Our sweet, precious little girl is a little over 2-1/2 years old. She is currently going through a "sassy"-stage where she feels that she has the right to talk back and be generally defiant towards her mother and me (she is an angel for everyone else). This is a big issue for us, because Erin and I expect respect from her. We also understand that dealing with this issue right now is vital for her long-term character development. If she will not honor her parents who she has seen, how can she honor God who she has not seen? We have tried various methods to stem this wave of disrespect including "penalty-spot", light-swats, taking toys away, etc... with very little long-term impact on the problem.
It is our belief that we have not found a consequence that scares her more than she loves the sin of dishonoring her father and mother. Once we devise a consequence that is harsh enough her behavior will change.
This same issue is being mirrored globally as the world wrestles with how to discipline North Korea for her defiance and disobedience. Just as Kim Jong Il assumed would happen when he set off his alleged nuclear explosion earlier this week, the consequences of his actions aren't amounting to much. The US has been forced to offer a compromised UN resolution that is devoid of any military sanctions. It only contains "punishments" like travel restrictions, economic restrictions, and the breaking of diplomatic relations. Mere "hand-slaps" and "penalty-spot" type consequences. The whole scenario reminds me of an old Monty Python sketch in which the police are trying to apprehend a criminal. The criminal, of course, shows comedic disregard of the police who are armed only with their nightsticks. The police then only have one course of action: to say "Stop! or I'll say stop again!" (I couldn't find a clip of it online).
This is because we can't convince China or Russia to sign on to any military action. Which makes some sense, at least from the Chinese perspective. If military action is part of the resolution, and the situation escalates to the needing of that action, whose troops will make up the lion's share of the UN force that removes Kim Jong Il from power? Why, the US's, of course. That means that the US will have troops in a country that borders China. China wants to keep the US out of North Korea so that we don't have a place to stage a land force against them. China could swat North Korea like a fly if it wanted to, but then it would have to occupy North Korea. They don't want to do that for the same reason...we have troops in South Korea and have a strategic location for staging a land force against China. Right now, North Korea acts as a buffer that keeps US and Chinese troops from being too close to one another.
I'll admit that I don't see or understand why Russia is against the idea of military action against North Korea. I don't know what their motivation is for protecting North Korea from a harsh consequence.
I do know, though, that since Erin and I have the same goals for our daughter, we will be able to teach her respect for us, respect for others, and, ultimately respect for God. I've seen families where the parents disagree over the goals for their children and those houses are chaotic places to be...you know...that whole "house divided against itself" thing.
The same principle hold true globally. If the "Super-powers" of the world are divided on this North Korea issue, then it will not matter what the US does and the world will be a place of chaos. North Korea will have permission to continue acting like a defiant 2-1/2 year old.
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