User: Markus2

Agree with the original message, I do understand the "come as You are"- point of view. Perhaps it´s better to come wearing "baggy jeans" than not to come at all. Still, I would prefer if people would make at least some effort to look neater for the church. Not only honoring God, but other people too. A church is a place of celebration, after all.

I´m not a good christian myself, don´t go to church too often, not even every second month, but still many times a year. But always voluntarely! I could not imagine wearing shortcutts inside any sacred place (church, mosque...) - even wearing only a t-shirt makes me feel uncomfortable inside any curch ar place peple honor (I don´t hesitate wearing shorts and such outside). I´m grown up man now, usually it is a suit and tie to the church I go, during summer perhaps a white shirt and a tie. Usually most other attenders go more (some very) casual, but for me, it is a celebration!

How espoir66 described her mothers "obsessed for outwards looks" and modesty issues brough a smile to my face! There was many similarities in my upbringing! We were regular church goers especially in my early teen years (it was old school and carismatic reformatory church, I attend a different church now). There was some dress codes, generally boys wore at least neat collared shirt and girls nice skirts. My folks were more old school: For me to the church slacks, a white dress shirt and a tie was the minimum! Remember having short dresspants few times for church when about 12-13, but did not like them and luckily parents did prefer long pants too. I attendes Sunday school for teens later on Sunday, and there was some other church activities whole Sunday - my parents (especially mother) made me to dress up whole Sunday, usually did not have to wear a tie after Sunday lunch, but to the activities I always wore at least white dress shirt, again, most other kids were neat too but more casual. At first I hated dressing up to after church activities too (did football - so I was usually the only one in the dressing room with dress shirts and ties, and was teased first), but learned to enjoy dressing up more formally later when about 14-15 and up.

I worked in a prison for a while when I was younger - and what I saw there was... Such a harsh and violant place it is. Many new commers and potential "one time offenders" easily got themselves into new trouble there - And that is not easy to avoid it, sometimes practicly impossible.

Personaly, if I was given a choise, I´d prefer taking a birching in public than going in to a prison (especially because I´ve been working there).

Dave,

maybe I was smart enough, maybe just lucky(?). The schools I attended before and after did not use cp and in this specific school it given only in more seroius things. I guess kids were not equal what it came to discipline there, I was a pretty good student with good grades and some would say, "many teachers pet". I recall some teachers punished others more easily and some me, boys were punished more than girls in general etc... It was twenty years ago, I don´t remember all the things why I got into a trouble but most serious things were maybe things like cutting clashes, nothing dramatic really.

If I was given a choice to get a paddle at school or a detension + note home (and a spanking from dad), I dont know which I would have chosen. And if I got a paddle at school, would it have spared me not to get more butt tanning at home. Did You get an other spanking at home or was a school paddling considered to be enough?

I usually got belt-whippings, which we called "a strapping" and at summer cottage etc... the switch that we called "a birching". Any way our "strappings" or "birchings" were not that bad beatigs they might sound. Just spankings. Never got a real paddle but once a ping pong paddle. Before 14 it was practicly always bare.

Dave,

Cp was not uncommon that time in most schools, but for some reason it was not often used in ours. I can recall only few times when it was used to someone. I managed to avoid the school paddling some how even many times I would have deserved it!

It was dad who gave me and my brother the beltings/whippings. He worked part time home but travelled alot too, so some times I got my butt spanked nearly straight away when I come home from school, but some times I had to wait for days for dad to home home from his business trips (usually on Sundays).

Our parents reseaved lots of notes or phone calls from my school when I was like 13-14. Every minor thing (like some smaller dress code violation etc...) did not lead to a spanking. But if there was anything bigger or just too many notes in a short while, then my bare butt again who had to pay the penalty.

I got the birch switch across my back side many times enough. And dad taught me and my brother too be a master switch maker, I was made to go cut it myself (mum picked switches gor sisters). Mums idea was, when I had to pick one for myself, to store it for a week or so in my bathroom as a reminder.

The switch of course it had not much to do with those birches used for official punishments. It was a lot lighter version but stung was (give bare) still nearly unbareable. There is just something in those birch branches!

For some not so serious crimes, a birch could be an alternative punishment to choose - A few days in prison OR equal amount of real birch strokes - for example...