You know how Leftists like to talk about “separation of church and state”? Yeah, what they mean by that is, “The state can separate you from your church, for your own good, you gullible idiot.” MSN reports:
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is weighing whether a lower court overstepped constitutional limits when it barred a mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church services and restricted her from exposing the child to Bible teachings.
The case, Bickford v. Bradeen, has drawn attention for its unusual scope and the broader questions it raises about parental rights, judicial neutrality toward religion and the evidentiary standards used in family-law disputes.
At the center of the case is an unusually sweeping custody order that barred a Maine mother from taking her 12-year-old daughter to church or exposing her to Bible teachings–restrictions the mother argues violate her constitutional rights and exceed the authority of family courts.
The state’s high court must now determine whether judges can curtail a fit parent’s religious practices based on findings of potential psychological harm, a question that could reshape how courts nationwide weigh parental rights, religious freedom and expert testimony in custody disputes.
A Maine mother, Emily Bickford, is appealing a custody order that gave the child’s father, Matthew Bradeen, exclusive control over all religious decisions and barred her from taking their daughter to church or exposing her to Bible teachings.
The appeal stems from a December 13, 2024, order issued by the Portland District Court, which awarded the child’s father exclusive decision-making authority over all religious matters.
What was the origin of this case? The decision of a judge that the biblical teachings in the church the mom attended were “damaging” to the child. This isn’t an outlier. It’s a trial balloon. If the anti-Christian judge in this case prevails, it will make a precedent that won’t just apply in Maine but in Texas and Arkansas.
Want to stop outrageous decisions like this from being imposed? Then make sure the next election doesn’t yield power to enemies of the Church and parental rights.
Texas AG Sues to Remove Anti-Christian Legal Restrictions
In case you thought that legal bias against faithful Christians was restricted to deep-blue states like Maine, check out what’s happening right here in Texas, according to watchdogs at Texas Scorecard:
Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a new lawsuit seeking to dismantle three state-run higher-education programs he says unconstitutionally discriminate against religious students and faith-based organizations.
The lawsuit, filed in Travis County District Court, targets the Texas College Work-Study Program, the Texas WORKS Internship Program, and the Texas Innovative Adult Career Education Grant Program, all administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Paxton alleges the programs contain “nonsectarian” restrictions that violate the First Amendment and improperly bar Christian ministries and religious students from participating in taxpayer-funded benefits.
The lawsuit is notable because Paxton is effectively taking a state agency to court.
“These anti-Christian laws targeting religious students must be completely wiped off the books,” Paxton said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Our nation was built by patriotic Americans who had the freedom to express their religious beliefs without fear of being targeted, and we will honor that heritage by upholding the First Amendment in Texas.”
At the heart of the dispute are longstanding statutory and regulatory provisions requiring participating employers to offer only “nonsectarian” work and barring state funds from being used for religious instruction, worship, or proselytization.
Students enrolled in seminary programs are excluded from the work-study program entirely.
Democrats Let Illegals Drive Massive Semis on Our Highways. What Could Go Wrong?
We’ve reported here repeatedly on the menace of unqualified foreign drivers here illegally who can’t read road signs in English and are accustomed to ruthless Third World driving conditions getting authorization from Democrats to drive multi-ton trucks on U.S. highways — and the deaths of Americans they’re causing. Now Gateway Pundit offers even more evidence that this scandal is all too real:
For years, an incredibly violent illegal alien terrorist was roaming America’s highways and threatening an untold number of lives thanks to the Biden regime and its enablers.
The Department of Homeland Security announced today that Akhror Bozorov, a criminal illegal alien from Uzbekistan, was arrested after getting caught driving an 18-wheeler in Kansas. According to DHS, Bozorov was working as a commercial truck driver when ICE arrested him on November 9.
He had received a commercial driver’s license (CDL) thanks to Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro’s Pennsylvania.
Remember that Shapiro keeps getting touted as a “moderate,” electable Democrat — held back from presidential prospects only by the poisonous antisemitism that has taken over his party. This is the weak-tea, restrained version of what the Left has in mind from us. More about Mr. Borozov:
This should go without saying, but terrorist illegal aliens should NOT be operating 18-wheelers on America’s highways.@ICEgov arrested Akhror Bozorov, a criminal illegal alien from Uzbekistan wanted in his origin country for belonging to a terrorist organization. He is accused… pic.twitter.com/N9I8rN6Pcy
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 17, 2025
Left-Wing Journalist: The Epstein Cover-Up Doesn’t Just Feed Conspiracy Theories. It Vindicates Them.
Liberal reporter Sharon Waxman over at The Wrap makes some very cogent points about the civic impact of Deep State efforts to hide the facts about the Jeffrey Epstein human trafficking operation from the public:
The shocking revelation in the trove of 20,000 emails from the sordid world of Jeffrey Epstein is not that crimes were being committed.
It’s more sinister. The emails are disturbing because what they reveal — and in fact prove — is that conspiracy theorists are right. That their theories of full-on corruption in the upper spheres where power lives are valid. That the “Eyes Wide Shut” cabal of political and financial interests married to sexual deviance depicted in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film is not, in fact, fiction. It is reality.
So often journalists like myself attempt to demonstrate to family members and voters in the far reaches of the country, away from centers of power and money, that their conspiracies are false. That politicians are flawed, but that corruption is not the norm. It isn’t how we all operate.
But the Epstein emails suggest otherwise. They suggest that in fact there is a widespread code among people with power and money who support one another. They are pals no matter what side of the aisle. They are in the club no matter the sins of their members — transgressions that get contextualized, explained away, “understood.”
Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Direct Massive Resources to Save Babies
There are powerful people in our country deeply implicated in evil. But there are many thousands of ordinary believers giving of their time and talent to save the innocent and serve those in crisis. Of course they get no help from the government — which if it got involved, would doubtless try to stop them. The most inspiring instance of loving your neighbor we see in our cities and towns is the crisis pregnancy movement, which strives to offer women alternatives to abortion. The media won’t tell you how large and impactful this movement’s gospel impact is. So we need to point it out:
Pregnancy centers across the U.S. “provided over $452 million in total medical care, support and education services, and material goods in 2024,” according to a Nov. 17 report by the Charlotte Lozier Institute. https://t.co/mIIGEAwgP3
— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) November 17, 2025
If you can possibly help a local crisis pregnancy center near you, it’s hard to imagine a better use of your resources than on behalf of “the least among us.”
Along The Stream
Don’t miss this eye-opening video of Christian journalist Meghan Basham telling Eric Metaxas how Christian publishers tried to censor her book exposing the links of prominent pastors to George Soros, Anthony Fauci, and Planned Parenthood donors.
A wonderful piece of satire in our age of fake pronouns and real demonic delusion is “I Identify as a Pencil.” Enjoy.
John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or coauthor of 14 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. His newest book is No Second Amendment, No First.
The post The Brew: Judge Bans Mom from Taking Child to Church, Citing ‘Psychological Harm’ appeared first on The Stream.