Prestigious school sued: A school psychologist is accused of affair with client's mother

NYTimes

The father of a kindergartner at Sidwell Friends, one of the most prestigious private schools in Washington, filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the school and its former psychologist, claiming that the psychologist had an affair with his wife while treating his daughter.

The psychologist, James F. Huntington, was fired from Sidwell in February, the complaint says, nearly a year after the kindergartner’s father, Arthur G. Newmyer, raised his concern about the matter with the school’s chairman, who then notified the school’s lawyer.

At the time of the firing, the principal of the middle school e-mailed parents saying that Dr. Huntington had “served the school community with distinction and warmth for 10 years, and we are grateful for his many contributions,” according to the lawsuit. [....]

Religious belief is human nature: Oxford University massive study claims

CNN

Religion comes naturally, even instinctively, to human beings, a massive new study of cultures all around the world suggests.

"We tend to see purpose in the world," Oxford University professor Roger Trigg said Thursday. "We see agency. We think that something is there even if you can't see it. ... All this tends to build up to a religious way of thinking." [....]

Beware: Anonymous comments are being deleted

I have been lax in enforcing my policy of not publishing anonymous comments. However today I am working on deleting them.

If your anonymous comment did not get publish - simply send it again - with any name other than "anonymous" 

It is simply impossible to keep track of different viewpoints if they
are all called anonymous!

Is encouraging others to commit suicide a crime?

Time

On Nov. 27, 2005, a man in Faribault, Minn., received an e-mail with a subject line that read, "Melissa goodbye to Li Dao." It was a suicide note, scribbled digitally, sent by a woman to her online pen pal who had actively encouraged her to embrace death. The only catch: Li Dao was not a real person, and, according to authorities, the virtual advice was not an act of empathy but an attempt to manipulate Melissa into taking her own life — all for what the man told the police was the "the thrill of the chase."

Li Dao was one of the several aliases used by 48-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel, who would impersonate a female nurse and advise people on suicide methods in online chat rooms. Melissa was one of the dozens of victims he encouraged to commit suicide by feigning compassion. "Having your support is going to help me muster up the strength to go through with this," Melissa wrote to him. Melchert-Dinkel (who was a registered nurse at the time) then replied, advising Melissa to stay calm while she took her own life: "Just let yourself down on the rope and let go."[....]

Peace Corps' history of silencing the victim in sexual assault cases

NYTimes

Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.

When she returned to the United States, the reception she received from Peace Corps officials was as devastating, she said, as the rape itself. In Bangladesh, she had been given scant medical care; in Washington, a counselor implied that she was to blame for the attack. For years she kept quiet, feeling “ashamed and embarrassed and guilty.” [...]

Just published: "Child & Domestic Abuse - Compact Practical Guide Edition"

In preparation for the presentation I am giving Lag B'Omer at the White Institute conference on abuse in the Orthodox community and in response to those who  just want to know the basic halachic parameters of abuse in an inexpensive volume - I have just published a compact practical guide to abuse. This contains the text of Volume I including the Synopsis of Rav Sternbuch's views and the Practical Guide and my essays. However it does not contain the  important essays contributed by  rabbis, psychologists, and lawyers which fully describe the nuances of the psychological and legal issues. I also included the teshuvos of contemporary gedolim from Volume II dealing with abuse and calling the police or social agencies - both the translation and Hebrew source. However it doesn't include the many texts describing important associated issues. Thus I have selected 150 pages of the basic core material from the 800 pages published in Volumes I & II. This compact guide can serve as a stand alone source book or as an introduction/review of Volume I and II. Currently it is only available from the Amazon Createspace store (click link to order) - but should be available on Amazon  in another week. Volumes I & II are currently available from Amazon

Reporting the "atrocity" of photoshopping women - leitzanus for a slow news day

Hirhurim - by Rabbi Gil Student

I never thought I’d be in the position of defending extreme Chasidic “modesty” but I have no choice. The mocking condemnations of the Chasidic newspaper Di Tzeitung that are flying through cyberspace due to the paper’s removal of women from a picture are so lacking in self-awareness that someone needs to point out that the two parties in this discussion are flip sides of the same coin.

The newspaper’s decision is objectionable on many points, including copyright law, sensitivity and honesty. I can’t defend it. But rather than mock I can try to understand it. Satire can be insightful even when it is merciless. However, too often it is merely getting a cheap laugh or an easy position of outrage at the expense of thoughtful consideration.