Posted on 07/15/2005 11:29:25 AM PDT by 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.
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Mary as Coredemptrix and mediatrix
She Gave the Word Flesh* By Scott Hahn, PH.D
It is not yet dogma, of course, but the logic behind it is strongly defended by many prominent Catholics (St. Mother Theresa, for example) and Catholic theologians. Properly understood, the terms "coredemptrix" and "mediatrix" are logical progressions of current Catholic teaching.
At the risk of oversimplifying the debate on this subject, the big problem, however, is the perception by the public at large regarding these terms. The loudest and strongest objections by Catholic theologians and much of the laity to making this part of dogma is, frankly, the not unreasonable fear that it will damage ecumenical unity by creating the impression among Protestants and the like that the Church is equating Mary with Jesus as the mediator between man and God.
The attrocities went both ways. Many a Protestant killed or tortured many a Catholic as well.
A sad truth indeed ...
Those who suffered death in England for the Catholic Faith and for the primacy of the Roman Pontiff, from 1535 to 1681. The total number of them is over 600
Sssshhhhh, you'll interrupt him while he's reading his Jack Chick tracts.
Now I'll go back to my statue worshipping or whatever it is we are being accused of today.
Ping -- discrimination is a practice that is hard to die in the South.
Catholic
Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.
Of or relating to the universal ***Christian church.***
Of or relating to the ancient undivided ***Christian*** church.
Of or relating to those churches that have claimed to be representatives of the ancient undivided church.
Bethany adoption policy scrutinized
The organization that parcels out proceeds raised from the sale of the state's Choose Life car tags has asked to review the policy of a private adoption agency after learning the group will not consider Catholics as adoptive parents.
"We are receiving information from Bethany for our board," said Geraldine Gray of Choose Life Mississippi. "We'll look at the information they forward to us to get a clearer understanding."
A local Catholic couple was told in a July 8 letter from the Jackson office of Bethany Christian Services in Mississippi that, "It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our statement of faith. ... 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."
Jackson, Hattiesburg and Columbus are among 75 U.S. cities in which Bethany is located. The agency, which is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in the state that receives money from the sale of the specialty car tags, which advocate against abortion.
Of the $244,000 generated by the sale of the license plates in 2004, Bethany received $7,053. The agency did not return a phone call.
Motorists pay an additional fee of $31 for the specialized car tag.
Though the fee passes through state coffers, it is considered a private donation, said Kathy Waterbury of the Mississippi Tax Commission.
"They aren't public funds in that we are collecting money on behalf of the organization the tag represents," she said.
Nick Feduccia, a 23-year-old Catholic student, purchased his first Choose Life car tag in May. He said he was unaware proceeds would be given to a charity that would exclude a certain faith.
"I'm pro-life, and every child needs a good home," he said. "It's very disturbing to me that they would exclude people who believe what they believe."
The state issues 185 specialty license plates, which benefit organizations ranging from wildlife groups to Mississippi's colleges and universities.
Proceeds from the sale of Choose Life car tags go to the nonprofit organization Choose Life Mississippi. That agency then distributes funds to nonprofit organizations that have applied to receive a portion of the money.
Gray said any anti-abortion organization can apply for the funds by downloading a form from the group's Web site, www. mschoose-life.org.
The two-page application asks applicants to describe how they work with women who come in for pregnancy tests, how many women they refer for adoption and to verify the organization's nonprofit status.
"We've never denied anyone who applied," Gray said, explaining Choose Life Mississippi aims to support organizations that don't refer women to abortion providers. "What we're interested in is saving babies."
Choose Life Mississippi also supports the Morning Star Pregnancy Care Center located in Gulfport, an adoption and pregnancy resource center affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.
That agency received $9,306 in 2004 from the sale of Choose Life car tags.
As one of the programs of Catholic Social and Community Services, Morning Star doesn't discriminate in any of its services, said its director, Sister Rebecca Rutkowski.
"Catholic and Community Services is open to all faiths, Christian and non-Christian alike," Rutkowski said.
However, Rutkowski said the agency will honor a birth mother's decision if she specifies a particular religion for the adoptive parents.
Catholic Charities in Jackson, which runs an adoption program, also works with people of all faiths.
"Faith is not a criteria for being served by Catholic Charities' programs," said executive director Linda Raff.
Catholic Charities does not receive money from Choose Life Mississippi, but Raff said she will consider applying for the funds.
The sanctity of life is a major part of Catholic teaching, and many Catholics rally around pro-life causes.
"We have every need to support life in all of its forms," said the Rev. Alfred Camp, senior priest at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Madison. "From conception to going through the aging process."
Camp, whose car also sports a Choose Life license plate, said misconceptions about Catholicism obscure what all Christians share in common.
"The term Christian is for those who believe in Christ," he said. "That's the unifying element. Christ is the center of our faith." Estimates put the number of Catholics in the state between 70,000 and 116,000.
