Christian Adoption Agency Nixes Catholics

AP ^ | 07/15/05

[nypokerface]

JACKSON, Miss. - A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's "Statement of Faith."

Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.

"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."

Sandy and Robert Steadman, who learned of Bethany's decision in a July 8 letter, said their priest told them the faith statement did not conflict with Catholic teaching.

Loria Williams of nearby Ridgeland said she and her husband, Wes, had a similar experience when they started to pursue an adoption in September 2004.

"I can't believe an agency that's nationwide would act like this," Loria Williams said. "There was an agency who was Christian based but wasn't willing to help people across the board."

The agency is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., and has offices in 30 states, including three in Mississippi. Its Web site does not refer to any specific branch of Christianity.

Stewart told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger that the board will review its policy, but she didn't specify which aspects will be addressed.

The Web site says all Bethany staff and adoptive applicants personally agree with the faith statement, which describes belief in the Christian Church and the Scripture.

"As the Savior, Jesus takes away the sins of the world," the statement says in part. "Jesus is the one in whom we are called to put our hope, our only hope for forgiveness of sin and for reconciliation with God and with one another."

Sandy Steadman said she was hurt and disappointed that Bethany received funds from the Choose Life car license plates. "I know of a lot of Catholics who get those tags," she said.

She added: "If it's OK to accept our money, it should be OK to open your home to us as a family."

Bethany is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in Mississippi that receives money from the sale of Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with an extra fee.

Of $244,000 generated by the sale of the tags in 2004, Bethany received $7,053, said Geraldine Gray, treasurer of Choose Life Mississippi, which distributes the money.

"It is troubling to me if they are discriminating based on only the Catholics," Gray said.

[jo kus]

"there is no way infant baptism is Biblical."

give me a verse where infants are denied in coming to Christ.

Regards

[jo kus]

"I own my own copy of the Catechism, and also know where it is online"

Meaningless if you can't understand how to read what it says.

It would take too long to reply to all of the distortions and lies that you post about the Catholic faith. I don't see the point in continuing on, as even in simple matters, you have shown a tendency to ignore common sense. You have yet to answer many of my responses to you on various subjects, such as your twisted interpretation of Acts 17:11, or your tossing out oral traditions, which the Bible maintains that we hold on to. Why continue in your vicious circle of hatred?

It is a shame that you hold so dearly to false ideas about what Catholics believe. I pray that you open your mind to reality and actually read what is written by Catholic writers.

I praise the Lord that He has sent someone like you my way as a temptation. Being Christian to the likes of you can only be done through the grace of God - and I thank Him for allowing me to continue doing so.

Regards

[RaceBannon]

Not so meaningless when I quote it verbatim and show how it disagrees with the Bible.

That is hard for you to grasp, I know, it challenges everything you have been taught from a child, I imagine.

[RaceBannon]

Give me a verse where people who are baptized didnt make a conscious choice to believe first.

stick to the point made, changing the subject trying to play gotcha only proves I was right to start.

Show me where someone got baptized who didn't make a conscious choice first.

infants cannot make conscious choices to believe on the Lord, and you now it.

[RaceBannon]

hey, IQ, grow up

I stated it many times already and your insistence that I repost is immature

I posted links that spell it out and also stated that I endorsed the links and you still falsely claim I didnt tell you what I believed

So, knock it off. DO a search again and this time, read it, click on the links and open up your Bible and do the work yourself.

You are acting like a liberal expecting someone else to do your work for you again.

[RaceBannon]

I said there were Catholics in the founders, but there sure werent many.

And NO, not every Christian denomination traces their roots to Catholicism, you have been absent from another thread, here is a link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1443726/posts?page=1139#1139

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1443726/posts?page=1151#1151

[go-dubya-04]

It's hard to believe you can be so incredibly ignorant. As a Christian, and FORMER Catholic, I can't believe there are still "Christians" out there who are such bigots against the Catholic Church. So, in your tiny-minded world, does "Christian" include Baptists, Methodists, Anglicans, Congregationalists or just certain people who morons like you certify as "Christian"?
Though I changed my affiliatian, there is no difference in my belief that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. This is true of all Catholics and only ignorant bigots think otherwise.

[Kozak]

Whereby we get the name "CHRISTIAN"

The Catholic Church, along with the Orthodox, are the two oldest and largest CHRISTIAN churches.

