Interesting that noone has commented on this. I guess it shows that maybe people are more interested in the high profile news items so the small stuff can slip through. Not to sound paranoid but if I wanted to destroy freedom, I'd use that subterfuge.... let people fight over what I planted in the news and then take away the "small stuff" more unnoticed and with less resistance.
Anyway, I find it refreshing that several Christian leaders find this offensive also (there were a couple quoted in the Yahoo news article but not this one).
I go to a Unitarian Universalist church because I do not put any religion above another. I have my faith and am strong enough in it to not pass judgements on another's nor feel mine is the only one. MY spirituality and beliefs are MINE, just because I believe them to be true doesn't mean that they are true for everyone.
Wiccan is a very interesting study and way of life and I cannot believe a judge has deemed that parents cannot pass on their ways to the child.....
This is only going to get worse unless people stand up. What is sad is that this will become a left and right issue and the GOP will find massive unreasonable reasons to support this judge. I hope I am wrong but why should things change. They want it all their way and no dialogue which ends upcreating issues like this and polarizing the country.
This should be an issue BOTH sides that truly want to seperate church and state and keep freedom of religion a huge right should protest against. Of course there are those on the Right that use my favorite phrase to take rights away........ "It's a privelege not a right... the founders of the country didn't mean for things to go this far.... religion is a privelege, speech is a privelege (whatever they deem as not "their way of thinking" is a privelege) and as such priveleges can be taken away." Of course owning a gun though is a right...... Watch Pat Robertson (who unfortunately has too much political clout) talk about the 1st ten amendments as priveleges).
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Judge: Parents can't teach pagan beliefs
Father appeals order in divorce decree that prevents couple from exposing son to Wicca.
Challenging the court: Thomas E. Jones Jr. says a judge's order tramples on his and his ex-wife's constitutional right to share their religious beliefs with their son. -- Frank Espich / The Star
What is Wicca?
Wicca is not a centralized religion but a belief system observed by 50,000 Americans that is recognized by reference texts such as the U.S. Army Chaplain's Handbook.
Wicca is related to European tribal nature worship. Wiccans regard living things as sacred and often show a concern for the environment.
They do not worship Satan, but some cast "spells." Some worship in the nude as a sign of attunement with nature.
The core value of Wicca states, "As it harm none, do what you will."
-- Star report
By Kevin Corcoran
kevin.corcoran@indystar.com
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."
The ICLU and Jones assert the judge's order tramples on the parents' constitutional right to expose their son to a religion of their choice. Both say the court failed to explain how exposing the boy to Wicca's beliefs and practices would harm him.
Bristol is not involved in the appeal and could not be reached for comment. She and Jones have joint custody, and the boy lives with the father on the Northside.
Jones and the ICLU also argue the order is so vague that it could lead to Jones being found in contempt and losing custody of his son.
"When they read the order to me, I said, 'You've got to be kidding,' " said Alisa G. Cohen, an Indianapolis attorney representing Jones. "Didn't the judge get the memo that it's not up to him what constitutes a valid religion?"
Some people have preconceived notions about Wicca, which has some rituals involving nudity but mostly would be inoffensive to children, said Philip Goff, director of the Center for the Study of Religion & American Culture at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
"Wiccans use the language of witchcraft, but it has a different meaning to them," Goff said. "Their practices tend to be rather pacifistic. They tend to revolve around the old pagan holidays. There's not really a church of Wicca. Practices vary from region to region."
Even the U.S. military accommodates Wiccans and educates chaplains about their beliefs, said Lawrence W. Snyder, an associate professor of religious studies at Western Kentucky University.
"The federal government has given Wiccans protection under the First Amendment," Snyder said. "Unless this judge has some very specific information about activities involving the child that are harmful, the law is not on his side."
At times, divorcing parents might battle in the courts over the religion of their children. But Kenneth J. Falk, the ICLU's legal director, said he knows of no such order issued before by an Indiana court. He said his research also did not turn up such a case nationally.
"Religion comes up most frequently when there are disputes between the parents. There are lots of cases where a mom and dad are of different faiths, and they're having a tug of war over the kids," Falk said. "This is different: Their dispute is with the judge. When the government is attempting to tell people they're not allowed to engage in non-mainstream activities, that raises concerns."
Indiana law generally allows parents who are awarded physical custody of children to determine their religious training; courts step in only when the children's physical or emotional health would be endangered.
Getting the judge's religious restriction lifted should be a slam-dunk, said David Orentlicher, an Indiana University law professor and Democratic state representative from Indianapolis.
"That's blatantly unconstitutional," Orentlicher said. "Obviously, the judge can order them not to expose the child to drugs or other inappropriate conduct, but it sounds like this order was confusing or could be misconstrued."
The couple married in February 1995, and their divorce was final in February 2004.
As Wiccans, the boy's parents believe in nature-based deities and engage in worship rituals that include guided meditation that Jones says improved his son's concentration. Wicca "is an understanding that we're all connected, and respecting that," said Jones, who is a computer Web designer.
Jones said he does not consider himself a witch or practice anything resembling witchcraft.
During the divorce, he told a court official that Wiccans are not devil worshippers. And he said he does not practice a form of Wicca that involves nudity.
"I celebrate life as a duality. There's a male and female force to everything," Jones said. "I feel the Earth is a living creature. I don't believe in Satan or any creature of infinite evil."
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link:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...WS01/505260481