Liberty Counsel Files Amicus Brief On Behalf Of Mother Who Was Ordered By Court To Not Expose Her Child To “Homophobic” Religious Upbringing Or Training

October 29, 2003

Mathew D. Staver

Denver, CO – The Colorado Court of Appeals will hear the appeal of a mother who is challenging a trial court’s decision to award joint parenting responsibilities for her daughter to a practicing homosexual. What makes the trial court’s decision disturbing is that the court further directed that the mother, who is a Christian, “make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic.”

The United States Supreme Court has long held that the Constitution, “without a doubt”, guarantees the freedom to “worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.” As parents, the Supreme Court has similarly acknowledged that “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.” It comes as no surprise that states have consistently upheld the nearly unfettered right of the custodial parent to direct the religious upbringing of his/her children.

The trial court’s decision is troubling in many respects, but two issues stand out. First, the court has awarded visitation and joint parenting responsibilities to a mere third-party who has no legal relationship to the daughter or the mother. The decision 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. Second, the order restricting the religious instruction of the daughter violates the natural mother’s constitutional rights to direct the religious training of her children. The order forbids the mother from exposing her daughter to anything “homophobic.” 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.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, commented that “Forbidding the raising of children in the parent’s Christian beliefs is an anathema to parental rights and religious freedom. 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? Courts may not give parents a no-win decision of either abandoning their Christian beliefs or abandoning their children.”

Teach the Children

Proverbs 22:6 says: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Of course, the Bible is the primary book that should be used to teach our children, but another great teaching tool is the New England Primer -- the first textbook ever printed in America. Many of our founding fathers were familiar with this book, since it was used to teach reading and Bible lessons in our schools from 1690 until the twentieth century.

The New England Primer taught first graders the alphabet in several ways. For the letter “A”, the students learned, “In Adam’s Fall, We sinned all.” For the letter “C”, they recited: “Christ crucified, For sinners died.” Instead of evolutionary theory, students were taught that Adam and Eve were the first humans on the earth, and that Jesus is the Son of God.

Call 800-671-1776, and for your donation of $7 or more, we will send you the New England Primer. You can also order online and pay no shipping costs.

Mathew D. Staver, Esq.
Liberty Counsel
http://www.lc.org.

An Ally of the Alliance Defense Fund