Are Children Adoptive Hostages In Illinois?
In December of 2010 the State of Illinois began recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions, then, on June 1, 2011, it passed a piece of legislation called the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act that gives homosexual married couples all the legal rights of heterosexual married couples.
The problem?
The Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act does not protect the religious freedoms of everyone in the State, it usurps them under the guise of social equality and attempts to force many religious institutions to recognize same-sex marriages against their religion, their Constitutional rights, and their will.
Normally sexual preference is NOT a topic that I care to discuss because, quite honestly, a lot of people become unglued when presented with evidence that contradicts their chosen lifestyle. Oftentimes, regardless of sexual preference, it is impossible to engage in intelligent conversation about human sexuality because the topic quickly becomes convoluted by denials, accusations, hatred, ignorance, bigotry, and a whole lot of hypocrisy. However, the laws of nature and biological science reveal certain truths that only confirm what most religious institutions already recognize and teach.
The Purpose Of Sexual Intercourse
Sexual intercourse, between a male and a female, is the means by which human beings naturally procreate. Biologically there is no other method, even in a laboratory, to create a unique person without the male sperm and female egg. Similarly, it is self-evident that without the natural ability to procreate, the human race would have become extinct long ago. These two facts alone suggest that the sexual desires many creatures on earth experience, including human beings, serve as an instinctual purpose to procreate and avoid extinction. Denying the procreational aspect of sexual intercourse is akin to denying grade school level biological science. You can claim the world is flat all you want, but it does not change reality.
Is Sexual Preference A Choice?
No. People do not get to choose which gender they are born with and they can not choose the thoughts, feelings, impulses, or desires that cross their minds.
However, questioning whether sexual preference is a choice or not becomes an irrelevant and disingenuous argument upon considering other situations people find themselves in and how the choose to act:
- Is stealing a choice? Absolutely. Are impulses to steal a choice? Absolutely not.
- Is murder a choice? Absolutely. Are murderous thoughts a choice? Absolutely not.
- Is adultery a choice? Absolutely. Are adulterous desires a choice? Absolutely not.
Regardless of sexual preference, no one chooses their thoughts, feelings, impulses, or desires. They can only choose which ones to act upon and which ones to disregard.
The real question is whether society should accept “biologically unnatural” sexual behaviors or reject them.
A Moment Of Clarity
It would be completely remiss to single out homosexuality as a biologically unnatural sexual behavior without addressing the alarming lack of self-control and disrespect that many heterosexuals show for the human reproductive process. Birth control devices have replaced abstinence and self-control, over 900 abortions a day take place in America alone, and the natural procreation process is treated like a disease that needs preventive care, or worse, a cure.
Please do not consider this a “holier than thou” speech because it isn’t. I am fully aware of the challenges that self-control present to people, especially, when their natural hormones kick in and I was not immune as a teenager. But is it wiser for society to accept these behaviors and find ways to circumvent some of the consequences or to encourage the biological family order by frowning upon promiscuity?
In Regards To Adoptive & Foster Care
The aim of ANY adoption or foster-care agency should revolve around the best interest of the child(ren) involved. The way the State of Illinois is using the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act, however, presents some interesting questions:
- Is it wise to allow people the ability to demand children based on threats of sexual discrimination? The State of Illinois already had social service agencies that dealt with adoption and foster-care to same-sex couples.
- Is it necessary to exclude religious agencies from the adoption process for non-compliance? The State of Illinois bragged that it removed funding from non-complaint religious agencies. But in reality these religious agencies took on a lot of the cost and now Illinois will have to figure out how to make up for the lost funding.
The State is literally using orphaned and abused children to force religious institutions to either abandon their faith or their role in the adoption and foster-care process. But aside from refusing to deal with same-sex couples, these religious institutions have done absolutely nothing wrong by the State of Illinois and have helped it find homes for unwanted and neglected children for over 70 years.
Conspicuous by its silence, is the Department of Health and Human Services that threw a fit when Indiana tried to remove Medicaid funds from abortion providers, yet, the HHS remains silent while Illinois removes funds from religious adoption and foster-care agencies.
Choices And Consequences
Sometimes life presents people many different paths to take. Oftentimes the most evident paths are the most destructive while those that are overgrown and difficult to ascertain, lead to better choices and consequences.
The most evident and easy path for religious institutions to take involves abiding by State law and accepting same-sex couples for consideration in their own adoption and foster-care programs.
But there is another path obscured by panic and a concern for the children.
Walk away from the adoption and foster-care process and let the State of Illinois deal with the abrupt loss of funding, staffing, services, and facilities. Let them explain to their constituents how their, unnecessary, exclusion of religious institutions from the adoption and foster-care process effects their tax rates. Encourage parishioners to give money, they would normally give for adoption services, to organizations that promote pro-life and abstinence, educating people on the human reproductive process and the bonding chemicals the body releases to the brain during sexual intercourse that lead to many sexual addictions. Will some children suffer because of it? Yes. But the fault lies solely with the State of Illinois, not the moral or ethical convictions of a religious organization that is, only, trying to help.