Astrologer Joyce Van Horn might have predicted the novel coronavirus pandemic in vague terms, at least. First it will cause a massive separation, but then it will cause a co-joining, Van Horn says, explaining that she and others in her field saw that a major global event was on the horizon.

But forecasting global catastrophes isnt necessarily in Van Horns wheelhouse. Shes an evolutionary astrologer, someone who reads birth charts for individual souls. And shes one of many psychics in San Francisco, a blanket term used by a 2003 city law to categorize astrologers, along with numerologists, tarot card readers, fortune-tellers, seers, and other such metaphysical practitioners.

In San Francisco, psychics are revered by young startup CEOs seeking their spiritual business acumen, or sought out by believers needing advice about love, family, or their personal crossroads. In troubling times, such as a global pandemic, they can offer comfort in the form of mystic wisdom, or provide tools to help their clients cope with the chaos. Some recognize how the relationship between psychics and their clients can mimic that of therapists and their patients though they arent the same.

Thats what Chris Branson realized when he spoke to Van Horn for the first time. Six years ago, Branson found out his girlfriend, who lived in San Diego, was pregnant.

She planned on moving to San Francisco, Branson says. The promise of a child conjured a vision of their shared future, and motivated his girlfriend to make the move so they could be together.

But just a few weeks before she was set to arrive, the couple found out some troubling news. She wasnt able to keep the baby, Branson says.

Confused, Branson went to Van Horn looking for hope a reason to why things were happening. Van Horn read Bransons birth chart and used a deck of cards to provide some clues. From what Im seeing, Van Horn told him, this is setting you up for the life you really want.

And that was true, as far as Branson is concerned.

We got married, and we had a family, he says. But it wasnt just the prediction that reassured Branson. The conversation itself helped him walk away from the session feeling more confident in his and his partners future together. I didnt see it at the time that it was part of a bigger picture. Years later, while raising a family in Maui with his wife, he would see it as a turning point.

Nicki Bonfilio, a clairvoyant and clairaudient intuitive counselor, hasnt bought into the Zoom frenzy.

Theres that barrier of electricity, says Bonfilio. Shed rather her clients look into themselves, rather than their mirrored image on a laptop screen. Thats why all her pandemic sessions have been conducted over the phone, where she teaches her clients an internal calming monologue.

What Ive been guiding clients through is just to ask some simple questions within themselves, and to create an internal practice, Bonfilio says, which is about telling themselves, I am happy, I am safe, I am secure.

Its particularly useful as shes seen a spike in anxiety and fear in her clients, especially from those who are concerned about the health of their loved ones. Bonfilio says she can see or hear things the average human eye might not. For example, she might be able to tell that youve been eating too much sugar, or that you need to reduce your screen-time, or that youre in need of some fresh air. Once, she saw that her friend had a brain tumor after he fainted. That prediction was what encouraged her to abandon her previous profession accounting to become a full-time psychic.

But Bonfilios gift is most useful when combined with the techniques shes learned from other jobs. I was very much in the birthing community at one point, Bonfilio says. Im actually a certified labor and birth coach, or a certified doula.

One of her long-time clients, Courtney Wilson, believes that Bonfilios breathwork (along with meditation classes and a holistic chiropractor) helped her survive April.

After I do it for ten minutes, Im way more grounded, Wilson says. And I just dont have that anxiety.

Wilson started seeking out psychics after she moved to San Francisco from the Midwest, in Des Moines, Iowa. I grew up Catholic, so it was always super strict, and there were all these rules, Wilson says. And I just knew in my gut that there was more out there a bigger universe, a bigger spiritual realm.

She went to an astrologer and a medium, but none of them were as good, or as accurate, as Bonfilio, who she found on Yelp. That was ten years ago, and shes been seeing Bonfilio four times a year ever since.

Shes like this big sister. She makes you feel that way, Wilson says. Going to her, I ask her questions, she tells me where her intuition lies, how she feels about things, and then I feel better.

Wanugee Kanagaki of Golden Dragon Fortunes has experienced a similar relationship with his 600 clients. Wanugee, who prefers to be addressed by his first name, is a fortune teller who uses mahjong tiles to discern energies.

For Wanugee, its more about appearing as a friend or a trusted confidant perhaps thats the therapeutic aspect people pick up on: You can share your worries and hopes with a person, and theyll listen, and try to offer some guidance.

He emphasizes that he isnt a licensed therapist. His clients are rarely ever deciding between seeing him or a trained mental health provider.

I try to help my clients when I can, Wanugee says. Some people are adapting with the shelter-in-place. Some people deal with it well. Some people dont.

Recently, one of Wanugees clients struggled with social isolation. All her roommates went back home and she was all by herself, Wanugee says. She was in a bad place. I gave her a reading, and offered her some tools.

These tools are available for free on his YouTube channel, where Wanugee sits in front of a green screen upon which he superimposes a looping video of a sunset-painted lake. On his right is a pillow stitched with the words I Love You.

Welcome seekers, he says, raising his hands as geese float in the recorded water behind him.

Theres no reason why you cant continue seeing your astrologer or fortune-teller, Dr. Davina Kotulski, a clinical psychologist and former client of Van Horns says. But if you have a mental health concern, you should go see a therapist.

Dr. Kotulski herself is a believer in astrology and numerology, and Van Horns services have been life-changing for her. But there is still a necessary disclaimer to be made. If youre struggling with mental health and addiction, Dr. Kotulski says you should see a licensed therapist a mental health provider whos trained specifically for this purpose.

Something can be helpful, but it doesnt mean its curative, Kotulski says. Massages can be rejunative, but theyre not the same as physical therapy.

Psychics and therapists may have similar goals to improve the well-being of their clients. But they serve different functions, and psychics wont be covered by your health insurance. (And they can get pretty pricey: Wanugees individual readings range from $77 to $149; Bonfilio charges $210 an hour; and Van Horn is currently working on a sliding scale during the pandemic, though her rate is normally $200 an hour.)

However, there are people who blend the practices. Berkeley-based Dr. Greg Bogart is one of them.

I became an astrologer at age 23, and did that for a number of years, but realized I needed more training to be able to do more emotional process work, to understand family issues, to understand development stages, Dr. Bogart says. Becoming a therapist gave me a whole new set of tools to make astrology beneficial. Sometimes he practices therapy and astrology as separate entities, other times, he blends the practices, depending on what the client wants.

He rejects the term psychic for astrologers, despite San Franciscos umbrella categorization. Astrology, specifically, is about finding life patterns on birth charts to identify present and current issues, recurring themes and relationship and career challenges.

That might offer reassurance and guidance explanations to why transformative events are happening, or illuminations on pivotal pathways.

But Dr. Kotulski wants everyone to know to be on guard when seeking answers.

If you work with healers of any kind be they therapists, psychics, or astrologists make sure that they have your best interests in mind. There are predators out there, Dr. Kotulski says. She cites an example from a client, who had $6,000 extorted from them after they saw a psychic who told them they had been a horrible person in a past life, and now had to pay the price.

If someones trying to scare you into working with them, Dr. Kotulski says. thats a predator.

Wanugee also warns against those who try to frighten emotionally vulnerable people. Theres a neon sign in every neighborhood, Wanugee says. But if the psychics behind them are asking for large sums of money to break a curse, they might not have your best interest in mind.

Aquarius is a wild card, Van Horn says. Thats the sign that Saturn is currently in.

Saturn is saying its time to mature into a new this is the Aquarius part a new way of collectively building something together that will support us as a worldwide community, Van Horn continues.

And if Aquarius is the sign of technology, and Saturn is the planet of innovation, then perhaps this means its time to get creative with connecting while social distancing.

Aquarius is saying this is a collective. Were in a pandemic, were in this together. What is the truth? Van Horn says. How do we liberate ourselves from saying other cultures are wrong? She warns against ethnic or religious discrimination.

Thats what Van Horn has seen in the stars. At ground level, shes noticed that the pandemic might have forced everyone into a mental reset. People are starting to recognize its more about family, and more about connection, and its less about stuff, its less about impressing people, Van Horn says.

Bonfilio, on the other hand, has noticed an environmental reset. Two years ago, she remembered feeling like the city was getting more and more congested. There were more buildings, more traffic, and more tech companies.

I remember recalling back then, that things were going to need to change drastically in San Francisco in order for there to be more harmony and balance and more ease, more peace, Bonfilio says. because things were getting way too aggressive.

But just recently, Bonfilios friend spotted a whale in the Bay, a sign that Bonfilio interpreted as nature returning to spaces where humans use to windsurf or travel.

Were all just little specks here on the earth. Were just one person on the earth with billions of people and so many other natural animals, fish, birds, bees, trees, everything, Bonfilio says. With humans mostly inside and sheltered in place, its given a chance for the earth to come back into balance.

Now the challenge is to keep it that way, even after the shelter-in-place is lifted.

Be afraid, Van Horn says. But dont get paralyzed by the fear.

Astrology is a practice that a lot of people dont believe in, Van Horn says. The same can be said of fortunetelling or clairvoyance. Skeptics like to poke holes in their practices, citing vague predictions or personality measures as tricks psychics use to fool naive participants.

But believers have found solace in looking for celestial or otherworldly guidance. I think what a lot of psychics and fortune-tellers can do [is] help you see things that are coming up and possibilities, Dr. Kotulski says. That doesnt mean you dont have free choice and you cant change some of the things that can happen. You always have free choice.

The goal of a psychics prediction isnt to prescribe, its to guide. They may not be able to help their clients work through cognitive distortions or substance abuse disorders that is work for trained mental health providers. But they can certainly provide some comfort in times of trouble.

Its like Hey, theres a divine plan going on, says Branson, who was raised in a religious household and finds some similarities between the way one feels walking out of a session with a psychic and heading home after church. Its not saying this is going to happen or thats going to happen. Its about getting better insight and clarity, so you can make decisions.

For some, its about finding hope. For others, its about talking to a friend.

She knows so much about my family. She knows so much about the things Ive been through. No ones seen my growth like her, Wilson says of Bonfilio. Going to a therapist, I would have to start all over.

Grace Z. Li covers arts, culture, and food for SF Weekly. You can reach her at gli@sfweekly.com or follow her on Twitter at @gracezhali.

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Psychics Arent Therapy But They Can be Therapeutic - SF Weekly

Liberty University in the United States closed down its philosophy department, recently. The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy over sex abuse lawsuits. Nones became part of common academic discourse. Movement atheism rose, failed, has begun to change, to adapt internal pressures, and incorporate wider needs and represents another part of a common trend in the hobby-ing of religion in our societies. Canada comes out no different. The fear discourse towards the formally, institutionally non-religious continues apace and the surrounding magical thinking, gullibility, superstition, pseudoscience, fake medicine, and more, co-exists with us, nonetheless. I note a mutual reinforcement, too. If magic can happen from the pulpit, why not from a local clinic or a home remedy sold on the shelf? It would harbour more a sensibility of humour if not for the tragically awful impacts derived in some domains on so many peoples lives. Liberty Universitys replica, in part, can be found in the largest fundamentalist Evangelical Christian university in Canada called Trinity Western University with some controversy in its history and in the formulation of community culture in the Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. Those students live in its surrounding Fort Langley environment in reasonable numbers. Some times falsely advertised by Trinity Western University marketing as the Trinity Western University village or town, as if an official designation, as in the YouTube clip entitled This is Fort Langley TWUs university town. Thats a lie. Its a National Historic Site.

