Christian Adoption Agency Nixes Catholics

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.

Sorry, I don't buy it. Mary IS NOT the woman from Rev 12.

A traditional Catholic author, Rev. Herman Bernard Kramer in his "Book of Destiny", impramatur, available from TAN Books, would agree with you. "The woman in Chapter XII is not the Blessed Virgin Mary. The ancient interpreters beginning with Hippolytus and Methodius understood this to a figure of the Church."

There's a lot more, and it's very interesting, whether you buy into it or not, and it was originally published in 1956, before Vatican II. I think both catholics and protestants who are interested in the Book of Revelation would benefit from thoughtful reading of the book, whether they agree with it all, or any of it, or not.

Nevertheless, I know how bigoted some protestant sects are to the point they won't pray with catholics in their prayer groups. Denying a catholic family an equal chance at a child is just plain bigotry, although I suppose they have a right to do what they want.

I think, despite differences, people should work on finding common ground and exercise true Christian charity towards one another. Bigotry and/or arrogance on either side raises red flags with me and turns me off.

According to Catholic dogma, Mary is a co-redemptrist, which seem to suggest that salvation through the Blood of Jesus is not sufficient. I would venture to say that it would be difficult to find a Catholic who even understands what I have just said.

Jesus, the New Adam, is the one Savior and Redeemer of all humankind. By His Incarnation, Death and Resurrection, He redeems us from the sin of the first Adam. Mary, the New Eve, plays a lesser, dependent, subordinate role in the redemption of the world, by virtue of her relation to Christ and her cooperation in His life's mission. So she is sometimes called the Coredemptrix, which means "Woman with the Redeemer" (not "co-redeemer"; see below).

Though many Catholics believe in the legitimacy of this title, it has not been defined as an article of faith, and probably will not be in the forseeable future. Although the concept behind the title is theologically sound, Catholics are not required to accept the title "Coredemptrix".

Mary cannot and does not redeem us by herself. She only plays a lesser, non-essential role in the redemptive work of Christ. The Coredemptrix concept re-emphasizes the fact that Jesus is the Redeemer, for if He weren't then Mary could not be the Coredemptrix.

Allow me to cite an example. Several years ago, Roy Schoeman, a Harvard Business School professional, took a walk along the beach at Cape Cod. Suddenly ....

"As I was walking, lost in my thoughts, I found myself in the immediate presence of God. It is as though I "fell into Heaven." Everything changed from one moment to the next, but in such a smooth and subtle way that I was not aware of any discontinuity. I felt myself in the immediate presence of God. I was aware of His infinite exaltedness, and of His infinite and personal love for me. I saw my life as though I was looking back on it after death, in His presence, and could see everything which I would be happy about and everything which I would wish I had done differently. I saw that every action I had ever done mattered, for good or for evil. I saw that everything which had ever happened in my life had been perfectly designed for my own good from the infinitely wise and loving hand of God, not only including but especially those things which I at the time I thought had been the greatest catastrophes. I saw that my two greatest regrets when I died would be every moment which I had wasted not doing anything of value in the eyes of God, and all of the time and energy which I had wasted worrying about not being loved when every moment of my existence I was bathed in an infinite sea of love, although unaware of it. I saw that the meaning and purpose of my life was to worship and serve my Lord and Master, in whose presence I found myself. I wanted to know His name, so that I could worship Him properly, so that I could follow "His" religion. I remember silently praying "Tell me your name. I don't mind if You're Apollo, and I have to become a Roman pagan. I don't mind if You're Krishna, and I have to become a Hindu. I don't mind if You're Buddha, and I have to become a Buddhist. As long as You're not Christ, and I have to become a Christian!" (Jewish readers might be able to identify with this deep-rooted aversion to Christianity, based on the mistaken belief that it was the "enemy" which lay behind two thousand years of persecution of the Jews.)"

