From what little information we have. Why would any of this be an issue if the father didn't want to be involved in his child's life. The courts would not even be involved.
What occurs to me is how right our LORD is when He tells us to not be unequally yoked.
You mean like Michael Newdow?
Don't know the reference, was this some beast that abused his children?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Newdow
There is no way Newdow as doing this in the best interest of his daughter; it was all about him and possibly about making his ex-wife miserable.
I completely agree about the unequally yoked. That is why I wish more people home schooled their children. Five years, or less when you consider day care, preschool, headstart, etc. is not enough time to train up a child in the way that they should go. We are making grave mistakes with our children when we turn them over to others to raise and, as someone else posted on one of these threads, hope to undo the damage done to them in those environments when they get home at night.
“Why would any of this be an issue if the father didn’t want to be involved in his child’s life. The courts would not even be involved.”
Because some fathers are controlling and obstructionist just to get back at the mother. Having just gotten out of a longterm abusive marriage, where the father of my child refused visitation for months and then suddenly started forcing the issue upon a child who wasn’t willing, I can tell you that not all men care about their kids as much as they care about punishing the child’s mother.
Are there good dads out there who are getting screwed? sure there are... but there are just as many moms who are getting bullied by the other side. Unless the child is clearly unhappy, doing poorly with her studies, or clearly abused, the courts need to stay out of her life altogether.
How is forcing the child into public school, being involved in her life. If the dad wanted to homeschool the daughter, you may have a point. Public school hours take up the majority of the day. There is actually less time for him and the mom btw to be involved in the daughter’s life.