Independencs, USA - The Amish life is supposed to be simple, but this legal dilemma is anything but uncomplicated.
An unusual custody battle over a 14-month-old Amish girl in Buchanan County shows how parents' differing religious views can complicate family law cases.
Rachel Schrock was born out of an affair between a young woman from the Amish community and an Oelwein businessman. Both argued before a judge earlier this month why they should be the girl's primary guardian.
"We want her to grow up in our way of life," said Edna Schrock, the girl's mother. She was explaining why she believes the father, Dieter Erdelt, should not share parenting duties. "His church is different --- they sing different songs."
While it's rare for members of the Amish communities to form relationships with outsiders, other religions recently report rises in interfaith marriages. When those marriages go awry, children can be caught in contentious battles of beliefs.
"These religion cases get very tricky," said Phyllis Bossin, past chair of the American Bar Association's Family Law Section. "You sometimes have severe clashes."
Several custody disputes dealing with religious issues involve Jehovah's Witnesses. One parent converts and the other objects to children's exposure. An Ohio judge once denied a mother custody because she practiced as a Jehovah's Witness. However, the state's supreme court overturned the decision, calling it unconstitutional.
Custody case law varies from state to state, Bossin said, but courts cannot discriminate against parents on religious grounds.
"It's very difficult to prohibit either parent from exposing a child to their religion unless you can prove specific detriment to the child," she said. "The freedom of religion is one of our very basic rights."
In Rachel Schrock's case, her mother argued that exposing the girl to both Amish and English cultures would be frightening and confusing.
"She's more scared of people with different clothing," Schrock said.
Confusion is not grounds for removing a parent's legal right to seeing their children, though, Bossin said. Attorneys have successfully argued detriment in cases involving cult-like religions. But most of the time, when a parent has a child they are free take the child to worship.
Bossin recalled a case in which her client was a Christian woman who married and had a child with a Muslim man. They agreed to raise their child a Baptist, but after a divorce the father began exposing the child to Islam. The mother was upset, but the courts protected the father's right to share religion with his child.
"Both parents have a right to guide religious instruction," said Aaron Bixby, a Waterloo lawyer who practices some family law. He said many of the disputes are settled out of court between parties.
"Each party needs to be tolerant of the other party's beliefs," Bixby said. "They may not like what the other party does all the time, but if they want to take the child to church, that's their right."