Satanist vs. Christian: Who Gets the Kids?
Friday July 11, 2008
So there's a Satanist dad and a Christian mom, and the two of them are divorced. She wants the kids to go to church on Sunday morning, but that's when they're with dad, who's a member of the Church of Satan. What's a judge gonna do?
It's a tricky situation indeed -- most courts try to stay out of any custody issues that arise based on religion. So now, Jamie Meyer might have to prove to a judge that Satanism is a real religion, despite the fact that it's not really about devil worship at all, but about celebrating the desires of the self. And his ex-wife, Kristie, might have to prove that it's actually harmful for the kids to have a dad who's a Satanist. She's already stated that "her ex-husband's public expression of satanic beliefs has embarrassed their children", although there's no real explanation as to what exactly he's done that's so embarassing -- heck, some kids are embarassed just by their parents' existence. Meyer didn't become a member of hte Church of Satan until after he and Kristie divorced two years ago.
Kristie's attorney has asked a judge to order Jamie Meyer to drop the kids off with their mother on Sunday mornings so they can attend church with her, even though it's during his weekend visitation time. We'll see what the judge does when the next part of the hearing takes place in August.
Meanwhile, Jamie Meyer's first ex-wife, Misty Hoff, says Satanism is probably just a phase he's going through. Hoff says Meyer has already alienated his oldest daughter by "calling her a hypocrite for her Christian beliefs."
Thousands of mixed-faith couples have managed to get divorced and still raise their kids without religion becoming a big deal. Honestly, you have to wonder if this would even be in the news if Jamie Meyer was a member of something other than the Church of Satan. Would anyone really care if he was Jewish, or a Muslim?
It's a tricky situation indeed -- most courts try to stay out of any custody issues that arise based on religion. So now, Jamie Meyer might have to prove to a judge that Satanism is a real religion, despite the fact that it's not really about devil worship at all, but about celebrating the desires of the self. And his ex-wife, Kristie, might have to prove that it's actually harmful for the kids to have a dad who's a Satanist. She's already stated that "her ex-husband's public expression of satanic beliefs has embarrassed their children", although there's no real explanation as to what exactly he's done that's so embarassing -- heck, some kids are embarassed just by their parents' existence. Meyer didn't become a member of hte Church of Satan until after he and Kristie divorced two years ago.
Kristie's attorney has asked a judge to order Jamie Meyer to drop the kids off with their mother on Sunday mornings so they can attend church with her, even though it's during his weekend visitation time. We'll see what the judge does when the next part of the hearing takes place in August.
Meanwhile, Jamie Meyer's first ex-wife, Misty Hoff, says Satanism is probably just a phase he's going through. Hoff says Meyer has already alienated his oldest daughter by "calling her a hypocrite for her Christian beliefs."
Thousands of mixed-faith couples have managed to get divorced and still raise their kids without religion becoming a big deal. Honestly, you have to wonder if this would even be in the news if Jamie Meyer was a member of something other than the Church of Satan. Would anyone really care if he was Jewish, or a Muslim?
Comments
This is a tough one. 2000 plus years of indoctrination vs 42 plus years of the Church of Satan. I would not want to be that judge. If you read the literature of CoS- not the publicity blurbs written about them- the children would not be involved until age 18 and then it is THEIR choice. So the exwife is overplaying it. There is no Sunday school or any other kind of religious education for children in CoS. Basically they are atheists. They do not even believe in the supernatural or demons/angels.
Sounds like a control issue to me.
Yeah, it does sound like a control issue and those who have those of christianity on their side tend to win a lot ion things…majority rules type thing…..also it depends on how great of a laywer you can “pay” for.
Walk In Peace
Oh boy. This will be interesting.
This is in deed a tough one! I feel for the kids for sure!! If my past-Catholic-raising serves me correctly, most churches offer Mass on days besides Sunday, i.e. Wednesday evenings - she may not like it that way but that would be a compromise…
Actually I know these people. The religion part is only a foot note in this case… It’s actually just about establishing full custody since they live with her all the time. As a part of full custody the parent who has full custody according to indiana law is allowed to make the decisions regarding religion, schooling etc. The only reason this piece ever made it to the Chicago Tribune is because Jamie wanted 5 minutes of fame and his only defense is the religious aspect. For goodness sake this man had a restraining order against him for putting a gun to Kristie’s head! He has told his children he hates christians.. so when they go home they ask their mother “does daddy hate me?” This is definitely no kind of person that should be raising children. When they were married he was going to college for ministry “christian” ministry and raising the children with christian ideals and now he has completely flip flopped. This man does not deserve to have children and the Chicago Tribune should be ashamed for writing a story about religion that actually has so very little to do with it.
