Court Rules 12-Year-Old's Mother Cannot Read Her the Bible, Take Her to Church

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The Maine Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments concerning the case of Emily Bickford, who was blocked from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church.

Bickford received a custody order from a lower court forbidding her from taking the girl to services for Calvary Chapel, an evangelical Protestant fellowship of churches centered on expository Bible preaching.

The order also "allows prohibiting the daughter from reading the Bible," according to a Nov. 12 release from Liberty Counsel, a legal advocacy group assisting Bickford in court.

The custody order gave Matthew Bradeen, the girl's biological father, the "sole right to decide about whether his daughter" attends any Calvary Chapel services, whether she can review video messages or literature from the denomination, or even whether she can communicate with any members, according to Liberty Counsel.

The order indeed encompasses “any other church or religious organization, or exposure to the teachings of any religious philosophy or of the Bible in general.”

Bradeen hired Dr. Janja Lalich, a California sociology professor and "expert on cults," to convince Maine District Judge Jennifer Nofsinger that Calvary Chapel is a cult because of its biblical teachings on hell, demons, and spiritual warfare.

"Dr. Lalich told the judge that cults usually have a charismatic, authoritarian leader who teaches about a 'transcendent belief system' that offers answers, and 'promises some sort of salvation,'" Liberty Counsel said.

"She further testified that she had 'studied' Calvary Chapel Church and found that the church’s pastor was a 'charismatic' speaker, spoke 'authoritatively' in his messages, and that he asserted his messages were objective truth."

Lalich therefore concluded that the girl could experience psychological harm by attending the church.

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