[GatorGirl]

In those posts, you commit the fundamental error in thinking that the only Catholic Church is the Roman Catholic Church. Not so. Your desire to somehow "prove" that Catholics are not Christian clouds your thinking.

The distinction between the various Catholic rites and the Orthodox evolved as a result of the Great Schism. That Bible you claim somehow makes Catholics non-Christian was collated by none other than the Catholic Church.

[jo kus]

Friend,

Can't you understand that I no longer wish to talk to you if you continue in this manner? What's the point in arguing with someone who beats up a straw man called "Catholic Church"? I don't intend on stooping to the level of childish name calling. If you are able to be more open to other's opinions and beliefs, if you are able to listen to what the Church says - rather than what you THINK they believe, then let's talk. Otherwise, fare thee well.

Regards

[Jaded]

Luke

[InterestedQuestioner]

Hey IQ grow up. I stated it many times already and your insistence that I repost is immature


Race, I'm not interested in surfing the web in an attempt to find the source of your hatred for Catholics. You've posted that Catholics aren't Christians and seem to be excluding them on the basis of your theory about salvation. You've been invited to post your theory of salvation about a half dozen times, and continue to refuse to do so. I'm begining to suspect it's because your view of salvation is irrational, and is in turn helping to sustain your hatred of Catholics. If you feel you have already stated a complete and concise summary about your theory of salvation, "many times already," please cite the post number, and I will be happy to re-post it here for discussion. It's entirely possible that in the midst of your long and self-contradictory anti-Catholic rantings, I either missed or ignored your well organized, concise and complete statement about salvation which has made you so eminently qualified to pass judgment on Catholics. Based on the disinformation you've put out about the Catholic Church, however, I'm doubtful I'll be getting anything clear and concise from you, Race.

As a courtesy to you, I clicked the link that you described as being "a very special place." Rather than containing a concise statement about salvation, it says "under construction" and contains a long series of links, such as "Am I a true believer?" "Do or Done?", "Problems with Reformed Theology" and the "Barabas Theory of Atonement." I clicked on a couple of the links, and found a series of convoluted analogies, and under one, a long list of scripture citations that the author seemed quite certain agreed with him, although it was hard to tell exactly what scripture was supposedly agreeing with.

I've asked for none of these, Race. I'm asking what your opinion about salvation doctrine. This is an extremely simple request, if you're a big enough expert to pass judgment on 1.5 billion Christians, you can no doubt type one or two well organized paragraphs to explain your theory. Just put down your theory, Race, and let's see how it stacks up against the Bible.

Note, I don't want a long rambling email, and I don't want a long list of Scripture verses that you think support your view. Just describe your view of salvation, and I'll check it against the Bible. Believe me, if I have any problems locating it in the bible, I'll request the verses that you think offer support for your theory in order to evaluate them.

I think your problem, from a religious perspective, is that you hate Catholics, and that you have an irrational view of salvation. I can't cure the hatred, but I'm willing to bet I can strip it of any mistaken claims to moral or theological justification. Just set your theory in writing Race, let's see how well it holds up against the Bible. Goodness, you'd think I was asking for the word!


Race, you've fought valiently against a number of straw men that you call Catholic, and I have no desire to follow your example. I'm making a simple and fair request for you to put your theory in your own words, that I may evaluate it in the light of scripture. If your theory is really in the bible, you have nothig to lose, right?

Also Race, you have been asked several times to describe your approach to reading scripture. You've repeatedly requested biblical evidence for Catholic doctrine, and when given it, have dismissed the Bible at every turn. You claim that Catholics always read the opposite of what is in scripture or re-write(!) scripture. You feel that people are reading scripture incorrectly? This is your opportunity to establish concrete and specific rules for reading scripture truly.

What are your basic criteria for reading scripture correctly? Clearly this shouldn't be a hard question to answer for someone who feels qualified to pass judgement on 1.5 billion Christians. No offense, race, but there are over thirty thousand competing groups that claim to be based in the bible. Rather than agreeing to disagree, or noting that reasonable people can look at the same evidence and reach different conclusions, you are making a claim to absolute correctness in your interpretation of scripture, and have made a point of attacking Christians based on your biblical interpration. Clearly a man of your confidence must have something very important to say about biblical interpretation, and perhaps you could take a moment or two to enlghten the rest of us who are so in error.

