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May 8, 2013 News

Dawkins to moderate Religious Child Abuse Panel

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May 8, 2013 News

The story has also been picked up by the Christian Post. Read the story here.

By Sean Faircloth

May 8, 2013

At the American Humanist Association conference in San Diego, on Saturday June 1 at 9am, Richard Dawkins will moderate a panel entitled “Religious Fundamentalism & The Abuse of Children.” (Register here: http://ahacon13.eventbrite.com)  This has long been an area of primary concern for Richard Dawkins.

I come to the same focus from a different angle. Shortly after law school, I served as an Assistant Attorney General in my home state handling child protection cases.  This motivated me to become very involved in children’s advocacy during my ten years in the Maine legislature.  It is disheartening how often religion is used as a justification for policies that would never be acceptable – but for the imprimatur of religion.

Janet Heimlich approached me about doing a panel on this topic at the last American Humanist Association convention.  Janet is author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, which examines religiously-motivated child abuse and neglect. Ms. Heimlich also heads the Child-Friendly Faith Project, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the impact that belief and faith practices have on children in America.

Read the rest of this RichardDawkins.net piece here.

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