Controversy and Differing opinions emerge as Christian Leaders who oppose spanking speak out

Norway: Controversy and Differing Opinions Emerge as Christian Leaders Who Oppose Spanking Speak Out

They say that Say Norway is Not in Violation of Christian Parents' Rights

By Jeremy Reynalds, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service (jeremyreynalds@gmail.com )

NORWAY (ANS-May 1, 2016) -- As the removal of five Pentecostal kids from their Romanian-Norwegian parents' custody over spanking allegations has enraged thousands of global supporters, especially in Romania, some Christian leaders in Norway are combating the notion that parental and religious freedoms are being violated by the Norwegian government.

According to reporting by Samuel Smith for The Christian Post (CP), the five children of Romanian IT engineer Marius Bodnariu, and his Norwegian wife Ruth Johanne Bodnariu, were removed from their parents custody on Nov. 16, 2015, after a school principal told Norwegian authorities about their oldest daughter's allegation that her parents spanked her and her siblings as a form of discipline.

As spanking and other forms of physical punishment are considered illegal under Norwegian law, the Barnevernet (Norway's child services agency) placed the five children of the Romanian-Norwegian couple in three separate foster homes while their parents have been granted limited visitation rights.

Over 62,000 people in Romania have signed a petition in recent days asking for a fast and fair solution in a sensitive case - See more at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/norway-decision-over-romanian-family-spurs-protests-01-12-2016#sthash.iLoyR7PF.dpuf

While the Bodnariu parents wait for their next court hearing to determine whether they are found to be competent enough to regain custody of their children, a number of human rights activists, lawyers and pastors have argued that the Bodnariu case is essentially a part of a larger pattern displayed by the Barnevernet of targeting migrant families.

In an interview last Monday with The Christian Post, Texas-based lawyer Peter Costea, the president of the Alliance for Romania's Families, explained that many migrant families feel that the Barnevernet is targeting them and removing their children to ensure that the children "grow up Norwegian."

Costea, who sent a letter to the Norwegian ambassador to Romania in December and also has access to court records, argued that the Norwegian government does not have the right to remove children from their parents simply on the allegation of spanking.

CP said he added that spanking is not listed as a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

At a protest held outside the Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. in Jan., Norwegian human rights lawyer Marius Reikeras and other supporters of the Bodnariu family, claimed that there are thousands of families just like the Bodnariu's — normal, well-educated families that get in trouble with the Barnevernet over disciplinary issues.

Despite the claims that the Barnevernet is targeting migrant families from eastern European countries and other nations, Andreas Nordli, Norway's national director for Youth With a Mission, told CP that such a claim is not true and feels that the tendency for migrant and ethnic families to get in trouble with Barnevernet is simply because they are unaware of Norway's child abuse laws.

Nordli, who collaborated with the Barnevernet when he was a pastor of a church that had a number of migrant families, said his own experiences with the Barnevernet have been very good.

“I hear both in this specific case with the Romanian family and cases with Russian (families), Lithuanian (families), and (families) from Czech Republic that there have been accusations toward child protective services in Norway, but I haven't (seen) it myself,” CP reported Nordli said.
He added, “Because we have strict laws against physically disciplining your kids, I think a lot of non-Norwegians coming here, they are not aware of the law. Because of that, that creates the problems, I think. Maybe even the child protection (agencies) in Norway are not good enough in explaining to non-Norwegians how our laws are set up."

Although some Bodnariu family supporters claim that it was the family's religious belief that "God punishes sin" that originally drew the concern of the principal and Barnevernet, Andreas Hegertun, the spokesman for the Norwegian Pentecostal Movement, explained that religious liberties of ethnic families in Norway are not strained in any way.

Hegertun added that families have the freedom to raise their children in accordance with their faith as long as they are not perceived to have violated the nation's laws.

“Every ethnic religious group may worship and raise their children according to their beliefs, as long as they don't violate Norwegian law,” Hegertun told CP.

