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In her memoir, Amber Scorah describes how she came to be disillusioned with the Jehovah’s Witnesses when she reached her 30s, prompting her to leave the group. Read more

Dr. Jaime Romo discusses his journey through clergy sexual abuse and discusses what we can all learn from survivors of clergy abuse. Dr. Romo discusses his reactions and perspectives about the current crisis facing our religious institutions today and what survivors can do to continue to heal. Read more

Martha Peight stood in the first row of the courtroom, shaking yet resolute, as she held the printout of her victim-impact statement. In the benches behind her sat members of area Mennonite churches, wearing the traditional plain clothing of a separatist culture she had left behind — the bearded men in work clothes or dark suits, the women in long dresses and head coverings. Read more

The findings of this University of Chicago study cast light on the cultural input of religion on prosocial behavior and contradict the common-sense and popular assumption that children from religious households are more altruistic and kind toward others. More generally, they call into question whether religion is vital for moral development, supporting the idea that the secularization of moral discourse will not reduce human kindness—in fact, it will do just the opposite. Read more

Affirmation supports LGBTQ/SSA Mormons and their families, friends and Church leaders in seeking to live healthy and productive lives consistent with their faith or heritage. Read more

A study conducted by the CDC to characterize the epidemiology of suicidal behaviors among youth aged 10-17 years occurring from 2011 through 2015 in Utah, identify the risks and protective factors for these behaviors, and map and compare suicide prevention initiatives by school districts. Read more

ParentShift is an extraordinary guidebook offering a refreshing new approach to raising confident, healthy, whole human beings from toddler to teen. Groundbreaking in its scope and methodology, ParentShift challenges some of our most popular disciplinary tools — including punishments, threats, bribery and rewards — all of which, science has shown, sabotage long-term goals we have for our kids. Read more

This podcast offers real-world guidance to secular parents raising children in a religious world. Hosted by Janet Heimlich, Dale McGowan, and others. Read more

A podcast about raising compassionate, curious kids without religion. Hosted by Dale McGowan, editor and co-author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers. Read more

CRHE is a nonpartisan organization committed to ensuring that the interests of the homeschooled child are respected alongside the interests of the homeschooling parent. CRHE was created to educate and inform citizens, lawmakers, and service providers about the protections homeschooled children and youth need. Read more

On a daily basis, author and LGBTQ advocate Amber Cantorna receives emails asking the same question: How does one reconcile their sexuality with their faith? Depression, despair, and thoughts of suicide often haunt LGBTQ Christians as they feel unable to imagine the possibility of living a happy, fulfilling life as an LGBTQ person of faith. Read more

Some churches “weaponize scripture and religion to do very deep damage on the psyche,” one pastor says. “We think of church as a place of healing and transformation, and it is,” says Michael Walrond Jr., pastor of the First Corinthian Baptist Church in Harlem. But for some, he says, “religion has been more bruising and damaging than healing and transformative.” Read more

Our Whole Lives helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. With a holistic approach, Our Whole Lives provides accurate, developmentally appropriate information about a range of topics, including relationships, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual health, and cultural influences on sexuality. Read more

Advocating for everyone’s right to accurate and comprehensive sexuality information, education, and related health services since 1964. Read more

Promo video for the book BREAKING THEIR WILL: SHEDDING LIGHT ON RELIGIOUS CHILD MALTREATMENT by Janet Heimlich Read more

Banking on Heaven is the inside story of the largest polygamous enclave in the United States, produced and narrated by Laurie Allen, who escaped a similar sect a age sixteen. Banking on Heaven exposes a culture that robs our welfare system, and uses mind control and fear to enslave thousands of Americans. The film reveals the politicians' failure to help, the Mormon Church's role and the plight of innocent members of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS). This Heartfelt story is told by those still inside, and those who have escaped. And you, the taxpayer are financing this corrupt sect. Read more

Detective William Hursel has worked countless murder cases, staring down the cruelest deeds humanity has to offer. But nothing prepares him for what he’ll uncover while pursuing 14-year-old Christopher Pesner, a suspect in the brutal rage-killing of his own mother. Read more

The prevention of pain in neonates should be the goal of all pediatricians and abstract health care professionals who work with neonates, not only because it is ethical but also because repeated painful exposures have the potential for deleterious consequences. Neonates at greatest risk of neurodevelopmental impairment as a result of preterm birth (ie, the smallest and sickest) are also those most likely to be exposed to the greatest number of painful stimuli in the NICU. Read more

Between the ages of 8 and 14, girls’ confidence levels fall by 30 percent. Fighting it requires taking some risks. Read more

