Breaking News! Adoption by Non-Believers

Oops. I prepared the post below, full of outrage at the injustice, while failing to note the date of the article, December 7, 1970. It's still an outrageous story, but, fortunately, the family won on appeal and got to keep their daughter.

Since I hate wasting anything I write, below is the post before I discovered that all this took place a very long time ago.

In other news, tomorrow I'll be venting my spleen about the Teapot Dome Scandal I've recently heard so much about!

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Anyway you slice it, whether believer or non-believer, if you believe in freedom of religion in the United States and the rule of law under the Constitution, this should shock and outrage you.

Can Atheists be Parents?

Last year the Burkes presented their adopted son, David, now 31, with a baby sister, Eleanor Katherine, now 17 months, whom they acquired from the same East Orange agency. Since the agency endorsed the adoption, the required final approval by a judge was expected to be pro forma. Instead, Superior Court Judge William Camarata raised the religious issue.

Inestimable Privilege. In an extraordinary decision, Judge Camarata denied the Burkes' right to the child because of their lack of belief in a Supreme Being. Despite the Burkes' "high moral and ethical standards," he said, the New Jersey state constitution declares that "no person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience." Despite Eleanor Katherine's tender years, he continued, "the child should have the freedom to worship as she sees fit, and not be influenced by prospective parents who do not believe in a Supreme Being."

Loving parents may be forced to give up their adopted daughter because they DON'T believe in any god.

{At this point, I read the date of the article. And . . . scene.}