The Maine Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a custody order prohibiting a mother from taking her 13-year-old daughter to her church or religious events. The court reportedly also upheld that Emily Bickford can't expose her daughter to religious beliefs, like the Bible, without approval from the girl's father.
Be informed, not misled.
The following was first published by CBN News.
The courts in Maine have granted the girl's father "decision-making authority" over his daughter's exposure to religion, so Bickford hasn't been allowed to take her daughter to church for nearly two years.
The state's high court heard oral arguments last fall in the case of Bickford v. Bradeen — a battle pitting judicial authority against parental rights and the First Amendment.
Liberty Counsel, a faith-based non-profit legal group, has been representing Bickford and is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
"This opinion rejects the First Amendment right of a fit parent to raise her child consistent with her Christian faith," said Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. "This opinion goes against other state court decisions involving custody in the context of religious free exercise rights and ignores precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. We will ask the High Court to take this case and overrule the decision."
According to Liberty Counsel, Ava's parents were never married, and Bickford maintained primary custody of Ava, while her father had visitation rights. Since December 2024, Bickford has been challenging a custody order that prohibits her from bringing her daughter, Ava, to Calvary Chapel in Portland, Maine.
Part of the case centers on one service in which Bradeen was mentioned when the church's pastor prayed for his salvation. And Liberty contends that after attending Calvary Chapel for three years, young Ava decided to be baptized. When her father learned about her decision, it reportedly upset him, fueling the current court battle.
Bradeen argued the church was a "dangerous and harmful environment" that had caused his daughter to suffer from anxiety. He claimed she had a panic attack after hearing the church's teachings on the rapture.
Then the courts appointed him to oversee all decisions related to Ava's religious exposure. Staver argues that the order gave the father "absolute unreviewable authority to deny any kind of association or even reading the Bible or religious philosophy, attending any church or any event or associating with anyone...or any church or religious organization."
Michelle King, an attorney representing the father, said Bradeen is happy with the results so far. "Anytime you're in court, it's stressful," King said. "But this case has definitely garnered a lot of media attention, and I think that's always difficult for parents."
Liberty reports that a lower court in Maine concluded that although Bickford is a fit parent and "there has been no showing of harm to (the child) associated with a belief system that is rooted in the Bible," the state court raised concerns about mainstream Christian teachings of Heaven, Hell, eternal salvation, angels, demons, and teaching the Bible "verse by verse, chapter by chapter."
Liberty Counsel hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case and evaluate the broader constitutional issues at stake.
King said she "anticipated all along" that the case could end up before the Supreme Court.
Takeaway
I find it stunning to realize that the courts in America can find "mainstream Christian teachings in the Bible of Heaven, Hell, eternal salvation, angels, demons, and teaching the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter" a practice that the courts find unacceptable.
America was founded on the idea of religious freedom and the importance of the Bible.
Our leadership has held the Bible in great esteem.
Consider this:
- “So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year” (John Quincy Adams, America’s 6th President).
- “Let us then search the Scriptures…The Bible contains the revelation of the will of God; it contains the history of the creation, of the world and of mankind; and afterwards the history of one peculiar nation, certainly the most extraordinary nation that has ever appeared upon the earth” (John Quincy Adams, America’s 6th President).
- “That Book [the Bible] is the rock on which our Republic rests” (Andrew Jackson, America’s 7th President).
- “In regard to this great Book [the Bible], I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are found portrayed in it” (Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president).
- “My advice to Sunday Schools no matter what their denomination is: Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your heart, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future. ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people’ (Proverbs 14:34)” (Ulysses S. Grant, America’s 18th President).
- “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education” (Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th President).
- “A man has deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of the Bible” (Woodrow Wilson, America’s 28th President).
- “The Bible is endorsed by the ages. Our civilization is built upon its words. In no other book is there such a collection of inspired wisdom, reality, and hope” (Dwight Eisenhower, America’s 34th President).
- “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face” (Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th President).
Has our culture gone down the slippery slope so far that we feel it is just fine to bring drag queens into the classroom of five-year-olds, while we forbid a mom to take her thirteen-year-old daughter to a Bible-believing, evangelical church?
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Bold. Be Courageous. Be Prayerful.