Court Forbids Mom to Take Daughter, 13, to Normal Christian Church - Used the Word 'Cult' in Official Docs
The Maine Supreme Court this week upheld a lower court ruling preventing a mother from taking her 13-year-old daughter to a church it referred to as a “cult.”
The decision could set a bad precedent for other jurisdictions to grab onto nationwide. But the religious liberty law firm representing the mother, Emily Westbrook, in the case has promised an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A look at Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland’s doctrines and description in the court opinion makes it sound like it believes in pretty standard Bible-based teaching: the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God; the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit); original sin; salvation through Jesus Christ; the Second Coming; and the rest.
Maine affiliate WMTW-TV reported that Westbrook challenged a 2024 custody order prohibiting her from taking her daughter to Calvary Chapel, arguing it violates her right to free exercise of religion guaranteed under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
“A district court judge sided with the child’s father, Matthew Bradeen, ruling that some of the church’s teachings could be psychologically harmful to the girl. The order allows Bradeen to solely decide on his daughter’s involvement with Calvary Chapel Church. When it comes to any other religious organization, the order states that the parents share rights and must discuss decisions,” WMTW further noted.
The Maine Supreme Court, in its unanimous decision Tuesday upholding the lower court’s order, said, “We are also unpersuaded by Bickford’s claim that the court evinced hostility toward her religion by describing her church in offensive terms, including referring to it as a ‘cult.’ The court used the word ‘cult’ only in describing the testimony of [Janja] Lalich, the stipulated expert on ‘cults.'”
“The court noted that ‘cult’ serves as a shorthand for what sociologists like Lalich call ‘closed social systems’ and that Lalich identified Bickford’s church as one of these systems. The court used ‘cult’ in summarizing Lalich’s testimony, but it did not otherwise refer to Bickford’s church as a cult or a closed social system,” the justices added.
“In these circumstances, we are satisfied that the court neither evinced hostility toward Bickford’s religion nor cast any legitimate doubt on its impartiality,” the court said.
With so many references to “cult,” it sure seems like hostility.
The court concluded, “In sum, despite Bickford’s efforts to recast the court’s order as a judgment about the substance of her religious beliefs, the court’s allocation of religious decision-making to Bradeen ultimately rested on no more than its findings that the parties are unable to coparent on matters of religion, such that it was therefore necessary to allocate decision-making to one or the other, and that Bradeen is better suited to determine whether certain religious activities are in the child’s best interest.”
So, given the choice of Christian church or no Christian church in the child’s upbringing, the court decided the latter was better.
Mat Staver, whose firm, Liberty Counsel, is representing Bickford, took the Maine Supreme Court to task for its ruling.
“This opinion rejects the First Amendment right of a fit parent to raise her child consistent with her Christian faith,” he said. “This opinion goes against other state court decisions involving custody in the context of religious free exercise rights and ignores precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. We will ask the High Court to take this case and overrule the decision.”
“Depriving one parent [of] their right to instill their religious views into their child and granting sole authority to the other parent fails to give proper protection to parental rights and religious freedom under the First Amendment. The implications of this opinion pose a serious threat to religious freedom,” he added.
Liberty Counsel also posted on social media following Tuesday’s ruling, “Today, the Maine Supreme Court rejected the First Amendment and unanimously upheld this unlawful custody order preventing our client Emily Bickford from taking her daughter to church or any religious event because the girl’s father objects to biblical teachings.”
A Christian mom in Maine has been prohibited from taking her 13-year-old daughter to church or even read the Bible to her for nearly two years — not even for an Easter or Christmas service or a Bible study.
Today, the Maine Supreme Court rejected the First Amendment and… pic.twitter.com/x6GC9Jj1DZ
— Liberty Counsel (@libertycounsel) September 1, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court has maintained a solid record of upholding religious liberty during the last several sessions, so hopefully they will take up this Maine decision and overrule it.
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