Small towns all over Canada mirror many of the dynamics, magical thinking, and reliance on false or pseudo-medicines in place of (actual) or efficacious medicine. Among the local churches in the area, (e.g., Fort LangleyEvangelical Free Church, Living Waters Church, Fraser Point Church Meeting Place, St Georges AnglicanChurch, United Churches ofLangley St. Andrews Chapel, Vineyard ChristianFellowship, Fraser Point ChurchOffices, Jubilee Church, and Fellowship Pacific) different interpretations of the Gospels may be taught, but the community retains its Christian spirit in spite of a scuffed, mind you, rainbow crosswalk one can find the in the town business center with many of the 100+ local businesses hiring many, many Trinity Western University students. The economy is integrated with the institution, in other words. Its an expensive private Evangelical Christian university with extensive fees, where students pay international student prices as domestic students. Students need to make their way through education without substantial governmental assistance, somehow. In this context, highly educated and well-to-do fundamentalist Christian culture and a local town converge into a strange admixture. A town with a large number of community organizations including Kwantlen First Nations,Seyem Qwantlen Business Group,Fort Langley Youth Rowing Society,Fort Langley Community Rowing Club,Fort Langley Canoe Club,History of Fort Langley,History of the Albion Ferry, The BEST of Fort Langley,Langley Weavers and Spinners Guild Biodegradeables ~ Organic Recycling,Fort Langley Community Association, Langley Heritage Association, andFort Langley BIA. Indeed, many towns across the country replicate this with different inputs and similar outcomes.

In its recent history, as a starter example, there has been some predictable commentary flowing in the pens and notifications. One from Derek Bisset exhibited a particularly interesting article entitled There Are Atheists in the Church as recent as August 4, 2015. Not necessarily a rare view, its more a common sentiment based on the trend line of history and the adaptations for the modern world with Liberal Theology and the tenuous status of some foundational tenets with the continual onslaughts of modern empiricism. This was formulated around a somewhat critical commentary about the welcoming-everyone attitude of the church to the general membership of The United Church of Canada. He stated:

It shouldnt come as much of a surprise that after years of saying All are welcome in this place that the result is a range of views within the church about the existence of God, especially as we seem to live in a society becoming ever more secular and inclining to require evidence for what we are willing to believe.

I suppose a space journey through emptiness four and a half hours away at the speed of light should have some bearing in putting early concepts of the Heavens to rest. Now I think we will have to stick with a range of ideas about a Godwho is here on Earth, interventionist or metaphorical, according to our personal views about what we need as individuals or what is needed to make the world a better place for all.

These amount to intriguing propositions about the reasons in which evolution for the church ideology become necessities within a secularizing/de-churching culture rather than true rebukes. The reason for the theological changes come from the empirical revolutions and educational improvements with the churches harbouring less tenable propositions about the nature of the world. Many propositions some deem outmoded, comical, or equivalent to others requiring fewer personal sacrifices of individual and communal wellbeing. The implication of a rejection of the modern views would be a return to more primitive mental constructs, models of the world. Is the concern the truth or the retaining of members? As it turns out, the most worrying development came not from a more reality-based church, but the loss of a member to a rival church. This tells the tale of the tribe.

Indeed, the reasons provided for leaving the local church from the member who left: the hot-wax nature of the beliefs rather than the rigid stone pillar faith. Probably, a rigid faith where men have a defined active role. Women have a defined passive role. God intervenes in the world. Prayer can aid in healing ailments. Homosexuality is a sin. The Bible is the literal truth, God-breathed Word of the Lord. And Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days. And evolution is the work of He down Below. If one wants to move back the civilizational lens in the West several centuries, I suppose one could upgrade or, rather, retrograde the theology and the worldview. Of course, the personality focus for the critical examination of a local United Church of Canada congregation came around some of the beginning of the controversy for Rev. Gretta Vosper. Bisset continued:

When a minister of the United Church of Canada declares herself for atheism in the Church and still retains her position with her own church and a sizeable congregation things appear to be coming to a head. That Gretta Vosper has changed the practicing of religion in her church drastically and has been on a personal speaking crusade to persuade Christians that more change is needed has brought her into conflict with those responsible for allowing her to act as a United Church minister. She may require to be defrocked and no longer allowed to preach her heretical doctrine

A woman on a personal speaking crusade to persuade Christians who has been brought into conflict and may require to be defrocked and no longer allowed to preach her heretical doctrine. Although, the bias is obvious. The larger, more interesting point is the focus on having to snuff out dissent and retain membership. Its not about the ideas, except as derivative, inasmuch as it is about the numbers of the followers, the flock, for which the local church is bound to shepherd. This is relatively marginal and isolated talk or idle public conversation within an individual church. Behind the closed doors of home & hearth, and church on Sundays, the discussions, rumours, and insinuation & innuendo will be much the same. Only some retain the gumption to speak in this manner in public. He leaves off a nice skeptical note, After all, if you cant have a good argument about religious beliefs within the Church, where is there a better place to have it, and deserves kudos for it. In general, though, the undercurrent probably replicates in events with different churches and similar phenomena. Demographic decline and theological liberalization seen as watering down concern significant sections of 2/3rds of the population of Canada.

As noted in Issue 48 of the Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church from 2017, they describe an event with The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation. An organization The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation, akin to the Templeton Foundation, devoted to strange attempts at bridging religion and science. Although, the Templeton Foundation comes with a huge cash prize. Thats motivation enough for some. The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation focuses on science and a life-giving Christian tradition with a statement of faith (common in Christian organizations throughout the country):

As implicitly admitted in the Commission on Creation of the American Scientific Affiliation taken by The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation for presentation to its national public, some members of the affiliation will adhere to a Young-Earth (Recent Creation) View, Old-Earth (Progressive Creation) View, Theistic Evolution (Continuous Creation, Evolutionary Creation) View, or Intelligent Design View. Theres the problem right there. Only one real game in town, evolution via natural selection. This becomes four wrong views plus one right position with the four incorrect views bad in different ways or to different degrees, i.e., four theological views and one scientific view. In other words, the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation, by its own claims and standards, amounts to a theological affiliation, not a Scientific affiliation. Its false advertising if not outright lying by title and content.

Anyway, the Issue 48 newsletter of the Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church presented the event entitled Science, Religion, & the New Atheism, by Dr. Stephen Snobelen, who is an Associate Professor of the History of Science and Technology Programme at University of Kings College, Halifax. This is common too. This is, based on extensive research in Canadians and Others Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution, the trend for years now. (Any commentary considerations for creationism and Intelligent Design can be considered there, as the rest would be repetition.)[1] In short, the only places, or the vast majority of places, to present these ideas are churches and religious institutions. Outside of those, these theological hypotheses posed as scientific arent taken seriously or, generally, are seen as a hysterical joke when posed as science rather than theology. Some, like Zak Graham in Atheism is simply a lack of belief, get the point published in The Langley Times. That seems like an uncommon stance in the wider community.

As Brad Warner notes in a short confessional post in Fellowship Pacific, he came to the Christian religion in university. Its a sweet confession, which tells a sociological tale. The personalities are landmarks or guideposts, so largely irrelevant, not the main points in this article. Either someone is indoctrinated into faith or religion with specific thou shalts and thou shalt nots before critical thinking becomes a real possibility, or the individuals, typically, attend a Christian or private university and become suffused within a Christian ethos in a vastly dominated-by-Christianity culture in Canadian society with 2/3rds of the general population identifying as Christian. Even in some indications of the counselling professionals in the area, as an individual case study, statements emerge as in Alex Kwee, Ph.D., R.Psych. stating, A distinctive of my approach lies in the fact that I am a Christian. The practice of psychotherapy is never value-neutral; even the most ostensibly objective of counsellors must possess certain irreducible value propositionseven atheism or secular humanism are value systems that cannot be proven right one way or another. Note, he makes Christianity or Christian identity as part of the approach, as I am certain of the same for countless others in the area and around the country. Also, the conflation or dual-linkage between atheism and secular humanism alongside value systems. Its a quaint proposition and half-false. In the instance of atheism, it does not posit values, but it proposes a lack of belief in gods not values. (Hence, half-wrong, Q.E.D.) Coming from a Christian worldview with the good coming from God, the denial of such can only seem as if this. Its not. What does propose values? Secular humanism, certainly, proposes values; Christianity asserts values too. Why bring atheist and secular humanism into the equation? Does this come from a pre-emptive defensive posture for the inevitable conflict of professional ethics and the introduction of theological constructs into psychotherapeutic processes with clients? Indeed, the potentially inevitable, seemingly incurable prejudice and bias in practitioners bringing their religious faiths with supernatural structures may bleed into the therapeutic process. Mr. Kwee states:

As a Christian, I contextualize my approach and strategies within a spiritual and faith-affirming framework, which is important for many of the Christian clients with whom I work. I firmly believe that therapy cannot be done in an existential or spiritual vacuum, but that the most effective therapy contextualizes evidence-based techniques to a clients system of personal meaning to help them to create a life that is rich with meaning and purpose, not just devoid of psychological pain. Because most people are in search of greater meaning and appreciate a more ultimate frame of reference, I find that clients of many walks and backgrounds are comfortable working with me even if they do not share my worldview.

One can come as a non-religious person, but one should be wary as has been commonly reported by prominent secular therapists as Dr. Darrel Ray of Recovering From Religion and the Secular Therapy Project. Furthermore, some of the peer-reviewed research presented on the professional website for Mr. Kwee amounts to assertions of sexual addiction or sex addiction. This is a pseudoscientific view or a theological assertion, not a psychological construct viewpoint. Take a counselling psychologist, Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson, in an interview with me entitled Ask Dr. Robertson 13 A Hawks Eye on Counsellors Professional Ethics and Morals, stated:

When an ideology or religion is used to modify terms like psychology, counselling or psychotherapy, I become wary. For example, how does Christian Counselling differ from counselling? Christian counsellors I have talked to define their religion as having certain superior attributes with respect to love and spiritual fulfillment. But a secular counsellor, on finding that a client believed in prayer, for example, might invite the client to pray as part of his or her therapeutic plan. A difference might be that if the prayer does not work to the clients satisfaction, the secular counsellor might be more willing to explore other alternatives while the Christian counsellor might be more prone engage in self-limiting platitudes such as, Maybe God does not want this for you. Counsellors employed by Catholic Family Services are routinely required to sign a statement stating they will respect the Churchs beliefs regarding the sanctity of life. This is regularly interpreted to mean that counsellors in their employ may not explore the option of abortion with pregnant clients, and if a client chooses that option, she will do so without the support of her counsellor or therapist. Counsellors from a variety of Christian denominations actively discourage people who are non-heterosexual. A particularly unethical practice is encapsulated in the oxymoron Conversion Therapy. Conversion implies a template outside of the individual to which the individual converts. It is, therefore, the opposite of therapy where the client defines his own template. Overall, Christian counselling does not add to the professional practice but is subtractive, limiting the options permitted clients.

