An Open Letter to the Alabama Baptist Pastor Group

More than 100 Alabama Baptist pastors have signed a public statement denouncing “sexual abuse, assault, harassment, and exploitation of women.” Christa Brown, a survivor of sexual abuse, an outspoken critic of the Southern Baptist Convention, and a board member of the Child-Friendly Faith Project, responds.
To Baptist Pastors of Alabama:
I

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What does your religion say about hitting children?

Where does your place of worship stand on the issue of corporal punishment of children? If you attend a conservative church, synagogue, or mosque, especially if it’s in ons of the southern “bible belt” states, chances are it supports hitting children as a form of discipline.
When the school district

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Idaho legislators support letting children die of medical neglect

Telling constituents it’s acceptable to deny children needed medical care doesn’t seem like something that would get a politician re-elected. But that’s what’s happening in Idaho.
Child advocates have been imploring lawmakers there to change laws that prevent adults who deny children needed medical care from being prosecuted. The laws

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What is Religious Child Maltreatment?

What is Religious Child Maltreatment?

When I began writing my book, Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, the term religious child maltreatment or RCM did not exist (and numerous searches proved that Google had never heard of it.)
This dearth of information indicated that there hadn’t been much study on the negative impacts of

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A Pioneer in Children’s Advocacy Retires

Anyone who follows the issue of religious child maltreatment—particularly cases in which children die from “faith healing”-related medical neglect—has heard of Dr. Rita Swan. I have had the honor of working with Rita and consider her a friend. Now this pioneer in child advocacy has announced she will retire at the end of this month.

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Idaho lawmakers publicly shamed for allowing children to die

The Child-Friendly Faith Project and child advocates in Idaho and around the country have worked hard to raise awareness of an unfolding tragedy: For decades, Idaho has been allowing parents to deny their children needed medical care, as long as they justify such neglect with religion.
Now people around the world are paying

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