No Wicca

IndyStar reports 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.

I would like to see the judges order, but if this news report is right, I suspect it will be reversed by the Court of Appeals.

I certainly don't support Wicca, but it is a very longstanding religion, and if both parents follow it, I don't think the court has any right to say they can't teach their child this faith, just as two Jewish parents or two Muslim parents should not be blocked from bringing up their child in their faith, even if they live in a predominately Christian area.

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.

If Bishop Chatard High School wants to insist that it's students be Christian, that is fine with me, but if they are willing to teach a child of Wiccan parents, the courts should not interfere.

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."

I sympathize with the parents, just as I sympathize with Christian parents who would like their children to be able to celebrate the birth of Christ (Christmas) when the Wiccans are celebrating Yule, and who would like their children to be able to celebrate the death and resurection of Christ (Easter) when the Wiccans are celebrating Ostara. What really upsets me is that public schools, which permit Jewish, Muslim, and Kwanza symbols, but don't permit Nativity Scenes during the Winter Holiday period are more likely to allow symbols of Yule than symbols meaningful to those of the Christian faith.