ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 137

Women Accuse Evangelical Pastor Of Abuse Years After Being Told To Keep Silent

By Carol Kuruvilla Seventeen years ago, two teenagers approached a Southern Baptist church in Indiana with allegations that their youth pastor had used his position of authority to sexually abuse them. Megan Frey and Jo Anna Hendrickson claim that back then, the church’s leader tried to sweep the reports under the rug. The 18-year-olds were …

A Teen Says Her Catholic High School Forced Her Into Counseling For Being Gay. Her Parents Had No Idea.

By Claudia Koerner UPLAND, California — Magali Rodriguez said she didn’t kiss her girlfriend at school. At Bishop Amat Memorial High School, the biggest Catholic school in the Los Angeles area, it wasn’t against the rules to be gay — Rodriguez at one point checked the student handbook. But she knew not everyone on campus …

Calling Out Sexual Abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses Is a Horrific Struggle

By Summer Lin In 2013, after Debbie McDaniel left her Jehovah’s Witness congregation in McAlester, Oklahoma, she went to police and told them members had been sitting outside her apartment, monitoring her every move. The Witnesses, she said, were trying to make the case that she was unfit to parent her son, on account of …

First New HIV Strain in 19 Years Identified

By Karen Weintraub A research group at the medical-device and health care giant Abbott has discovered a new strain of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV—the first to be identified in 19 years. Abbott continues to look for potential new HIV strains to ensure that diagnostic tests for blood screening and detecting infectious diseases remain up to date, …

Malaysia sentences five men to jail, caning and fines for gay sex

By Rozanna Latiff A Malaysian religious court sentenced five men on Thursday to jail, caning and fines for attempting gay sex, media and a rights group said. Sodomy and same-sex acts are illegal under Islamic law in Muslim-majority Malaysia, although convictions are rare. The Selangor Shariah High Court, on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, …

Kerala Catholic Priest Who Called Kids With Autism “Animals,” Will Now Counsel Them

By Sreedevi Jayarajan Five months after Father Dominic Valanmanal stirred a controversy by comparing children on the autism spectrum to animals, the Catholic priest has scheduled ‘counselling sessions’ and a ‘prayer meet’ for autistic children and their parents in Kerala. In June 2019, Father Dominic was uninvited by churches in Canada and Ireland after his …

A new chain of Christian pregnancy centers will provide a controversial service: Contraception

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey When a low-income woman searches for reproductive care, she often goes to a Planned Parenthood clinic, where she’s treated as a patient with an array of medical options. Or she might go to a Christian pregnancy center, where she is counseled to carry a pregnancy to term. But some Christians now see …

The World’s Thickest Mountain Glacier Is Finally Melting, and Climate Change Is 100% to Blame

By Brandon Specktor Massive and meaty, the Taku glacier in Alaska’s Juneau Icefield was a poster child for the frozen places holding their own against climate change. As the largest of 20 major glaciers in the region and one of the single thickest glaciers in the world (it measures 4,860 feet, or 1,480 meters, from surface to floor), …

John Crist, a popular Christian comedian, cancels tour after sexual harassment allegations

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey Christian comedian John Crist canceled his tour after allegations of sexual harassment and pressuring women into sexual relationships were published Wednesday in a popular magazine for charismatic Christians. Five women shared their stories of mistreatment with Charisma magazine. The allegations from the past seven years include that Crist offered show tickets in …

How Mike Pence’s Office Meddled in Foreign Aid to Reroute Money to Favored Christian Groups

By Yeganeh Torbati Last November, a top Trump appointee at the U.S. Agency for International Development wrote a candid email to colleagues about pressure from the White House to reroute Middle East aid to religious minorities, particularly Christian groups. “Sometimes this decision will be made for us by the White House (see… Iraq! And, increasingly, …