KY: Atheist Father files suit to stop child from attending religious school

[Synnical]

http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/17335644.html

Posted: 9:02 AM Apr 6, 2008
Last Updated: 1:50 PM Apr 7, 2008
41 comments



LOUISVILLE, KY -- As a practicing Catholic whose eighth-grade son, Michael, has always attended parochial schools, Susan Bisig says it would be best for him to attend St. Xavier High School, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal in its Sunday edition,.

The 144-year-old Catholic secondary school also happens to be Michael's first choice.

But Bisig's ex-husband, David Ryan, an atheist who has joint custody of their 14-year-old son, wants Michael to attend a nonreligious high school, reports the C-J.

And he says the Kentucky Constitution is on his side because it says no one shall be "compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed."

The battle between Ryan and Bisig, both commercial pilots, reports the Courier-Journal, has landed in Oldham County Family Court, where Judge Tim Feeley has said he will decide within the next couple of weeks where 14-year-old Michael Ryan will attend high school next year.

Feeley told the Louisville Courier-Journal whichever parent wins will pay Michael's tuition.

Copyright – The Louisville Courier-Journal
www.courier-journal.com

[Warpy]

1. That is SO wrong

The kid has stated his own preference, to stay with his classmates at the Catholic school. The dad needs to respect that or he risks losing his kid emotionally if not physically.

If the kid has it in him to be an atheist like his dad, another 4 years of Catholic education should to the trick. There is nothing like Catholic school to produce atheists.

I have a feeling the kid's been used like a football between his warring parents for a long time and that this is just one more game.

[WillParkinson]

2. Well said, Warpy.

I agree 100%.

[lizerdbits]

3. Agreed

If the kid had said 'Dad I don't want to go to Catholic school' then I could see him trying to stop it, but that's not the case.

Based on my parents experience more Catholic school should result in at least agnosticism if not atheism.

[Synnical]

4. Judge: Teen Can Attend Catholic School Over Atheist Dad's Objection

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/NEWS01/804150419

Judge: Teen can attend St. X
Atheist dad's lawyer says appeal likely

By Andrew Wolfson • [e-mail] • April 15, 2008

Fourteen-year-old Michael Ryan may attend St. Xavier High School, despite the objections of his atheist father, an Oldham County family court judge has ruled.

In a decision made public yesterday, Judge Tim Feeley said he was persuaded that it is in Michael's best interest to attend St. X, in part because that's where he wants to go.

. . .

David Ryan, a pilot for Delta Air Lines, was flying to Turkey yesterday and couldn't be reached for comment. But he probably will appeal, said his lawyer, Edwin Kagin, who called Feeley's decision "an end run around the constitution."


. . . .

In his decision, Feeley amended the joint custody agreement that Ryan and Bisig had since their 1997 divorce to give her "sole custody of Michael as it relates to educational decision-making."

Feeley said if she chooses to send Michael to St. X or another religious school, she will have to pay the full cost of tuition and fees.

Kagin questioned the court's decision to give a parent sole custody on a single issue.

"Should the father have sole custody to decide what the child has for breakfast?" he asked. "You just don't dice it up that way."

. . .

Finally, he (Judge) said that Ryan's expert witness, a retired educator from Georgia, who testified that KCD would be the best place for Michael, was clearly biased, as evidenced by his testimony that he agreed with the philosophy that "indoctrination of children in a religious belief constitutes a form of child abuse."

This could get interesting, on several levels. Emphasis mine.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale