The unanimous ruling found that Calvary Chapel’s frightening messages caused the child real psychological harm—not that Christianity itself was the problem
Gee, what could go wrong ... or should I say, what COULDN'T? Not certain which is worse, the indoctrination that Ava was subjected to or the predatory behavior Pastor Carey indulged in, once Matthew Bradeen rightfully asserted his authority in attempting to separate Ava from that abuse. What genuinely floors me is that this church, such as it is, could not at all see the harm they were causing, mostly because its members are likely utterly sold out to Carey.
Now, the question becomes: will this business actually go to SCOTUS or not.
My personal thought about pastors like Carey, and the sort of people who flock to that kind of fire-and-brimstone preaching, is that they have a sadistic streak. They thrill to thoughts of how the ‘wicked’ and ‘unsaved’ will suffer unbearable torments. But Carey went way beyond that by making that poor child and her parents’ battle the subject of his public preaching. He deliberately inflicted emotional pain and mortifying embarrassment on a child.
You hint at what I have written about many times and on these very pages: religious megalomania. They’re not only thrilled their thoughts of how the wicked and unsafe will suffer unbearable torment, but they put themselves in the place of and uncapitalized god who will be instrumental and making sure that that’s exactly what happens, because god loves them more than anyone else and they are more special than All.
Indeed, it seems as though they want to push the envelope, possibly to the breaking point. One wonders how far they'd be willing to go before local law enforcement would be forced to take appropriate action.
At some point the child has rights too, and those rights shouldn't be superseded by the mother's religious lunacy. Religion excuses a lot of mental illness. I hope this young girl can free herself from it.
Chuck Smith, the founder, believed in what he called the "Moses model of leadership." Moses was appointed by God in Exodus to be the leader and was unquestioned and unaccountable. You could voice disagreement, but you would have to tow the line in the end and if you didn't, you would be ostracized or encouraged to find a new church.
They are fundamentalists. They wear the trappings of a casual loving church. And they can be very nice people so long as you are "in fellowship" with them (conforming). If you are not conforming to their beliefs and culture war stances, then you're a child of Satan or deceived by Satan. During the AIDS crisis, I recall Chuck Smith saying from the pulpit that AIDS was the penalty of which homosexuals were due and was God's judgment.
They are political. They were MAGA before MAGA. They passed out "voter guides" in church before elections back in the 80's and 90's that framed their political positions as the "biblical" ones and portrayed Democrats as godless, evil, baby killers who hated Jesus, Mom's Apple Pie, and Baseball. They rejected science. They are YECs. I heard from the pulpit that depression could be a sin and that we needed to focus on the "joy of the Lord". So, yes, mental health care was disdained. So was education. Colleges were atheist making factories and you had to prepare your kids so they would be ready.
The community was very insular. We were the saved. We were the children of God. They were under Satan's thrall. We were sent out regularly to be "bold witnesses" which meant rejection and further retreat into the community.
The community was also isolating. I attended a mega-church. You never saw the same people twice. If you were struggling to be a "happy, shiny people" you hid it. You hid your struggles. You could trust opening up or being honest.
And yes, they preach Hell and they preach the Great Tribulation Darby shite. And fuck yes, that shite is damaging to a child. A child who doesn't have critical thinking skills developed. A child who believes the adults in their life. A child who is very prone to the fear of being rejected, let alone despised enough by an all-powerful authority figure for them to set the child on fire forever... or to have their parents and loved ones disappear one day and be left to face seven years of divine plagues and wrath and supernatural locust scorpions that torture you but won't let you die.
And while not all Calvary Chapels suffer from it, when you have an authoritarian system in place, abuse happens. Credible rumors of abuse circulated while I was there. Pastors who disappeared to the "mission field" one day and were not spoken of again.
I don't have to twist their teachings. I lived them.
Honestly, if I had my way, I would discourage children from attending fundamentalist anything churches until they're 21 at minimum. Maybe 25.
The answer is no. "Liberty" Counsel wanted the answer to be "yes", along with a ruling that only Christianity counts as religion. Their right wing outrage grift generator will, of course, claim that the Maine supreme court is hostile to Christians, because the far right Christian conspiracy theorist who wants to remove the father from the child's life happens to be the sort of Christian they approve of.
