{"id":2659142,"date":"2026-09-12T08:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-dad-can-ban-his-own-daughter-from-going-to-church-with-her-mom-state-supreme-court-rules\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T08:17:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T12:17:45","slug":"a-dad-can-ban-his-own-daughter-from-going-to-church-with-her-mom-state-supreme-court-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-dad-can-ban-his-own-daughter-from-going-to-church-with-her-mom-state-supreme-court-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"A Dad Can Ban His Own Daughter from Going to Church with Her Mom, State Supreme Court Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-dad-can-ban-his-own-daughter-from-going-to-church-with-her-mom-state-supreme-court-rules%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2659142&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruling dictates that a 13-year-old girl cannot attend her church with her mother without her father\u2019s permission, granting sole religious authority to the father. The court upheld a previous decision by Judge Jennifer Nofsinger, citing that allocating religious decision-making to one parent serves the child&#8217;s best interests and does not infringe on parental rights. Critics such as Dr. David Closson and the liberty Counsel argue that this ruling threatens religious liberty and parental rights, especially regarding christian practices like believers\u2019 baptism and teachings about heaven and hell. the case involves parents who split after their child\u2019s birth, with the mother attending Calvary Chapel, a mainstream evangelical church, and the father seeking sole control over religious upbringing.The court\u2019s decision was based on concerns that the child\u2019s exposure to religious teachings about hell caused her anxiety,although evidence suggests she was evangelizing her father and expressing faith. The ruling highlights broader issues about government interference in religious parenting and the potential violation of constitutional rights, raising questions about the treatment of orthodox Christian doctrines in family law.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_5)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A teenage Christian may not go to church with her mother unless her father permits it, according to a September 1 ruling by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The 13-year-old girl has not been allowed to gather with any church since December 2024, when Cumberland County Judge Jennifer Nofsinger, a lesbian, gave her father \u201cfinal authority\u201d over his daughter\u2019s religious activity. Dr. David Closson, director of FRC\u2019s Center for Biblical Worldview, described the ruling as \u201ca serious threat to religious liberty,\u201d in addition to threatening parental rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis opinion rejects the First Amendment right of a fit parent to raise her child consistent with her Christian faith,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/lc.org\/newsroom\/details\/090126-lc-will-ask-us-supreme-court-to-hear-no-church-case-1\">argued<\/a> Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. \u201cThis opinion goes against other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-forbids-mom-to-take-daughter-13-to-normal-christian-church-used-the-word-cult-in-official-docs\/\" title=\"Court Forbids Mom to Take Daughter, 13, to Normal ...ian ... - Used the ... &#039;Cult&#039; in Official Docs\">state court decisions involving custody<\/a> in the context of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-watchdog-alerts-defense-secretary-of-potentially-illegal-blanket-denials-of-covid-vax-religious-exemptions\/\" title=\"Pentagon Watchdog Alerts Defense Secretary of Potentially Illegal Blanket Denials of COVID Vax Religious Exemptions\">religious free exercise rights<\/a> and ignores precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court. We will ask the High Court to take this case and overrule the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a unanimous ruling, Maine\u2019s highest court upheld Nofsinger\u2019s decision, arguing that \u201callocating authority between two parents does not \u2018intru[de]\u2019 on the parents\u2019 d right to direct the upbringing of their child,\u201d but that \u201callocation of religious authority\u201d to the father alone \u201cwas in the child\u2019s best interest\u201d in this case. Furthermore, the court ruled that a lower court had \u201cerred by applying strict scrutiny\u201d to the question of parental rights.<\/p>\n<p>It may be helpful, at this point, to back up for context. Emily Bickford and Matthew Bradeen had a child together in January 2013, even though they were never married. Before the year was out, the child\u2019s mother and father had split, and a family law magistrate had already entered an order, agreed to by both parties, that set out \u201cd parental rights and responsibilities,\u201d including a commitment to \u201creach jointly, whenever possible,\u201d any \u201cmajor decision concerning their child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sometime after this, Bickford professed faith in Christ, and she began attending Calvary Chapel Greater Portland in May 2021. The Maine Supreme Court noted with alarm that Bickford brought the child \u201cto multiple services per week\u201d \u2014 as American Christians customarily do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBickford did not inform Bradeen about the child\u2019s attendance at the church,\u201d the court noted reprovingly. \u201cAfter Bradeen learned about the child\u2019s participation in a church event, he asked Bickford for more information about the church and its teachings. Bickford told Bradeen that she and the child were attending Calvary Chapel, but she did not provide any other information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This last clause shows either great ignorance or great bias, as if Bickford needed to provide \u201cany other information\u201d about a Calvary Chapel\u2019s teaching. \u201cCalvary Chapel is mainstream, we believe in the Old and New Testament,\u201d protested Travis Carey, pastor of Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, in an interview with The Washington Stand.