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Thursday, May 26, 2005

Wicca is protected by the Constitution too
Posted by Jill | 9:23 AM

Is this the first step towards mandatory Christianity for everyone?

An Indianapolis father is appealing a Marion County judge's unusual order that prohibits him and his ex-wife from exposing their child to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals."

The parents practice Wicca, a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth.

Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, kept the unusual provision in the couple's divorce decree last year over their fierce objections, court records show. The order does not define a mainstream religion.

Bradford refused to remove the provision after the 9-year-old boy's outraged parents, Thomas E. Jones Jr. and his ex-wife, Tammie U. Bristol, protested last fall.

Through a court spokeswoman, Bradford said Wednesday he could not discuss the pending legal dispute.

The parents' Wiccan beliefs came to Bradford's attention in a confidential report prepared by the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau, which provides recommendations to the court on child custody and visitation rights. Jones' son attends a local Catholic school.

"There is a discrepancy between Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones' lifestyle and the belief system adhered to by the parochial school. . . . Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones display little insight into the confusion these divergent belief systems will have upon (the boy) as he ages," the bureau said in its report.

But Jones, 37, Indianapolis, disputes the bureau's findings, saying he attended Bishop Chatard High School in Indianapolis as a non-Christian.

Jones has brought the case before the Indiana Court of Appeals, with help from the Indiana Civil Liberties Union. They filed their request for the appeals court to strike the one-paragraph clause in January.

"This was done without either of us requesting it and at the judge's whim," said Jones, who has organized Pagan Pride Day events in Indianapolis. "It is upsetting to our son that he cannot celebrate holidays with us, including Yule, which is winter solstice, and Ostara, which is the spring equinox."


Now the question I have here is why on earth these people are sending their kids to a Catholic school, but that's a completely separate issue from a judge deciding that this child should not be exposed to their parents' religious practices when such practices aren't even a point of contention between the divorcing spouses! The article mentions some practices that involve nudity, but does that mean that Hindus should not be permitted to expose their children to their religion because of Tantra? Where does it stop?

If the judge wants to make a decree about nude rituals not being in the child's best interest, I think it's still out of line, but ok. But to tell a parent that they may not inculcate their own child with their own religion is blatantly unconstitutional.

I'll be waiting to hear what Republifascists in Congress have to say about this. If they defend this truly activist judge, we'll know that the American Inquisition is only a few years away.

(hat tip: Atrios)
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