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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,888,012 |
 Judge: Parents Can't Teach Pagan Beliefs Author: Kevin Corcoran Source: Indianapolis Star (IN) Title: JUDGE: PARENTS CAN'T TEACH PAGAN BELIEFS   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. 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. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 78 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| An Unconstitutional Decision | May 28th. at 11:58:01 am EDT |
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Artemisia Shira of Handfastings.org (Stamford, New York) - Email Me In Indiana, a non-mainstream religion could mean Judaism. Or Wicca. Or anything!!! This decision is highly unconstitutional, and we should be writing to the judge and local Indianapolis politicians. Let them know that you disagree with the judge's decision and why. If you live in Indiana, I URGE YOU TO WRITE your local politicians and tell them that you VOTE! And send this article to non-Pagans as well. We cannot let the government make religious decisions for us. Write or call the judge who made this decision and tell him that it is unconstitutional: Hon. Cale J. Bradford Marion Superior Court (Civil, Criminal, and Probate Divisions) 200 E. Washington St., # T-1221 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Pho: (317) 327-4747 Fax: (317) 327-3844 |
| OMG | May 27th. at 9:30:02 am EDT |
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Mermaiden (Tallahassee, Florida) - Email Me Oh my Goddess! I just can't believe it. Well, actually I can but don't want to. I just wanted add my support as part of the pagan community...here's to a swift victory. So mote it be! |
| If This Guy Wasn't An Elected Judge . . . | May 26th. at 7:05:01 pm EDT |
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Tim Grimalkin (Sandy, Utah) - Email Me then he must have been appointed. Being a judge doesn't mean you are smart. It just means you know somebody. Blessed Bee, Timmy G. |
| GAH! | May 26th. at 6:44:45 pm EDT |
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Kathleen (West Fargo, North Dakota) - Email Me my dad is an attorney and i told him about this article and he said that the judge will most likely get booted from the bench, since he has infringed on their rights. it's sorta like saying islam or buddhism aren't mainstream religions. |
| Any Non-Mainstream Religion? | May 26th. at 6:36:38 pm EDT |
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Bookworm (Saint Paul, Minnesota) - Email Me This goes way beyond Paganism, or even non-Christian religions. Would this judge make the same ruling if the child were from an Amish family, or if the parents were part of a fundamentalist Christian group that practiced speaking in tongues or the laying-on-of-hands? After all, any religion outside of the largest Protestant denominations could be considered "non-mainstream." I can't believe this is even happening. At least the article was fairly balanced. |
| Letter To The Editor | May 26th. at 5:44:55 pm EDT |
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BlackHawk (Mc Farland, Wisconsin) - Email Me - Web I typically do not write letters to parties involved in legal action, for precisely the reason given: it will often irritate the parties involved, making the dispute worse. However, since the article appeared in the paper, I wrote a letter to the editor there clarifying a few points in the article, such as the reported numbers of Wiccans (a genuine count of American Wiccans is highly problematic, for a variety of reasons) , and the slight discrepency in the Rede, as quoted. I also spent a paragraph talking about how the Rede is *not* a blanket statement by the Craft that we can do whatever we want. I felt that the Rede, let to stand alone, can too easily be interpreted that way. I ended the letter by stating how wrong I think the judge was , and the DRCB. I said that learning to work through the "confusion" engendered by confronting divergent value systems is a valuable part of healthy maturation process. And besides, it is not the state's business to tell parents how to teach their child religion. Period. |
| Beyond Contempt _BY_ Court | May 26th. at 3:35:27 pm EDT |
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me This type of judicial abuse goes beyond what deserves an approach not traditional to Common Law based legal system, which assume government officers are above and exempt from the law. Our type of legal system was designed to reduce injustice in feudal baronies and monarchies in the Dark Ages, and requires a few tweaks to be anything close to compatible with the mix of present US Constitutional law, and the legal fact of societal diversity. Elective judges in locales which use that process are almost always more problematic than appointed, bipartisan reviewed judges, however many flaws exist in that process. That state's rights issue isn't easy to change except by local politics. A tweak to the larger design and minimum national standards for due process could be mechansisms to nonviolently pierce sovereign immunity. That could include a "3 strikes" law for politicians enacting blatantly unConstitutional laws or provisions thereof (such that voting for a larger Bill with clear illegal elements would have consequences) . It could include a "Contempt BY Court" process, whereby judges like this one could be summarily incarcerated for up to 18 months without trial, to allow time to disbar them and teach them about the challenges of defending disbarment and other actions from behind bars. That process might best apply to other court officers, including prosecutors, GAL's (Guardian ad litem) , and social workers for state agencies, both of the latter programs in many jurisdictions being largely controlled by organized efforts to subvert Constitutional limits with RRR staffers. (Admittedly, much of child protective social work is underpaid, includes dangerous situations, and so larger department practices often need overhaul to reduce such problems for reasons of basic competence and resources, beyond malicious bias alone.) The next step when the vote and courts fail to reign in corrupt judges is execution, whether hanging or sniping, under the design of our system of law. Strong and rapid legal process to not just reverse a case decision such as this, but remove an extremely corrupt judge from being an officer of the court in any form for life, is needed to reduce the promotion of last resort violent remedies for what amounts to a violent judge. Deprivation of well documented civil rights, even if done via police or Sheriff gunpoint rather than personally, is overdue to be treated as a violent felony, especially when done by judges who have an obligation to know better. |
| Not-so-honorable Judge | May 26th. at 2:42:27 pm EDT |
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Rhiannon (Shamokin, Pennsylvania) - Email Me Apparently this a$$ hasn't heard of religious freedom. The phone numbers to call are 317-232-4706 or 317-232-2542. |
| Indiana ACLU Article | May 26th. at 2:25:37 pm EDT |
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Rain Maiden (La Porte, Indiana) - Email Me I found an article at the Indiana ACLU website regarding this case: |
| Ruling References Confidential Report | May 26th. at 2:21:00 pm EDT |
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Dana D Eilers (North Chatham, Massachusetts) - Email Me The Indystar article mentions a confidential report from the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau which probably had some bearing on Judge Bradford's decision. Granted, the ruling appears unconstitutional on its face and now, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union is involved in the appeal of this matter. It will be interesting to follow this matter, to read copies of the appellate briefs, and see how the appellate court manages this. There are cases on the record where children of divorced parents who were of different religions could be exposed to the religions of both parents. The pivot point is whether there is any actual or potential harm to the child in such exposure. Judge Bradford's decree did not mention this factor. This is a case of considerable interest to the Pagan community. Dana D. Eilers Author: PAGANS AND THE LAW |
| Can Someone Please... | May 26th. at 2:15:32 pm EDT |
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Kathryn (Abilene, Texas) - Email Me Tell me (via e-mail or otherwise) how to contact this man? The more of us that speak out to him the more he will be likely to see that yes, we are a mainstream religion. I think our driud friend has the right idea, but unless he gets more than one letter he is likely to just shrug it off! I am listed in WitchVox as Kathryn. Thanks! |
| Define Judge | May 26th. at 2:15:25 pm EDT |
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me And what is a judge, but an ambitious lawyer crossed with a politician. And don't we know the ethical makeup of those types of individuals. It always amazes me when people thoughtlessly say 'it's not for either you or me to judge . . . ' It isn't? So who's at the wheel--Jehovah? Or do you throw yourself at the mercy of 'the Law, ' the most arbitrary and unjust institution of all? Deal with it if you must, but in the general scheme of things, I esteem well-crafted outhouses above and beyond the virtues of an average courthouse. |
| Ambiguous | May 26th. at 1:49:36 pm EDT |
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ForestWolf (Cheshire, England) - Email Me What exactly is a "mainstream" religion?; there are more pagans than members of some "acceptable" religions. In my opinion, Paganism is the most mainstream religion in existence - the "Pagan" umbrella encompasses anything that isn't Christianity, Judaism, Islam or Zoroastrianism, -i.e. the majority of religious people in the world today are Pagan. Therefore, they can carry on as before. If they are hauled before a court again they can just say, "Well, it IS mainstream so get over it". Or, they could just say "actually, it wasn't Yule/Ostara/Samhain it was Christmas/Easter/Halloween we were celebrating, honest!". The order is non-enforcable, because it violates the parents' and the kid's constitutional rights, so civil disobedience all around, methinks... BTW some great posts here on this one, just shows how much strong feeling it's stirred up. |
| This Guy Is NO Republican! | May 26th. at 1:39:50 pm EDT |
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Carissa Stormbringer (Georgetown, Kentucky) - Email Me Guys, PLEASE PLEASE don't make this a partisan issue. I've seen Democrats do the same kind of underhanded tactics when they have power. This is one individual who seriously needs to be fired for flagrantly disregarding the rule of law. When a new religion arises, the old one tries very hard to suppress it. Before anyone gets on their moral high horse, I should remind you all the Emperor Nero, who was definitely Pagan, used the corpses of Christians he had killed as torches. The fact is, this judge is a moron. I have yet to meet a fellow Republican who hasn't accepted me as one of their own. I'm open about my beliefs, but once they see that I'm not out to change theirs, they are fine with me. Please, Folks, don't insult my political party over what a subset of it is doing. It's not our way. Let's see if we can get this guy off the bench. That's what he deserves. I love you guys. Please show me love in return. Your Sis on the Right, Karisse |
| I Fully Agree | May 26th. at 1:31:12 pm EDT |
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Rain Maiden (La Porte, Indiana) - Email Me The fact that an Indiana judge thought this way does not surprise me in the least, the fact that he actually carried it out shouldn't surprise me, but it still does. With our "lovely" new governor, I believe that extremely conservative politicians and judges (such as this one) feel more confidant now to act in this manner. It is a shame. Perhaps he has forgotten that Christians were once persecuted for worshiping thier god! I am ashamed to be a Hoosier! I feel helpless sometimes. I didn't vote for these people, but yet somehow they are always in office. Anyone got an email address for this guy? |
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