Back in December we ran an article in en on self-harm.
It was prompted by relative silence from Christians. Young people are cutting themselves and committing suicide at an alarming rate in this new digital era of the secularised Western world. This horrific tragedy even breaks surface from time to time in and around the church. But the recent campaign surrounding 14-year-old Molly Russell, who sadly took her own life after viewing images of self-harm online, has brought it to the fore.
At the end of February, Adam Mossari, chief executive of Instagram, became the first technology boss to admit that companies like his own and Facebook could do more to protect the vulnerable who use social media. He said that, while focusing on the good that can come from connecting people, the industry had tended to ignore the risks.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …