Scott-Atlanta said:A controversial American evangelist couple who advocate the routine spanking of children are bringing their message to the UK.
Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo are to address a rally in London organised by the Christian Education Europe publishing group on Saturday. They are expected to be met by protesters from health and children's rights groups.
The BBC's Lucy Amtherton: "The couple advocate that pain is a gift from God"
The couple, who have written a number of books on childcare, believe over-indulgence of children by their parents has led to moral decline.
They think pain is "a gift from God" and advocate that parents spank their children from the age of 18 months on up to five times a day to teach them discipline.
They suggest a plastic spatula could be used to hit children as it will "inflict pain, but not break bones or damage skin".
The Ezzos also propose that babies should be smacked for poor table manners and should not be fed on demand.
Gary Ezzo, a former preacher, said: "You should just lift up the diaper and give them a little swat on the backside."
Wilson's bible on child rearing
No offense man, but you only find whackos like this in that part of the country...these barren states with inbred tendencies all through their history have really pumped out some FU*CKED up folk...like what the hell is wrong with them...I mean geeez I guess a spanking once ina while never killed anyone, but I do not think it should be practiced religiously...I think if a kid is going to become a good kid, it will happen on his own because he wail gain awareness of his morals and senses...I know it worked for me lol, I must have gotten suspended 25+ times and my parents would just let me know what I did was wrong and take away a privlege that I really liked, like my baseball cards, so I would not do the thing I did again...I would do something else lol, until I learned proper behavior