God did not reveal himself. For the next year, Mr. Schoeman prayed to this 'unknown' God asking Him to identify Himself.

One year to the day ....

"A year to the day after the initial experience, I went to sleep after saying that prayer, and felt as though I was woken by a gentle hand on my shoulder, and escorted to a room where I was left alone with the most beautiful young woman I could imagine. I knew without being told that she was the Blessed Virgin Mary. I felt entirely awake (and my memory is as though I had been awake), although I was dreaming. I remember my first reaction, standing there awed by her presence and grandeur, was wishing I knew at least the Hail Mary so that I could honor her! She offered to answer any questions I had. I remember thinking about what to ask, asking the questions, and her answers. After speaking to me a while longer, the audience was ended. When I woke the next morning I was hopelessly in love with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I knew that the God I had met on the beach was Christ, and, and that all I wanted was to be as much of, and as good a, Christian as possible. I still did not know anything about Christianity, nor the difference between the Catholic Church and any of the hundreds of Protestant denominations. It took me another two years or so to find my way to the Catholic Church, guided by my love and reverence for the Blessed Virgin Mary."

This is the precisely what the Catholic Church intends when it honors Mary as 'co-redemptrix'. It was Mary who drew Roy Schoeman to her Son. Had it not been for Mary, Mr. Schoeman might be worshiping Krishna right now. Got it?

You can read the entire story at this link:

SCHOEMAN CONVERSION

Hmmm, seems to be quite a few "first stones" being thrown here!

Who gains by dividing and conquering Christianity?

Christ's message ultimately seems quite simple to me:
Mark Chapter 12
28 One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"
29 Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
31 The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
32 The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One and there is no other than he.'
33 And 'to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34 And when Jesus saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Guess I'll stop reading this thread and go get some dinner ...

I've already acknowledged that there are Protestants who do not think of Catholics as Christians and that I think it's a silly perspective. My point there is simply that it's not a one-way street in my experience. Your milage may vary, but in my experience, no sect corners the market on virtue, nor are they all free from boneheads and I've heard as many goofy things from Catholics and Jews as Protestants.

With respect to the issue at hand, I agree that it's troubling because it's taxpayer funded. I don't have a conceptual problem with a mother who is giving their child up for adoption saying, "I want this child placed in an Evangelical home," so long as they also accept, "I want this child placed in a Catholic home," "I want this child placed in a Jewish home," etc. I can understand why a mother giving a child up for adoption would want a religion match. The problem is that from what I understand about this organization, it promises to place the child in a good Christian home but my guess is that it's real scope is really a good Evangelical home. I doubt they'd place a child in a home where they are liberal Protestants, either. I should also point out that there are plenty of other religions that consider themselves Christian that quite a few Christians would debate that point over including Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some of the liberal Protestant sects that are only nominally Christian. Where someone draws the line between "Christian" and "not Christian" is a fairly subjective matter and an organization accepting taxpayer-funding probably should have no business making that call.

If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure there are Protestants that don't think I'm a Christian, either, because I'm not a Fundamentalist nor an Evangelical and was christened as a child rather than baptized as an adult.

"the Priest is acting on the authority given by Christ...whatever sins ye retain are retained, and whatever sins ye forgive are forgiven."

Jesus is talking to everyone in that cut from John 23:20. The same as He was in Matt 6:12 when He taught you to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

It's not the priest that determines whether the sins are retained. It's the one making the decision to forgive, or not to. It's what you are acknowledging and asking in the Lord's prayer. That's what God looks for, not the dispensation from the priest.

Matt 9:18-26Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." He said to the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."

The authority was given to all according to His commands. That authority is what you acknowledge in the Lords prayer, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matt 22:36-"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"[Exodus 3:6] Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[Deut. 6:5] This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[Lev. 19:18] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Sin is held against the one rejecting the Holy Spirit according to adherence to these commands, the stated request in the prayer and the fact of Matthew 12:32, Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. "

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