[RaceBannon]

I hope you understand that I dont want to continue if you refuse to recognize that the Bible says one thing, and RCC official doctrine says another.

You have failed to present any clear example from the Bible where I am wrong, and instead only continually just make statements that I am wrong.

That is not intelligent debate, that is just you stating opinions.

I have posted clear examples from Scripture where THE ROCK is ONLY associated with God and the attributes of God Himself, to refute the RCC doctrine of Peter being the Rock, yet what has been the depth of your response?

Please do not make the coments you do that I am the one out of line when you yourself have failed to present any evidence in your favor that deals with the subject at hand.

For you to falsely state that I am setting up some straw man argument when the reality is I am addressing one of the major points that cause the division between Bible believers and Roman Catholics historically, and to do so even though I took extreme effort to document what Scripture says verbatim, an explanation of how these verses are connected to each other, and how it clearly differs from RCC doctrine, that is quite wrong of you to claim some moral high ground to make such false statements.

[RaceBannon]

you guys are on some mantra about this so-called straw man argument

You show you cannot refute the argument from the Bible when all you can do is call it a Straw Man.

To not be able to refute the Scriptural explanation shows that RCC doctrine does NOT hold up to the Bible, and that is what I have been stating all along.

Thanks for playing. See you next time.

[RaceBannon]

As a courtesy to you, I clicked the link that you described as being "a very special place." Rather than containing a concise statement about salvation, it says "under construction" and contains a long series of links, such as "Am I a true believer?" "Do or Done?", "Problems with Reformed Theology" and the "Barabas Theory of Atonement." I clicked on a couple of the links, and found a series of convoluted analogies, and under one, a long list of scripture citations that the author seemed quite certain agreed with him, although it was hard to tell exactly what scripture was supposedly agreeing with.

Proving you didnt open up your Bible to see if what was taught was correct or not...

which was the point. You were supposed to fill out the study, to see for yourself what was being taught, and whether it afgreed with the Bible or not.

You just lost out on a great blessing.

[Polybius]

then why isn't it called the Catholic Adoption agency.

Because it is not Catholic.

However, since the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church are also Christian and predate the multiple Protestant denominations by over 1,000 years, why do these Protestant denominationalists call themselves the "Christian Adoption Agency" while excluding non-Protestant Christians?

If they serve only Protestant Christians, they should identify themselves as the "Protestant Adoption Agency".

If they serve only those Protestant Christians that share their particular beliefs, they should identify themselves as the "Protestant Except for the Lutherans Who We Think Are Too Much Like Catholics Adoption Agency" or whatever other restrictive name accurately describes them.

[Jaded]

You ignore what they post when you disagree with it.

I posted John 6:43-59 in response to your saying....

You can start by taking what it says on face value, using simple sentence diagraming you were taught in elementary school and high school.

No offence, but that is a serious comment. If it says something that is an anology, then read it as such. Jesus told us to eat His flesh, but He was standing there, were we to kill him? Jesus also said He was a Shepherd yet no sheep followed him around; that He was a Door, where was His handle or the hinges?

But if it clearly says something as a fact, like all your sins are paid for on the Cross, then they are, that Mary had other children, then she did; ...

Of course you ignored it because it doesn't meet the standards of your own personal interpretation of Scripture

Non-Catholic history does not support your later claim that your religion is anything but Protestant.

[Jaded]

Peter was the rock who was given the keys of the kingdom.

[InterestedQuestioner]

You show you cannot refute the argument from the Bible when all you can do is call it a Straw Man.

I read the Bible quite well, it's your opinion that I find questionable. I'm asking for your view on salvation so I can see if it's actually in the Bible. Just like the Bereans, Race, I'd like to see if I've "been lied to," as you put it.

Since you won't post a concise, well-organized, and complete summary of your understanding of a salvation doctrine, I haven't been able to do that. Put it down already Race, it's ridiculous that I've had to ask for it a half dozen times.

You've claimed that Catholics are not Christian, and as far as I can tell, you're basing your pronouncement on your theory about salvation. I'm asking for something extremely simple Race, two paragraphs that clearly summarize your opinion on salvation, it should take all of three minutes to type. For goodness sake!

[InterestedQuestioner]

And Race, I don't want a long list of scripture that you think support your theory. Just put your opinion in your own words, I'll ask for the passages that you think you find support for your theory if I have difficulty finding them.