Notice, nothing in the article refers to Mr Bradeen's religious beliefs. It is entirely possible that he was taking the child to a different Christian church on his parenting time. He may have ok'd the trip to the forced birther rally if he as asked instead of lied to. Instead, we get a mother who thinks that her church is right and any other church is evil, thus trying to keep the child away from anyone outside of it, including her father. And that doesn't even address the potential physical harm from the extreme science denial.
Ms Bickford's pastor painted the child's father as the monster, all while she and the pastor were the monsters.
And of course, Calvary has their knickers in a twist over gay and lesbian relationshps their Jesus had no issue with.
How many in that church are harboring "feelings" for children and how long before it erupts in headlines? That's the way things tend to go with ultra-religious anti-LGBTQIA+ types.
Further Thought: This business once again brings up the matter of the rights of children, which are too often unexpressed or simply ignored in favor of parental authority. In this case, Ava's rights were never considered, because in the tradition of churches like Pastor Carey's, progeny are PROPERTY. If that cult were to endorse the Perl's To Train Up A Child, I would not be surprised.
Again, I have to assert: parents do NOT own their children. Certainly, they raise and guide their sons and daughters, but some degree of respect for the child's self-integrity needs to be part of that process.
Thank goodness, child abuse is never acceptable even in the name of so-called religion. Children raised inside high-control religious groups often report suffering, neglect, forced participation, and psychological trauma. Who would have thought? Perhaps one day we will have laws in place just like Japan where forced participation in religious activities is classified as child abuse.
PS: I had the pleasure of witnessing this scenario play out over the weekend at a funeral of one of my in-laws. A J6 rioter (who was imprisoned and released) married into my in-law family and is raising three girls inside a strict highly controlled Christian Nationalist environment. The older they get, the more the grip on control increases. I had to walk out when he gave his speech on raising “girls” and what gender roles in relationships should look like. I’m still traumatized, but safe at home far away now - thanks ☺️
And, most excellent precedent from a State Supreme Court. Expect this ruling to be used in future in many domestic cases. There are so many domestic cases that eventually an enterprising, or desperate, attorney will discover and work this case into an argument. When other counsel learn of this precedent (word does spread) then it gets raised more often. Eventually resulting in, maybe, another State level decision. Then another, and another .....
To give Ms Bickford the benefit of the doubt: How indoctrinated is she? She may be just as much of a victim as her daughter, in that the indoctrination may have damaged her to the point that she is genuinely fearful that allowing the child out of the church's bubble will consign her to eternal hellfire.
If that is not the case, then at least part of her motivation is hostility towards Mr Bradeen for having the audacity to parent their child.
Mom and Dad agreed to joint custody and joint decision-making. Mom violated that agreement by hiding what she was doing and ignoring Dad's objections. She insisted that her religion be given preference, that her church teachings override sound medical advice, and allowed her church attempt to alienate the child from Dad. That isn't joint decision-making, but is contrary to it -- she systematically violated the custody agreement.
The judge was actually pretty lenient. Why was Dad not given full custody and Mom limi t Ed to supervised visitation?
Three words: Religion. Is. Poison.
And Liberty Counsel will always be there to rake in the $$$ from the rubes.
"Religion Poisons Everything". Christopher Hitchens
Yes, RELIGION IS POISONOUS. … RIP !
Crazy bloody humans with nothing in their lives other than Eating, Shiting and Church.
… 🦘🦘🦘
𝐴 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑦, 𝑒𝑡𝑐.
Gee, what could go wrong ... or should I say, what COULDN'T? Not certain which is worse, the indoctrination that Ava was subjected to or the predatory behavior Pastor Carey indulged in, once Matthew Bradeen rightfully asserted his authority in attempting to separate Ava from that abuse. What genuinely floors me is that this church, such as it is, could not at all see the harm they were causing, mostly because its members are likely utterly sold out to Carey.
Now, the question becomes: will this business actually go to SCOTUS or not.