The notion of limiting psychologys ability to increase to individual choice and volition is pervasive

Scott, you asked me about professional codes of ethics. Codes of ethics are written by those with the power to do so. Conversion Therapy as practiced by some Christian groups has been ruled unethical. The feminist version has not. I believe that freedom of conscience involves a duty to conduct oneself to a higher ethic, and in my case that ethic involves supporting individual volitional empowerment. Individual volition operates within the constraint that there is a reality outside ourselves and if we stray too far from that reality we will harm ourselves and others. We cannot gain empowerment by feeding a delusion.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-5 or the DSM-5 rejected sex addiction for inclusion in 2013. Theres no such thing as sex addiction as a formal psychological construct; sex addiction is a theological construct, i.e., a pseudoscientific and worldview construct posed as psychological. This seems like bad science and, thus, leading to the potential for a bad theoretical foundation for praxis, for practice. Could purity culture from Christian doctrine and worldview be influencing this particular academic output? Could these views influence the meaning and purpose of those coming to the Kwees of psychotherapy or counselling psychology? Its an open question; I leave this to clientele, while I intend this as a case study of a larger issue within the therapeutic practice culture. As Dr. Darrel Ray in Extensive Interview with Dr. Darrel Ray on Secular Therapy and Recovering From Religion stated:

So, #2 behind the fear of hell are issues around their sexuality and things like, I know its not wrong to masturbate, but I still feel guilty, I am a sex addict because I look at porn. Theres tons of evidence that the most religious people self-identify the most as sex addicts. Not to mind, there is no such thing as sex addiction. Theres no way to define it. I have argued with atheists that have been atheists for 20 years who say that they are sex addicts. Help me understand, how did you get that diagnosis? My mother-in-law diagnosed me [Laughing]. I look at porn once or twice a week. I do not care if you look at porn once or twice an hour. You are still not a sex addict. So, get over that. You may have other issues. You may have some compulsions. You may have some fear of driving the issue. But it almost always comes down to early childhood religious training, as we spoke about earlier. So, people are simply responding to the programming. Even though, they are atheist, secular, agnostic. I do not care what you call yourself. You are still dealing with the programming. Sometimes, you can go an entire lifetime with a guilt, a shame, a fear, rooted in religion.

If you do not believe in the Christian influence on the research and views, please review the articles in the most superficial of ways with articles entitled Theologically-Informed Education about Masturbation: A Male Sexual Health Perspective, Sexual Addiction: Diagnosis and Treatment, Sexual Addiction and Christian College Men: Conceptual, Assessment and Treatment Challenges, Constructing Addiction from Experience and Context: Peele and Brodskys Love and Addiction Revisited, and even a society entitled Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH). Its like this on issue and after issue. Fundamentalist Christian universities and theological beliefs in areas infect towns, attract similarly minded individuals from around the fundamentalist Christian diaspora, and reduce the amount of proper science in professional lives and the critical thinking in the public. People are part of the culture in some framings. Then these connect to academic formalities around pseudoscientific views with societies and groups built around them too, e.g., SASH, as the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) was founded in 1987 by Patrick Carnes, Richard Santorini and Ed Armstrong, SASH began as a membership organization for people concerned with sexual addiction problems. [Emphasis added.]

Again, the point isnt the individuals inasmuch as trends in culture with representative case studies as important for this. In those cases of the Bissets with a marginally skeptical view, its not about factual accounts of the world. It is about maintenance of numbers. In the cases of the Kwees, its not about factual and empirical all the time, but its about selective factual-and-empirical, and buttressed and warped by theological pseudoscience (by the most up-to-date standards of the professional diagnostic and statistical manual for psychologists or the DSM-5 with lack of inclusion on one theological theory of sexual dysfunction in sex addiction). It should be noted. In the United States of America under the American Psychological Association, any imposition by an American-trained counselling psychologist can be called out on ethics violations. Slippery language should not be a basis upon which for a tacit claim for circumnavigation of A.4.b. Personal Values of the ethics code for American counsellors, which stipulates, Counselors are aware ofand avoid imposingtheir own values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours. Counsellors respect the diversity of clients, trainees, and research participants and seek training in areas in which they are at risk of imposing their values onto clients, especially when the counsellors values are inconsistent with the clients goals or are discriminatory in nature. However, this is in Canada. If one sees presentations crossing the line in an explicit manner in a local or national context, one can express appropriate concerns with formal channels to act on it, whether non-Christians in general or the non-religious in particular. I doubt in this case on some levels, though, as the statements are reasonably carefully worded and is grounded in psychotherapy as opposed to counselling psychology.

Fort Langley culture follows from the culture of Trinity Western University on a number of qualitative-observational metrics. A university that failed to attain a law school status based on the bias and prejudice stemming from a Community Covenant with statements deemed repeatedly and nearly unequivocally as biased and prejudiced against members of the LGBTI community. They overwhelmingly lost the law school case 7-2 in the Supreme Court of Canada with denial of status as a law school as reasonable by the judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada. It was June 15, 2018; the decision where the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the British Columbia and Ontario law societies in a 7-2 collective decision for Trinity Western University v Law Society of Upper Canada and Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University.Shortly thereafter, they retracted the mandatory nature of the Community Covenant for the students, but, as I have been told, not for staff, faculty, and administrators. A faith needing community legislation appears weaker than one strong enough as written on the heart and lived out in ones life. Bearing in mind, Christ never wrote anything down on paper. Perhaps, there has been some wisdom in this fact worth retaining in this case. Dissenting views exist on the campus and in the community. One TWU is one LGBTI community group around campus without formal affiliation (*We are run completely independently from and bare no formal affiliation with Trinity Western University), though small, for individual students who may be struggling on or around campus. While others outside the formal TWU community, and in the extended fundamentalist Christian community, and taking the idea of think differently differently as in think the same, as always, Richard Peachey is as fast as proclaiming the literal Word of God Almighty with homosexuality as an affront to God and fundamentally a sin in His sight. In spite of this, at one time or another, based on Canadian reportage and some names in the current listings, Matthew Wigmore, Bryan Sandberg, and David Evans-Carlson (co-founders of One TWU), and Nate/Nathan Froelich, Kelsey Tiffin, Robynne Healey, and others in the current crop Kieran Wear, Elisabeth Browning, Queenie Rabanes, and Micah Bron stand firm against some former mandatory community covenant standards either as supports for themselves or as allies who have been negatively impacted by the Community Covenant. A minority gender and sexual identity is completely healthy and normal. If the theology rejects this, then the theology is at odds with reality, not the students sense of themselves, who they love, and their identities, or the science. I agree with them and stand far more with them. When the Community Covenant was dropped as a mandatory requirement for students, many were excited and thrilled. Although, some questions arise about the reaction of excitement and thrill about some who left the university and see the change in the mandatory nature of the Community Covenant.

Why excitement? Why thrill? Arent some of these students gone? Wouldnt this leave the concerns behind them? Arent others graduated at this point? Havent others already signed and suffered in the past? In short, isnt it history? Insofar as I can discern, its a grounding of common suffering across academic cohorts at Trinity Western University for compassion and empathy for a sense of no more and not to you, too in the community of the fundamentalist faithful. These students, many of them, went through hell by the attitudes and behaviours reflected in a Community Covenant and selective literalist reading of purported sacred scripture of a larger sex and gender identity majority who, sometimes, treated them with suspicion, pity, or contempt grounded in theology and legislated in the Community Covenant. I feel a similar sentiment around the denial of same-sex marriage by some fundamentalist Evangelical Christians. The proportional response: I dont believe in heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman for those particular fundamentalist Evangelical Christians. It sounds absurd because the former is outlandish, too.

Anyhow, continuing, why make others experience hell here-and-now in the belief of ones personal near guarantee to hypothetical heaven there-and-then when ones corpse is ash, ice, or six feet under, regardless? Does it matter? That is to ask, if God has a Divine Will and is the source of the Moral Law, the Good, and all in, of, and under Creation, why not let Him deal with it, not you? Its obvious as to the implications here. All this is not due to the Devil, to demonic forces, to non-literalist Christians, to secular humanists, to atheists. This is entirely mundane. It is due to community attitudes and beliefs leading to actions making vulnerable members of the community feel wrong by the nature, not of what they believe or their moral character but because, of who they are; that which they cannot change and are born with as human beings with minority sexual and gender identities. Thats bigotry. A nativist sensibility for negative presumption of an individual based on, more or less, inborn characteristics with thin disguises in the form of dont hate the sinner, hate the sin. Does anyone seriously buy this outside of the informational, emotionally, and theologically confined and constricted fundamentalist walls where A Might Fortress Is Our God? These are human, all-too-human, follies and foibles wrought forth on the lives of the few by the many in the hallowed halls of the largest Christian university in the country. The relief felt was less for themselves and more for others who would not have to endure as much next time around. I consider freedom of religion, belief, and conscience important for a secular democratic and pluralistic state. Thus, the students may feel healthier in a non-Christian or public university. However, if they choose a Christian university, or if they are pressured into this by parents, community, friends, church, and theology, then they have personal respect to choose, and in making the choice, to me, because, based on the readings, the reactions, and the sensibilities expressed, theyre entering hostile territory.

Congratulations for making it this far, but freethought extends into other areas too, of the local culture, as with hundreds of towns in this country, whether colonics/colonhydrotherapy, aromatherapy, chiropractory, acupuncture, reflexology, naturopathy/naturopathic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, or simply a culture of praying for help with an ailment (which is one overlap with the religious fundamentalist community and the reduced capacity for critical thought). Colonics/colonhydrotherapy is marginally practiced within some of the town in Fort Langley Colonics. Dr. Stephen Barrett, M.D. in Gastrointestinal Quackery: Colonics, Laxatives, and More stated rather starkly:

Colonic irrigation, which also can be expensive, has considerable potential for harm. The process can be very uncomfortable, since the presence of the tube can induce severe cramps and pain. If the equipment is not adequately sterilized between treatments, disease germs from one persons large intestine can be transmitted to others. Several outbreaks of serious infections have been reported, including one in which contaminated equipment caused amebiasis in 36 people, 6 of whom died following bowel perforation. Cases of heart failure (from excessive fluid absorption into the bloodstream) and electrolyte imbalance have also been reported. Direct rectal perforation has also been reported. Yet no license or training is required to operate a colonic-irrigation device. In 1985, a California judge ruled that colonic irrigation is an invasive medical procedure that may not be performed by chiropractors and the California Health Departments Infectious Disease Branch stated: The practice of colonic irrigation by chiropractors, physical therapists, or physicians should cease. Colonic irrigation can do no good, only harm. The National Council Against Health Fraud agrees.

In 2009, Dr. Edzard Ernst tabulated the therapeutic claims he found on the Web sites of six professional organizations of colonic irrigations. The themes he found included detoxification, normailzation [sic] of intestinal function, treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, and weight loss. He also found claims elated to asthma, menstrual irregularities, circulatory disorders, skin problems, and improvements in energy levels. Searching Medline and Embase, he was unable to find a single controlled clinical trial that substantiated [sic] any of these claims.

On aromatherapy, this one is a softball. One can find this in the True Aromatherapy Products and Spa (TAP) store. As William H. London, in an article entitled Essential Considerations About Aromatherapy in Skeptical Inquirer, describes the foundations of aromatherapy as follows, The practice of administering plant-derived essential oils on the skin, via inhalation of vapors, or internally via ingestion for supposed healing power is commonly calledaromatherapy. Theoils for aromatherapy are described as essentialto refer to the volatile, aromatic components that some people describe as the essence of the plant source, which represents the plants life force, spirit, or soul. Aromatherapy is thus rooted in vitalism RationalWiki states:

Like most woo, aromatherapy starts with observable, real effects of smells on humans, and extrapolates and exaggerates into a whole range of treatments from the effective, to the banal, to the outright ridiculous

As well as the inherent problematic practice of wasting money on useless medicine and potentially substituting useless concoctions in place of conventional medicine, the essential oils in aromatherapy may be a skin irritant. It is also poorly regulated, as the claims that scents having any beneficial effects are regulated as a cosmetic claim, and it thus does not require FDA approval. Combined with the lack of evidence it really is a waste, but for you, not for those that sell the products. According to Quackwatch, Health Foods Business estimated that the total of aromatherapy products sold through health-food stores was about $59 million in 1995 and $105 million in 1996.