Rep. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, who voted for the bill authorizing the Choose Life license plates, said he is "troubled" by Bethany's practice of not considering Catholics as adoptive parents. "I understand they are a private organization and we can't dictate who they let adopt," Fillingane said. "But I think it would be in their best interest to reconsider and repeal that exemption."
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, Lutherans do not believe that the office of the papacy as such has any divine authority, or that Christians need to submit to the Pope's authority to be "true" members of the visible church. You need to read scripture before posting such garbage.
Matthew 16:13-24
John 21:14-19
And, to a lesser extent, John 20:19-23
In the passage from Matthew, because Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and given the grace from the Father, he knew who Jesus was.
But then a few lines down, he starts talking in an uninspired way as a human -- saying that Jesus should not die as Jesus describes. At that point, Jesus calls Peter "a satan" -- because he turns away from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The 2nd passage (John 21:14-19), Jesus is clearly talking to Peter to be the shepherd of the flock.
Anyone who cannot prove either Apostolic Succession or succession to be the leader of the Church cannot claim the responsibility or gifts given to Simon called Peter.
Finally, the quote from John 20 is about those who can forgive sins. This was given to the Apostles and those disciples aligned with the Apostles. It was not given to any women (which the Lutheran Church teaches). Jesus could have appeared to women as well, but He did not.
Finally, the key flaw of Protestant faiths is that they rely on Scripture. Scripture came only from the early Church -- Eastern rite and the Roman Catholic Church.
To believe that the Protestant faith is the best way of Salvation is to say that the Church was destroyed shortly after Jesus left earth, and only came back into being with the Protestant Reformation.
But the Roman Catholic Church, along with other Churches, have been in existence for 2000 years.
The Apostle Thomas went to India and founded 7 churches that are still in existence today -- 2000 years later. They re-united with the Roman Catholic Church when the Portugese traders reached India around the year 1500. They did not join the Church of England (Anglican Church), led by the King/Queen of England, even though English traders were also coming to India at that time.
The Protestant faith is a horrible example in the sense that every day new versions of the Protestant faith come out with different interpretations of Scripture.
Finally, ANYONE would acknowledge that two greatest Christians of the 20th Century were Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
And the largest group of Christianity in the World is the Catholic faith -- over 1 billion members worldwide.
As for the Lutherans, they probably have a different group with their own Church Authority for every 1000 members. There must be over 1000 different flavors of the Lutheran faith. The Lutherans cannot agree to be re-united themselves, so the document you quote is truly worthless for that reason -- other Lutherans would contradict it by their own beliefs.
However, one billion Catholics have a common hierarchy and leadership -- which started with the 12, and was continued with leaders such as Ignatius of Antioch or Augustine of Hippo.
Finally, I have met people who have converted to the Catholic faith because they found that the Early Christian Church is like the Roman Catholic Church today.
So if one is truly interested in their faith, they sould not start at the year 1300, but from the time of the life of Christ to the persecution of Diocletian (300AD). That would at least be a start.
[Uh, you are kidding right? Every branch of Christianity that exists today as an organized religion traces itself directly back to Catholicism. You are ignorant if you think Catholicism isn't Christianity.]
Catholics put their faith in the Roman Catholic church for their salvation and preach a false gospel of salvation mixed with the good works of mankind being a part of their salvation.They do not believe that all scripture is true unless the pope says so. They teach heresies such as transubstantiation, Mary and saint and graven image worship and like many cults also teach that one must be a catholic to be saved.
The bible teaches many principles contrary to catholic doctrinee and they do not believe the bible when the pope says otherwise. The bible is God's word and He is the author of the bible and gives all truth to us by the revelations of Jesus the Christ who is the way and the truth and the life. Doctrines taught in the bible are true and can never be changed and damnation is the result of false doctrine. 12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
again;
16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
This is where the Christian chuch and the Roman church split as they have changed the truth (doctrine) into a lie that contradicts the scriptures of our Lord and God Jesus Christ.
I don't see how they can receive public funds when they discriminate against other Christians.
Doesn't the Catholic adoptive agency assist non-Catholic Christians in adoption? Or am I all wet here?
Are we going to start having adoption agencies for all religions? Publicly funded?
Also, doesn't the birth mother have a say in what religion her child is to be brought up? What if she says she wants a Catholic family to adopt the baby? Is this baby not taken in by this particular group as one of it's children for adoption?
Personally, I feel if they discriminate, they should not receive public funding.
I guess he got my Irish up! ;-)
Good summary, Mom.
I think of Joe Lieberman in that way. Am I wrong (addressed to Jewish FReepers)?
No, The Messiah was a Jew. Thus, the first "Christians" were actually Jews. Christianity as we know it comes from the Catholic Church. Otherwise, we would all still be part of a Jewish sect.
So true. As Cardinal Newman, one of the most famous Catholic converts since the Reformation, famously wrote in 1845: "To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant."
The study of the Early Church is a very common path to conversion for many new Catholics: The Coming Home Network - Conversion stories
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