<\/p>\n<p>Every Calvary Chapel teaches the same things, and their d <a href=\"https:\/\/calvarycca.org\/statement-of-faith\/\">Statement of Faith<\/a> can be found online in a minute or less. Among other things, every Calvary Chapel believes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe Word of God is the foundation upon which the church operates and is the basis for which the church is governed. We believe that the Word of God supersedes any earthly law that is contrary to the Holy Scriptures.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThat the Lord, Jesus Christ instituted two ordinances for the church: the full-immersion water baptism of believers and the Lord\u2019s Supper.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that all those who place their faith, hope and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in Heaven with the Lord. Those who reject Jesus\u2019 free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which is His personal, visible return to Earth and the establishment of His millennial kingdom, in the resurrection of the body, the final judgment and eternal blessing of the righteous and endless separation of the wicked.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church where all believers will meet the Lord in the air and be taken out of this world prior to the Tribulation that will come upon the earth.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These points are selected for their relevance to what follows.<\/p>\n<p>Months later, in September 2021, Bradeen \u201casked the court to allocate to him sole responsibility for the child\u2019s religious upbringing,\u201d according to the state supreme court. For the next three years, Bickford and Bradeen \u201cparticipated in a series of mediation sessions, and they eventually resolved all their disagreements except for those pertaining to religion and healthcare.\u201d (Bickford also objected to her daughter receiving COVID and flu shots and the HPV vaccine.)<\/p>\n<p>The court record then erred by mistaking believers\u2019 baptism for infant baptism. \u201cBickford made other unilateral decisions about the child\u2019s participation in church activities,\u201d their opinion stated. \u201cFor example, Bradeen learned that the child was scheduled to be baptized only when he was informed by a third party. Bradeen then called Bickford to ask about the baptism, and she placed him on speakerphone in front of the child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As noted above, Calvary Chapel practices believers\u2019 baptism, which is only performed on individuals who believe the Christian gospel. The court omits the conversation that ensued after Bickford placed Bradeen on speakerphone, but the purpose was probably so that her daughter could describe her conversion to her father in her own words.<\/p>\n<p>The girl \u201cmade an outward profession of faith,\u201d Pastor Carey told TWS, and she \u201cwanted to invite her dad to the baptism.\u201d This is the most normal thing in the world, and it happens in churches across America every week. Somehow, the Maine Supreme Court twisted this into something sinister.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Bradeen undertook legal proceedings to prove just that. At a two-day hearing in August 2024, he produced an expert witness on cults, Janja Lalich, who flew in from California for the purpose. She described cults as \u201cclosed social systems\u201d and suggested that Calvary Chapel Greater Portland had some identifying marks.<\/p>\n<p>The Maine Supreme Court denied \u201cBickford\u2019s claim that the court evinced hostility toward her religion by describing her church in offensive terms, including referring to it as a \u2018cult,\u2019\u201d arguing that \u201ccult\u201d was merely the word chosen by the expert witness. However, the very fact that such an expert witness was allowed to testify implies the judge deemed her testimony relevant to the proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus warned his followers to expect no better treatment. \u201cIt is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household\u201d (Matthew 10:25).<\/p>\n<p>The state Supreme Court further maligned Calvary Chapel Greater Portland for faithful, expositional preaching. \u201cAs described by the pastor, Travis Carey, Calvary Chapel teaches the Bible \u2018verse by verse, chapter by chapter,\u2019\u201d it recorded, with scare quotes. \u201cThis entails sermons that include, in Carey\u2019s words, \u2018quite vivid description[s]\u2019 of Hell.\u201d How vivid? It sounds like Carey simply quotes Jesus: \u201cThere\u2019s wailing and gnashing of teeth. There is burning and torment. The worm dieth not. Shame, eternal perpetual pain, and regret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court was not finished. \u201cCarey also testified that he preaches about the \u2018Second Coming of Christ,\u2019 which will involve \u2018seven years of \u2026 pure hell on earth under the persecution of \u2026 the Antichrist\u2019 for those who have not \u2018accept[ed] the terms of God.