As they always say, “There’s more to this than meets the eye.”
Thanks, Phil, for filling in the blanks for us.
This is a riot! How ridiculous. Law states that she can do whatever she wants with them on HER weekend. For whatever reason, she shouldn’t be able to get the kids on HIS day whether it is to go bowling, climb on rocks or go to church.
If Phil does indeed know these people, and what he says is true, then by law, my previous statement still stands. If he has weekend visitation, then she shouldn’t be able to get the kids on his Sunday.
If he is verbally abusing the children, this is a totally different matter and his custody rights should be challenged on those grounds, not by wherever the mom wants to take the kids on his Sunday. I would be interested to know how much the Chicago Tribune exploited certain aspects of this case.
Actually, the kids want to go to church. The oldest usually begs to come home early on her father’s weekend. The forcing them to go to church on Sunday was just her lawyers idea. She just wants the kids to have the option, not be forced to stay with him if they desire to go to church with her. It’s amazing how much is being pushed for because of her lawyer that isn’t even her own idea. Jamie doesn’t even know what satanism is. He’s just read Anton’s book and assumes he is a satanist. We live in small town Indiana so it’s not as if there is a local Church of Satan around the corner or anywhere within 100 miles for that matter. He has told Kristie that he hates God… Satanists do not believe in God. Just another of his many phases, like first a christian minister, then he thought he was a gang banger, now satanist… who knows what will happen next. As I stated previously she just wants to legally have full or sole custody of the kids so that he cannot force his ridiculous ideals on the kids, she’s not really concerned about forcing them to go to church on his weekend. It’s just his spin on the story, unfortunately one that got him the attention he wanted.
For me, the real problem would be his insulting the kids about their faith or anything else. I pity the judge, and the kids.
Very interesting.
Well my thought are if this article is so far out of the way then why doesn’t she and her lawyer come up with an article themselves or something. This is bizarre to say the least if he has all of these charges and this is just a thing to get attention then he doesn’t need children right now. Does he have a disorder that makes him behave erratically? How old are those children? Im not taking either side here by no means but this story is quite interesting to me and I would love to know more. Many blessings for the children may they find peace in this time of need.
I am really curious to see how this plays out. My husband and I are fighting for sole custody of his 3 kids because his exwife is satan.
(She is one of those who give mother & woman a bad name)
Here is the catch, I am very much celtic-based pagan, who does perform certain spells & my husband says he is unaffliated, but tends to follow buhdism. His exwife & her husband are christian. The kids have gone to church with them off & on on her weeks.
We have not said anything about them going to church, we are fine with this. The only thing we have said is we want to teach them to have open minds and if they have questions we can help them find the answer that best fits them.
I asked a couple of months ago what the kids had been learning about at sunday school & they were already spouting the “unless you believe in jesus you are going to hell” stuff. Of course this upset me and I explained to them that there is so much more out there than just that. The oldest one (13) told me he didn’t want to hear it, he just wanted to learn it from one person and that was the minister. This of course floored me.
Well, a couple of weeks ago the kids came home to us saying they had made a new friend at their mom’s house and that he and his family are pagan. Next thing I know I was being bombarded with questions, of which I was happy to answer. I asked them if they found anything evil in this boy’s home or if his family did anything evil and they said no. I then pointed out to them that this is what I had been trying to teach them. They finally had a different perspective on this. I don’t practice rituals in front of them (never have). I asked them if they had told their mom about their new friend and they said no. I didn’t ask why. I was just glad that their minds had opened up just a little bit. The 9 year old was fine, I think he has his own ideas, but is still very impressionable. The two other boys (11 & 13) are more close minded and this makes me sad.
Anyway, I am waiting for the exwife to try and use this in Aug. during court (she has nothing one us & we have binders worth on her from the past 5 years). I had been teaching the 9 yo some basic ideas about energy and we would pick a different god or goddess to read about, because he wanted to know, I never pushed it on him, I asked him if he was interested and he said yes. The 13 yo told the mom I had been pushing my pagan belifs on the youngest, even though he was not in the room when we would discuss things. I have my husband’s permission and he would give my husband a summary of what we had talked about if my husband was not in the room. Needless to say, since the 13 yo told mom, the 9 yo & I don’t have our dicussions any more. He shys away from the subject and I sadly let him be.
