@mesquite,
Mesquite,
I figured this would be the verse that would be quoted. The "son" spoken of here is accused of gluttony and drunkeness (hardly the sins of your typical child), so it is reasonable to conclude that he is an adult. So we are not talking about stoning some ten year old child because he refuses to go to bed when told to.
In this case, we have an adult who is in active rebellion against his parents, being disrespectful, apparently getting drunk often and indulging in any number of other sins. One also has to consider the familial aspects of that ancient time...families were much closer, living together and supporting each other far into old age of the parents. Adult sons typically continued their father's business or vocation and remained responsible for taking care of their aged parents until they died. This son has apparently abrogated all those responsibilities...he is, in effect, incorrigible. Thus the parents, in desperation, turn to the civic authorities to help turn him around, and yes, if he still cannot be corrected, stoning is conducted by the authorities.
This is not all that different from parents nowadays who, out of desperation, turn to the civic authorities when their children are out of control or a threat to themselves or their livelihood. Of course, these days we typically send them to rehab, juvenile hall or if their addiction/disobedience turns violent and they are adults, we send them to prison. We certainly don't execute them for disobedience. But those were harsher times, where the family's survival was entirely dependent on a son's ability to "bring home the bacon". This is a case which is akin to parental abuse/neglect and certainly not a case of parents wishing to stone little johnny because he won't stop pulling his sister's pigtails.
