adjective "Christian"

[Barbara Need]

>from the NYT, 3/10/05, p. A22, "Favor the Rod, Get the Ax" (with
>subhead: "College Expels Education Student Who Advocated Corporal
>Punishment"), by Patrick D. Healy:
>
>The profanity transported him [Scott McConnell, the education student
>in question] back to his own days at Robert E. Lee Elementary School in
>Oklahoma in the 1980's, when there was a swift solution for wiseacres:
>The paddle.
>
>"It was a footlong piece of wood, and hung on every classroom wall like
>a symbol, a strong Christian symbol," said Mr. McConnell, who is 26.
>-----
>
>i'm struggling to see how a paddle used for punishment serves as a
>Christian symbol.  what's the interpretation of "Christian" here?
>
>arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu)

Puritan is my guess.

Barbara