Current Events

Hitting, Spanking, Paddling and Using Belts to Discipline Children is Harmful

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In the United States, it is illegal for a prison guard to hit a death row inmate, it is illegal for a military sergeant to hit a private and it is illegal for a man to hit his wife. But, it is legal for an adult to hit a child. In all 50 states, the use of physical punishments on children is legal in the home. In 21 of them, it is still legal to use physical punishment in schools. Children, it seems, are the exception to the rule when it comes to physical assault.

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New Book on Patty Hearst Falls Short of Understanding Undue Influence

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I recently read a NY Times book review of AMERICAN HEIRESS: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin and listened to an interview done with the author on NPR. Honestly, I was horrified at his lack of knowledge and understanding about undue influence and disagreed 100% with his conclusions. I felt like I was listening to a “cult apologist”- someone hired by cult groups to defend the group and say they are “fine”- for example, G. Gordon Melton flying to Japan after the sarin gas attacks to defend the Aum Shinrikyo cult. The cult leader, Shoko Asahara, is on death row for being guilty of the terrorist attacks on over five thousand of Japanese citizens.

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Cult Survivors Need Compassion and Help to Recover

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On Thursday, news broke that another of the missing Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist extremist cult Boko Haram two years ago has been found. The second in just as many days, she is being hailed officially by the authorities of Nigeria as a success story and paraded in front of the media as proof the new government’s ability to defeat the cult. However, there have also been reports circulating that paint a much less celebratory picture.

It seems that some of the locals in the villages are afraid of accepting anyone who has been involved with Boko Haram. In some areas, the fear is so strong that other women who have returned from the group’s forced captivity are considered to be “unclean” and “untrustworthy” – including innocent babies fathered by acts of rape. Though it is true that sometimes women taken by the militant cult have been used as suicide bombers, even those who present no physical danger are being cast away and even shunned. This same situation is occurring with those fleeing ISIS and other cults across the globe.

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Prince and the Power of Undue Influence

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By now, almost everyone reading has heard the news that Prince has died. Though the exact cause of his death is still unknown, there have been speculations that his beliefs as a Jehovah’s Witness may have played a part. Whether or not the rumors are true, it is a fact that Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught to abstain from blood transfusions. If Prince were to have refused treatment and died, he would not be the first to do so as a result of Watchtower doctrine.*

One has to wonder though, how does a person like Prince become a Jehovah’s Witness?

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