Why We Should Fear the Evangelical Adoption Boom

[cleanhippie]

While it sounds wonderful when Christians spend more time focusing on kids who are already born instead of the embryos inside other women, the plan goes downhill when they see those adoptable children as little more than extensions of a ministry:

[The adopted kids] didn’t attend school, either; home schooling mostly consisted of [mother] Serene reading to the younger children. When the older kids watched a school bus drive past on a country road and asked why they couldn’t go, they were met with various excuses. So [adopted kids] Isaiah and Alfred worked with [father] Sam in his house-painting business or labored in [grandmother] Nancy Campbell’s immense vegetable garden while [adopted kids] CeCe, Kula, and Cherish cleaned, cooked, and tended to a growing brood of young ones. It was also the job of the “African kids,” as they called themselves, to keep a reservoir filled with water from the creek. CeCe hadn’t yet learned to read when Serene gave her a book on midwifery so she could learn to deliver their future babies. “They treated us pretty much like slaves,” she said. It’s a provocative accusation, but one that Kula and Isaiah — as well as two neighbors and a children’s welfare worker — all repeated.

Discipline included being hit with rubber hosing or something resembling a riding crop if the children disrespected Serene, rejected her meals, or failed to fill the reservoir. For other infractions, they were made to sleep on the porch without blankets. Engedi, the toddler, was disciplined for her attachment to CeCe. To encourage her bond with Serene, the Allisons would place the child on the floor between them and CeCe and call her. If Engedi went to CeCe instead, the children recalled, the Allisons would spank her until she wet herself.

Horrifying stuff. Even scarier when you realize it’s not limited to just this one family. Evangelical churches across the country are encouraging overseas adoptions for religiously-motivated reasons.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/04/16/why-we-should-fear-the-evangelical-adoption-boom/

It's not just the Evangelical indoctrination of children into their religion, it's ALL indoctrination of children into religion we should fear.

[rug]

1. You should fear it if all adoptions involved hiting children with a rubber hose.

What is dangerous is inculcating broad brush hatred and intolerance.

[cleanhippie]

2. It's not just the Evangelical indoctrination of children into religion we should fear,

It's ALL indoctrination of children into religion we should fear, whether they beat kids bodies with rubber hoses or not.

[rug]

3. It's all indoctrination, including antitheism.

[cleanhippie]

4. When there are entire organizations and communites that indocrinate children into "antithesism"

your point will have more weight. Until then, have fun beating that straw man.

[rug]

5. The community of a parent and a child is enough.

Is there a reason you put "antithesism" (sic) in quotes? Do you not believe it exists? Do you believe there are no organizations and communities that advocate it. Do you believe no child is influenced by it?

[cleanhippie]

6. I believe that you are not being honest about the degree of severity of religious indoctrination

And the low probability of indoctrination into "antitheism."

But anything to distract from the point though, right?

[rug]

7. It's simply a matter of numbers.

The larger the group, the more intense the inculcation.

Tha changes nothing, however, about the inherent nature and quality of inculcating strongly held views into children.

[cleanhippie]

8. For now, the actual problem lies with the indoctrination of children into religion.

That's where the danger actually is, that's where the attention and focus needs to be.

[rug]

9. One does not preclude the other.

[cleanhippie]

10. And one is not equal to the other.

[rug]

11. And neither should exist.

[cleanhippie]

12. Agreed, and one is an actual problem most kids face today and needs to be addressed.

[rug]

13. Both are actual problems. One is larger.

[cleanhippie]

14. Exponentially larger. So much so that the other is virtually nonexistent by comparison.

And so the question remains, how do we stop the abuse of children through religious indoctrination? Lessons learned here can apply to the outlier events such as indoctrination into "antitheism".

[Starboard Tack]

16. Isn't antithesism the antithesis of antitheism?

[rug]

19. I think it applies to someone who doesn't believe in term papers.

[Starboard Tack]

20. lol

[Adsos Letter]

15. Terry Gross did an interview with the author a couple of days ago

http://www.npr.org/2013/04/16/177350912/how-evangelical-christians-are-preaching-the-new-gospel-of-adoption

[cleanhippie]

17. Wow. The deceit, deception, and dishonesty some of these Christian adoption groups use is plain evil

Yet more damage being done in the name of a "god".

[BlueToTheBone]

18. This is terrible for tne children!

Their hellish lives will be a true descent to hell. Rigid, hate filled bigots. Oh, I may have to become a CASA again.