Two weeks ago, a court in Maine decided in favor of a father who didn’t want his ex-wife taking their daughter to church at Calvary Chapel, which is part of a small, evangelical denomination that began as part of the “Jesus Freaks” movement of the 1960’s. The father claims that the church is a cult and, by definition, is spreading dangerous ideas. He doesn’t want his daughter subjected to what he believes is toxic theology. The state awarded the father the right to make this decision; the mother is a member and is supportive of taking her daughter there for religious training. The case is now in the appeals process.
There are so many facets to this story that it is incredibly difficult to come up, at least for me, with a focused answer. In this case, one of the arguments for both sides was that one parent’s opinion on religious training cannot take precedence of the other, so how do you decide which one to choose? My experience with Calvary Chapel, and religious communities like them, has varied – some are, in my opinion, preaching hate, while others are not. According to the First Amendment, the government cannot control one’s religious choices; but what if someone is part of a religion that does, say, human sacrifices? That, of course, goes beyond one’s right.
From a Christian point of view, freedom has limits. The Apostle Paul argued, mostly in 1 Corinthians and Romans, that a follower of Jesus is not freed only for self, but for others. Our freedom is to be used for the common good, not narcissistic gain. I used this argument a lot during the pandemic; what I told my congregation is that we should do everything we can to protect others, so wearing a mask – imperfect as they are – was the right thing to do. It is another way we are at odds with secularism and self-interest. As a parent, we are expected to protect our children, but we also should, I think, raise them with a sense of God. How we decide which sense of God is right is the question. And I have no answers – yet. Let’s see where this goes.
Prayer – Holy God, help us see what is good for others, and set our own biases aside for the common good. Amen.
Today’s art is “The Dream of Freedom” by Darko Topalski.