Court to decide whether Christian couple can foster children

[Prunepicker]

It seems that tolerance is very, very subjective, i.e. you must be
tolerant according to a very narrow viewpoint of tolerance.

Court to decide whether Christian couple can foster children

by Nathan Black, Christian
Monday, November 1, 2010, 15:28 (GMT)

A Christian couple in England has made several attempts to
provide foster care to children but has been blocked because of
their views on homosexuality.

Eunice and Owen Johns were scheduled are coming before the
High Court on Monday and their attorneys say the outcome of the
case could impact the future of Christian foster carers and
adoptive parents.

"It may not be long before local authorities decide that Christians
cannot look after some of the most vulnerable children in our
society, simply because they disapprove of homosexuality," the
Christian Legal Centre said.

The Johns applied in 2007 to be respite carers for children between
the ages of five and 10. A social worker visited their home in
Derby, England, every two weeks as part of the assessment
process. During one of the visits, the social worker mentioned that
if a child came from school and told the foster parents that he or
she is homosexual, the parents would have to tell the child that it
is ok.

Eunice Johns responded, "As a Bible-believing Christian, I don't
think I can do that."

With that, the Derby City Council halted the application process.
The Johns then faced a panel of at least a dozen people and
affirmed again that they refuse to tell a child that it's OK to be a
homosexual.

"I told them that I know they're not going to let me foster ... but
there's no way I can do that as a Bible-believing Christian and I
should not be made to say that," she said.

A week later, the couple received a letter from the council stating
"thank you for withdrawing your application".

The Christian Legal Center pointed out the irony in the matter in
that the Johns previously served as foster parents for the same
Derby council for approximately 12 years.

"The Johns are a loving Christian couple, who have in the past, and
would in the future, give a wonderful home to a vulnerable child,"
said Andrea Minichiello-Williams, director of the centre.

The Derby City Council reinstated the couple's application and
were asked by the Christian Legal Center to clarify their policy on
the suitability of foster carers with traditional views on sexual
ethics. The council's adoption panel failed to make a final decision
about the Johns' application.

As the case faces the High Court, the Christian Legal Center says
"this is a vital case for Christian freedoms".

"The council has an obligation to respect the Johns' religious
beliefs, but also to comply with equality law, which prohibits
discrimination because of sexual orientation. The case will decide
whether the Johns will be able to foster without compromising
their beliefs," the centre explained.

The new Equality Act came into effect last month. The law
consolidates nine pieces of anti-discrimination legislation into one
statute and covers areas such as pay, gender, disability, and
religion and belief. The new law is aimed at preventing
discrimination in a broad range of sectors including the workplace,
education and services.

[Bunty]

So in your free and maybe moral world, a Christian couple who brings home a child, who turns out to be a homosexual, should simply take it back and try harder to pick out a heterosexual child?

[MadMonk]

So in your perfect world Christian parents who have homosexual children of their own should turn them over to the state to raise?

[PennyQuilts]

I think this is less a question of religion than it is an intolerance for homosexuals. Following their faith, a Muslim family would reach the same conclusion. There are religious families who follow their faith to the letter and some that are more tolerant. There are also some groups that tend to be more pro or con about homosexuality. The African American community, for example, tend to be pretty closeminded about it as compared to some other groups. I don't know how the Asians feel about it.

[stick47]

Wonder how the courts over there would decide if a homosexual couple wished to be foster parents?

Loving parents who are willing to devote the hours necessary to nurture another persons child are not in an abundance so I think they should be able to foster children who've been screened psychologically. (don't homosexuals believe that they were born that way and assuming the trait be detected though screening at an early age?)

[Prunepicker]

... don't homosexuals believe that they were born that way...

Yes, but there isn't any evidence to support it.

[PennyQuilts]

Wonder how the courts over there would decide if a homosexual couple wished to be foster parents?

Loving parents who are willing to devote the hours necessary to nurture another persons child are not in an abundance so I think they should be able to foster children who've been screened psychologically. (don't homosexuals believe that they were born that way and assuming the trait be detected though screening at an early age?)

Foster parents take in children whose parents have lost their parental rights and are adoptable. But they also take in children whose parents have lost them for a variety of reasons, and it is nearly always on a temporary basis. It makes for a confusing situation when children are placed with foster parents, temporarily, who have fundamentally different values from the parents on these types of issues. The parents, afterall, retain their parental rights and can be expected to have their children returned to them in a few months. On values issues, the children are ill served to be taught one thing by their parents vs. another thing by their foster parents. To make matters harder, there is a shortage of foster parents. Moreover, some of the best families in terms of offering stability and structure come from a conservative religious background and approach fostger parenting as an extension of their faith. There is a severe shortage of socially liberal families who are willing to open their homes to foster children. My experience as a Guardian ad litem was that most natural parents tended to be conservative on the issue. Not all, but most. In fact, I had a number of parents who ended up with kids in foster care when one of the precipitating factors contributing to the family dysfunction was the parents' inability to accept their child's sexual orientation (leading to family arguments, acting out behavior, poor school performance and sometimes domestic violence).

[Bunty]

So in your perfect world Christian parents who have homosexual children of their own should turn them over to the state to raise?

Sure, why not. As much deep, heart felf hatred as there is in the Christian world against homosexuals. But they'll, instead, may tell their homosexual children to get the hell out of the house where they may flee for refuge to the homosexual world for which they may be too young to experience.

[MadMonk]

Do you speak from personal experience or is this another Bunty-ism where you take isolated cases and apply it to the entire Christian community?

[Midtowner]

Europe is a funny place. Viewpoint discrimination of this type shouldn't exist in the free world.