What could go wrong? The child is twelve. Who was the man in the church they were grooming her for? (Shudder)
My personal thought about pastors like Carey, and the sort of people who flock to that kind of fire-and-brimstone preaching, is that they have a sadistic streak. They thrill to thoughts of how the ‘wicked’ and ‘unsaved’ will suffer unbearable torments. But Carey went way beyond that by making that poor child and her parents’ battle the subject of his public preaching. He deliberately inflicted emotional pain and mortifying embarrassment on a child.
You hint at what I have written about many times and on these very pages: religious megalomania. They’re not only thrilled their thoughts of how the wicked and unsafe will suffer unbearable torment, but they put themselves in the place of and uncapitalized god who will be instrumental and making sure that that’s exactly what happens, because god loves them more than anyone else and they are more special than All.
Indeed, it seems as though they want to push the envelope, possibly to the breaking point. One wonders how far they'd be willing to go before local law enforcement would be forced to take appropriate action.
Calvary's worried about the reign of the Antichrist, are they? Bet they voted for him.
How soon before people start claiming "Christian persecution".
The ink wasn't yet dry on the ruling when the claims started.
They don’t need an excuse to start chanting it, believe me. They utter that phrase in their sleep.
At some point the child has rights too, and those rights shouldn't be superseded by the mother's religious lunacy. Religion excuses a lot of mental illness. I hope this young girl can free herself from it.
I hope the mother can too!
Calvary Chapel was my cult.
And you don't have to distort what they believe.
Chuck Smith, the founder, believed in what he called the "Moses model of leadership." Moses was appointed by God in Exodus to be the leader and was unquestioned and unaccountable. You could voice disagreement, but you would have to tow the line in the end and if you didn't, you would be ostracized or encouraged to find a new church.
They are fundamentalists. They wear the trappings of a casual loving church. And they can be very nice people so long as you are "in fellowship" with them (conforming). If you are not conforming to their beliefs and culture war stances, then you're a child of Satan or deceived by Satan. During the AIDS crisis, I recall Chuck Smith saying from the pulpit that AIDS was the penalty of which homosexuals were due and was God's judgment.
They are political. They were MAGA before MAGA. They passed out "voter guides" in church before elections back in the 80's and 90's that framed their political positions as the "biblical" ones and portrayed Democrats as godless, evil, baby killers who hated Jesus, Mom's Apple Pie, and Baseball. They rejected science. They are YECs. I heard from the pulpit that depression could be a sin and that we needed to focus on the "joy of the Lord". So, yes, mental health care was disdained. So was education. Colleges were atheist making factories and you had to prepare your kids so they would be ready.
The community was very insular. We were the saved. We were the children of God. They were under Satan's thrall. We were sent out regularly to be "bold witnesses" which meant rejection and further retreat into the community.
The community was also isolating. I attended a mega-church. You never saw the same people twice. If you were struggling to be a "happy, shiny people" you hid it. You hid your struggles. You could trust opening up or being honest.
And yes, they preach Hell and they preach the Great Tribulation Darby shite. And fuck yes, that shite is damaging to a child. A child who doesn't have critical thinking skills developed. A child who believes the adults in their life. A child who is very prone to the fear of being rejected, let alone despised enough by an all-powerful authority figure for them to set the child on fire forever... or to have their parents and loved ones disappear one day and be left to face seven years of divine plagues and wrath and supernatural locust scorpions that torture you but won't let you die.
And while not all Calvary Chapels suffer from it, when you have an authoritarian system in place, abuse happens. Credible rumors of abuse circulated while I was there. Pastors who disappeared to the "mission field" one day and were not spoken of again.
I don't have to twist their teachings. I lived them.
Honestly, if I had my way, I would discourage children from attending fundamentalist anything churches until they're 21 at minimum. Maybe 25.
So this is the church that you have referred to so many times over the years. Good for you that you got away from it.
But here’s the big non-surprise:. CALVARY doesn’t refer to horses. It refers to skulls, also known as deaths heads.
Charming people.
𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝑀𝑠. 𝐵𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝐴𝑣𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟.
