I've complained before about how the foster care and adoption system is chock full of Christians. last week I attended an adoption conference, which was on the whole, well-organized and informative. It was also full of personal testimonials about how God had changed their lives, brought them children, and saved them. Did I mention this conference was paid for and organized by a county CPS in my state? Now, I am not going to contact anyone about it. Statistically speaking, the vast majority of people at that conference were religious and probably didn't see anything wrong with it. My husband was critical of it, but mostly because he doesn't like people preaching at him at events that are supposed to be non-religious. "If I want a sermon, I'll go to church or google one," was his response. I'm sure there are some more militant atheists who would have reported this, but I'm just not that kind of person.
The proliferation of Christians in the adoption community and their views towards missionary adopting is concerning though. My sister-in-law used the old, "if every other church in my state adopted, there would be no more orphans in my state" line. She also added, "And then they would all be in Christian families." When I responsed with a casual, "I think any family would do", she gave me some side eye and emphasized, "Christian families." Okay. The kid who is about to move into our home identifies as Jewish. His bio mom converted to Kaballism when he was a kid and so he tells people that he is Jewish and doesn't eat pork or shellfish. This is the extent of his religion though. He doesn't even understand the difference between a church and a temple. He doesn't pray or attend services. He doesn't practice any of the traditions. But we are not going to tell him he is wrong nor will we be dragging him to church in order to convert him. My sister-in-law along with many Christian adoptive parents would not do the same. Any child that comes into my SIL's home would be expected to attend church with them. They would begin indoctrination as quickly as possible and were pray hard for that child's soul. In that vein, I don't think nor would I want my child to believe what I believe just because I hammered it into them. I don't want my kid to be an atheist or agnostic or Christian or Jewish because that is what I am. I would want them to come to those beliefs honestly and analytically. If those analytics lead you to Judaism, then so be it. All that said, it would be really nice to go to an adoption event and not be surrounded by Christians who can't help but preach about their religion at every turn. It's not very helpful when you are trying to learn about the psychological development issues prominent in kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
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AuthorThis is a personal, but secret, blog archiving my deconversion from a Christian to a non-believer. Archives
December 2020
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