Bastards Are God's Children Too

Bastards Are God’s Children Too

by Kathleen Crocker

(This feature first appeared in the Fall 1999 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.)

Groups like the American Center for Law and Justice (A.C.L.J.), the Christian Broadcasting Network (Pat Robertson, founder), the Christian Coalition, and the Family Research Council have been vigilantly working to oppose open records for adult adoptees and their constituency is large and influential. Are these organizations operating on a moral imperative?Or, is there another motivation? Can a Christian find a sound, biblical basis for supporting open records?

Exodus, chapter 2, verse 2, relays the first biblical example of adoption.

“And the woman conceived, and bare a son...”

The woman was Jochebed and her son was Moses. As many of us remember from Sunday School, Pharaoh had issued a death sentence for every Hebrew male and Jochebed, in an extreme act of faith, set Moses in a tiny ark of bulrushes and released him into the childless arms of Pharaoh’s daughter.

“..and he (Moses) became her (Pharaoh’s daughter’s) son” Ex. 2:10.

This first example of ancient adoption is a striking one. Although the Bible is unclear about exactly how Moses discovered his true ancestry, it is crystal clear on the fact that God never intended to hide his Hebrew heritage from him.

“I am the God of thy father...” Ex. 3:6.

Again, in the Old Testament, when Hannah had conceived the child Samuel, she offered his life to the Lord and allowed him to be raised by Eli, the priest (I Samuel ch.1). Yet, as with Moses, Samuel’s heritage was never hidden from him.

“Moreoever his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him year to year, when she came up... to offer the yearly sacrifice” 1 Sam. 2:19.

The New Testament, however, offers up the most convincing example of God’s intention toward the adopted child, in the person of Jesus Himself.

“When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost” Matthew 1:18.

Joseph, of course, raised Jesus as his own adopted child. It would be impossible for any Christian to claim that God the Father did not intend Jesus to know and understand his “real” ancestry. Numerous are the verses that relay Jesus calling God the Father, “my” Father (Matt. 18:10, Luke 2:49, John 10:30 and 20:17, to name a few).

Knowing that God desires for adoptees to understand the truth about their ancestry, however, is not enough. Though this may support the case for reunion registries and intermediaries, it does not specifically address the issue of open records for adult adoptees. For that, we must look to doctrine.

First, it must be understood that when any state “amends” an official birth certificate, that state falsifies a new document in its place. The “amended” birth certificate claims that the adopted child was “born” to the newly-instated, adoptive parents. It may “redesignate” the place of birth or, in some documented cases, even the date of birth. “Amendment” is nothing but a sanitized word for government sponsored lying. So, doctrinally, what does God think of lying?

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Ex. 20:16

“False witness” is exactly what it appears to be. One is asked a question, such as, “Who are my biological parents?” and the respondent knowingly answers falsely.

Further, in John 8:44, Jesus declares that Satan is the father of all lies (“for he is a liar, and the father of it”). If a person or organization endorses lying that one is, in essence, calling evil a good thing. Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.” In other words, God does not take lying lightly.

More importantly, perhaps, the Bible equates lying with a form of bondage or slavery.

“...the truth shall make you free” John 8:30.

Conversely, if the truth sets us free, then lies set us in bondage. Those of us who have dealt with a unforgiving court, or an obstinate adoption agency understand the comparison of the slaveholder/slave relationship keenly.

After looking closely at how God views adoption, open records, and lying, the question that immediately comes to mind is, why would supposedly “Christian” organizations fight against a truth-seeking adoptee? In their defense, it should be noted that none of these organizations have opposed voluntary reunion, only open records but, why?

Two factors play in to this inconsistent opposition. The first is an irrational fear that open records will lead to an increase in abortion. Facts, on the other hand, consistently reveal that states and/or countries who have passed open records laws have shown no increase in abortion, and some have shown a marked increase in adoption rates. Ultimately, however, even if abortions were to increase as a result of adoptees being allowed access to their original birth certificates, this should be of no concern to the Christian who desires to see God’s will done. Christians must obey their Savior, regardless of how society responds.

Secondly, old, puritanical prejudices seethe beneath the surface of opposing Christian groups. The idea of illegitimacy as a stigma to be guarded against and the sinner to be physically and spiritually purified from their sins, is not new to evangelical Christianity. This “scarlet letter” attitude is short-sighted, in that it denies respect to all life (no matter under what circumstances it was conceived) and flies in the face of the redemptive power of the cross. Bastards are God’s children too.

For Christians who see the issue of open records for what it is, the adoptee’s attempt to flush out the truth, the Bible offers much hope.

“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord...have even called thee by thy name” Isaiah 45:3-4.

Names hold much power in the life of an adult adoptee. For the Christian, there is healing comfort in knowing that, despite the injustices of law and the opposition of some of their brothers and sisters, God promises to uncover the darkness. More importantly, he offers us the only name that will last for eternity...His own.

K.T. Crocker is a mother, student, and a searching adoptee born July 20, 1969 in Miami, FL. As a Christian, she marvels at those organizations who oppose open records and yet, call Jesus, an adoptee who preached "the truth shall set you free," their savior.

(This feature first appeared in the Fall 1999 issue of the Bastard Quarterly.)