The recent increase of adoptions among evangelicals has caught the eye of The Nation. They have an interesting article on the subject. It is also a frustrating article on the subject.
What catches their eye is evangelicals that break the rules. The case in Haiti in particular. That is a particularly difficult case since it was on the heels of a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. The issues and details are cloudy, so I’m not tossing her under the bus. There is corruption in many places and abuses can take place. That is a human problem, not merely an “evangelical” problem. Even when someone like Brian Luwis from America World Adoption Agency (we adopted our first adoptive child thru them and I even wore the hat this morning) is interviewed, the focus is on the abberitions. He, Russell Moore and Dan Cruver of Together for Adoption have many positive things to say. But most of what is recorded seems intended to cast the movement in a possible light (like the term ‘crusade’).
“… now-commonplace Christian adoption rhetoric…”
I didn’t like that the author called my convictions (beliefs that grip me) rhetoric. Adoption is one of the main metaphors in Scripture that helps us to understand salvation. Maybe I’m just missing something but to call it rhetoric is ignorant rhetoric. It shows the author doesn’t really understand us or the Scriptures.
What the author does not mention is the long history of Christians being at the forefront of adoptions and orphan care. This is a matter of our convictions based on the Scriptures. This caught the attention of Romans back in the day. In the midst of a callous society, the Christians were caring for the orphans, widows, sick and poor. It is good that this is happening again.
“If evangelicals heed Cruver’s call en masse, it could mean not just a radical change in who raises the world’s children but a powerful clash between rapidly falling supply and sharply inflating demand.”
The author seems to minimize the plight of orphans. I’ve seen no figures that indicate a rapidly falling supply. But it would be great if the demand surpassed the supply. This is not like the supply of oil, where we don’t want to run out of oil. It would be incredible if orphanages were put out of business because people, particularly Christians, had compassion on them. There may not be 145 million children in need of parents out there, but there are still far too many of them.
Is my adoptive child “positioned to receive the gospel”? Yes. And my future adoptive child(ren) will be as well. If I love them, will I keep God’s love from them? But I also know they may reject the gospel. Like any biological child, they will still be my children and objects of my love and affection. Unlike UNICEF, I don’t think we should shy away from poverty-stricken countries. I want my children to have opportunities to thrive and be healthy. I love them!
But this should not mean that I or anyone else buys babies from impoverished parents. The corruption needs to be addressed. The off the wall folks need to be held accountable. Additionally, processes can be improved to make the process easier and smoother while still protecting children from illegal activities.
I feel like Christians can’t win. If we want to end abortion, we are attacked for not caring about the babies. If we want to adopt we are accused of manipulating pregnant women (another article by the author) or stealing children. As Christians we should be consistently pro-life (I don’t see advocating the death penalty for particular criminals as violating that or we must then accuse God of the same thing), and I’m glad to see that this movement is growing. I’m sad that Kathryn Joyce is so bothered by this.
I read both the articles you hyperlinked to; the author relies too much on anecdotal evidence.
On another vein, what are you thoughts on international vs domestic adoptions?
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Amen & amen 🙂
CT- I know you didn’t ask me, but I’ll chime in anyway. We have adopted domestically. Children need loving homes. Initial location plays no bearing. God opens hearts to what he calls us to, and he calls us to different things just like he has gifted us differently. There is no versus. It’s not a competition. Adoption is adoption. So if God has called one to adopt, then He will guide that forever family and child together, regardless of GPS location.
People will have different preferences regarding domestic vs. international. Each has good points and not so good points. So they pretty much line up with a particular couple.
Our experience when we investigated domestic adoption in both FL & AZ was that there were far more hoops to jump through. The states make it far more difficult, in my estimation, than it needs to be.
But it fits for some people. There were a few close calls with adopting domestically when friends of friends were decided the best things for their child was to put it up for adoption. So, we aren’t opposed to domestic adoption but international adoption was the better choice for us.