North Dakota Juvenile Services Sued for Partnering with Religious Ranch
Today's NYTimes tells of a new lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, this against the state of North Dakota for sending troubled juveniles to the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch.
The complaint says that “children are disciplined for refusing to participate in the spiritual aspects” of their therapy and that objectionable behavior is deemed a “corruption in the eyes of Jesus Christ.”You can read the ten-page complaint here. The FFRF news release is here.
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The ranch is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the country’s two main Lutheran denominations. Its president, Gene D. Kaseman, declined to comment. Lisa Bjergaard, director of the Division of Juvenile Services, said that she had not seen the complaint but that the ranch did not coerce children into practicing Christianity.