An Ye Harm None

Both Thomas E. Jones Jr. and his ex-wife Tammie U. Bristol are Wiccans. Not surprisingly, despite their divorce, the two, who have joint custody of their nine-year-old son, want to raise their son as a Wiccan. But Cale J. Bradford, chief judge of the Marion Superior Court, inserted a provision into their divorce decree barring either from exposing the boy to "non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals." Bradford didn't define what a non-mainstream religion is, but Wiccan beliefs presumably aren't mainstream, leading the couple to protest the order, to no avail. Bradford also didn't explain what harm the boy would suffer if exposed to his parents' religion. But a report to the judge by the Domestic Relations Counseling Bureau noted the couple sends the boy to a Catholic school. "There is a discrepancy between Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones' lifestyle and the belief system adhered to by the parochial school. . . . Ms. Jones and Mr. Jones display little insight into the confusion these divergent belief systems will have upon (the boy) as he ages," the report reads. Mr. Jones notes that plenty of non-Catholics have attended non-Catholic school without being harmed, including himself. He and the Indiana Civil Liberties Union have challenged the order.