Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Risking jail by taking his daughter to church

One point of pride for Americans is our Freedom of Religion. No one can be prosecuted for attending any religious ceremony, or professing any faith. But it seems that at least one judge believes he has the power to prevent a father from taking his daughter to church. After baptizing his daughter without her mother's consent, Joseph Reyes was ordered to only expose her to Judaism. He is ignoring the order.

I have been ordered by a judge not to expose my daughter to anything non-Judaism,” Reyes said. “But I am taking her to hear the teachings of perhaps the most prominent Jewish Rabbi in the history of this great planet of ours. I can’t think of anything more Jewish than that.”

...Reyes and his wife are divorcing and are involved in a bitter custody fight. She says he always agreed to raise their child as Jewish. He says that’s not true.

“My daughter should be exposed to the religions of both my wife and myself … When she gets to the appropriate age, she’s going to make her own decisions on how she wants her relationship with God to ultimately be,” said Reyes.
It is horrible that these parents are using their religion to fight over their daughter. But that does not justify this action by an overreaching judge. Freedom of Religion is fundamental to our freedoms.

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