We do not really believe that it is a good thing to hit people. Most of us are not 'in favor' of hitting children. We are in favor of spanking and physical punishment. The law attempts to make a physical attack on a child's body a thing that is all right to do. The way a spanking looks and feels must be confusing for children.
Parents are their example of what is right and good.
Parents' behavior is their example of what love looks and feels like. When a person wants to control others, it must be okay to hit them, spanking seems to say. For children whose parents tell them that hitting is wrong, hitting might also seem to say that it is all right to do something that is wrong. It certainly does not show or say to the child what behavior is wanted. There is no obligation or duty to hit children.