community wish to discuss the value and virtue of physical discipline in the rearing of children, I’m all for it. Just don’t use the alleged actions of Creflo Dollar to help make your case. We should all be able to distinguish between good parenting and inexcusable criminal behavior. If not, then you shouldn’t have children (or be ministers); the Dollars included.
MORE:
Creflo Dollar addresses arrest before congregation (See below)
The Mo’Kelly Report is a syndicated politics and entertainment journal. Visit http://mrmokelly.com for the latest from Mr. Mo’Kelly. Tune into The Mo’Kelly Show Saturdays from 6-8pm PDT on KFI AM640. Contact Mo’Kelly at mrmokelly@gmail.com.
Follow Mo’Kelly
Chris Brown Throws ‘Rest’ of Career Away…in 140 Characters
December 30th, 2010
Poor Chris Bro
wn…
Too much, too young, too fast. You see it with young stars all of the time. Too much fame and too little life experience in which to adequately maneuver the pitfalls; balance the fantasyworld of fandom with real life responsible behavior.
Life is difficult enough just simply trying to make it through adolescence into young adulthood. It’s even more complicated as a major entertainment star and on the heels of a domestic violence gaffe of cataclysmic proportions.
No excuses (or sympathy) for Brown though; his world and the problems in it are all of his own creation.
There’s no need to relive the history that is pop singer Chris Brown’s. You know it, Mo’Kelly knows it and just about anyone with access to the internet knows it. A momentary indiscretion has led to a permanent blotch on the life résumé; one referenced in every…single…story…or footnote connected to Brown.
From now until his obituary is finally written.
Now, Brown can add one more line to his eventual obit and at this rate it will be complete before he hits age 30. It seems that Brown let loose on former B2K boy band member Raz-B in a homophobic rant in the 21st century version of hip-hop beefs.
Chris Brown "You Talk Too Much"
It used to be artists would “bang” or “beef” on wax. (That would be “vinyl records” for those born after the invention of the internet. Wax pre-dates CDs and MP3s…jus’ sayin’.)
But vinyl is so, so 20th century. Now artists “keep it real” on Twitter. On Twitter you (or some lackey you hire) can type away on all things irrelevant, 140 characters at a time. Chris Brown has found a new way to use Twitter…throwing away “the rest” of his career.
Instead of trying to explain “how” it happened, just read it. Start from the bottom and make your way to the top.
(Please excuse the vulgarity and profanity. Here it is in the short form. It’s much longer but you’ll get the point. Keep in mind, Brown has 1.2 million Twitter followers, which is the equivalent of saying this on national TV. Each follower received these messages in their feed, be they 8 years old or 80.)
See how that works, the internet saves EVERYTHING. The tweets, this post, the picture of the tweets contained in this post…
FOREVER.
Oops for Brown. Not a good look for (now former) music superstars.
So much for all of those anger management classes and that nifty certificate he earned since beating the snot out of Rihanna. All that went straight out the window with one tweet from Raz-B (which was directed to him and other artists).
Chris Brown is now the resident authority on career self-sabotage. It’s not easy to do and Brown is about the best there is. Lindsay Lohan is up there. T.I. definitely deserves to be in the conversation too but neither had attained the heights of Brown before flushing it down the toilet.
In fact, rumor has it that Brown’s self-help, er uh “self-sabotage” book is almost complete.
How to Throw Away THE REST of Your Career in 140 Characters: A Love Story
It will probably be available at Wal-Mart and other fine retailers.
Chris Stokes
For the unaware, Raz-B once made allegations of being sexually molested and assaulted by former manager Chris Stokes in 2007, which has now served as the reference point for Brown’s poorly conceived attempt at “humor.”
In addition to being a domestic violence pariah, Brown evidently wanted to branch out and become the poster child for homophobic pop singers and also be vilified for child sexual molestation “humor.”
Great marketing strategy there. Brown wasn’t trying to be just “an a-hole”…he was swinging for the fence to become “KING a-hole.”
Talk about living the dream…
Well, never let it be said that Brown didn’t have aspirations. He’s not trying to just end his career, he’s trying to go down in a ball of flames while wearing bacon-grease drawers with the world watching and commenting via Skype.