To chiropractory, it is widely regarded as a pseudoscience with either no efficacy or negative effects on the patient or the client.Fort Family ChiropracticandEvergreen Chiropracticare the two main businesses devoted to some practice of chiropractory. AsScience-Based Medicinein its Chiropractic entry states:

Chiropractic was invented by D. D. Palmer, Sep 18, 1895 when he adjusted the spine of a deaf man and allegedly restored his hearing (a claim that is highly implausible based on what we know of anatomy). Based on this one case, Palmer decided that all disease was due to subluxation: 95% to subluxations of the spine and 5% to subluxations of other bones.

The rationale for chiropractic hinges on three postulates:

There is no credible evidence to support any of these claims

In over a century, chiropractic research has produced no evidence to support the postulates of chiropractic theory and little evidence that chiropractic treatments provide objective benefits. Research on spinal manipulation is inherently difficult, because double blind studies are impossible and even single blind studies are problematic; a placebo response is hard to rule out

There is no acceptable evidence that chiropractic can improve the many other health problems it claims to benefit, from colic to asthma. There is no evidence to support the practice of adjusting the spines of newborns in the delivery room or providing repeated lifelong adjustments to maintain health or prevent disease.

Up to half of patients report short-term adverse effects from manipulation, such as increased local or radiating pain; and there is a rare but devastating complication of neck manipulation: it can injure the vertebrobasilar arteries and cause stroke, paralysis, and death. Some chiropractors do not accept the germ theory of disease and only about half of them support immunization.

Acupuncture is another issue. Hardman Acupuncturist & TCM,Integrated Health Clinic, devote themselves, in part, to this. Dr. Steven Novella ofScience-Based Medicinein Acupuncture Doesnt Work stated:

according to the usual standards of medicine, acupuncture does not work.

Let me explain what I mean by that. Clinical research can never prove that an intervention has an effect size of zero. Rather, clinical research assumes the null hypothesis, that the treatment does not work, and the burden of proof lies with demonstrating adequate evidence to reject the null hypothesis. So, when being technical, researchers will conclude that a negative study fails to reject the null hypothesis.

Further, negative studies do not demonstrate an effect size of zero, but rather that any possible effect is likely to be smaller than the power of existing research to detect. The greater the number and power of such studies, however, the closer this remaining possible effect size gets to zero. At some point the remaining possible effect becomes clinically insignificant.

In other words, clinical research may not be able to detect the difference between zero effect and a tiny effect, but at some point it becomes irrelevant.

What David and I have convincingly argued, in my opinion, is that after decades of research and more than 3000 trials, acupuncture researchers have failed to reject the null hypothesis, and any remaining possible specific effect from acupuncture is so tiny as to be clinically insignificant.

In laymans terms, acupuncture does not work for anything.

This has profound clinical, ethical, scientific, and practical implications. In my opinion humanity should not waste another penny, another moment, another patient any further resources on this dead end. We should consider this a lesson learned, cut our losses, and move on.

Many of these practices are swimming in the, or have a foot in the, waters of pseudoscience practiced as if medically or physiologically feasible, but, in matter of fact, remain a drain on the publics purse based on taking advantage of public confidence in medicine in Canada while having givenzero benefit while failing to reject the null hypothesis.

Another issue practice is reflexology, as seen in Health Roots & Reflexology. Quackwatch concludes, Reflexology is based on an absurd theory and has not been demonstrated to influence the course of any illness. Done gently, reflexology is a form of foot massage that may help people relax temporarily. Whether that is worth $35 to $100 per session or is more effective than ordinary (noncommercial) foot massage is a matter of individual choice. Claims that reflexology is effective for diagnosing or treating disease should be ignored. Such claims could lead to delay of necessary medical care or to unnecessary medical testing of people who are worried about reflexology findings. Health Roots & Reflexologyappears to be one business devoted to thus. As Dr. Harriet Hall in Modern Reflexology: Still As Bogus As Pre-Modern Reflexology said, Reflexology is an alternative medicine system that claims to treat internal organs by pressing on designated spots on the feet and hands; there is no anatomical connection between those organs and those spots. Systematic reviews in2009and2011found no convincing evidence that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition.Quackwatchand theNCAHFagree that reflexology is a form of massage that may help patients relax and feel better temporarily, but that has no other health benefits. Our ownMark Crislipsaid, The great majority of studies demonstrate reflexology had no effects that could not be replicated by picking fleas off your mateAnd it has no anatomic or physiologic justification.

A larger concoction of bad science and medicine comes from the Integrated Health Clinic devoted, largely, to naturopathy/naturopathic medicine (based on a large number of naturopaths on staff) and traditional Chinese medicine with manifestations in IV/chelation therapy, Neural therapy, Detox, Hormone Balancing & Thermography, Anthroposophical medicine, LRHT/hyperthermia, Bowen Technique, among others. Well run through those first two, as the references to them are available in the resources, in the manner before. Scott Gavura in Naturopathy vs. Science: Facts edition stated:

Naturopaths claim that they practice based on scientific principles. Yet examinations of naturopathic literature, practices and statements suggest a more ambivalent attitude. NDhealthfacts.org neatly illustrates the problem with naturopathy itself: Open antagonism to science-based medicine, and the risk of harm from integrating these practices into the practice of medicine. Unfortunately, the trend towards integrating naturopathy into medicine is both real and frightening. Because good medicine isnt based on invented facts and pre-scientific beliefs it must be grounded in science. And naturopathy, despite the claims, is anything but scientific.

The Skeptics Dictionary stated:

Naturopathy is often, if not always, practiced in combination with other forms ofalternative health practices.Bastyr University, a leading school of naturopathy since 1978, offers instruction in such things asacupunctureand spirituality. Much of the advice of naturopaths is sound: exercise, quit smoking, eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, practice good nutrition. Claims that these and practices such as colonic irrigation or coffee enemas detoxify the body or enhance the immune system or promote homeostasis, harmony, balance, vitality, and the like are exaggerated and not backed up by sound research.

As Dr. David Gorski, as quoted in RationalWiki, stated, Naturopathy is a cornucopia of almost everyquackeryyou can think of. Be ithomeopathy,traditional Chinese medicine,Ayurvedic medicine,applied kinesiology,anthroposophical medicine,reflexology,craniosacral therapy, Bowen Technique, and pretty much any other form of unscientific or prescientific medicine that you can imagine, its hard to think of a single form ofpseudoscientificmedicine and quackery that naturopathy doesnt embrace or at least tolerate. The Massachusetts Medical Society stated similar terms, Naturopathic medical school is not a medical school in anything but the appropriation of the word medical. Naturopathy is not a branch of medicine. It is a combination of nutritional advice, home remedies and discredited treatments Naturopathic practices are unchanged by research and remain a large assortment of erroneous and potentially dangerous claims mixed with a sprinkling of non-controversial dietary and lifestyle advice. This is the level of qualifications of most of the practitioners of the IHC or the Integrated Health Clinic.

Now, onto Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM, or Chinese Medicine or CM, also coming out of the Integrated Health Clinic, RationalWiki notes some of the dangerous, if not disgusting to a North American and Western European palette, ingredients:

CM ingredients can range from common plants, such as dandelion, persimmon, and mint, to weird or even dangerous stuff. Some of the more revolting (from a Western standpoint) things found in TCM include genitals of various animals (includingdogs, tigers, seals, oxen,goats, and deer), bear bile (commonly obtained by means of slow, inhumane extraction methods), and (genuine)snake oilUrine,feces,placentaand other human-derived medicines were traditionally usedbut some may no longer be in use.

Some of the dangerous ingredients includelead, calomel (mercurouschloride), cinnabar (red mercuric sulfide),asbestos(including asbestiform actinolite, sometimes erroneously called aconite) realgar (arsenic),andbirthwort(Aristolochiaspp.).Bloodlettingis also practiced. Bizarrely, lead oxide, cinnabar, and calomel are said to be good fordetoxification.Lead oxide is also supposed to help with ringworms, skin rashes, rosacea, eczema, sores, ulcers, and intestinal parasites, cinnabar allegedly helps you live longer, and asbestos

Dr. Arthur Grollman, a professor of pharmacological science and medicine at Stony Brook University in New York, in an article entitled Chinese medicine gains WHO acceptance but it has many critics is quoted, on the case of TCM or CM acceptance at the World Health Organization, saying, It will confer legitimacy on unproven therapies and add considerably to the costs of health care Widespread consumption of Chinese herbals of unknown efficacy and potential toxicity will jeopardize the health of unsuspecting consumers worldwide. On case after case, we can find individual practices or collections of practices of dubious effect if not ill-effect in the town. Indeed, this follows from one of the earliest points about the infusion of supernatural thinking or pseudoscientific integration of praxis into the community, whether fear of liberal theology, encouragement of pseudobiology, prejudice and bigotry against the LGBTI members of community, pseudo-psychological diagnoses passed off as real psychological and behavioural issues while simply grounded in theological bias and false assertions as psychological constructs, or in the whole host of bad medical and science practices seen in colonics/colonhydrotherapy, aromatherapy, chiropractory, acupuncture, reflexology, naturopathy/naturopathic medicine and traditional Chinese medicine.

This isnt a declaration of what to do, but if done, be, at least, informed about bad science, bad medicine, questionable theology, etc. As noted about the right to freedom of belief, religion, and conscience (and expression and opinion), people are free to lose money on dubious treatments or otherwise. Freedom seen throughout Canada on the basis of what people, in fact, do anyway; whereas, at a minimum, the critical thinking of the culture should rise to the bare minimum standard of if done, be, at least, informed about bad science, bad medicine, questionable theology, etc.

[1] Canadians and Others Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution states:

Canadian Mennonite University invited Professor Dennis Venema from Trinity Western University as the Scientist in Residence. Venema, at the time, stated, Im thrilled to be invited to be the Scientist in Residence at CMU for 2019. I think its a wonderful opportunity for students, and I am honoured to join a prestigious group of prior participants I hope that these conversations can help students along the path to embracing both Gods word and Gods world as a source of reliable revelation to us. Venema defends the view of evolutionary theory within a framework of evolutionary creationism, which appears more a terminologically diplomatic stance than evolution via natural selection or the code language within some religious commentary as things like or almost identical to atheistic evolution or atheistic evolutionism. He provides education on the range of religious views on offer with a more enticing one directed at evolution via natural selection. The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation provides a space for countering some of the young earth geologist and young earth creationist viewpoints, as with the advertisement of the Dr. Jonathan Bakers lecture, or inpamphlets produced on geological (and other) sciences.

He works in a tough area within a community not necessarily accepting of the evolution via natural selection view of human beings with a preference for special creation, creationism, or intelligent design. Much of the problems post-genetics as a proper discipline of scientific study and the discovery of evolution via natural selection comes from the evangelical Christian communities sub-cultures who insist on a literal and, hence, fundamentalist interpretation or reading of their scriptures or purported holy texts. Another small item of note. Other universities have writers in residence. A Mennonite university hosts a scientist in residence. Science becomes the abnorm rather than the norm. The Kings University contains one reference in the search results within a past conference. However, this may be a reference to creation rather than creationism as creation and more creation speaking to the theological interpretations of genesis without an attempt at an explicit scientific justification of mythology.

By far, the largest number of references to creationism came from the largest Christian, and evangelical Christian, university in the country located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada called Trinity Western University, which, given its proximity and student body population compared to the local town, makes Fort Langley in one framing and Trinity Western University the heart of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity in Canada. Trinity Western University teaches a SCS 503 Creationism & Christainity [sic] (Korean) course and a SCS 691 Creationism Field Trip course. They hosted a lecture on Stephen Hawking, science, and creation, as stated:

In light of Steven Hawkings theories, is there enough reason for theists to believe in the existence of God and the creation of the world?

