Pastor's Wife Brags About Spanking Child in Viral Video

A pastor's wife is seen in a viral video talking about spanking her child after picking her up from a friend's home, prompting an array of responses on social media.

A poll this year from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 24 percent of Americans said they recently have altered their religious affiliations and traditions. The poll found that 27 percent of Americans say they are not affiliated with any religion and the number of those who identify as Christian has declined in recent years.

Social media users shared a video showing Nancy Wilson, the wife of Idaho pastor Doug Wilson, speaking about an incident in which she sought to teach her daughter, Rachel, a lesson about respecting her parents.

"Rachel was visiting a friend, she was probably three or four, and our neighbor had little kids so we would trade back and forth," Nancy Wilson said in the video. "So I went to pick her up and when I walked in she said, 'aw, is it time to go?' So, I thought, perfect opportunity, I got her home, I didn't address it there, but I did give her a spanking."

Wilson went on to explain that she informed her daughter she should react much happier when she comes to pick her up.

"So the next time, she went over there, I did the review, 'now remember, when I come, you're going to say hi mom, you're not going to say, aw, I don't want to go,'" Wilson said. "Then when I picked her up, it was just all that."

The video went viral, with some users receiving more than 1 million views for their post.

"Here is Nancy Wilson, pastor's wife and homemaker, author of "A Practical Guide for Christian Grandmothers", talking about how she spanked her toddler for not being happy to see her," @notcapnamerica wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing the video.

In a blog post responding to the video, Pastor Doug Wilson wrote that "the offense was that Nancy was talking about how we taught and disciplined attitudes, and not just actions. Disciplining for actions would be when you addressed things like hitting, grabbing, pushing, and so forth."

"Many moderns don't even like it when parents exercise even that much discipline, but for them it would at least be discipline for overt deeds. But disciplining for attitudes meant that we did not allow moaning, grumbling, whining, snitching, or any of the rest of that sorry lot. For some people, this is child abuse, pure and simple. For others, it is the signal that the child has a much better opportunity to grow up into a useful and productive citizen, and who is unlikely to serve any time in a penitentiary."

Other social media users also shared the video, with some criticizing Wilson for her remarks.

"This is terrible," X user Ryan Duff said. "Sadly stuff like this is rampant in reformed style churches."

X user @ChristnNitemare said: "This is awful. For context, Doug Wilson [the guy on the right] is pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, and Nancy Wilson is his wife and an author who writes books about parenting and motherhood."

On the other hand, X user Michael Clary said: "All the hand wringing over Nancy Wilson's recent comment about disciplining her child for not greeting her properly is overblown.

"Kids who don't learn to have good attitude grow up to become insufferable adults. Kids who learn to have a good attitude grow up to have emotional self-control. They're responsible adults and are more likely to succeed in life."

Newsweek was directed to the blog post after reaching out to Pastor Doug Wilson for comment.