What does your religion say about hitting children?

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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As bad as the Harvey Weinstein scandal is, religious organizations accused of abuses could learn from Hollywood

As bad as the Harvey Weinstein scandal is, religious organizations accused of abuses could learn from Hollywood

The entertainment industry seems to get it: Harvey Weinstein couldn’t have sexually abused so many women without help from the enabling culture of Hollywood. Why is it so difficult for religious organizations facing abuse scandals to come to a similar realization?
Many in the entertainment industry know that the movie mogul Harvey

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Remembering Barbara Blaine, Founder of SNAP

Remembering Barbara Blaine, Founder of SNAP

CFFP Board President Dr. Jaime Romo shares a remembrance of Barbara Blaine, who died on Septermber 24, 2017 at the age of 61. Ms. Blaine founded the advocacy group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
In 2002, as an assistant professor at a Catholic university, I attended a conference

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Idaho legislators support letting children die of medical neglect

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

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

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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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