Maine's high court gives father final say over daughter’s church attendance
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a father's authority over his daughter's attendance at an evangelical church after a pastor singled him out by name.
TL;DR
- The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled a father has final decision-making authority over his daughter's religious upbringing.
- This decision pertains to the daughter's attendance at Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, an evangelical church.
- The father argued the church was a harmful environment and that his daughter experienced anxiety due to its teachings, specifically on the Rapture.
- A lower court found that messages from the church characterized the father negatively and were psychologically damaging to the child.
- The state's high court affirmed the lower court's decision, granting the father the right to decide on his daughter's church attendance and interactions with church members.
- The court stated the allocation of final decision-making authority was due to the parents' inability to jointly make decisions about the child's religious upbringing.
- The mother's lawyer intends to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- During the dispute, the pastor of the church mentioned the father by name in a prayer, calling him 'in need of salvation' and the proceedings 'an attack on God's Word.'
- The court found the child was harmed by messages characterizing the father as an 'enemy' and by the mother's unwillingness to mitigate the risk of alienating the child from her father.