Posted on 01/22/2022 4:04:13 AM PST by DoodleDawg
A Jewish couple from Tennessee has filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Children’s Services after a state-funded Christian program denied them foster care services for religious reasons.
According to the lawsuit filed on Wednesday, Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram signed up for the foster-parent training class and home-study certification process last January at the Holston United Methodist Home for Children.
On 21 January 2021, the same day the Rutan-Rams were scheduled to begin the foster-parent-training class at Holston, an employee “emailed Ms Rutan-Ram to inform her that Holston would not serve the Rutan-Rams because of the couple’s Jewish faith”.
The employee wrote, “As a Christian organization, our executive team made the decision several years ago to only provide adoption services to prospective adoptive families that share our belief system in order to avoid conflicts or delays with future service delivery.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Wonder what would happen if a Christian couple tried to adopt a Jewish child?
If it was a Jewish agency and if they were funded by the state then I would think they should have their funding and their connection with the state severed as well.
protected classes rate, you dont
I disagree. Because this is how religion is.
I also think they are correct in following their Christian principles here. A Jewish couple, or Muslim couples or other religions could not raise a child as a Christian who had already been baptized.
Its a fundamental problem for someone to baptize a child and not raise them to follow Jesus. A Jewish couple could not do this.
On the one hand, I see the Methodist agency’s point and the flip-side hypothetical of a Christian family’s wanting to foster children through a Jewish agency.
On the other hand, there are so many children who need foster homes. Can’t people of good will sort this kind of mess out without the courts?
As I have said, I think the agency should be free to follow any guidelines they want. But they should forego any funding from the state or any connection with any state agency.
And as a private organization they should be able to follow any religious guidelines they want. But they're getting funding from the state. They should give that up and then run their organization according to their own beliefs.
As per http://www.vice.com/en/article/y3vb9j/tenessee-jewish-couple-adoption-lawsuit , they adopted a teenage girl from some other agency. Nothing is mentioned about whether or not they would’ve raised him according to his religion, so it’s difficult to tell if we’re getting the whole story.
So I’d agree there as long as every state agency ceases to do humanitarian service.
Otherwise, I’m against the state using dollars to dictate religious practice.
Re not getting the whole story:
In other words… something’s not kosher here…
(Couldn’t resist…)
People who place children through Christian adoption agencies most likely want those children raised as Christians. And those children are likely already of Christian background.
Jews want Jewish heritage children to be raised as Jews. No one calls them bigoted for wanting that. Yet if Christians want their children raised as Christians, then that's "anti-Semitic."
Child Services had to settle with Sunshine Home after Fulton. Tennessee could no longer enforce a contractual stipulation that they serve the LGBT community. A few weeks later a Jewish couple finds its way to a Christian foster/adoption agency takes classes, gets denied and then files suit. Gotta love the left for their persistence.
Religious institutions already get state funding. I think it was popularized under Bush 2's "faith based" initiatives.
Jewish Orthodox schools in New York receive several hundred million in state funding every year. It was in the news when Cuomo threatened to cut that funding because those communities refused to social distance in 2020.
There are quotes from the agency in question confirming the couple was denied for religious reasons.
Check out this unbiased headline: Christian Adoption Agency Had So Much Fun Discriminating Against LGBTQ People They’re Extending The Practice To Jews, Too!
Yes, well, the purpose of Christian adoption is to place children with parents who will raise them as Christians. If you believe that Christ is The Truth, then it matters.
Neither gays nor Jews will raise children as Christians. (Some gays might claim to be Christian, but their lifestyle negates their claims.)
Strive is one thing. Demand is another. If they are going to deny their services on religious grounds then they shouldn't be receiving government funding.
I should hope so.
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