Child Custody Cases Entangled with Religion in the United States : For the Sake of Spiritual Welfare of the Children

Abstract

Freedom of religion has a special place in American constitutional protections. The importance of this concept can be traced thoroughly to the United States'historical background as a country founded by refugees fleeing religious persecution. The significance placed by the founding fathers on religious freedom as an American tenet is articulated in the first amendment. But religious freedom in the context of the religious upbringing of children engages the most complicated emotions. When religion is part of a custody dispute, problems become more difficult to resolve. Because religion sits at the core of many basic attitudes and values of children, today's rise in the rates of interfaith marriage and divorce inevitably has been an increasing number of disputes over the religious upbringing of children. As a result, increased attention has been focused on the spiritual welfare of children. This Paper examines the opinion of the court in the spiritual welfare of the child when making child custody determinations. This Paper demonstrates that the moral and spiritual welfare of the child has been considered by the court in rendering custody decisions and courts have taken this to mean that religious issues play a part in custody decision-making.