As parents, we want our children to be emotionally resilient — able to handle life’s ups and downs. But parents’ ability to foster resilience in our children hinges a great deal on our own emotional resilience. Read more

It doesn’t make you look authoritative. It makes you look out of control to your kids. It makes you look weak. Read more

Rewards and punishments are conditional, but our love and positive regard for our kids should be unconditional. Here’s how to change the conversation and the behavior. Read more

Communities throughout the United States were convulsed in the 1980s and early 1990s by accusations, often without a shred of serious evidence, that respectable men and women in their midst many of them trusted preschool teachers secretly gathered in far reaching conspiracies to rape and terrorize children. In this powerful book, Debbie Nathan and Mike Snedeker examine the forces fueling this blind panic. Read more

When Anne A Johnson Davis was just three years old, her mother and stepfather began to physically, sexually and mentally torture her in the name of Satan. Until she ran away from home at 17, her parents and other cult members subjected her to satanic ritual abuse (SRA), a criminally inhumane and bizarre form of devil worship. Read more

Christian Science was based on a belief that intense contemplation of the perfection of God can heal all ills-an extreme expression of the American faith in self-reliance. In this unflinching investigation, Caroline Fraser, herself raised in a Scientist household, shows how the Church transformed itself from a small, eccentric sect into a politically powerful and socially respectable religion, and explores the human cost of Christian Science's remarkable rise. Read more

"Growing Up in Mama's Club" is a compelling, coming-of-age story about a boy who is a victim of sixteen years of emotional, religious abuse. His day-to-day life and his attempts to conform to a belief system at odds with his intellectual skills are at times both heart-rending and humorous. But his ultimate triumph over religious indoctrination should be inspirational for people of all ages, especially for anyone growing up in an abusive environment. Read more

There is a silent epidemic of childhood sexual abuse in the United States and a legal system that is not effectively protecting children from predators. Recent coverage of widespread abuse in the public schools and in churches has brought the once-taboo subject of childhood sexual abuse to the forefront. The problem extends well beyond schools and churches, though: the vast majority of survivors are sexually abused by family or family acquaintances with 90 percent of abuse never reported to the authorities. Read more

The bestselling, devastating account of three sisters torn apart, abused and exploited at the hands of a community that robbed them of their childhood. It reveals three lives, separate but entwined, that have experienced unspeakable horror, unrelenting loyalty and unforgettable courage. Read more

For over twenty-five years, charismatic Pentecostal evangelist Brother Tony Leyva used Christianity, the Bible, and his status as an "anointed prophet of God" to gain access to, seduce, and sexually assault the young sons of his enthralled followers in twenty-three states. How could such heinous acts continue undetected for over two decades? Read more

Leaving the Fold is a self-help book that examines the effects of authoritarian religion (fundamentalist Christianity in particular) on individuals who leave the faith. The concrete steps for healing are useful for anyone in recovery from toxic religion. Read more

As a pastor with 40 years of experience, Keith Wright came to realize that a dichotomy exists within the walls of many churches. While many churchgoers find the environment wonderfully embracing and supportive, the fact is that religion can offer both a positive and a negative experience. Religious abuse affects millions of church members and church leaders in every denomination. It can be blatant, but it can also be extremely subtle and unintentional. Keith Wright believes that only when we recognize and acknowledge the problem can we work toward positive change that allows us to truly benefit from the good. Recommended: chapter on religion and abuse of children (p. 61) Read more

The author is a psychiatrist. He attempts here to study the family, sexual practices, and child-rearing customs in five cultures (those of Egypt, Greece, the ancient Hebrews, Rome, China), and to draw some insights from these histories. Read more

Through the Narrow Gate is Karen Armstrong's intimate memoir of life inside a Catholic convent. With refreshing honesty and clarity, the book takes readers on a revelatory adventure that begins with Armstrong's decision in the course of her spiritual training offers a fascinating view into a shrouded religious life, and a vivid, moving account of the spiritual coming age of one of our most loved and respected interpreters of religious. Read more

The Spanking Room is the true story of a young boy's upbringing, and how the unorthodox doctrines of the Watchtower Society encourage violence against its most helpless members--the children. Read more

Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared for. But when it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia’s parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office--they prayed, and called a Christian Science practitioner. Read more

Clergy sex abuse, polygamy, children dying from faith healing, companies that refuse to do business with same-sex couples, and residential neighborhoods forced to host homeless shelters - what do all of these have in common? They are all examples of religious believers harming others and demanding religious liberty regardless of the harm. This book unmasks those responsible, explains how this new set of rights is not derived from the First Amendment, and argues for a return to common-sense religious liberty. In straightforward, readable prose, God vs. the Gavel: The Perils of Extreme Religious Liberty sets the record straight about the United States' move toward extreme religious liberty. Read more

