iron age religious bullshit put the life of a newborn in danger
After giving birth alone in her home, a Jerusalem Haredi woman hid her baby under her dress with the umbilical cord still attached, hid the placenta in a bag, and refused to speak to anyone including paramedics.
The reason? She had pledged not to speak until the end of Shabbat on Saturday night, reports Haaretz.
According to Failed Messiah, no one knew that the baby had been born until the woman's husband returned to Givat Shaul, a Jerusalem synagogue, and asked the rabbi for a blessing.
"When the rabbi asked why, he said his wife had given birth and was sitting at home with the baby," Ariel Atias, one of the paramedics, told Haaretz.
It was then that the rabbi called Hatzalah emergency medical services and paramedics showed up to help take the baby and mother to the hospital. But this was not an easy task, Magen David Adom paramedic Yoni Hacohen told Haaretz.
"The couple was sitting in the bedroom and wouldn't let us into the room. I thought it was due to modesty, so I asked a female paramedic to go in there and send the father out. But a few minutes later she came out and said the woman wouldn't communicate with her in any way."
Nor would she allow them to see the baby, who was still hidden under her dress.
Eventually some neighbors suggested a rabbinical tribunal be formed to relieve the woman of her vow, but even after that she refused to speak or communicate in any other way.
According to Haaretz, two hours later police and rescue teams used force to hold the woman back, cut the umbilical chord and rush both mother and baby to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
"It's a miracle the baby is safe and healthy," Atias told Haaretz. "The incident could have ended badly."
By the time they reached the hospital, Shabbat had ended and the woman had resumed speaking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/woman-gave-birth-during-silence-vow_n_1631991.html
Mass resignations from the LDS cult
SALT LAKE CITY - A group of about 150 Mormons quit their church in a mass resignation ceremony in Salt Lake City on Saturday in a rare display of defiance ending decades of disagreement for some over issues ranging from polygamy to gay marriage.
Participants from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and elsewhere gathered in a public park to sign a “Declaration of Independence from Mormonism.”
“This feels awesome,” said Alison Lucas, from West Jordan, Utah, who took part in the rally amid soaring temperatures. “I don’t know if I would have had the courage except in a group.”
The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known for its culture of obedience, and the mass ceremony was a seldom-seen act of collective revolt.
After gathering in the park, participants hiked a half-mile up nearby Ensign Peak, scaled in 1847 by church President Brigham Young to survey the spot where his Latter-day Saints would build a city.
At the top, those gathered gave three loud shouts of “Freedom,” cheered, clapped and hugged.
“It’s been a hard journey and this is a symbolic end,” said event organizer Zilpha Larsen, of Lehi, Utah. “I just hope that it boosts people up and helps them feel more comfortable in their decision.”
The church bills itself as the one “true” Christian faith, and its theology promises families eternal relationships among those who remain faithful, sealing those gifts through special religious rites.
Among the reasons cited by those resigning are the church’s political activism against gay marriage and doctrinal teachings that conflict with scientific findings or are perceived as racist or sexist.
Others cite inconsistencies in the Mormons’ explanation of its own history, including the practice of polygamy. The church renounced plural marriage over a century ago as Utah was seeking statehood.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/30/mormons-quit-in-mass-resignation
After giving birth alone in her home, a Jerusalem Haredi woman hid her baby under her dress with the umbilical cord still attached, hid the placenta in a bag, and refused to speak to anyone including paramedics.
The reason? She had pledged not to speak until the end of Shabbat on Saturday night, reports Haaretz.
According to Failed Messiah, no one knew that the baby had been born until the woman's husband returned to Givat Shaul, a Jerusalem synagogue, and asked the rabbi for a blessing.
"When the rabbi asked why, he said his wife had given birth and was sitting at home with the baby," Ariel Atias, one of the paramedics, told Haaretz.
It was then that the rabbi called Hatzalah emergency medical services and paramedics showed up to help take the baby and mother to the hospital. But this was not an easy task, Magen David Adom paramedic Yoni Hacohen told Haaretz.
"The couple was sitting in the bedroom and wouldn't let us into the room. I thought it was due to modesty, so I asked a female paramedic to go in there and send the father out. But a few minutes later she came out and said the woman wouldn't communicate with her in any way."
Nor would she allow them to see the baby, who was still hidden under her dress.
Eventually some neighbors suggested a rabbinical tribunal be formed to relieve the woman of her vow, but even after that she refused to speak or communicate in any other way.
According to Haaretz, two hours later police and rescue teams used force to hold the woman back, cut the umbilical chord and rush both mother and baby to Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
"It's a miracle the baby is safe and healthy," Atias told Haaretz. "The incident could have ended badly."
By the time they reached the hospital, Shabbat had ended and the woman had resumed speaking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/woman-gave-birth-during-silence-vow_n_1631991.html
Mass resignations from the LDS cult
SALT LAKE CITY - A group of about 150 Mormons quit their church in a mass resignation ceremony in Salt Lake City on Saturday in a rare display of defiance ending decades of disagreement for some over issues ranging from polygamy to gay marriage.
Participants from Utah, Arizona, Idaho and elsewhere gathered in a public park to sign a “Declaration of Independence from Mormonism.”
“This feels awesome,” said Alison Lucas, from West Jordan, Utah, who took part in the rally amid soaring temperatures. “I don’t know if I would have had the courage except in a group.”
The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is known for its culture of obedience, and the mass ceremony was a seldom-seen act of collective revolt.
After gathering in the park, participants hiked a half-mile up nearby Ensign Peak, scaled in 1847 by church President Brigham Young to survey the spot where his Latter-day Saints would build a city.
At the top, those gathered gave three loud shouts of “Freedom,” cheered, clapped and hugged.
“It’s been a hard journey and this is a symbolic end,” said event organizer Zilpha Larsen, of Lehi, Utah. “I just hope that it boosts people up and helps them feel more comfortable in their decision.”
The church bills itself as the one “true” Christian faith, and its theology promises families eternal relationships among those who remain faithful, sealing those gifts through special religious rites.
Among the reasons cited by those resigning are the church’s political activism against gay marriage and doctrinal teachings that conflict with scientific findings or are perceived as racist or sexist.
Others cite inconsistencies in the Mormons’ explanation of its own history, including the practice of polygamy. The church renounced plural marriage over a century ago as Utah was seeking statehood.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/30/mormons-quit-in-mass-resignation