What comes next you ask?
First the denial, (an employee or associate wrote the tweets). If that doesn’t work, invariably the “apology” comes next, probably in the form of a press release and a written statement on his website. Then, the videotaped appeal for public forgiveness of his non-specific transgressions will “somehow” make its way virally around the net. And to close the 2011 Chris Brown “apology” Tour, he will be waist deep in sensitivity training on sexual orientation discrimination and child sexual abuse. Expect the public service announcement(s) to air on BET sometime around April of next year. Check local listings for details.
Then…(wait for it…wait for it…)
The “comeback” music project! Let’s see if we can guess the title of his next album!
Gay-hater, Woman Beater: Take Me As I Am
I Can Transform Ya…(Just Not Me)
Take You Down?…No Twitter Took Me Down!
Bitter About Twitter – Unplugged
Rihanna is a Very ‘Tweet’ Girl
You get the point. Let’s not and just say we did.
G’nite Chris Brown. Thanks for coming. You’re done. Turn off the lights on your way out.
Chris Brown is who he is and no amount of training or public relations strategy meetings will change it. He was unprepared for superstardom and its inherent responsibilities. More importantly, he is still unaware what it means to be a man.
How any public figure thinks for one moment such behavior is acceptable, sensible or forgettable is beyond Mo’Kelly.
Chris Brown was given a second chance and is not deserving of a third (in an entertainment stardom sense.) No amount of future “hits” can obscure who he is. Let him look for success in another line of work…like as a self-sabotage author as Mo’Kelly has suggested. His musical talent is not and will not ever be the issue. It’s his lack of manhood and wanton disregard for all things akin to common sense that are the issues.
To recap:
Domestic abuse is unacceptable and unfunny.
Homophobia is unacceptable and unfunny.
Child molestation and sexual abuse are unacceptable and quite unfunny.
Chris Brown is now also unacceptable.
Happy New Year Chris. You can go back to writing that future bestseller book now.
The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published at The Huffington Post and www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mrmokelly.com. Mr. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com.
Free Subscription to The Mo’Kelly Report HERE
Follow The Mo’Kelly Report on Facebook Network Blogs HERE.
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: B2K, Career Suicide, Child abuse, child molestation, Chris Brown, domestic abuse, Homophobia, R. Kelly, Raz-B, Rihanna, sexual abuse, Twitter | 
1 Comment »
Bus Driver Chokes the S*** Out of Student (VIDEO)
November 13th, 2008
See, this is why I’m so glad I never had to ride a bus to school. On one hand, if I hit someone in the head with a can, yeah, they’d probably choke the s*** out of Mo’Kelly too.
Embedded video from CNN Video
The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published weekly at www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. The Mo’Kelly Report is syndicated by Newstex and Blogburst. For more Mo’Kelly, http://www.MrMoKelly.com.
Subscribe in a reader or by email
Help Bring Mo’Kelly to National Radio HERE
Visit Mo’Kelly’s GIFT SHOP HERE
Morris W. O’Kelly can be reached at Mo@MrMoKelly.com and he welcomes all commentary.
var AdBrite_Title_Color = ‘E1771E’;
var AdBrite_Text_Color = ’9D1961′;
var AdBrite_Background_Color = ‘FFFFFF’;
var AdBrite_Border_Color = ‘CCCCCC’;
var AdBrite_URL_Color = ’0000FF’;
try{var AdBrite_Iframe=window.top!=window.self?2:1;var AdBrite_Referrer=document.referrer==”?document.location:document.referrer;AdBrite_Referrer=encodeURIComponent(AdBrite_Referrer);}catch(e){var AdBrite_Iframe=”;var AdBrite_Referrer=”;}
document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,83,67,82,73,80,84));document.write(‘ src=”http://ads.adbrite.com/mb/text_group.php?sid=857309&zs=3436385f3630&ifr=’+AdBrite_Iframe+’&ref=’+AdBrite_Referrer+’” type=”text/javascript”>’);document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,47,83,67,82,73,80,84,62));
Saturday and Sunday nights from 8pm - 9pm PDT on XM 244.
