The Abuse of Forgiveness

The Abuse of Forgiveness

According to mental health experts, forgiving someone who has wronged us can improve our emotional well-being. Acts of forgiveness can have even more far-ranging societal benefits. For example, the Rwandan gacaca genocide trials relied on a system of forgiveness, allowing defendants who confess to receiving lighter sentences. Part of the reason for

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Guest Blog: A physician weighs in on Iceland’s effort to protect boys from genital cutting

Guest Blog: A physician weighs in on Iceland’s effort to protect boys from genital cutting

The oldest running parliament in the world may soon achieve a legislative first—ending circumcision of both girls and boys.
A bill before the Icelandic parliament proposes to expand its law that currently protects girls from genital cutting to also protect boys, including infants.
The measure states that medically unnecessary circumcision of

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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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An open letter to the people of Idaho

An open letter to the people of Idaho

Many Idahoans are clear on where they stand on the issue of “faith healing” medical neglect.
There are those who believe that the state has a responsibility to protect the health and safety of its children, including those who are being raised by parents or guardians with extreme beliefs about

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Unity of Austin becomes Charter Member of the CFFP

Unity of Austin becomes Charter Member of the CFFP

We are honored to designate Unity of Austin as a Charter Member of the Child-Friendly Faith Project. The church recently achieved this status after participating in a self-paced discussion series, the first phase of our Child-Friendly Faith Communities Designation Program.
The curriculum, which is specially designed for faith communities, offers

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