After a Divorce, Does the Most Religious Parent Get to Train the Children

Where is the line that gives a each divorced parent the same right to child's religious instruction? This case is fascinating. 

The mother is a devout member of a Calvery Christian church. The couple has a daughter who is now either a teenager or nearly so. While the article does not reveal much about the charges and counter charges a commenter writes that the father says the mother has taken the girl to church for services several hours a week. The child complained of being frightened by threats of fire and hell for non believers and had physical problems because of that.

The father's lawyer had retained a sociologist who studied religions. The sociologist labeled that church a cult. The court's decision was that since the mother's religion is a cult, the father's decisions about the girl's religious instruction must prevail. That is, the court ruled in favor of the father and against the mother.

Of the thousands of divorces that happen every year, there must be many that involve arguments about religious instruction for the children. I have no knowledge if there are patterns in these decisions. If the children spend time with each parent, each can have some role in religious instruction. But when one is given custody how can the difference be navigated?

In the link, the mother is claiming, predictably, freedom of religion has been violated. Certainly, her ability to indoctrinate the daughter is limited from what she wants it to be. Surely the mother is allowed to preach her religious views to the girl but is limited in the amount and kind of church.

In a perfect world, my perfect world, children would have the right to make their own choices about religion. They could be given reading or video material and maybe attend different kinds of churches. I don't think it is good to scare children. Yet, when scaring children is a religious belief, and it must be in some cases, children will be frightened somewhere every week.