The court's ruling on Tuesday maintains a Portland District Court judge's decision regarding a 2024 dispute between Matthew Bradeen and Emily Bickford about the church attendance of their daughter, who was 11 years old at the time, according to The Maine Monitor.
Bickford had been taking her daughter to Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, an evangelical church in Westbrook, on multiple occasions each week.
Bradeen argued the church was a "dangerous and harmful environment" that had caused anxiety in his daughter. He said she suffered a panic attack after hearing the church's teachings on the Rapture, a belief that Christians will suddenly be taken to heaven during the end times while nonbelievers will be left behind to face the apocalypse. (Read More)
Brad Myers comment:
What if the shoe were on the other foot? Can a wife in a marriage dispute with her husband over a child in the state of Maine argue that the beliefs of Islam caused anxiety in her child, and would the high court in Maine grant the wife decision-making authority over whether her child will attend the father's mosque for services? I think we all know the answer to that question. Why are we hearing so much of an attack lately on the Rapture, a belief that Christians will suddenly be taken to heaven during the end times while nonbelievers will be left behind to face the apocalypse?
