A former California State University sociology professor believes churches that preach the gospel are “Moses Model” CULTS. Sickeningly, her testimony in a recent Maine child custody case resulted in a state court judge BANNING a woman from taking her own child to church.

The U.S. Constitution and unquestionable legal precedents dictate that Courts MAY NOT denigrate a religious belief, nor can they prevent a parent from raising their own child with their own religious views.

Liberty Counsel has stepped in, and we are fighting for the return of this parent’s religious freedom rights to take her daughter to church.

Don’t let anti-Christian ideology ban parents from taking their kids to church! DOUBLE your impact by our Challenge Grant.

Janja Lalich is a former California State University Chico sociology professor. Once a decade-long active member of a San Francisco-based Marxist cult, Lalich now apparently spends her time trying to declare Christ-centered churches as cults. Lalich’s testimony in our latest case reveals she may have left her cult, but her anti-Christian Marxist worldview remains intact.

The story begins 12 years ago, when our client, Elizabeth*, found herself single and pregnant. Her relationship with the child’s father ended even before her beautiful daughter, Andrea*, was born. Everything was fine, until Elizabeth gave her life to Christ and began taking little Andrea to church.

The man who would not marry the mother of his child HATED the fact that his ex-girlfriend and his daughter had fallen in love with the Lord. In written pleadings to the court, the father complained that his daughter carried “religious paraphernalia” (Bible verses). When the father learned his daughter wanted to be baptized, he ran to the court demanding the court stop his ex-girlfriend (Andrea’s mother) from taking her to church.

To push his outrageous demand, the father flew Janja Lalich all the way from California to testify that Calvary Chapel is a “cult.”

Help us defend Elizabeth and her daughter’s RIGHT to attend the church of their choice. Our Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your impact.

Janja testified that Calvary Chapel is a “prime example” of a “Moses Model” CULT. According to court documents, Janja claimed, “In the Moses model, pastors have unquestioned authority and are not accountable to the parishioners, any other pastors, or overseeing organizations. Because the pastor is only accountable to god the members cannot question him.” Note, Janja and the judge always used “god” in lower case.

But Janja’s testimony is a blatant lie, twisting the truth, but especially about Calvary Chapel, in trying to make churches appear to be cults.

Calvary Chapel does not demand church members blindly follow pastors.

Janja would prefer people view Christian pastors, and apparently Jesus Christ Himself, no differently than Heaven’s Gate cult leader-turned-murderer Marshall Applewhite.

Sadly, the judge in Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend's case was all too happy to agree with Janja’s outrageous and ridiculous declarations.

In an 11-page ruling, the judge revealed her own animus and bias, using the world “god” no less than 20 times, and refusing to capitalize the word even once. In all my years of legal practice, handling cases across the country and before the U.S. Supreme Court, I have never seen a judge do such a thing! And never before have I seen a judge try to revoke a mother’s right to take her child to church — until now.

Equally telling is the judge spending nearly half of her 11-page ruling blasting Calvary Chapel for having the temerity to pray over Elizabeth and Andrea.

Don’t let errant court rulings BAN children from church!
Support our legal fund today!

The judge’s order recites Janja’s ridiculous assertions that because Calvary Chapel teaches the Bible “chapter by chapter, verse by verse,” the church’s sermons are “filled with hateful rhetoric” and are “breeding fear of the outside world,” “paranoia,” and “anxiety.”

The judge’s order even blasted the Calvary Pastor Travis Carey’s court testimony, saying, “He had answers for all the questions posed to him and answered those questions in manner that suggested that there could be no other truth than the message he was delivering.”

Pastor Travis did not declare himself a “god” or a leader that must be followed at all costs. He recited from the Bible — a book of faith and history that true Christians and good pastors agree is the God-delivered TRUTH.

The judge ordered that Elizabeth can no longer take Andrea to Calvary Chapel and that Elizabeth’s Christian-hating ex-boyfriend is the only person who can approve which church Andrea attends, if at all. To date, despite being provided with a number of alternative churches, Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend has refused to approve a single church, effectively ensuring that little Andrea never goes to church again.

Liberty Counsel has been brought into this case this week, and we aim to change this outrageous ruling banning a mother from taking her own child to church. We are fighting for Elizabeth and Andrea’s religious freedom rights to be fully restored.

Our clients NEVER pay for our legal services because we know that few could afford to fight on their own. Please, consider making even a small recurring monthly donation or a generous one-time gift to support our legal work.

Our Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of every donation!

The judge in this case was infuriated that Calvary Chapel prayed over Elizabeth and Andrea ... so let’s pray even harder for these beautiful children of God. And pray for Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend and the judge as well, that they might fall in love with Jesus Christ, our risen Savior!

Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

*Names changed for privacy.

Sources:

Angel, Devanie. “The Power of Cults.” Chico News & Review, August 12, 2004. Newsreview.com/chico/content/the-power-of-cults/31494/

Kelly, Brian. “The Moses Model.” Calvary Chapel, September 15, 2023. Calvarychapel.com/posts/the-moses-model/.