This lecture will respond to Hawkings views and reflect on the relationship between science, philosophy and theology.

Speaker:Dr. Yonghua Ge, Director of Mandarin Theology Program at ACTS Seminaries(Ibid.)

They hosted another event on evolution and young earth creationism:

All are welcome to attend, Public Lecture, hosted by TWUs Science, Faith, and Human Flourishing: Conversations in Community Initiative, supported by Fuller Seminary, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, and the Canadian Scientific & Christian Affiliation, Evolutionary and Young-Earth Creationism: Two Separate Lectures (Darrel Falk, Evolution, Creation and the God Who is Love and Todd Wood, The Quest: Understanding Gods Creation in Science and Scripture)

Dirk Bchner, Professor of Biblical Studies at Trinity Western University, states an expertise in Hebrew Bible / Old Testament, Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac (grammar and syntax), Hellenistic Greek (grammar and lexicography), The Septuagint. Of more popular interest: The Bible and Social Justice, and Creationism, Scientism and the Bible: why there should be no conflict between mainstream science and Christian faith. Professor Bchner holds an expert status in creationism. A non-conflict between mainstream science and the Christian faith would mean the significantly reduced status of the intervention of the divine in the ordinary life of Christians. He remains one locus of creationism in the Trinity Western University environment. Dr. Paul Yangs biography states, Paul Yang has over twenty years teaching experience, lecturing on physics and physics education, as well as Christian worldview and creationism. He has served as the director of the Vancouver Institute for Evangelical Wordlview [Sic] as well as the Director of the Christian. Yang holds memberships or affiliations with the American Scientific Affiliation, Creation Research Society, and Korea Association of Creation Research. Dr. Alister McGrath and Dr. Michael Shermer had a dialogue moderated by a panel with Paul Chamberlain, Ph.D., Jaime Palmer-Hague, Ph.D., and Myron Penner, Ph.D. in 2017 at Trinity Western University.

All exist as probably Christian front organizations with the pretense as scientific and Christian organizations. One can see the patterns repeat themselves over and over again. Christian science amounts to creationism, as noted before. Yang, with more than 20 years, exists as a pillar of creationist teaching, thinking, and researching within Canada and at Trinity Western University

Other cases of the more sophisticated and newer brands of Christianity with a similar theology, but more evolutionary biology proper incorporated into them exist in some of the heart of parts of evangelical Christianity in Canada. Professor Dennis Venema of Trinity Western University and his colleague Dave Navarro (Pastor, South Langley Church) continued a conversation on something entitled evolutionary creation, not creation science or intelligent design as Venemas orientation at Trinity Western University continues to focus on the ways in which the evolutionary science can mix with a more nuanced and informed Christian theological worldview within the Evangelical tradition. One can doubt the fundamental claim, not in the Bible but, about the Bible as the holy God-breathed or divinely inspired book of the creator of the cosmos, but one can understand the doubt about the base claim about the veracity of the Bible leading to doubt about the contents and claims in the Bible fundamental and derivative

A more small-time politician, Dr. Darrell Furgason, ran for public office in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. Furgason lectured at Trinity Western University and earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies. Dr. Furgason claims inclusivity for all while ignoring standard protocol in science, i.e., asserting religious views in written work, Theistic evolution is a wrong view of Genesis, as well as history, and biology. Adam & Eve were real people.who lived in real history.around 6000 years ago...

The main fundamentalist Evangelical Christian postsecondary institution, university, found in Canadian society is Trinity Western University, where Professor Dennis Venema was the prominent individual referenced as the source of progress in the scientific discussions within intellectual and, in particular, formal academic discussions and teaching. Trinity Western University operates near Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada in Langley. The main feature case for Story comes from a city near to Trinity Western University in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Story considers this the single most controversial case of creationism in the entire country

John Sutherland, of Trinity Western University, chaired the Abbotsford school board of the time, which, potentially, shows some relationship between the surrounding areas and the school curriculum and creationism axis as you may recall Trinity Western University sits in Fort Langley, British Columbia, Canada, next to the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia as an evangelical Christian university. The Minister agreed with Goodman and the Teachers Association and sent a letter requesting assurances from the board that they were adhering to the provincial curriculum, Story explained, The Ministers requests were not directly acknowledged, but Sutherland was vocal about the issue in local media outlets. He accused the Minister of religious prejudice by attempting to remove creationism from the district.

See Canadians and Others Convictions to Divine Interventionism in the Matters of the Origins and Evolution: https://www.newsintervention.com/creationism-evolution-jacobsen/.

Photo by Krista Joy MontgomeryonUnsplash

Assistant Editor, News Intervention, Human Rights Activist.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the Founder of In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing. He focuses on North America for News Intervention. Jacobsen works for science and human rights, especially womens and childrens rights. He considers the modern scientific and technological world the foundation for the provision of the basics of human life throughout the world and advancement of human rights as the universal movement among peoples everywhere. You can contact Scott via email, his website, or Twitter.

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1 thought on Freethought for the Small Towns: Case Study - News Intervention

Lynn Dominguez in Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services Administration is used to going along on the guided nature hikes her students lead as part of their RPL 552 Environmental Interpretation course.

But the pandemic upended nearly everything Central Michigan University students and faculty are used to, and so her students ventured out alone into parks and backyards all over Michigan to fulfill their assignment with cellphone videos.

"I started noticing all the pine needles and moss all over the trails at the Ludington State Park, and I honestly didn't know much about the different things that are all over the forest floor," said Amber Sadler, a senior majoring in recreation and event management. "That's how the idea originated."

She created themes, goals and objectives; messaged classmates to compare ideas; and took to the trails to record her video.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the state, a few College of Medicine team members suited up in personal protective equipment to run medical scenarios at the simulation lab in Saginaw as students and residents watched and learned from home.

Finding remote learning solutions and successes became a new way of life for students and faculty this semester. Here are a few more examples.

School of Music faculty member Alicia Marie Valoti set out to involve her entire viola studio class in a musical video. She ended up also involving alumni from around the world.

"Each of the violists you see was a CMU student of mine in some way," Valoti said, "and each, including myself, recorded three different parts to be mixed together.

"The students come from Brazil, China, Ecuador and many different parts of Michigan, and in fact, in some of the videos, students recorded themselves in their home country."Graduate assistant Shawn Bouck edited and produced the video.

In the Department of Theatre and Dance, Heather Trommer-Beardslee's DAN 232 Dance Composition students also needed to find a way to perform together. The resulting assignment became a video, "Still Dancing Together," to which each dancer contributed a solo performance.

"Students used the choreography skills they had been working on in class to continue learning and creating together despite the physical distance," Trommer-Beardslee said. Class member Alynne Welch edited the video.

'Live from Home'

Meanwhile, integrative public relations students received real-life lessons in crisis management by watching videos CMU Police Chief Larry Klaus created as he and the department managed the impact of the pandemic on campus. Elina Erzikova's JRN 551 Case Studies in Public Relations class discussed the handling from a PR perspective.

Preschoolers plug in

CMU's Child Development and Learning Laboratory connected with its preschool students and their families through an online learning service called Storypark. Daily video sessions with songs, stories and movement activities kept the children engaged and their teachers and student teachers focused on learning, said Human Development and Family Studies faculty member Holly Hoffman.

MOVE doesn't stop

Community members with Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis rely on the CMU physical therapy program's popular MOVE for Health exercise class. Unable to host it in person, student leaders in the program created a YouTube video to keep participants moving.

Honoring an Honors tradition

CMU Honors Program students wait years to ring the gong in Powers Hall to celebrate completing their senior capstone research projects. The stay-home order only spurred their creativity. Students took to Facebook to "virtually" ring the gong using everything from wind chimes to a dinner bell to a metal bowl to the power of Photoshop.

Pipeline goes online

The nine-week Health Careers Pipeline program recruits a diverse group of ninth and 10 graders from area high schools who are interested in health professions careers. It was scheduled to begin the first week of Michigan's stay-home order, so organizers took it virtual with interactive games and videos and drew nearly 100% participation, said April Osburn, executive director of the Mid-Central Area Health Education Center.

Threads can't be broken

The annual student-run Threads Fashion show, scheduled for April, took on a new look after the pandemic canceled campus events. Instead of sending models to walk the runway, organizers called on alumni to post supportive videos on Facebook and continued to create social media posts with the event's look and theme.

"Threads Fashion show is continuing to promote the brand," said faculty advisor Ian R. Mull. Organizers also created a Threads Fashion show 2020 program, offered for sale, to spotlight the designers who would have been in the show.

Lessons from nonprofits

Even from home, the Nonprofit Leadership Student Alliance stuck to its 5 p.m. Thursday meetings. The academic registered student organization's members aim for careers leading nonprofit organizations. Turning their attention to the ways nonprofits are meeting needs during the pandemic, they produced a video to showcase what they've learned.

"The learning comes from students staying connected and committed," said Political Science and Public Administration faculty member Emma Powell, who works with the alliance. "I am so proud of this group I could probably write a book."

Shifting sales strategy

Marketing and Hospitality Services Administration faculty member Rebecca Dingus' MKT 340 Personal Selling course normally builds up to sales role-plays between Dingus and each of her students. This year, recognizing that not all students could meet virtually from home, she and a colleague from Marquette University recorded four versions of a sales call. Pairs of students critiqued them using the knowledge they'd gained from the course.

"They got to watch me sell four different ways," Dingus said. "It created a much richer learning experience than what I ever could have predicted." She plans to use the new assignment even when classes transition back to campus.

Sharing science stories

Anyone wanting to find successes in the College of Science and Engineering can look to the college's Facebook page.

"We've been highlighting faculty and students since the quarantine started," said Rob Wang, the college's communications coordinator. Among them:

Faculty members Jason Keeler and Jordan Watts teach with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in mind at this time, understanding that students need food, shelter, friendship and a sense of self-esteem before they can expect to succeed academically.

Junior mechanical engineering major Katya Dominguez shifted from a canceled study abroad program in South Korea to being able to quickly register for online classes and two independent studies.

Actuarial sciences and statistics sophomore Julie Colling shares strategies for keeping up with studies and taking time to reduce stress.

Forward into summer

With all campus events, camps and gatherings canceled through June 25 and the first session of CMU summer classes online only, remote connections will grow past the end of the spring semester.

The Speech-Language Specialty Clinic for area children is just one example of a vital program taking new form. About 40 virtual campers in the annual nine-week speech and language therapy program will connect through telepractice one to three times a week beginning May 26. Telepractice links the CMU student clinicians and the clinical instructors supervising them for assessment, intervention and consultation with children and their parents.

Another example is the Center for Excellence in STEM Education's summer camps, which will be held virtually as they begin in June. The free classes open for registration May 18. This year's camps will be smaller to allow for meaningful connections and will offer curbside pick-up for needed materials.

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In a changed reality, finding new paths to success - The Morning Sun

She may have some interesting stories to tell her grandchildren about the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Like many other people her age, Emma Elwell is dealing with the disruption of normal life by engaging in virtual schooling and home-based workouts. But the Boyertown senior has another perspective on the situation: That of an employee of Walmart, a business classified as essential in this time of social distancing and stay-at-home requirements.

I get thanked a lot for serving. Its crazy, Elwell said of the hero status accorded her and others a category headed by medical professionals and first responders that includes retail store workers.

In that capacity, Emma gets a close-up look at how the consumer public is responding to the health-mandated requirements and restrictions placed by the government on retail businesses.

