Internet Slams Mom Who Punished Son for Throwing Away Stepdad's Bible

The internet has slammed a woman who punished her son for throwing away his stepdad's Bible.

User threwvaway9707 shared the story in a viral post on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA**hole forum, writing: "My husband and my son fight a lot. I tried to intervene but my husband asked me to stay out of it. My husband came up with a bunch of nicknames to call my son, it all started when they were fighting and in each fight or argument, my husband comes up with a new nickname to call him until they fight again or my son apologizes.

"Nicknames like dipstick, stone-cold embarrassment, a**clown, dweeb, etc… Since their last fight, my husband has been calling my son a**clown—my son spoke up about how annoying it was and threatened my husband saying that if he didn't stop, he'll throw away something of his."

The poster explained that her husband had recently called her son an a**clown in front of his friends, causing a huge fight.

"My husband later called me panicking saying my son had taken his Bible after their fight and refused to give it back," wrote the poster: "I went home and asked my son what happened. I told him I'd talk to my husband about it later but asked him to give back the Bible. He said he no longer had it because he threw it out. I was in shock and told him this was offensive to his stepdad and his religion."

The post has over 13,000 upvotes and has generated thousands of comments.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, 42 percent of Americans say they have at least one step relative.

Threwvaway9707 explained how shocked she was and later told her son how offensive his behavior had been to his stepdad. "I punished him and took his allowance for the rest of the month," said the poster.

In over 6,000 comments below the post, Redditors slammed the poster for her behavior towards her son, with many telling her she was in the wrong.

One commenter wrote: "Why would you take your husband's side over your sons in the first place? Secondly, your husband sounds like a TOXIC and ABUSIVE adult. Lastly, you're turning a blind eye to abuse. You're allowing for trauma to take place in your son's life."

Another said: "Nicknames are like Buddy, Pal, Sport. Those are insults. You need to learn the difference. YTA [You're The A**hole] and so is your awful husband. Tell him to go read Matthew 5:22."

"Ah yes, the classic move of turning a blind eye to your husband's abuse while punishing your child for their reaction to the abuse," said another user.

The poster later updated Redditors, writing: "I never agreed to my husband's way of trying to work issues out with my son," and: "I do try and find solutions to these problems that keep occurring, and even arranged for family therapy but neither of them agreed to go."

A 2018 study in the Journal of Family Therapy found that family therapy demonstrated effectiveness in treating emotional problems, conduct issues, eating disorders, and recovery from abuse or neglect.

Despite the updates, comments on the post continued to disagree with the poster, with one writing: "Your husband threw out his Bible long before your son did."

Newsweek has reached out to threwvaway9707 for comment.