Rita Swan, the founder of C.H.I.L.D. Inc. is featured on this podcast from the Thinking Atheist. Here, she eloquently makes the case against the legal permissiveness of religious faith-healing in the case of children, which has caused the needless deaths of too many children. Swan is a former Christian Scientist.
http://percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=138407&episodeId=8235103
I built a small deck out behind the townhouse I rent over a recent long weekend. I’m not much of a carpenter, but I have what I’d call decent ‘common-sense’ skills, and plenty of knowledge gained from watching and helping others who are very good carpenters. One of them was my Dad, whom I spent many years of my youth watching (at first), then later helping him with projects. That mentorship has continued in more recent years with opportunities to help friends with various projects.
Image credit: One Furious Llama (onefuriousllama.com).
As I’m sure many have done, I’ve watched with horror and sadness at the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Syria that has resulted in a flood of refugees fleeing to Europe. This has been the largest migration of refugees to Europe since World War II. Some European countries have welcomed the refugees with open arms, others have greeted them with racial slurs and personal insults–including one Hungarian journalist who chose to stick her foot out in front of a refugee who was running and trip them. Pressure is also mounting here in my own country, Canada, to step up and accept more refugees, and it became a hot-button issue in our recent federal election campaign. Continue reading
Just over a year ago I wrote this post, regarding Linda Osmundson, a prominent resident of the St. Petersburg, Florida area, who was the founder of a local organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence. She was also a Christian Scientist, and was forced to resign her position with the organization she founded due to a very obvious health concern in the form of a growth on her face. Sadly, I have recently learned that she has succumbed to whatever her illness was (she apparently did have a diagnosis, but never shared it publicly). Continue reading
Emerging Gently 