Its mostly pretty good, she said. But you can get someone who doesnt follow the rules or the medical conditions, someone else complains about that and a fight breaks out. It can be a little awkward.

Its nonetheless a meaningful contribution to a society dealing with the closure of schools, restaurants and bars, many stores and personal-service businesses, among others.

It also helps Elwell fill time left empty by the loss of her last high-school athletic season to the pandemic.

The holder of no less than 12 school records in winter and spring track, Elwell was primed for a big final go-round on the track. Coming off an indoor season that saw her top her own standards in all but two of eight events and qualify for nationals, she was looking to enhance her standing as the schools fastest sprinter and add to her medal collection from her junior season.

This spring was supposed to be awesome, Elwell said. We had crazy 4100 and 4200 relays. We were excited.

Boyertown seniors Mattie Gallagher, left, and Emma Elwell bite their medals after winning the state title Friday. (Austin Hertzog MediaNews Group)

Her 2019 spring season was no less awesome. Elwell placed second in the 100 (12.27) and third in the 200 (25.54) at the Pioneer Athletic Conference Championships, and she was eighth in both AAA races at the District 1 meet.

Elwell came into outdoor track season off a strong showing in the Pa. Track and Field Coaches Association (PTFCA) meet March 1 at Penn State University. She placed sixth in the 200 (25.35) and seventh in the 60 (7.86) while helping Boyertowns 4200 relay (Renee Simmonds, Lillian Mauger, Alona Hopkins) scored a fourth in 1:45.50 which qualified them for the New Balance Indoor Nationals. But the event slated for March 13-15 in New York fell victim to the pandemic.

Its really hard to cope with, she added. It was all taken away. We realized bigger things were within reach.

I was focusing on the sprints. Id like to be good in the 200. In the 65, Id like to drop my time.

All was not lost for Elwells senior year of sports: she was the starting right back of the PIAA Class 4A champion Boyertown girls soccer team, earning Mercury All-Area second team selection after the forward converted to defense and added a seasoned and dynamic presence on the Bears right side.

Elwell will be in position to pursue more big things when her time at Boyertown is finished. She will be heading to Millersville University in the fall with the unique status of being a three-sport athlete. In addition to running winter and spring track, Emma will be part of the Marauder womens soccer program.

Millersville plays a back-and-winger shift, she explained. I was used to getting stuck anywhere.

After competing in three sports in high school, Elwell doesnt see that routine being a challenge at the collegiate level.

I focus on nutrition, sleep and hydration. Thats important, she said.

At Millersville, Emma will be reunited with former Boyertown teammate Aurora Conrad. Like Elwell, Conrad was a sprinter who medalled at the PACs 2019 meet she was eighth in the 100 and 200 and is currently finishing up her freshman year at Millersville.

Were close, Elwell noted. It was fun to run track with her. Shes one of my best friends.

Elwell will be pursuing studies in early childhood education at Millersville. She had previously done a student-teaching gig with a class of first-graders and enjoyed the experience.

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Senior Spotlight: Boyertown's Elwell contributes to success on and off the track and field - papreplive.com

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Tony Yates will go down as animportant figurein University of Cincinnati basketball history, having been a part of the program for three decades.

He had two distinct careers with the Bearcats: His mega-successful time as a player in the 1960s and his frustrating years as UCs head coach in the 1980s.

Yates, a member of the UC James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted in 1985) and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame (2020), died Saturday night at age 82, it was confirmed by JCBattle &Sons Funeral Home.

Born in September 1937 in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Yates was a 1954 graduate of Lockland Wayne High School and helped lead the school to the 1952 state championship with his brother Fletcher.

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Yates turned down partial scholarship offers to play basketball from Cincinnati and Xavier University because he was disappointed not to get full scholarship offers. He worked and played for a barnstorming all-star basketball team for the year,then joined the United States Air Force. In 1958, he got married, and in 1959, he accepted a partial scholarship offer from UC, with a chance to play with all-time great Oscar Robertson.

Who wouldnt want to be associated with him? Yates said in the book Tales from Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball.

Yates was considered an instant leader on the Bearcats freshmen team and went on to average 7.4 points (1960-61), 8.2 points (1961-62) and 7.6 points (1962-63) in his three seasons on varsity. As a senior team captain, he was chosen third-team All-America by The Associated Press and first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference.

As a sophomore, Yateswas 23 years old and nicknamed Gramps. He assumed the role of starting point guard and was considered Ed Jucker's coach on the floor.

When George Wilson arrived to play for UC in 1960, he said, there were only a few African American players, including Yates, Paul Hogue and Tom Thacker. They were all older than Wilson. He said Hogue and Thacker were like my big brothers and Tony was like papa.

Wilson looked to Yates for guidance about life as a minority in Cincinnati.

"We always did what he said to do and always followed his advice, Wilson said.

Yateshelped lead the Bearcats to their national championships in 1961 and 1962 and a runner-up finish in 1963. He won UCs teamBest Defensive Player award all three years during which UC's teams went 82-7. Yates and Thacker are the only players in program history to play in three NCAA championship games.

Cincinnati starters from 1961-1962 team standing up: Coach Ed Jucker. kneeling left to right: Ron Bonham, Capt. Tony Yates, George Wilson and Tom Thacker. They were the 1962 NCAA championship team.(Photo: Enquirer file)

The St. Louis Hawks was selected Yates 41st overall in the fifth round of the 1963 NBA draft.

At UC, Yateswas also a member of Sigma Sigma mens honorary.

Yates was an assistant coach at UC underTay Baker andGale Catlett from 1972-74. He left to become an assistant to Gene Bartow at theUniversity of Illinoisin 1974-75. He then became Lou Hensons assistant and was at Illinois for a total of nine seasons, earning a reputation as strong recruiter and helping the Illini to two NCAA Tournaments and two National Invitation Tournaments.

But what Yates always wanted was to be UCs head coach. He said he applied for the job in 1972 when Catlett was hired and in 1978 when Ed Badger was chosen. Finally, in 1983, Yates was hired to replace Badger.

It was a very happy moment, Yates said in the UC basketball book. I was going home.

Yates was tearful at his introductory press conference when he received a standing ovation.

That day Robertson told The Enquirer: Am I happy? You bet. He knows the game. He knows how to recruit. Hes just what we need.

JANUARY 1, 1988: Pete Gillen (left) and Tony Yates hold the Crosstown Shootout trophy.(Photo: Enquirer file)

Yates'six years as head coach did not go as planned. His teams finished 70-100 overall with just two winning seasons 17-14 with an NIT berth in 1984-85 and 15-12 in 1988-89. He was then fired andreplaced by Bob Huggins.

He did not coach again.

"I had my fling," Yatessaid in the UC basketball book. "I didwhat I wanted to do. I wanted to coach at the University ofCincinnati. Im very pleased, very blessed, and very happy aboutwhat we had done. There were a lot of very special momentswith a lot of special people. There are a lot of great, great memories.

Hewill forever be rememberedasthe architect behind UCs stall-ball gameagainst the University of Kentucky in December 1983. UK ended up winning 24-11. It was Yates eighth game as a head coach. The Bearcats were 1-6, and the Wildcats were No. 2 in the country.

The game was on national TV. On game day, Yatestold the players the plan was to hold the ball on every possession until they had a chance for a layup. I thought the only way we had a chance to win, was to do what we did, Yates said in the book. And they did it to the letter.

Yates also will be remembered for recruiting three of UC's1,000-point scorers: Roger McClendon, Louis Banksand LevertisRobinson. McClendon and Banks are among the program's top10 all-time scorers.

"He was very stern in his values and what he thoughtwas important," McClendon said Sunday. "He was a family man. He taught people about life. People called him stubborn in a way, but what he went through in the military to battling racism, to being in sales, and then getting the privilege to be a coach ... he came from the school of hard knocks.

"He was the pillar. He gave back, volunteeredin the community. Hes going to be missed. He was our leader, and people really respected him."

Yates contributed to the community with theTony Yates Caring For Kids Foundation, anon-profit designed "to uplift, assist, and train youth and their families."

There also is theTony Yates Junior Golf Academy.According to the Cincinnati Recreation Commission web site, it "uses the game of golf to teach discipline, encourage personal growth and self esteem and also fosters personal success for the boys and girls attending. The program provides golf instruction along with life skill training to enable participants to become better, more productive citizens."

SEPTEMBER 29, 2005: Two former UC basketball coaches: Tony Yates introduces some friends to Bob Huggins as they talk backstage. US Bank Arena was the site of a roast/salute to fired former University of Cincinnati Basketball Coach Bob Huggins.(Photo: The Enquirer/Michael E. Keating)

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Tony Yates: Former University of Cincinnati basketball player and coach dies at 82 - The Cincinnati Enquirer

As of Saturday, Taiwan has recorded 440 coronavirus cases and seven deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. By comparison, Australia -- with a population of 25 million -- has reported more than 7,000 infections and 98 deaths.

Eager to share its experiences in fighting Covid-19, Taiwan is now pushing for a greater voice in global health discussions. The United States, Japan and New Zealand have all voiced support for Taiwan to join next week's World Health Assembly -- an annual meeting of World Health Organization (WHO) members.

And this doesn't sit well with Beijing.

China regards the island as part of its territory, and has for years blocked it from taking part in many global institutions, while also refusing to have diplomatic relations with countries that maintain official ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan, which is not a WHO member, joined the WHA as an observer from 2009 to 2016, when the island was governed by the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang (KMT). But when the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office in 2016, ties frayed with Beijing -- and Taipei hasn't joined the WHA since.

But as the virus gives Taiwan a rare opportunity to boost its international profile, Beijing has accused Taipei of pushing for formal independence -- and stepped up military drills around the island. There have even been some fringe calls within China for the country to use the pandemic as an opportunity to invade Taiwan.

As the number of new infections dropped in China and surged abroad in recent months, state media touted Beijing's success in defeating the virus while highlighting the failures of other governments to contain its spread -- particularly the US and other Western democracies.

Inside China, that sparked claims its authoritarian political system was superior to those of liberal democracies when it came to tackling the pandemic.

Furthermore, the Chinese government has faced criticism for its initial handling of the outbreak. Authorities have been accused of silencing medical workers who tried to sound the alarm on the virus, downplaying the severity of the outbreak and delaying admission of human-to-human transmission in the critical early stages.

As China moved to help countries by donating personal protective equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies, questions have been raised as to the motives behind its so-called "mask diplomacy."

In March, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned about the "geopolitical component" of Beijing soft-power push, saying Europe must be aware of "a struggle for influence through spinning and the 'politics of generosity.'"

As well as donating medical supplies, Taiwan has sought to develop bilateral partnerships to fight the pandemic -- a move that has drawn the wrath of Beijing.

In addition to bilateral cooperation, Taiwan has doubled down on its bid to return to the WHO's annual assembly.

On March 27, the US passed a law supporting Taipei's participation in international institutions and its efforts to strengthen ties with other countries, and multiple nations usually wary of being on the wrong side of Beijing, such as Japan, Canada and New Zealand, have publicly spoken out in favor of Taiwan rejoining the WHA.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian rebuked New Zealand for just that, calling on it to "immediately stop making wrong statements on Taiwan, to avoid damaging our bilateral relationship." Beijing has called Taipei's attempt to rejoin the WHA a "political plot."

"In the United States, there are people who blatantly support Taiwan to join the WHO," a spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office said last week. "They are politicizing epidemic prevention issues and sending a seriously wrong signal to the Taiwan independence forces. We resolutely object to that."

