The video opens with a simple chair in a field. For the next several minutes, the viewer sees nothing but a man sitting down in the chair and talking about problems with his teen daughter. For those who do not get bored with that, it gets much more exciting near the end, as Tommy Jordan of Albemarle, NC shoots 10 bullets into his daughter's laptop.
Jordan says he sent the video out to about 550 people - his and his daughter's Facebook list friends. He doesn't know how it went viral, now with almost 3 million views and tens of thousands of comments, in less than 3 days. According to his Facebook page, CBS has offered Jordan's family their own reality show. Move over, balloon boy and Kardashians, tough Dad Tommy Jordan is on the block.
Jordan did not want to become famous. He has already expressed he has no wishes to go on any talk shows or news interviews. He did not want his punishment of his daughter to be this public. She had made a sarcastic and disrespectful rant about her parents public, so he responded publicly. After she had already been grounded for some time for the same type of action, and after Tommy Jordan spent half a day and $130 in software to upgrade her computer, she used that same computer to be disrespectful to her family a few hours later. At the end of his rope, Jordan put an end to that problem, for good.
The responses have been varied, from commending him to the often absurd accusation that he is ruining his relationship with his daughter and she is going to grow up to become a stripper. Jordan's daughter would like to know, "what other job fields the victims of laptop-homicide were eligible for because she wasn’t too keen on the stripping thing." Her reaction to those who are outraged for her? "Dude… it’s only a computer. I mean, yeah I’m mad but pfft."
Not surprisingly, the Bible has a bit to say about parenting. Of course the first thing that will spring to most people's minds will be the old phrase, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." This is not actually in the Bible, but in Proverbs 13:24 one finds these words: "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." There are several other proverbs, such as Prov. 13:13 "Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die." These scriptures are often used to defend spanking, but one thing is clear - God wants parents to discipline their children.
Discipline is not mere punishment. It is training. Punishment can be part of that training when the situation warrants, but positive reinforcement and showing love to the child are definite components as well. In the New Testament one finds this command: Ephesians 6:4 "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."
(NOTE: The video is open and frank. Jordan reads his daughter's note word-for-word and there is a fair amount of swearing. Watch with discretion. If you don't want to hear any of that, the "laptop execution" begins at 7:10.)
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