“In practice this means as long as they don't use violence. I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble with the government for any other reason than violence, serious neglect or addictions. In this matter we, as churches, strongly agree with our government that violence toward children is not accepted.”

"In fact, there has also been the opposite suspicion that the government may be tempted to look the other way in communities with other cultural values regarding violence toward children because they are scared of not being culturally sensitive — for instance in many Muslim communities," Hegertun continued.

Costea told CP last week that court records indicate that spankings are the only alleged abuse against the Bodnariu parents. The only facts of the case that are available are the facts provided by the family, as the agency has to protect the privacy of the children while the case is still ongoing.

Dagen, a Christian daily in Norway, said in an editorial by Vebjørn Selbekk that Norway is not the Soviet Union.

Dagen added, “What we can categorically state is that vital information about the reasons for the resolution by Barnevernet has been omitted in the written articles. And in the campaigns against the Norwegian Barnevernet run in the social media.

“Hence the picture presented of the alleged Christian persecution becomes unjust.

"Norwegian media – included Dagen – are usually reluctant to write about matters relating to Barnevernet. The main reason being the right of children is not being identified. In cases where name and picture of a child is being distributed in social media, the situation becomes even more demanding for the traditional media.”

Despite the claim that the parents lost custody of their children for spanking them, CP said Hegertun and Nordli find it surprising that the Barnevernet would remove the children as just the result of a spanking allegation.

“In Norway spanking and other types of corporal punishment is illegal. But this does not mean that all parents that practice these models of parenting have their children removed,” Hegertun said.

“A majority of the families that the Barnevernet are in contact with do not have their children removed. Most families receive parental courses and advice on how to change their parenting style so that they parent without using corporal punishment or spanking.”

But as some parents and cultures believe that physical punishment is vital to the upbringing of their children, Hegertun admits that if parents feel they are not wrong to spank their children, then the Barnevernet could seek to remove children from their parental custody.

“If the parents see no wrong in using violence or do not want to change, the Barnevernet considers making a case to remove the child,” CP reported Hegertun said.

“Removing children from their parents is not easy. In Norway, the system is that the Barnevernet needs to make their case to a judge, the parents get an attorney, and then the judge makes the decision. This takes place in a courtroom and proof is submitted and witnesses on each side are called in. In my experience, the barrier to do this is high, but obviously not as high as in countries that accept violence toward children.”

According to a media report, official data confirms that domestic violence against children remains a problem in Romania.

Around 63 per cent of Romanian families use physical correction, such as slapping or pulling hair, as a way of educating their children, according to data from the international organization Save the Children.

More than half of the domestic violence cases against children are registered in rural areas. Experts say this reflects the endurance of traditional values.

“The problem in Romania is not that we don’t have laws on the subject, but the way they are enforced,” said Diana Stanculescu, an expert on child abuse.

“While Norway has no tolerance for any form of abuse, in Romania the norms are different,” she added.

Official data confirms that domestic violence against children remains a problem in Romania.

Around 63 per cent of Romanian families use physical correction, such as slapping or pulling hair, as a way of educating their children, according to data from the international organisation Save the Children.

More than half of the domestic violence cases against children are registered in rural areas.

Experts say this reflects the endurance of traditional values.

“The problem in Romania is not that we don’t have laws on the subject, but the way they are enforced,” said Diana Stanculescu, an expert on child abuse.

“While Norway has no tolerance for any form of abuse, in Romania the norms are different,” she added.

- See more at: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/norway-decision-over-romanian-family-spurs-protests-01-12-2016#sthash.iLoyR7PF.dpuf

Photo captions: 1) The Bodnariu family. 2) Thousands of people took to the streets in Romania in support of the Bodnariu family (Facebook). 3) Elma and Jeremy Reynalds.

About the writer: Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, www.joyjunction.org. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "From Destitute to Ph.D." Additional details on the book are available at www.myhomelessjourney.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico with his wife, Elma. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@gmail.com . 

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