A Busy Holy Week.

Hello All,

I've been quiet for the past few days, off my usual religion/end of life/patients' rights beat. Two back-to-back conferences and a new endeavor are stretching my mind and taking up usual time resources.

On Thursday and Friday I attended the Digital Religion conference at New York University's Center for Religion and Media; two days packed with scholars, journalists, activists and lots of discussion about religion online.

Yesterday, I was downtown at a conference sponsored by Women, Action and Media, NYC, honing my media and reporting skills in the company of some amazing women.

And this coming holy week I'm busy preparing for the relaunch of The Revealer, founded by journalist Jeff Sharlet back in 2003 and published by NYU's Center for Religion and Media. You'll find the new site much the same as the old site - but reinvigorated and easier to read, with all the analysis of religion in the media you can handle. We plan to relaunch on April 1.

Busy is good! I'll keep you apprised of my doings as the week goes on.

Case of Mercy Killing Hits British Media.

From my friend Graciela: a new British documentary on assisted suicide contains the admission by veteran BBC reporter Ray Gosling that many years ago, when his lover who was dying from Aids, he honored their pact by holding a pillow over the dying man's face to prevent more suffering.

Sarah Garrod reports at InTheNews:

A BBC broadcaster is being investigated by police after he confessed live on air he had smothered his lover who was dying of Aids.

Ray Gosling, 70, said he had committed the killing as a mercy act, to prevent his lover from suffering "terrible pain".

Mr Gosling made the confession on the BBC East Midlands programme Inside Out broadcast last night. It is understood the show was recorded last November, but the BBC had not notified the police.

Nottinghamshire police said: "We were not aware of Mr Gosling's comments until the BBC Inside Out programme was shown.

"We are now liaising with the BBC and will investigate the matter."

Mr Gosling said on the show: "I killed someone once. He'd been my lover and he got Aids.

"I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead. No regrets."

He added that he had killed the man after doctors told him in hospital that nothing more could be done for him: "I said to the doctor: 'Leave me… just for a bit,' and he went away.

"I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead. The doctor came back and I said: 'He's gone.' Nothing more was ever said.

"When you love someone, it is difficult to see them suffer. My feelings on euthanasia are like jelly - they wobble about.

"This is the time to share a secret I have kept for quite a long time."

Care Not Killing, a UK-based alliance which promotes "more and better palliative care" and aims to ensure "that existing laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are not weakened or repealed during the lifetime of the current Parliament", said following the broadcast of the show: "It is impossible for any outsider to establish the facts in this case objectively as all we have currently is Mr Gosling's confession.

"The police will need to investigate the case thoroughly in order to establish the facts and then it will be up to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to decide whether to bring a prosecution. If the DPP proceeds it will then be a matter for the courts. A key difficulty faced by all those involved will be that the key witness, the deceased, will be unable to give any account about what actually happened.

Faith and Groundhog Day.

Punxsutawny Phil gave us 6 more weeks of winter this morning but there's a bright spot on the radio.

Don't miss Angela Zito, religion professor extraordinaire from NYU's Center for Religion and Media, talking about Groundhog Day, the movie and the event, on The Take Away this morning.

"We are all here until we manage to get it right."

Religious Left Raises Voice on CBS "Pro-Life" Superbowl Ad.

Yes, there is a Religious Left. And it doesn't agree with Focus on the Family's plans to run a "pro-life" ad during the Superbowl, in violation of CBS's existing policy about acceptable ads.

Here's a statement from Women's Media Center:

The religious organizations listed below represent more than ten thousand religious leaders and tens of thousands of people of faithwho believe that abortion must be safe, legal, and accessible. We come together to ask CBS to pull a divisive anti-choice ad by Focus on the Family slated to be aired during the Super Bowl. We believe strongly that the Super Bowl is not the appropriate venue for pressing discussions about moral decisions.

We are concerned that this ad will imply that a specific religious doctrine speaks for all people of faith in America about abortion, not recognizing that many religious denominations have passed policies in support of legalized abortion. No single religious voice can speak for all faith traditions on abortion, nor should television networks like CBS take sides on religious differences. We believe women must have the right to apply or reject the principles of their own faith in making the decision as to whether or not abortion is appropriate in their specific circumstances.

Signed:
Rev. Steven C. Baines
Assistant Field Director for Religious Outreach
Americans United for Separation of Church and State

Rev. Dr. Ignanio Castuera
National Chaplain
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Rev. Robert Chase
Founding Director
Intersections International

Rev. Steve Clapp
President
Christian Community, Inc.

Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess
Director of Communications
United Church of Christ

Rev. Debra W. Haffner
Executive Director
Religious Institute

Harry Knox
Director, Religion and Faith Program
Human Rights Campaign

Rev. Peter Laarman
Executive Director
Progressive Christians Uniting

Rev. Barry W. Lynn
Executive Director
Americans United for the Separation of Church and State

Rev. Jill K. McAllister
President, Clergy Advisory Board
Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Rabbi Dennis S. Ross
Director
Concerned Clergy for Choice

Rev. Carlton W. Veazey
President and CEO
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

Bishop John L. Selders, Jr.
President
Interdenominational Conference of Liberation Congregations and Ministries

Rabbi Dennis S. Ross, Director
Concerned Clergy for Choice
The Education Fund of Family Planning Advocates of New York State

Pseudoscience: Opioids, Contraception, Abortion and Cancer.

It's a great day for ideologically motivated pseudoscience!

From BeliefNet, a new study that, against all odds, establishes a link between contraception, abortion and cancer.

And from the super GeriPal, a debunking look at the swelling but false meme that opioids like morphine cause cancer growth.

Why is it important to not leap to the conclusion that opioids cause cancer growth? Two recent examples come to mind: hormone replacement therapy for post-menopausal women and vitamin E. Early retrospective studies (in humans, not mice) seemed to demonstrate that hormone replacement therapy led to reduced mortality. Unfortunately, large prospective cohort studies showed the opposite to be true! When researchers went back to re-examine the earlier studies, they found those earlier studies failed to account for important baseline differences in women: those who were healthier were more likely to take hormone replacement therapy, and therefore had better health outcomes that were attributed to the drug. Similarly, there was a great deal of excitement about vitamin E, including bizillions of laboratory studies that showed plausible mechanisms by which vitamin E could reduce heart attacks (antioxidant properties, etc). Again, large studies showed the opposite: people who do not take vitamin E live longer and have fewer heart attacks than people who do take vitamin E. In both the case of hormone replacement therapy and vitamin E, patients were taking the drug and health care providers were recommending treatment based on early evidence. And people died.

snip

As Christian Sinclair (of Pallimed) noticed, if you Google search "morphine cancer" the fourth hit is "Pain drug morphine may accelerate cancer growth | Reuters." Think of all of our patients and caregivers who, seeking information, are clicking on that link.

Let's set the record straight.

The world is full of suppositions and pseudoscience that is meant to support an ideology - the media plays sucker again and again. Got your own examples? Post them in comments!

It's In The News: America "On The Brink of Being Totally Anti-Life"

Last Saturday I was sitting in the Scranton Hilton Hotel ballroom, attending the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Conference.

The day concluded with the 300 white, mostly elderly attendees being encouraged to write letters to their local paper. Those who wanted to "report" on the conference were given press releases to send to their newspapers. Photos were taken of attendees with speakers for publication in newspapers, journals, and local weekly publications. "You know those papers where reunions are reported on? You could use that paper to educate Americans about "pro-life" issues."

And so, from the MonroeNews comes this "article" from Dean Cousino. There's no doubt that this preaching, masquerading as a "news" item, is ideologically motivated. And it's in a local Michigan newspaper. Expect more of this trend in your local news outlets:

America is spiraling downward because it is losing a spiritual battle with forces promoting a "culture of death," a speaker told the Focus on Life Benefit Dinner audience Thursday.

The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, a pro-life organization, said America is on a slippery slope.

"America is fairly close to the edge of the spectrum," the Rev. Euteneuer (pronounced Eyetenower) said. "We are on the brink of becoming a totally anti-life society. We are very far down that slippery slope (because) we are tolerating the greatest injustice in a free society — the killing of unborn children and people like Terri Schiavo."

Appointing a pro-abortion judge to the U.S. Supreme Court could push the country over the edge, he said.

Fifty years ago, both abortion and euthanasia were believed to be an "unspeakable evil," he said. He called lawmakers in Washington, D.C., the most "anti-life" Congress in history with multi-faceted proposals that attack life.

"Every society is pro-life until someone comes in to distort it," the diocesan priest from Florida told about 220 people at the banquet, held at LaRoy’s Hall. "We can stand up and say no, but it much harder in our country because we are supposed to be open-minded and tolerant. That is our great weakness."

In his 40-minute address, the Rev. Euteneuer, 47, described abortion as a "demonic religion," an "institutionalized form of killing" and a rebellion against God’s plan for human life.