Say a prayer for Christianity because the state of Maine has just shown a way to steal it from American life.

The story starts back in 2013, when a Portland, Maine, woman gave birth to a baby girl, Ava, with her now ex-boyfriend. Eventually, in 2017, Emily Bickford accepted Christ as her Savior and began to attend church with her daughter. Eventually, when they began attending Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland in 2021, Ava wanted to be baptized. Dad, who had 50/50 custody, said no way.

While mom was adjudicated to be a good mother, dad was working behind the scenes to establish that taking their daughter to church was harmful. He hired a cult expert out of California, and the expert began watching Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland's Sunday sermons as they build a case against Ava attending church. She continued to take her daughter to church.

In 2021, dad, Matthew A. Bradeen, officially claimed that going to Calvary Chapel exposed their daughter to alleged messages portraying dad as hostile to her faith, going to hell if he didn't change, and, in general, harming their relationship.

This is surmise, but it sounds like she was afraid her dad was going to hell and wanted to talk to him about it. Now she can't even bring up Christianity around him because it makes him look bad.

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In fact, so complete was the order cleaving the kid from religious study that it included, "any services, gatherings, or events associated with Calvary Chapel; whether and what material, literature, video, or other messaging associated with, or created or published by, Calvary Chapel she reviews; and whether she associates or communicates with any member of Calvary Chapel other than Ms. Bickford," Liberty Counsel, Bickford's attorneys, reported.

Calvary Chapel preaches everything, everything, that other mainstream churches teach all around the country world. And that message of salvation is too scary for kids?

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The Christian civil rights legal group, Liberty Counsel, got involved and took the case to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, where a unanimous six-justice panel said the order should stand because, hey, it's not like Christianity was involved in the case, and that, after all, it was just about messaging making dad look bad.

After the District Court ruled against Bickford, Liberty Counsel appealed the case to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which upheld the lower court's decision. In its decision, the Supreme Judicial Court cited a 2024 example of the fear mongering at church in which Pastor Carey prayed for the family by name during a service and asked God to help Bradeen. The pastor "described Bradeen as in need of salvation and noted that the church had been praying for Bradeen for a long time."

Calvary Chapel of Greater Portland Pastor Travis Carey says these decisions represent "the most dangerous precedent that has been set in our nation in a long time and we're right in the midst of that battle."

They went so far as to hire a specialist out of California, it's public record, and even though they spent about $15,000 to hire her, her opening thesis of what is a 20 page hit piece was 'I do not opine that Calvary Chapel is a cult,' but spent the next 19-1/2 pages, [in which] she basically makes the case that we are a cult for preaching Biblical truths. 

What is even more egregious is that judge in Cumberland County family court — and it is worthwhile saying that she is a lesbian and is married to an ACUL lawyer —she cited [sic] that the mother would no longer have the parental duties to make religious or medical decisions — stripped her from that and gave 100% autonomy to the father.

Liberty Counsel attorney and founder Mat Staver now hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will take the case. 

This [District Court] opinion rejects the First Amendment right of a fit parent to raise her child consistent with her Christian faith. 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.

PJ Media readers are smart. They know that this is a litigation tool to stop teaching kids the Gospel. It will start small and then become a precedent by which any church message can be construed to scare the children in any kind of court case.

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Schools and other outlets teach children that the world is going to end any minute allegedly because of what we've done to God's creation, but you can't preach to a kid from a broken home that she has a Father in heaven who cares for her even more than her earthly one? You can't preach that there's a Creator in control of the creation?

Atheistic commies really don't like the competition. This dad, who I'm guessing is one of the Maine liberati, just proved in multiple courts that religious messages are "harmful" to children. 

This story isn't over, but we've just entered a very dark, secular place. 

We sure hope people of faith will get out and vote for the light in November.