Church Can Do What It Wants?!

The article I read was about a Church that in my opinion, got away with a crime. The Texas Supreme Court Wrong On Demon Case was an article written by The Editorial Board from the Austin American Statesman on Tuesday July 1st 2008. This story is about a church that physically restrained a seventeen year old girl to the ground saying that she had been possessed by a demon. The girl tried to sue the church for physical, mental, and emotional abuse. She was bruised and also said she had sustained mental trauma. A jury awarded her $188,000 but that decision was overturned by the Texas Supreme Court. The Judges in this court said that this lawsuit violated the first amendment that protects religious freedom. The authors of this article find that this decision is unfair and gives the church too much power and exemption from an consequence.

This article was written to a wide variety of people excluding would anyone religiously extreme. I think that the average person could relate to this story even including "church people". I grew up in church but i was outraged when I read this article. Pretty much anyone that is not a religious nut would be concerned at what this church got away with. The article was not trying to bash church all together but just saying that just because church and state are separate doesn't mean they should be able to get away with injustice. The article takes the claim that in another environment this would have been considered a crime and that church should be held responsible for their actions. The article states, "Abuse, assault and false imprisonment cannot be excused as the free expression of religion. Religious practice must conform to the law of the land, not exist outside it. If not constrained by law, religion could claim any exemption from rape to human sacrifice." This is a fair statement, a line needs to be drawn so they don't get away with injustices. I think the authors' point is well taken and they don't come off angry which helps to make the argument feel legitimate. However, there is a lack of actual research and proof of why this church shouldn't be allowed to get away with this. It is a shame though because the point would have been easy to make. They could have made arguments for assault and abuse pretty simply. It was a good article and I agreed with what they said but they could have made a more solid argument.