On social media and in the Chinese press, some have called on the People's Liberation Army to take advantage of the pandemic to invade Taiwan, arguing that the timing could not be better, with the US preoccupied with the coronavirus and its military might in the region crimped by an outbreak on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

However, most observers agree that such posturing is unlikely to be matched by any hostile action against Taiwan.

Timothy Heath, a senior international researcher at the RAND Corporation, a US think tank, said the weakness of China's economy precludes any such move. The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in the Chinese economy contracting by 6.8% in the first part of this year -- the worst plunge since quarterly records began in 1992.

"China needs access to (global) markets once they recover, and so it is in China's interests to maintain good ties with the US and the world," Heath said. "A reckless attack on Taiwan would only exacerbate tensions with Washington and could elevate the risk of economic sanctions and other penalties -- potentially crippling the Chinese economy."

He added that while Beijing "cares a great deal about Taiwan," the Chinese government cares "even more about maintaining the economic growth that underpins the (Communist Party's) rule."

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Taiwan's success in fighting coronavirus has bolstered its global standing. This has infuriated Beijing - CNN

Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan has many ambitions that she is pursuing. She wants to win an NWSL title with her club, Sky Blue FC. She wants to become the No. 1 keeper with Canada. She also wants a dog.

Ive always had a weird obsession with dogs, and I think its because I could never have one. We didnt have them growing up and I always wanted them, she said.

For now, her on-the-go lifestyle (at least before COVID-19) means she has had to put pet ownership on hold, but she is working towards her professional dreams. Sheridan is currently in New Jersey, resuming individual workouts with Sky Blue as the NWSL hopes to begin its season in the near future.

I think right now Ive just been really focusing on being prepared for when were allowed to come back in and doing all the workouts we need to do, she told TSN.

Sheridan, 24, is preparing for her fourth season with Sky Blue. Her tenure with the club has been tumultuous at times, with Sky Blue finishing near or at the bottom of the league in the past two years, but this upcoming season was looking promising. Newly appointed general manager Alyse LaHue had brought in a surge of new talent, including two-time NWSL champion McCall Zerboni and American international Mallory Pugh, along with a new head coach, Freya Coombe.

Im extremely excited, Sheridan said. I think when all those changes were made, it put an extra light in the team, and made us more excited than we were coming off of last season... just bringing in a little more experience and star power that we havent maybe had in the past.

Also joining the fold is fellow Canadian Evelyne Viens, who was drafted fifth overall earlier this year. The native of Lancienne-Lorette, Que.,is coming off an impressive collegiate career with USF, recording 73 goals and 23 assists in 77 appearances, although she is still awaiting her first call-up to the Canadian national team.

I was extremely excited personally to have another Canadian with me on the team, Sheridan said. [Shes] a Canadian we can all see coming through the ranks. She definitely came underneath [the radar] and maybe got bypassed a little bit, but I think that we can build her up at Sky Blue and give her an opportunity to really showcase her abilities.

She just has an amazing attitude from what Ive met with her so far just always wanting to train and learn and get into this environment. It sucks [in] your rookie year not to be able to do that right away in the typical manner, but I know when we get the opportunity shes definitely ready to show.

Sheridan is also a draft pick of Sky Blue, selected 23rdoverall in 2017. She has been able to find personal success even while her club has struggled. In 2019, Sky Blue finished second-last, but Sheridan was named as a finalist for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year (ultimately losing to Washingtons Aubrey Bledsoe). A year earlier, the Canadian set an NWSL record for most saves in a season, while her club finished dead-last with just one win.

I think that was the year I got to face so many things, she said. Maybe from the outside it looks like a really rough year for the team, and for me personally coming in last and not winning. It doesnt look like a typical year where you say, Oh, I was successful. But I definitely came out of that year thinking that I grew as a goalkeeper and became a better player, just because I got to see so much, face so much, and grow a bigger understanding of the game.

My journey with Sky Blue is definitely something that nobody could have predicted. I couldnt have predicted it. I couldnt have written a better story myself.

Sheridan has endured some hardships with the club off the field as well. In 2018, an article fromThe Equalizer revealed substandard training and living conditions that Sky Blue players were forced to withstand, such as not having showers at their training facilities. Sheridan stepped up to advocate for better conditions, addressing the issues in a conference call that included the clubs owners and New Jersey governor Phil Murphy.

This was not OK, this wasnt the standard, and it was OK not to be OK with it, even though I felt that maybe I had to be, Sheridan said. It just really taught me that in order to make a difference, we did have to speak up. We couldnt just be quiet. It was maybe a risk that we would have to take, but we had to trust that this risk was worth it, and that we deserved more than we were being given.

After former general manager Tony Novo resigned in 2019 and was replaced by LaHue, Sheridan said the changes in the teams living and training conditions have been night and day. The club now practises at the Red Bulls Training Facility, furthering a partnership forged with the MLS side during the off-season, when it was announced that all Sky Blue home games will be played at Red Bull Arena.

We are in amazing accommodations, our training facility even though I have not been there yet because of this whole pandemic but from what Ive heard from the girls and what Ive seen from the pictures, its just phenomenal, Sheridan said. If I had a side-by-side, you wouldnt believe where we were training and where we were living before.... Its just massive to be able to be at that first year where I was and see what we had to see what we have now in just three years.

Sheridans willingness to speak up is just one example of her fearlessness off and on the pitch. This bold display may also be one of the reasons that keepers have the reputation of being a bit odd, something that Sheridan happily admits.

I think if a goalkeeper answers no to that, then theyre lying, she said with a laugh. Definitely, Im crazy. I think were all weird and different in a way, but that just kind of makes us the people that we are and the athletes that we are. Were willing to do the crazy things and push our bodies to limits that we didnt think that we could or other people didnt think that we could. Youve got to be a little crazy to do what we do, but I think at the end of the day, it makes you a better goalkeeper.

For Sheridan, one of her particular quirks is her koumpounophobia fear of buttons.

We can talk about that... let the world know, Sheridan laughed. I was pretty young, and I just didnt want to get put in buttoned clothes. My parents were like, What is wrong with this kid? I dont know what it is. I still just dont like them. I dont want to touch them. I dont want them near me. Nobody knows what happened with the buttons. Its just one of those things.

Sheridan, sans buttons, has been a regular on the Canadian roster since earning her first cap in 2016. The native of Whitby, Ont.,has seen some early success, with six clean sheets in nine appearances, and has also forged a strong bond with starting goalkeeper Stephanie Labb.

I think one of the best things that she has given me [is] the opportunity to ask me to push her, and allowed me to come in and feel like I can really compete for that spot, and she wants me to, said Sheridan. She wants me to come and push her and make her better. Thats just how you know shes such an amazing person and athlete. She wants to be better. She wants me to give everything that I can give, and if Im better at the end of the day, shell be proud of me, and if she gets better because of me, shell be happy.

Labb, 33, has hinted in recent interviews that she plans to retire after the now-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which would open the door for Sheridan as Canadas No.1 keeper (alongside Sabrina DAngelo). But despite her personal aspirations, Sheridan wants to be clear:

Nobody is asking her [Labb] to leave.... Im never going to push her to retire, and shes never going to decide that without feeling completely confident. She is one of those people who completely knows and trusts in her decisions, she said.

Sheridan is also a mentor in her own right. During her off-seasons in New Jersey, she trains and works at The Keeper Institute, helping to instruct young goalkeepers.

I do love coaching, she said. I think thats one of the amazing gifts you can give back when youre at such a high level, because you have the knowledge and the ability. Being able to work with kids and give back is a really good thing for me to be able to do, and I feel really passionate about it.

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Keeper Sheridan talks Sky Blue FC training, national team aspirations and why she wants a dog - TSN

Adele nearly broke the internet earlier this month when she revealed her jaw-droppingtransformation photo to her fans on the occasion of her 32nd birthday. What was so remarkable was not only that the Grammy Award-winning singer had lost 100 pounds, but also that she emerged as a toned, sleek and strong looking body, with the legs of a Pilates instructor. We all collectively wondered: How did she do that?

The Beet published the exact diet called the sirtfood diet,that Adele reportedly followed to shed the 100 pounds since last year, including three green juices a day and a diet that included plenty of healthy plant-based foods like kale, Brussel sprouts, and matcha. The good news is that the sirtfood diet also allows antioxidant-rich treats like dark chocolate and red wine. For the exact diet to follow, and how to do it, click on The Beet's story here.

Now The Beet has the goods on howAdelegot that toned body, including a video that shows the star pushing it to the limit on a Pilates Reformer.Losing weight is one thing, but showing off lean, toned muscles and astrong body takes some hard work, and some sweat. In an October post on IG, Adele said, "I used to cry but now I sweat." It worked for her and it will work for you too. The Beethas the secrets toAdele's success, from her former personal trainer and her Pilates instructor. Here is exactly what you need to know to tone up now. The best news? You can get it done at home.

"Getting skinny was never the goal", says Pete Geracimo, Adele's former personal trainer who moved from London to Ontario.Geracimorevealed toAccess Hollywood that Adele's body transformation was not for attention, press purposes, or album sales, it was simply for herself.

"This metamorphosis is not for album sales, publicity or to be a role model. She is doing it for herself and her son Angelo," he explained. He added weight loss can be "massively empowering: and "a truly personal thing."

Geracimo says that it is always so rewarding when he "sees his clients blossom during their fitness journeys," according toUS Magazine, and he is always their biggest cheerleader." He alsoexplained that the best motivation is one that comes from within and that Adele was facing hardships after her divorce, and she wanted to be healthier for herself and for her seven-year son, Angelo. Geracimo saysthe singer was committed to her fitness and is "sweating" to achieve her personal health goals, which makes uscuriousas to what kinds of moves she has beenusing togetthere.

Pilates appears to be Adele's go-to workout of choice. Her pilates instructor, Camila Goodisappeared on a videoonAccess Hollywood congratulating Adele for achieving her health goals. What was most shocking was that Goodissays for a moment she didn't recognize Adele after the initial weight loss, when the star walked into the studio for class one day. (Adele joins a small group workout, which many people find more effective than one-on-one training.)

In theshort video clip,Adeleis shown on the pilates reformer exercising and working hard. If you don't want to watch the entire clip you can fast forward to 2 minutes and 9 seconds to see the star putting in her reps. Pilates is a great toner for abs, legs, abs, and all-around strengthening, and this type of low-impact exercise is effective for toning up as you lose weight. Adele and others use Pilates t build lean muscle, improve posture by target core strength-- all of which lets you wear your clothes better, perfect as shorts season is upon us.Adele seems to be a big fan of Pilates but from what the media can see, at least, she only needs to hit the studio a few times a week to get these impressive results.

Camila Goodis even admits,I dont think she is a huge fan of exercise like Robbie [Williams] and Ayda [Field, his wife who are Adele's workout friends], who exercise five or six days a week,"according toThe Sun, Ayda is credited as the one who brought Adele to Pilates in the first place. She introduced the star to the workout after her divorce to help her feel better, The Sun story reports.

"One day I was attheir house [meaning the Williams'] in Los Angeles and Ayda asked me if I would train one of her best friends who was visiting," Goodis told The Sun. "So the exercise had to be very gentle. Pilates was perfect for her. She said she had done Pilates before in London, and she was very appreciative. The funny thing was I hadn't caught her name and I didn't recognize her at the time. She wasn't wearing makeup or her eyelashes and was wearing sweatpants and a loose top. After she left I mentioned to Ayda that she looked a little bit like Adele and Ayda gave me this look ... and thought it was hilarious." When Adele returned to LA she did more sessions and the weight started dropping off.

