Atheist mother loses her children because she refuses to see Christian counselor. Is this right or wrong?

Question

"When a non-religious woman in Albuquerque showed up to her court-ordered counseling appointment, she was confronted with prosyltization and prayer.

Holly Salzman says she had sought help from the courts in co-parenting her 11-year-old sons with her ex-husband. The result was a court-order that sent Salzburg to a counselor named Mary Pepper. Once she got there, Salzburg realized something was definitely up when Pepper tried to open the session through prayer. When Salzman informed her new counselor that she was not religious and felt vastly uncomfortable with the directive to pray, the response she got from the counselor was basically a shrug and an eyeroll. When she decided to say nuts to that noise and forego the involuntary bible study, the court went ahead and took her kids, saying that she could have them back once she finished the sessions."

http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/1095901/atheist-mom-forced-to-go-to-christian-counselor

What should atheists do about the religious persecution they face at the hands of Christian fundamentalist theocrats?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhS4CyGy8SU

Answer 1

If this is as reported it is a violation of her civil liberties and a violation of the constitution these religious fluffinutters are always going on about. She should get a lawyer and sue for her children to be returned and seek redress for the anguish and abuse she received. At the local level you are more likely to get mixed up with agenda driven fanatics willing to violate others rights to push their beliefs/agendas but once it gets reviewed it should, hopefully, be corrected!



Edit: I just read a bit more on this as it was disturbing. The mother submitted to the court to change to a secular counselor as was her right but she never got any response. So she felt she shouldn't keep going to one that was preaching a religion she doesn't believe against her rights and stopped making new appointments and waited for the court to get back to her. Meanwhile religious counselor reported her as not going and court did act to take her kids. They ignored her complaint about the counselor. The counselor claimed she had seperate religious and secular programs and would provide not religious counseling. The mom went back to keep her children but recorded some of the sessions with the help of a local news team where the counselor was a pushy and aggressive proselytizer saying things like "I know you don't believe in God but I believe he is in your life and you have believed or felt him so you need to complete this questionnaire about god's presence in your life." Geez, if that's the secular program I wonder what they do in the religious one? Not only that but this counselor doesn't even have an office but makes clients meet her in the library on the down low because it's illegal to conduct business in libraries. That counselor should in no way be qualified as a court appointed counselor.

Answer 2

Christian Sharia Law

Answer 3

Christians will do anything to force their religion on others, won't they? They're getting more like the Taliban every day.

Answer 4

That is completely against the constitution and her lawyer should push it right up to the Supreme Court which has acted against the religious persecution and bias!

Answer 5

Sounds good. Great to see a judge who knows the truth about life.

Answer 6

She would have been wiser if she thought about her kids well-being first and her foolish ego second.

Answer 7

100% wrong!