I won’t push on him or anyone else, not even my 2 who are older (16 &14). I just have to wait and let them come to me.
I can only hope that the judge does not care about the pagan issue and that falls to the wayside. Please keep us in your blessings….only time will tell.
In the Service of the Goddess,
~Valarie
Hey I don’t much like the Christian or the Catholics. My Step Mother, being the one who raised me and being Irish Catholic was a pain the you know where. She would always tried to force me to go to church and be like her. I went one time willingly to see what it was like and see if it agreed or even made since to me. It didn’t, and she couldn’t understand that. Even when I was only 6 I knew that the Moon was my mother and the Sun my father. I called the wind and earth my sister and water and fire my brother. My mom would catch me talking to them and would call me crazy and make me feel like a piece of garbage, “Demon Spawn” “Devil Child”, some nice names for someone to call their kid. It’s hard to really grow up and make your decisions and be your person when you have someone like that breathing down your neck. I say let the kids make their own decision on what religion they want to follow and which parent they want to go with, and don’t let the mother or the father try to influence them and aleinate them.
I was Catholic just because my parents were. However, my father told me once that if I wanted to worship the fence post out back it was alright with him just as long as I truly believed what I was doing was right for me. My father passed on before I “came out of the broom closet.” My parents were always aware of the fact that I read a lot of books on various belief systems and always felt drawn to nature, so it wouldn’t have surprised me if they knew I was pagan. My mother would often ask me questions that led me to believe that she knew I was a pagan, but didn’t know exactly what the name was. It never bothered her. She only said do I truly believe in what I believe. I said yes and that was the end of the subject. I am fortunate in that way.
It was 1978 an I was 11 years old, our block was decorating for our block party the next day it was around 9 oclock at night I remember looking up in the sky it was a full moon that night.It was the first time I noticed a pretty face on the moon. I remember to this day thinking “Wow does anybody else see the lady in the moon?”It was hot that night an while I was hanging up paper flowers on the railings of the porches a good breeze hit me now here is the weird part people, feel free to call me crazy lol.I looked up at the moon an the face appeared to be blowing like when you blow someone a kiss. Do you know to this day I believe The Moon Mother sent me that much needed breeze.Ever since then I knew she was special. Blessed Be.
If it’s the dad’s court ordered custody time on any weekend then the kids are with him for that time.
They could be going roller skating, it doeant matter - it’s the kid’s time with thier dad. Let them go one weekend with mum and one with dad untill they are of an age to choose for themselves.
At least he wants to be involved in thier lives. How many dads just disappear into the ether? Good on him I say for sticking around for them.
coming from a very universal merriage myself which is paganism and christianity i will say that it is a very tough situation but to us we don’t make the kids believe either way that is their choice in life not ours and as far as what he does with the kids on his time with them that is something that he will have to live with later on no one else and if he wants them to broaden their minds spedo but he should also remember that he should not push his religion or anything else on them they may want something totally different who knows they may grow up to budhists them what
In most states standard custody procedure is that both parents have to agree on any religious issues in regards to the children. If dad doesn’t think they should go to church mom shouldn’t be able to take them & if mom doesn’t think they should go to any Church of Satan activities dad shouldn’t be able to take them. If I was the judge I would say that the children aren’t to attend any religious events until they are 18 since the two can’t agree. And mom can’t take time from dad just because she wants them in church during his time.
I am happy to live in a predominately catholic country were normal people come to church three times in their lifetime, to get baptised, to marry, and for their funeral service…
I grew up in a satanic family, but I decided to be pagan instead. There wasn’t anything bad or ‘evil’ about satanism, I just liked the ideas behind paganism, and it seemed more for me.
People need to learn that there are freaks in every religeon, wether its because they screw choir boys, chase ghosts , or hurt others. (I haven’t done any of these, and neither has anyone I know. But my poiunt still remains.
Look beyond the fact of religeon, and actually look at the person.
Wow Phil…keep us updated. When Patti gives us an update I would love to hear about your end.
blessed
Whether or not the dad is a morally-ambiguous man who mistreats his kids is a seperate issue. The issue in the paper is that the mother wants to take the kids to church during their visitation time with dad, which I feel is wrong.
It wouldn’t matter if she was taking them to church, to sports club or the library, if it happens in dad’s time, dad should either be included, or it should be moved to another day.