Adele'sphysical exercise program also incorporates weight training with dumbells, as you can see from Geracimo's post, whichhelps to stimulate muscle growth, increase metabolism, and burn even more calories while at rest. Perhaps what is most shocking to cardio devotes is that there is no evidence that Adele is doing much in the way of cardio. But strength training helps burn fat even after you stop working out, according to exercise research.

"Metabolism may stay elevated for longer afterweightsthan cardio," according to severalweight-loss studies published by Healthline.The research suggests that "weightlifting is better for building muscle." Another thing that we can learn from Adele is you don't need massively heavyweights to feel the burn, as the photo below posted by Geracimo indicates. As long as you work muscles to exhaustion you can get toned withsmall handhelddumbells. This is great to keep in mind now that everyone is working out at home and may not have access to weight training machines.

Pete Geracimo is now hosting free Instagram Live classes so you can literally workout like Adele for free! Sign up at his Instagram account.And get your set of hand weights delivered today. We love this set because it hasdifferent sizes and you can work up to the heavier ones.

In a press release, Pete Germacio mentioned, "It's disheartening to read the negative commentary and fatphobic accusations questioning the genuineness of her amazing weight loss." The talented celeb received harshcomments about her weight loss, whichsome criticscalled "unhealthy."Meanwhile, other fans commented with support for Adele such as "you've worked so hard to look like this and I'm so glad you've got your purpose, but I want to tell you that for me you were always a spectacular, beautiful and sexy woman."

The Beet agrees that being healthy and happy is the goal, and the only thing that really matters here is if Adele herself feelshappy and healthy.

Bottom Line: You don't have to be a world-famous superstar to transform your body or reach your personal wellbeing goals. Adele's workout regime consists of personal training sessions with Pete Germacio, which now you can do on IG Live thanks to his daily classes.

As for the Pilates classes, Goodis has a video you can try in your own living room. And someday we will all be allowed back into the workout studio, but until then floor exercises can provide plenty of core strength and toning so the key is finding the discipline to do it on your own.

Way to go, Adele, we applaud all your hard work to reach your goal. You are an inspiration.

Originally posted here:
Here Is the Workout Adele Used to Tone Up As She Lost 100 Lbs - The Beet

Three years ago, The Undertaker was done. For good. At least, he was supposed to be.

At WrestleMania 33 in April 2017, the man legally known as Mark Calaway -- who by that point had been wrestling for the better part of three decades -- had every intention of leaving his in-ring career behind and continuing with the rest of his life.

After falling to Roman Reigns in the main event of WWE's biggest show of the year and suffering just the second loss on his pristine WrestleMania record, The Undertaker left his robe, hat and gloves in the middle of the ring. That was supposed to be the final time he would lace up the boots and battle it out for WWE.

"That was 100% real and me saying goodbye," Calaway claims during his acclaimed limited documentary series "Undertaker: The Last Ride," the second episode of which will debut Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on the WWE Network.

But even in that moment, as Calaway literally left his on-screen persona in the ring, his performance in that match gnawed at his mind. Calaway was slow, immobile and lacking the explosion that made him such a legendary superstar, largely due to the fact that he was putting off a needed surgery on his right hip.

The climax of the match, in which Reigns was supposed to reverse a Tombstone Piledriver -- The Undertaker's signature finishing maneuver -- was clearly botched as Calaway was unable to do his part and spring his body up into the air. He fell -- twice and the end of the match was exceedingly lackluster because of it.

"There's the utter disappointment of the performance that I just gave, there's the searing pain that's running down my leg coupled with the fact that this is the last time that I'm going to come and be on this stage in this manner. I don't think there's anything any more real than me putting the gloves and the hat and the coat down," Calaway said.

In the episode, Calaway is clearly disgusted with himself as he watches the match back for the first time nine months later in January 2018. Sunday's show covers his long, unexpected return to the ring, which was not as clear a path as fans may have believed.

"It reaffirmed 10 fold everything that I thought. I looked old. I looked slow. I was overweight. I couldn't move. It just wasn't Undertaker-esque, I guess, in any sense, really. I had one match too many," he said watching the match. " So that's when the wheels started turning that I need redemption."

In that nine-month span, which included the right hip procedure four weeks after 'Mania -- his 16th career surgery following one on his left hip, rotator cuff, bicep, pectoral, both eye sockets and others on his knees, fingers and other areas of his body -- Calaway claimed he had no intention of gearing back up to get in the ring at WrestleMania 34.

Except, he had every intention.

Awake in his hospital bed following his surgery, during which he went under anesthesia to his own Undertaker entrance music, Calaway was already talking to wife Michelle McCool, perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek, about performing in New Orleans just 11 months later.

There were a couple things standing in Calaway's way. Primarily, his health and wellness. Not wanting to be a parody of himself, he understood how poorly he performed against Reigns despite not yet watching the match back. It hurt him not only professionally but personally as a long-time locker room leader who aimed to put over the WWE's biggest star on his way out the door.

"I feel bad for Roman. You dream about that match -- to be in that match tearing the house down. I wasn't able to give him that. That bothers me. I can make excuses all day long. Excuses are like assholes, everybody has one," Calaway said the following January. "[Watching the match] It's like I don't even know where I'm supposed to be. I haven't spoken to him about it. He's probably looking at me right now, thinking, 'What was that guy all about?' Really disappointing. I'm sure he [thought that] when it watched it back. I feel like I need some redemption for that performance."

Vince McMahon, WWE's famed chairman and CEO, was more than aware that Calaway was a shell of his former self that night. Reigns, who in 2017 was just over six years into his career but had been positioned as WWE's signature superstar since 2015, knew it, too.

"It's like heartbreaking. It affected me. It made me emotional. it made me want to cry," he said, knowing what The Undertaker wanted to do but was unable to provide for him in that match. "I don't regret anything. Was it perfect? No. We were in the moment and, as live television performers, anything can happen.

"To be able to do [as much as he did], it's just all coming back on his character. It's all coming back to the responsibility that he holds and that he succeeds at. If there's something that has to be done and there's a goal at hand, the man gets it done, plain and simple. I think that it couldn't have been easy. I couldn't imagine that decision or being at that point in my career or my life to where this is the last one. It's still hard to fathom."

Three months after his right hip surgery, as outlined in the second episode of "The Last Ride," Calaway traveled to WWE's corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, to meet with McMahon in August 2017. While his WWE contract had expired and it was a bit of a formality that Calaway would agree to remain with the company in some manner, there was no commitment that The Undertaker would return to the ring.

Calaway admitted that his tank was empty, but he also struggled to completely eliminate the idea of performing again. And considering he was about to enter negotiations with McMahon, with whom he has an incredibly close personal relationship, Calaway knew ahead of time that the meeting may take an unexpected turn.

McMahon, despite his reputation for being a demanding boss, has a legendary soft spot for those most loyal to him. And perhaps no one has been more loyal over a longer period of time than Calaway, who stuck by WWE in the mid-1990s when many of McMahon's other top stars bolted for far more money and far less work with competitor WCW.

"Undertaker, Mark Calaway is the most loyal performer I've ever dealt with. He is the kind of man you would want -- literally and figuratively -- in the foxhole with you," McMahon said.

The Undertaker never left WWE, and neither Calaway nor McMahon has forgotten that.

So while Calaway had no intention of getting in the ring again, and he asserted that McMahon "is going to want what's best for me physically [and] mentally," he had been in enough meetings with the man to know that he must expect the unexpected.

"I gave up on strategizing meetings with Vince a long time ago. I've been so dead set in what I was going to do and say in a meeting. Walk out, the door shuts behind me and then [I] realize, 'I got absolutely nothing that I meant to say out,'" Calaway said.

McMahon holds a special place in Calaway's heart. He named his son, Gunner Vincent, after his boss. Other than his father, Calaway claims no one has been more influential in his life. "He'd be the first one to pat you on the back but also the first one to kick you in the ass when you needed it," he said.

Calaway later added: "I love Vince to death. I would take a bullet for the man. Honestly, I would. Yes, he's my boss, my friend. He's been like a dad. He's been like a brother. He's been it all to me."

McMahon, asked by "The Last Ride" producers to share his personal thoughts about Calaway, immediately teared up. He then cut off the question, motioning his hand across his neck. "Can't do that," he said.

As history bore out, Calaway re-signed with WWE, but it is revealed in the documentary that he only told McMahon he would be available in an emergency situation for WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. Calaway had not tested his surgically-repaired hip, nor did he feel the rush of momentum to redeem himself from his performance the year prior in Orlando, Florida, despite knowing deep down that he needed to.

That January, backstage at the annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view watching his wife compete in the women's signature match, the wheels began turning for Calaway. He even commented on a match being wrestled by AJ Styles, his eventual opponent two years later at WrestleMania 36, noting that he wished he got to work with him before hanging up his boots because he reminded him of Shawn Michaels.

McMahon called Calaway after the show, suggesting a match with John Cena if he felt The Undertaker could go. That led to Calaway watching his match with Reigns and knowing he had to give it another shot -- if his body was up to it.

The WWE storyline leading into the Taker-Cena match mimicked real life. Cena spent weeks calling out Taker on television, claiming if he did not fight him at 'Mania, he would only attend the event as a fan. In actuality, McMahon gave Calaway four weeks to make a decision, saying he needed to know by the conclusion of the Elimination Chamber PPV in February.

In the meantime, McMahon sent an entire WWE ring down to a warehouse in Texas so Calaway could train. Once his cardio had picked up, Calaway knew he would be able to perform at a level that not would far exceed his 2017 form. So he sent a text message to McMahon during the Elimination Chamber show to commit to WrestleMania.

"F--- yeah!" McMahon supposedly replied.

WrestleMania 34 was a healing experience for Calaway in mind, body and soul. He entered the event the best he had felt in a decade again with the intention of it being his swan song.

"After last year's performance, I think there was a lot of reason to doubt. That's not how I want to be remembered," he said. "Yeah, it's for the fans, but a lot of it is for myself and my pride and the legacy that I want to leave in this business."

Taker's short match with Cena repaired his image in front of fans and gave him confidence to go again, but Calaway sought out a receptive and forgiving Reigns afterward to repair his conscience.

"I feel so bad about last year. I just want you to know that bothers me," he told Reigns backstage. "I didn't have it. You know that."

Calaway then met up with McMahon, and the two had a loving embrace that has become almost an annual ritual.

"None of this happens without him. He gave me an opportunity a long time ago. Obviously, he changed my life," Calaway said. "It's something I do every year: give him a hug, tell him, 'thank you.'"

The well-received performance against Cena gave both The Undertaker and Calaway himself new life. Moments after his match, Calaway told McCool he was ready for the following year's show.

As "The Last Ride" will play out, this unexpected yet successful final wave of The Undertaker's career is met with more peaks and valleys, more successes and utter disappointments.

It feels as if it is headed for a crescendo, the announcement or intimation of one final match at an upcoming show, perhaps SummerSlam, Survivor Series (where The Undertaker made his WWE debut) or WrestleMania 37, scheduled for Los Angeles in 2021.

But as we have learned, when it comes to Calaway and The Undertaker, the end of the road always seems to be a bit further than we expect.

The second episode of "Undertaker: The Last Ride," a five-part limited documentary series about one of the most private superstars in WWE history, will be released on Sunday at 10 a.m. ET on WWE Network.

Originally posted here:
How The Undertaker's unique relationship with Vince McMahon, surgical success led to his WWE return - CBS Sports

caption Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and edX offer a range of free online courses that can help you advance your career. source GaudiLab/Shutterstock

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Link:
9 free online courses you can sign up for right now to improve your professional skills and career prospects - Business Insider