Textbook parental alienation tactics. The court did the right thing, and it is obvious that it was about that and not Christianity.
𝑂𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠).
Higher court does the right thing, affirming the lower court.
𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑? 𝑂𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡’𝑠… 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛?
The answer is no. "Liberty" Counsel wanted the answer to be "yes", along with a ruling that only Christianity counts as religion. Their right wing outrage grift generator will, of course, claim that the Maine supreme court is hostile to Christians, because the far right Christian conspiracy theorist who wants to remove the father from the child's life happens to be the sort of Christian they approve of.
Notice, nothing in the article refers to Mr Bradeen's religious beliefs. It is entirely possible that he was taking the child to a different Christian church on his parenting time. He may have ok'd the trip to the forced birther rally if he as asked instead of lied to. Instead, we get a mother who thinks that her church is right and any other church is evil, thus trying to keep the child away from anyone outside of it, including her father. And that doesn't even address the potential physical harm from the extreme science denial.
Ms Bickford's pastor painted the child's father as the monster, all while she and the pastor were the monsters.
And of course, Calvary has their knickers in a twist over gay and lesbian relationshps their Jesus had no issue with.
How many in that church are harboring "feelings" for children and how long before it erupts in headlines? That's the way things tend to go with ultra-religious anti-LGBTQIA+ types.
Further Thought: This business once again brings up the matter of the rights of children, which are too often unexpressed or simply ignored in favor of parental authority. In this case, Ava's rights were never considered, because in the tradition of churches like Pastor Carey's, progeny are PROPERTY. If that cult were to endorse the Perl's To Train Up A Child, I would not be surprised.
Again, I have to assert: parents do NOT own their children. Certainly, they raise and guide their sons and daughters, but some degree of respect for the child's self-integrity needs to be part of that process.
I'm surprised a single never-married mom is allowed at Calvary.
Something something forgiven slut something something yadda.....
That church gives me a Jim Jones and the People's Temple vibe.
Or David Koresh.
Or Donald Trump.
Thank goodness, child abuse is never acceptable even in the name of so-called religion. Children raised inside high-control religious groups often report suffering, neglect, forced participation, and psychological trauma. Who would have thought? Perhaps one day we will have laws in place just like Japan where forced participation in religious activities is classified as child abuse.
PS: I had the pleasure of witnessing this scenario play out over the weekend at a funeral of one of my in-laws. A J6 rioter (who was imprisoned and released) married into my in-law family and is raising three girls inside a strict highly controlled Christian Nationalist environment. The older they get, the more the grip on control increases. I had to walk out when he gave his speech on raising “girls” and what gender roles in relationships should look like. I’m still traumatized, but safe at home far away now - thanks ☺️
At least there was a funeral. Thanks beto small G gawd for that.
Excellent update.
And, most excellent precedent from a State Supreme Court. Expect this ruling to be used in future in many domestic cases. There are so many domestic cases that eventually an enterprising, or desperate, attorney will discover and work this case into an argument. When other counsel learn of this precedent (word does spread) then it gets raised more often. Eventually resulting in, maybe, another State level decision. Then another, and another .....
To give Ms Bickford the benefit of the doubt: How indoctrinated is she? She may be just as much of a victim as her daughter, in that the indoctrination may have damaged her to the point that she is genuinely fearful that allowing the child out of the church's bubble will consign her to eternal hellfire.
If that is not the case, then at least part of her motivation is hostility towards Mr Bradeen for having the audacity to parent their child.
Is it possible that she is brainwashed by her fundamentalist church and that fed the hostility she had toward Bradeen?
It is simpler than even the analysis above.
Mom and Dad agreed to joint custody and joint decision-making. Mom violated that agreement by hiding what she was doing and ignoring Dad's objections. She insisted that her religion be given preference, that her church teachings override sound medical advice, and allowed her church attempt to alienate the child from Dad. That isn't joint decision-making, but is contrary to it -- she systematically violated the custody agreement.
The judge was actually pretty lenient. Why was Dad not given full custody and Mom limi t Ed to supervised visitation?
I’m so glad sense and reason bore out in this case: I just hope the kid is okay!