A British judge has ruled that a 10-year-old Jewish girl can convert to Christianity despite her mother's strong objections.
Judge Allows 10-Year-Old Jewish Girl To Convert To Christianity Against Her Mother’s Wishes
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
A British judge has ruled that a 10-year-old Jewish girl can convert to Christianity despite her mother's strong objections.
The girl – who cannot be named due to her age – will join her father’s Christian church despite the strong objection of her mother, the Telegraph reported.
The girl’s parents, both born Jews, divorced in 2010 and share custody of the child.
The girl’s father converted to Christianity after his divorce.
Judge John Platt reportedly told the girl in a letter that, “…My job is to decide simply what is best for you and I have decided that the best thing for you is that you are allowed to start your baptism classes as soon as they can be arranged and that you are baptised as a Christian as soon as your minister feels you are ready.…Finally, and this is the most important thing, both your mother and father will carry on loving you just as much whatever happens about your baptism.”
The girl's father told the court that the girl claimed to have “experienced an encounter with God” after attending a Christian festival.
The girl’s mother claimed the father stopped the girl from practicing Judaism while the girl's grandparents accused the girl's father of forcing her to give up her Jewishness. A rabbi testified that it would be “unnatural to their soul” to make a child switch religions.
The judge was reportedly enraged by these claims, responding that the mother and the grandparents had not made “any real effort” to do what was best for the girl. And the rabbi’s letter, the judge said, was written in “inflammatory terms without [giving] any supporting evidence.”
He was also angered because the girl's mother went to court without first discussing the conversion with her ex-husband or his priest, calling her actions "wholly wrong."
The judge noted that he had no power to order the girl to be baptized, but he did have the power to dismiss the girl's mothers petition to stop it.