Parenting for a Peaceful World is a fascinating look at how parenting customs have shaped societies and major world events. It reveals how children adapt to different parenting styles and how these early experiences underpin the adults they become. In this expansive book, Robin Grille draws on revolutionary new research to argue that the safeguarding of children’s emotional development is the key to creating a more peaceful and harmonious world. Read more

Abraham on Trial questions the foundations of faith that have made a virtue out of the willingness to sacrifice a child. Through his desire to obey God at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing his son, Abraham became the definitive model of faith for the major world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this bold look at the legacy of this biblical and qur'anic story, Carol Delaney explores how the sacrifice rather than the protection of children became the focus of faith, to the point where the abuse and betrayal of children has today become widespread and sometimes institutionalized. Read more

Much of today's writing on children treats the child of any age as a problem or a set of problems to be solved, effectively reducing the child to a complex of biological and chemical factors, explainable in scientific terms, or regarding children as objects of adult control. In contrast, Martin Marty here presents the child as a mystery who invokes wonder and elicits creative responses that affect the care provided him or her. Read more

Worship and Sin: Religion-Related Crime in the United States raises provocative questions about the role of religion in crime and criminal behavior. Arguing that religion-related crime should be classified as a distinct subset of crime worthy of continued investigation by scholars, this book brings together for the first time the disparate scholarly research related to various types of religion-related crime, presents numerous examples, and considers the practical and legal issues facing practitioners of various disciplines. Recommended: chapter on crimes against children chapter (p. 49) Read more

The dramatic true story of how the author ultimately escaped and has been fighting against frustrating obstacles with hard fought successes in rescuing women and children from the FLDS. Read more

Since founding ECPAT, an international organization working to end child prostitution and pornography, in 1991, the author has sadly come to recognize that church leaders and representatives are not exempt from involvement in the sexual abuse of children. Although working in a secular and apolitical organization, the author's Christian belief and experience have informed this study of a deeply disturbing phenomenon. He seeks through unsensational language to expose the truth of the church's involvement and by so doing start the search for solutions. Read more

The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family. Some adoptions, though, present unique challenges. Welcoming these children into your family--and addressing their special needs--requires care, consideration, and compassion. Read more

A number of cases of serious child abuse have resulted from beliefs that children may be possessed by evil spirits and may then be given the power to bewitch others. Misfortune, failure, illness and even death may be blamed on them. The 'cure', nowadays called deliverance rather than exorcism, is to expel the spirits, sometimes by violent means. This book draws together contributions on aspects of possession and witchcraft from leading academics and expert practitioners in the field. Read more

Genital mutilation in the USA has been a well-kept secret. "The Rape of Innocence" is an autobiographical account of a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant woman who discovered she had been the victim of clitoridectomy as a child in Kansas in the 1950s. Read more

The relentless crescendo of revelations of sexual abuse in the nation's Catholic churches has rocked the nation. Just how widespread is child sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy? And why hasn't the Catholic church done more to stop it? Read more

What sets this book apart from the many others on the topic is the emphasis on how a church congregation can begin to work to heal the wounds of sexual abuse and prevent further abuses from happening. Church members often must, at the same time, offer love, understanding, and healing to survivors while confronting (and still loving) the perpetrator. Includes a forward by Marie M. Fortune. Read more

An investigative reporter offers a portrait of Andrea Yates and her drowning of her five young children, incorporating the information from more than two hundred interviews to reveal the inner workings of the case. Read more

The author examines the consequences of repression at personal and social levels, the causes of the physical and psychological harm done to children and how this can be prevented, and finally the new methods at our disposal for dealing with the consequences of infant traumas. Read more

In this groundbreaking book, trauma expert J. Eric Gentry builds upon the pioneering insights of such luminaries as neuroscientist Stephen Porges, Judith Herman and Bessel van der Kolk to introduce Forward-Facing Trauma Therapy (FFTT), the next evolutionary leap in the treatment of traumatic stress. Unlike many traditional psychotherapies, FFTT eschews the assumption that psychological problems are caused by our faulty perceptions and skewed thought processes. Instead, FFTT addresses trauma and its destructive symptomology at its source our overcharged autonomic nervous systems and hypervigilant threat response resulting from our adaptation to painful past experiences. Read more

The focus of Roots of Empathy in the long term is to build capacity of the next generation for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting. In the short term, Roots of Empathy focuses on raising levels of empathy, resulting in more respectful and caring relationships and reduced levels of bullying and aggression. Read more

Some churches “weaponize scripture and religion to do very deep damage on the psyche,” one pastor says. Read more

