8/11/11: Courts Cannot Force Christians to Give Up Their Beliefs

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An Ohio appeals court has ruled that religious beliefs may not be the basis for diagnosing incompetency. A lower court had ruled that John Daley was incompetent to stand trial on charges of leaving threatening voicemails and writing an aggressive letter to a county employee because of his strongly held religious beliefs. Daley was then hospitalization and treated with anti-psychotic drugs.

Liberty University Law School dean Mat Staver called it “ridiculous that a doctor would say that someone needs to be essentially de-religionized because they’re too focused on Christianity or Christian beliefs, that they’re a radical Christian.”

The attorney deems it “absolutely outrageous” that the court would even consider forcing Daley to go through a program where he would literally be forced to give up his religious beliefs.