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If any member of the Maine Supreme Court even bothered to check the Calvary Chapel statement of faith, this simple recitation of pre-tribulation dispensationalism would not come as a surprise. Yet the court found it appropriate to put all these teachings in scare quotes as something foreign and strange. They act as if some sabretooth cat had just jumped out of a paleontology textbook and was roaming through the courtroom.<\/p>\n<p>These documents become relevant for the case because the court claimed, \u201cthe child has experienced fear and anxiety associated with these teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the evidence does not fully match that characterization. \u201cThe child has asked Bradeen a lot of questions about Heaven and Hell and about why Bradeen and his other child would not be in Heaven with her,\u201d the court recited. \u201cThe child has left notes around Bradeen\u2019s house because she fears that the Second Coming is approaching and that Bradeen will be left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is harmful for a child to hear negative and frightening messages about one parent from the other parent or the other parent\u2019s authority figures,\u201d the court declared.<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, the evidence suggests that, rather than fearing hell for herself, the child feared what her father might face and sought to bring him to repentance. This is what Paul writes to the church in Corinth, \u201cFor we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. \u2026 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). If anything, her embrace of evangelism is evidence that the girl genuinely believes the word of God.<\/p>\n<p>In relegating parental rights to the sidelines, the Maine Supreme Court had to choose its ground carefully to avoid the appearance of discriminating against Bickford\u2019s religion. \u201cThe Constitution does not require the displacement of the best-interest standard and imposition of strict scrutiny any time a parental rights order implicates a parent\u2019s religion,\u201d the court stated. \u201cIt does, however, \u2018mandate governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court claimed that the resulting situation \u2014 where final authority for all religious decision-making rests with Bradeen \u2014 avoids religious discrimination, when in fact it does no such thing. \u201cThe court\u2019s 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\u2019s best interest,\u201d it alleged.<\/p>\n<p>Why is Bradeen the better parent? The opinion emits the unspoken reason with a deafening roar of silence: because he doesn\u2019t go to a kooky church where folks actually, like, believe stuff. \u201cBickford believes that the child\u2019s relationship with God is more important than anything on earth, including the child\u2019s relationship with Bradeen,\u201d the court sneered.<\/p>\n<p>In their mind, this was evidence that \u201cBickford has essentially abdicated her independent decision-making to the church. Bradeen, meanwhile, has taken a \u2018measured approach\u2019 and \u2018acted in a manner designed to protect [the child] from additional anxiety.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This gets the facts more twisted than a Twizzler. According to the court\u2019s logic, if one parent wants to take a child to church, and the other one doesn\u2019t, courts should err on the side of less religious education \u2014 a bizarre conclusion incongruous with American history.<\/p>\n<p>The court never mentions the 13-year-old child\u2019s own preferences. According to Pastor Carey, she wanted to keep attending his church, where she came to believe the gospel and was baptized.<\/p>\n<p>Without asking her opinion, the court projects onto the child its own judgment that her anxiety is due to hearing messages about hell, so preventing her from hearing about hell would ease her anxiety. Thus, the court paints itself into the role of Felix, the Roman governor in Acts 24:25; as Paul \u201creasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, \u2018Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But messages about hell are not easy to unhear, nor can Christian faith be easily quenched by suppressing it. Had she been consulted, the girl would likely have told the court that she was anxious for the salvation of her father. By banning the girl from attending church without the permission of her father, who does not want to go, the court has only ensured that her anxiety will likely continue.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Bradeen has <a href=\"https:\/\/lc.org\/newsroom\/details\/090126-lc-will-ask-us-supreme-court-to-hear-no-church-case-1\">forbidden<\/a> his daughter to attend church \u2014 not just Calvary Chapel, but any church \u2014 since he won final authority in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the court admitted that \u201cthe child has enjoyed a strong, loving relationship with each of the parties.\u201d Despite this, it declared that \u201cBickford\u2019s decisions regarding religion have endangered the child\u2019s relationship with Bradeen\u201d by exposing her \u201cto messaging \u2018that her father is going to burn and suffer for eternity, that he is persecuting her, that he seeks to \u201cdismantle\u201d her faith.