This article left me speechless. Talk about promoting adoption for all the wrong reasons. Ugh.
Yipes.12 comments to Yipes.Leave a Reply |
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Copyright © 2012 American Family - All Rights Reserved |
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Yipes.This article left me speechless. Talk about promoting adoption for all the wrong reasons. Ugh. 12 comments to Yipes.Leave a Reply |
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Copyright © 2012 American Family - All Rights Reserved |
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Repeat after me. Adoption is about the children. Not about you, not about your political (or social, or religious, or…) cause, not about your mother who wants grandchildren. It’s about the children.
Arg.
It is a shame that all you have seen about this is what is printed in the article. The main push actually is for funding of orphanages and foster care in more places not just for a big push of people to run out and adopt. Obviously everyone isn’t supposed to adopt and everyone who does adopt might only adopt once not several times but the push is not to call everyone to adopt but to consider it and if not finance adoption for others or finance foster villages in China, etc.
Maybe if you heard all of the comments not the small part printed in the paper.
Beverly
Philosophically I always thought that is one of the evangelical short comings… no support for the born child…
But I worry especially about older foster children being brought into an evangelical family: kids that already had a really stressful life now being put under the pressure to accept the Lord…
Ramping up for the rapture, eh?
Ok, I read this article yesterday, and while I am quite liberal politically and quite pro-choice, I have to say that I was at least pleased that some pro-lifers are starting to actually think about living by their pro-life principles by trying to take care of the kids who are already here. Do I shudder at the thought of some of these families taking in kids whom they think need to be “saved”? Of course. But the article made it pretty clear that parents who sign up for foster care or adoption are not allowed to force their religion onto the children, and are not allowed to use corporal punishment. I’m not naive enough to believe there won’t be families that will still try these things, but I’m hopeful that many of them won’t. And, I’m hopeful that the homestudy process will work in much the same way it does for other adoptive/foster care famililes, and weed out those with an obvious “agenda.”
I also didn’t think the article said that the evangelical leaders were pushing their congregations to adopt if they did not feel it was for them, but sometimes just getting the idea out there can lead some people to think, “you know? I think I could do this, actually.”
I work with a lot of kids who have been in and out of the “system” for years, and let me just say–there is a huge shortage of foster homes in this country. Many kids are placed in residential treatment centers because there are no homes for them. I don’t like most of the conservative political platform, but I am not enough of an egotist to assume that conservative religious people can’t also be good parents. If this push by the right-wingers can help to alleviate the dearth of placements for kids somewhat, in a way that is good for children, then I am happy.
I agree that it’s about time that super conservatives and fundamentals who are against gay people adopting and most likely also being against abortion that they need to consider some of the practical results of the ideals.
However I think that as much as we might hope otherwise I am pretty sure that if there was a big movement in the conservative fundamentalist groups to adopt kids it would be publicizied and politicized. Remember when Bush passed a bill against stem cell funding and he had a bunch of kids who were “saved” embryos brough on stage? I am pretty sure that there will be some politicians or ministers who would also use adopted/foster care kids in a similar manner and talk about how these kids are saved and should be greatful, yadda yadda yadda.
I am pretty sure that foster families aren’t forbidden from encouraging the foster kids to share in their religious beliefs. I’ve read a few foster care blogs that have mentioned this, in one case the foster mother mentioned her foster daughter had been in a previous home that didn’t allow the kids to go trick or treating becuase the other foster parents thought it was satanic.
I just hope that as with all other foster/adoptive parents that these people do a lot of research into the issues and realize what they are undertaking and not assume that love or religon can conquer all.
I think this has the potential to work well or very, very badly. My high school was across the street from Boystown, the Catholic foster care center en masse. I knew a lot of those kids. They each lived about 12-14 kids, in a family style house with married houseparents. Very conservative in thought. The houseparents were not to force Catholicism but to encourage a faith in God. I saw some kids whose houseparents seemed to give them enough space to figure out religion on their own. And other kids parents seemed to push, push, push. The ones who were given religious space seemed to always do better overall. Some even choosing to go to mass themselves, others not. The kids who were pushed into the religion seemed to be bidding their time and very bitter about the whole thing. I don’t know what happens to kids who are gay there. Granted, this was 20 years ago, but that is what I thought of when I read this. I think it is good that they are recognizing a need here instead of just being anti-choice and then so what about the kids who are born. But, yes, I see the potential to over politicize this. Who wants to thought of as a kid saved from abortion their whole life?
Yeah, put me down as ‘squicked out beyond belief,’ please.
“Although Padbury said politics is not at the forefront of the effort, it is a factor: “If we are spending all our time complaining about homosexuals adopting, then why are we not coming forward to adopt these kids?” ”
Because really, the important thing isn’t loving children, it’s making sure that children don’t go to loving gay homes.
Yay for adoption, but…if you’re adopting not out of a genuine desire to parent a child, but rather because your pastor told you to, then…I don’t think I need to finish this sentance.
Hear, hear. I was going to write about that aspect, too.
I agree with others that have said one needs to adopt because they WANT to have a/nother child in their family, not doing it to “prevent gays from adopting”. That burns me up to no end. Don’t get me started.
I do appreciate that pastors are now encouraging them to start DOING something than just b*tch about people getting abortions. Actions people, not just words!
However, why do these sheep have to finally take some action because THEIR PASTOR *SAID SO*? Why can’t they grow brains and think about issues without having to rely on the pastors to tell them what to think? echhhhh.
i wonder about any kids who are gay or lesbian…what happens to them if they end up in such a home? (or if they don’t know when they are placed but come out later and the adoptive parents try to ‘fix’ them)? bio parents try to ‘fix’ their glbt offspring so i imagine adoptive parents would too…
the whole thing = ick.
I echo everything Ashley said. Great comment!
We are evangelical christians. We have friends who are on the front lines of “promoting” adoption as an option to expand families. They believe in “saving” children. We do not. What I mean is that we do not believe it is our right to suggest that our adopted-from-China daughter was saved by coming to our home. Do I pray that she some day comes to a similar conclusion on her own? No. But I do pray that she grows up to understand how very much she was wanted and loved in our family. I pray that she grows up to know that we did the best that we could as a multi-cultural family. I pray that she recognizes our efforts to honor her birth country, her birth parents and her history.
I know what is being said in some churches about adoption. It’s not bad stuff. It’s all in an attempt to educate congregations on the options that are available. Our friends have eight children and are in the process of two more adoptions. This works for them. They are an amazing family and their children are very happy and secure. Even the adopted ones (two domestic and one international), who didn’t know anything about God until they came to their home. It’s okay. The kids are okay. They weren’t brought in and brainwashed. They were loved and taught values and morals in a kind, loving environment. Teaching children about God is not a bad thing.
People don’t adopt because “their pastor said to.” That is absurd. However, people can sometimes have their hearts opened to an idea after learning more about it. It’s really that simple. Many, many people listen and never feel that adoption is for them. That’s okay too. However, I know of families her learned more about adoption during a church service and adopted after doing more research. They do have their own brains!
These issues are big, all of them. But in the end, it’s all about the children, isn’t it?
Thank you for allowing my opinion here.
Traci