Last year, some friends of mine decided to move from England to the USA because they felt the conviction that God wanted them to adopt a child. After going through the adoption process in the UK, they found that they were not eligible to adopt because they could not affirm homosexuality. Their stated position was in no way extreme or homophobic, they just hold the biblical view that many Christians all over the world believe. This loving couple (a British man and American woman) are fantastic parents (with a few kids already) who wanted to open their home and hearts to raise a child that was not wanted by it’s birth mother. My daughter had the privilege of babysitting for them and spending a lot of time with this family last year. It was sad to see that they could not adopt in the UK though.
Last week a news story was making the rounds that reminded me of my friends. It seems that Christians who don’t embrace homosexuality cannot foster children either in the UK. Their comments were a painful reminder of how this issue has become a point of exclusion for Christians.
“All we wanted was to offer a loving home to a child in need. We have a good track record as foster parents.
“But because we are Christians, with mainstream Christian views on sexual ethics, we are apparently unsuitable as foster parents.
“We have been excluded because we have moral opinions based on our faith and we feel sidelined because we are Christians with normal, mainstream, Christian views on sexual ethics.
“The judges have suggested that our views might harm children.
“We have been told by the Equality and Human Rights Commission that our moral views may ‘infect’ a child.
“We do not believe that this is so. We are prepared to love and accept any child. All we were not willing to do was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality was a good thing.
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