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court never confronts the incongruence between these claims. If such Christian teachings have not ruined the relationship between the girl and her father, one likely conclusion is that Christian teachings about hell do not necessarily ruin family relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Christian belief can lead to family tensions, but only because of the persecution of the unconverted family members who hate the Christians for their beliefs. \u201cDo not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword,\u201d Jesus warned. \u201cFor I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person\u2019s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me\u201d (Matthew 10:34-37).<\/p>\n<p>One hears of stories where Christian converts from Muslim families overseas risk their family relationships to publicly identify with Christ. But one rarely considers that a girl in Maine may have as much to risk.<\/p>\n<p>The tragic circumstances of this case show the difficulties that can arise when Christians are \u201cunequally yoked\u201d with unbelievers in marriage and childrearing (2 Corinthians 6:14). This is a matter of increasing relevance as American culture becomes post-Christian. In Bickford\u2019s case, she was not converted until after she bore a child, and after her relationship with Bradeen appeared to have come to an end. But for Christians who find themselves in this unenviable situation, Paul offers wise counsel in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16, with a particular focus on what it means for children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom a Christian perspective, parents have a God-given responsibility to raise their children in the faith, to teach them Scripture, and to bring them into the life of the church,\u201d Closson told TWS. Paul exhorts fathers, \u201cdo not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord\u201d (Ephesians 6:4).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnmarried parents obviously complicate how those responsibilities are exercised, and courts sometimes have to resolve genuine disputes between two parents who possess equal legal rights,\u201d Closson allowed. \u201cBut that does not give judges a blank check to treat historic Christian doctrines as evidence of psychological harm or to rely on an expert\u2019s characterization of an otherwise mainstream evangelical congregation as a \u2018cult\u2019 or \u2018closed social system.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe state certainly has a legitimate interest in protecting children from actual abuse or neglect,\u201d Closson continued. But \u201cexposure to traditional Christian teaching is not evidence of parental unfitness. Religious liberty means very little if it protects only beliefs that judges, experts, or cultural elites consider benign or fashionable. \u2026 The government should not be in the business of deciding that the ordinary beliefs and practices of a theologically conservative Christian church are somehow so dangerous that a fit parent may be prohibited from taking her child there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is why I think the U.S. Supreme Court should take a close look at this case,\u201d Closson added. \u201cThe principle at stake is much larger than one custody dispute: whether the government may effectively penalize a fit parent because her religious convictions are deemed too conservative or too unsettling by the court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs tragic as this case is,\u201d Pastor Carey lamented, \u201cit should be eye-opening for not just Christians, but for every U.S. citizen, that this type of constitutional violation is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeachings about heaven and hell, spiritual warfare, biblical sexual ethics, or the authority of Scripture are not fringe beliefs invented by Calvary Chapel,\u201d Closson said. \u201cThey are part of historic Christianity. Once courts begin treating orthodox Christian doctrine itself as a basis for restricting a parent\u2019s relationship with her child, the First Amendment concerns become unavoidable.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><em>Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.<\/em><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A teenage Christian girl cannot attend church with her mother without her father&#8217;s permission, Maine Supreme Court rules. Since December 2024, she has been barred from church gatherings after Judge Jennifer Nofsinger granted her father sole authority over religious decisions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2659143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_2548.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5643,3881,34304],"class_list":["post-2659142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-church","tag-family","tag-parental-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_2548.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2659142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2659142"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2659142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2659153,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2659142\/revisions\/2659153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2659143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2659142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2659142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2659142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}