While it’s not the absolute sickest thing about them (that list is pretty deep) one of the most puzzling aspects of the Right is their abject cruelty and distain directed towards adopted parents while simultaneously demanding no abortions because in their self-proclaimed pro-family ideology, “adoption is an option”.
I grew up in a pretty conservative religious environment, and I think the attitudes around adoptions could be pretty complex. On the one hand, there was a sense that adopting is a good, even a spiritual act. On the other hand, there’s a way in which your identity as an adopted person can get swallowed up in the religious meanings others want to project onto it and you.
I don’t mean to get free essays but a great writer, but could you expand on what you mean a little.
I come from a Liberal, secular, North East big city, Jewish household, so it seems like a total opposite of your experience. As a kid (and now) we viewed both adoption and abortion as totally acceptable and viable options. We assumed that the Right was faux into adoption only as a means to protest abortion, but faux only in the sense that they didn’t actually adopt kids of vulnerable women, but we never assumed they had contempt for parents who adopted.
I don’t really think that the average conservative Christian has any contempt for adoptive parents. I was adopted as a baby, though from what little I know out of a vulnerable set of circumstances. I think in a religious context it’s always a little fraught, since there’s this overhanging aspect of “saving” people involved.
And that probably relates a little to what extremists like Greene are saying, which to me is basically just that they think parents who raise their children “wrong” are less legitimate.
And I don’t mind explaining myself! I went to grad school at NYU, so I got used to unpacking the nuances of my world to my liberal and mostly Jewish friends there!
I expect Marge figures she done Lauren, Taylor and Derek proud on this one.
Props on every word you wrote here, Mr. Elrod.
Thank you!
While it’s not the absolute sickest thing about them (that list is pretty deep) one of the most puzzling aspects of the Right is their abject cruelty and distain directed towards adopted parents while simultaneously demanding no abortions because in their self-proclaimed pro-family ideology, “adoption is an option”.
I grew up in a pretty conservative religious environment, and I think the attitudes around adoptions could be pretty complex. On the one hand, there was a sense that adopting is a good, even a spiritual act. On the other hand, there’s a way in which your identity as an adopted person can get swallowed up in the religious meanings others want to project onto it and you.
I don’t mean to get free essays but a great writer, but could you expand on what you mean a little.
I come from a Liberal, secular, North East big city, Jewish household, so it seems like a total opposite of your experience. As a kid (and now) we viewed both adoption and abortion as totally acceptable and viable options. We assumed that the Right was faux into adoption only as a means to protest abortion, but faux only in the sense that they didn’t actually adopt kids of vulnerable women, but we never assumed they had contempt for parents who adopted.
I don’t really think that the average conservative Christian has any contempt for adoptive parents. I was adopted as a baby, though from what little I know out of a vulnerable set of circumstances. I think in a religious context it’s always a little fraught, since there’s this overhanging aspect of “saving” people involved.
And that probably relates a little to what extremists like Greene are saying, which to me is basically just that they think parents who raise their children “wrong” are less legitimate.
And I don’t mind explaining myself! I went to grad school at NYU, so I got used to unpacking the nuances of my world to my liberal and mostly Jewish friends there!
Thanks, man. I really appreciate this discussion and your time!
Great article!
Thanks!
I appreciated reading this. Would it be alright if I added a link to it on my Post account?
Sure! Glad you enjoyed it
Adoptive*