"Despite being molested by a priest as a child, I had no contentions with religion or other religious figures – they weren’t the problem." Read more

KOMO-TV segment on the death of Hana Williams and the controversial book To Train Up a Child. Janet Heimlich, author of Breaking Their Will, comments on the potential danger of the book. (3:00) Read more

hild-Friendly Faith Project President Janet Heimlich addresses attendees at the organization's first conference on November 8, 2013. Janet explains that the event marks the beginning of a unique opportunity: to start a conversation about how to protect children from abuse and neglect in faith communities. (7:00) Read more

After learning about notorious clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse scandals and high-profile "faith healing" child-death cases, the public has come to understand that faith communities are not immune to child abuse and neglect. But can religious belief itself contribute to child maltreatment? In her compelling talk, Janet Heimlich will discuss a dark side of faith -- religious child maltreatment. She will explain how this form of abuse and neglect damages the lives of young people, which children are at the greatest risk, and what we can do to ensure that a religious upbringing is a nurturing experience for every child. (1:11:00) Read more

Janet Heimlich, author of "Breaking Their Will," talks about religious child maltreatment. (7:00) Read more

Janet Heimlich, author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, was the guest speaker at Atheists United. Her book is the first to take an in-depth look at child abuse and neglect caused by religious belief. Bethany Brittain joined Ms. Heimlich on stage to share her personal story about being abused as a child in the name of religion. (1:20:00) Read more

In Faith and In Doubt helps partners navigate the complexities of their situation while celebrating the extraordinary richness it affords their relationship, their children, and those around them. Read more

Raising Freethinkers covers every topic nonreligious parents need to know to help their children with their own moral, intellectual, and emotional development, including sound advice on religious-extended-family issues, death and life, secular celebrations, wondering and questioning, and more. Read more

Perfect for expecting parents who want to prepare themselves for the challenging toddler years (which starts around eight months of age), this essential guide, a national bestseller by respected pediatrician and child development expert Dr. Harvey Karp, not only helps reduce tantrums but makes happy kids even happier by boosting patience, cooperation, and self-confidence. Read more

Thousands of parents, from regular moms and dads to Hollywood superstars, have come to baby expert Dr. Harvey Karp to learn his remarkable techniques for soothing babies and increasing sleep. Now his landmark book—fully revised and updated with the latest insights into infant sleep, bedsharing, breastfeeding, swaddling, and SIDS risk—can teach you too! Read more

Everything you need to know about discipline to raise a happy, well-adjusted, well-behaved child-from America's foremost baby and childcare experts Disciplining children means equipping them with the tools to succeed in life. In this unique guide, Dr. Bill and Martha Sears, the pediatrics specialists whose books on birth, babies, and parenting have become widely praised bestsellers, explain what you can do to shape your child's behavior so that good conduct comes naturally. Read more

Dr. Bill and Martha Sears -- the doctor-and-nurse, husband-and-wife team who coined the term "attachment parenting" -- answer these and many more questions in this practical, inspiring guide. Attachment parenting is a style of parenting that encourages a strong early attachment, and advocates parental responsiveness to babies' dependency needs. Read more

The Searses draw from their vast experience both as medical professionals and pas parents to provide comprehensive information on virtually every aspect of infant care. The Baby Book focuses on the essential needs of babies -- eating, sleeping, develipment, health, and comfort -- as it addresses the questions of greatest concern to today's parents. Read more

Unconditional Parenting addresses the ways parents think about, feel about, and act with their children. It invites them to question their most basic assumptions about raising kids while offering a wealth of practical strategies for shifting from "doing to" to "working with" parenting - including how to replace praise with the unconditional support that children need to grow into healthy, caring, responsible people. Read more

A thought-provoking collection of twenty-five stories that reflect the wonder and glory of the origins of the world and humankind. With commentary by the author. “A must for mythology shelves.”--Booklist Read more

"Relax, It's Just God" goes beyond the numbers to assist parents (and grandparents) who may be struggling to find the right time place, tone and language with which to talk about God, spirituality and organized religion. It encourages parents to promote religious literacy and understanding and to support kids as they explore religion on their own -- ensuring that each child makes up his or her own mind about what to believe (or not believe) and extends love and respect to those who may not agree with them. Read more

This candid parenting guide rejects the idea that parents need God to raise moral children. Full of practical advice drawn from nearly fifteen years of parenting and educating children, Be-Asia McKerracher offers parents an alternative to a strictly religious upbringing. Read more

In this wise and witty book, author, youth expert, and practicing minister Jeffrey D. Jones brings to light the spiritual aspects of parenting that are often ignored by popular experts and gurus. Jones shows you how to attend to your own inner spiritual life and to the quality of your relationships within your family. Read more