From a news article....<P>------------------------------------------------------------<BR>"Monday May 7, 2001; 7:07 p.m. EDT<P>Judge Takes Kids Away over Too Much Churchgoing <P>A Las Vegas, Nevada county judge has awarded custody of twin boys to a man described in court documents as a "sexual deviant" after determining that the boys' mother attended religious services too frequently.<P>"I was thrown out of my house and had my kids taken away because of excessive church involvement," Lina Elbrader told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Monday.<P>The decision by Clark County Family Judge Robert Lueck to remove Mrs. Elbrader's two 6-year-olds and award them to her estranged husband Michael has some crying religious discrimination -- especially since the court psychologist who made the recommendation admitted that Mr. Elbrader "has a history of sexually deviant behaviors that involved multiple incidents of pedosexual activities with young females."<P>"His interest in nudism (exposure) is not illegal and is culturally acceptable in some parts of the world," Dr. Elizabeth Richett reported to the court. Her opinion took into account the fact that Mr. Elbrader had been arrested, prosecuted and acquitted on sexual abuse charges.<P>But the court deemed that less potentially damaging to the young twins than the fact that Mrs. Elbrader, an Apostolic Pentecostal, took her boys to church three times a week, a regimen that lawyers for Mr. Elbrader said had caused them to miss 20 days of school since August.<P>Mrs. Elbrader said the absences were due to sickness, not excessive churchgoing, and that the charges were just an ugly smear tactic cooked up by her estranged husband to gain custody.<P>But in her report to the court Dr. Richett sided against her. "Mrs. Elbrader is keeping the boys up late to attend church with her... they are in danger of failing kindergarten." Richett also determined that Mr. Elbrader has "a warmer personality" than his estranged wife.<P>Judge Lueck's decision is the second time he's reversed course in the case, initially giving temporary custody to the boys' father in Oct., then awarding custody to their mother in Dec. after he learned of the sex charges against Mr. Elbrader.<P>But the results of Dr. Richett's probe into Mrs. Elbrader's religious practices caused the judge to flip-flop once again. The case is scheduled for a full hearing in Family Court on May 30.<P>Meanwhile, some complain that Lina Elbrader's religious faith has been used against her unfairly.<P>"To me, it is bordering on religious discrimination," said Tom Pedigo, director of the National Alliance Against Christian Discrimination.<P>For the moment, Lina Elbrader's concerns are more basic.<P>"I just want my boys back," she told the Review-Journal. "This is a nightmare and I can't get out of it."<BR>------------------------------------------------------------<BR>

Paul, even sadder than the facts stated above, is the fact that news items like this no longer surprise me......I just shake my head now, where I would, in the past, have foamed at the mouth and become extremely upset with disbelief...<P>It <I>is</I> a sad state of affairs out there (pun intended)...<P>Just like when Deut's ex-wife said that if she ever got her hands on <I>proof</I> of my 'paganism', we could kiss visits with his elder son <B>good-bye</B>...<P>yet, she never asks about my religious views, knows nothing of the way I worship....and does nothing herself for the boys religious upbringing except tell him about satan and evil..and how he will go to hell if he does not obey his mother....<P>jesus??...Deut and I are the only members of this boys' (he's 10) family to talk to him about Jesus....and I was told to stop before I <I>skewed</I> his views...neveer mind that I was using a childrens bible to teach him when he started asking questions...or that I was telling him about how 'cool' Jesus was/is....you know, be nice to everyone, treat others as you want to be treated, forgiveness, turn the other cheek....hate the sin, love the sinner....etc..<P>nope...I was obviously a religious deviant (because I'm not catholic, and I do not attend church) and should be ousted from Deut's life as I was a 'bad' religious example....<P>sigh.......<P>I can only hope that on May 30, when that family goes back into family court, that a full examination of their case will yield a different result.......<P>(((((((((((Paul)))))))))))))))) <P>Dylan<P>

This infuriates me. I take my kids to church 3 times a week. <P>Maybe this is why America is so immoral and is full of crime and disrespectful kids.<P>

I was raised in one of the three peace churches, and I went to church three times a week. All of my friends went about that often, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. What's so absurd about that? <P>Not getting it,<P>belld

HI Paul,<BR>Yes, this is a very sad state of affairs.<BR>Given the two choices, i would think the judge might have recommended another intervention.<BR>I have some very strong feelings abt pedophiles (not to be published on this website) and hope the mother can get some support within the community to get her children back. Not sure where you found this article, but surely it can only help her cause before the children are further hurt?