- A Colorado mother is appealing a child custody decision
in which a court barred her from teaching homosexuality is wrong.
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- Cheryl Clark, who says she is a Christian, has been ordered
by Denver County Circuit Judge John W. Coughlin to "make sure that
there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor
child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic."
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- The directive arose from the decision to award joint
parenting responsibilities for her daughter to a practicing homosexual.
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- "Forbidding the raising of children in the parent's
Christian beliefs is an anathema to parental rights and religious freedom,"
said Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Florida-based Liberty
Counsel. "Must the mother rip out pages of the Bible that say homosexuality
is against nature, or must she cover her child's ears if her pastor preaches
about sexual purity?"
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- Staver explained to WorldNetDaily Clark and Elsey McLeod
were in a lesbian relationship that broke up after Clark became a Christian
and concluded homosexual behavior was wrong.
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- The Denver court gave McLeod joint custody of Clark's
adopted daughter, Emma, even though McLeod had no legal relationship to
the girl. It also, in conjunction with the ruling in favor of McLeod, said
Clark cannot raise her child with any religious teaching or upbringing
that is "homophobic."
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- Staver said courts cannot "give parents a no-win
decision of either abandoning their Christian beliefs or abandoning their
children."
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- The definition of "homophobic," Staver noted,
is "all across the board," from being fearful of homosexuals
to disagreeing with their lifestyle.
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- "It takes no stretch of the imagination to envision
a judge finding the mother in contempt of court for merely teaching her
daughter about the Biblical truths on homosexuality," he said.
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- Liberty Counsel filed a friend-of-the-court brief on
behalf of the mother in her case before the Colorado Court of Appeals.
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- Staver notes the U.S. Supreme Court has long held that
the Constitution guarantees the freedom to "worship God according
to the dictates of his own conscience." Similarly, he said, the high
court has acknowledged "the values of parental direction of the religious
upbringing and education of our children in their early and formative years
have a high place in our society."
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- Another troubling aspect of this case, he said, is the
award of visitation and joint parenting responsibilities to a third-party
who has no legal relationship to the daughter or the mother.
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- The decision, according to Staver, stands in direct conflict
with precedent throughout the country that denies visitation to a third
party based solely on that person's prior sexual relationship with the
legal parent.
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- Staver told WND he is not aware of any similar cases
in the U.S., although there have been some in which a judge has told a
parent not to say anything degrading about the other parent's lifestyle.
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- None, to his knowledge, however, have gone to the extent
of Coughlin, issuing a directive that restricts a parent's religious practice.
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- © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
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- http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35365
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