I just responded to this article on the push for adoption in the American evangelical christian community on my girlfriend's blog. I've been thinking about this for awhile but haven't been ready to write about it. I figured my comments on her blog would be a good place to start the discussion.
I said:
Recently Cloudscome wrote about her son's reaction to the story of Moses. I was struck by his childhood spin on the story (influenced by his own experience as an adoptee, no doubt): he was really upset about the princess (Pharaoh's daughter) "stealing" baby Moses.
I was lying in bed thinking about adoption, as I often do, and I decided to re frame the Moses story that so many Christian adopters like to use as a Biblical example of the sanctity of (transracial) adoption.
Here Goes...
Because a guy named Joseph (an Israelite/Hebrew/Jewish man) was trafficked as a slave into Egypt, many Israelites ended up there as well. They put down rootes there and became a significant part of the population. They were the ethnic minority in Egyptian culture. The Egyptians forced them to work at manual labor and abused them. They were so oppressed that the Pharaoh instituted a policy of genocide where he commanded that the midwives kill all the male Israelites being born. They wouldn't comply. He then commanded that every male Hebrew (Israelite) baby be thrown into the river Nile.
It was during this pogrom that Moses was born. He had two parents and an older sister. He was born healthy and loved. His mother hid him until he was three months old, until she couldn't hide him any more. She then set him floating in the river, in a basket, while his sister watched to see what would happen.
Pharaoh's daughter, the princess of the ethnic majority, saw Moses and had him retrieved from the water. She felt sorry for the baby, even though she could see that he was a Hebrew infant. Moses' sister stepped forward and offered to get a nurse for the baby. She got her mother. So Moses went back to his mother and stayed with her until he was weaned, when the Pharaoh's daughter transracially adopted him. She was the one who named him Moses, a name that meant "drawn out". She named him based on her experience of finding and adopting him. His name did not reflect his birth culture.
So Moses grew up and began to notice the discrimination and abuse the Hebrew people were enduring. Once he got so angry he killed an Egyptian for abusing a Hebrew. The adopted ethnic minority KILLED one of the people belonging to the race he was adopted into.
Some Hebrews questioned Moses and defied his acts on their behalf. He was challenged by his own birth culture.
When Pharaoh heard what Moses had done, he tried to kill Moses, his adopted grandson, but Moses ran away.
While he was hiding he helped the daughters of a local priest. They perceived him to be Egyptian. He was "passing" as Egyptian and his own people didn't even know that he was a Hebrew. He married one of the priest's daughters and said "I have become an alien in a foreign land."
So the story goes on from there, about Moses' life and how he led the Israelites out of Egypt, helping them to escape their oppression and abuse.
So Christian adopters correlate Moses' mother's sacrifice to the sacrifice a current birthmother makes. Unfortunately, I think there are more correlations there than we typically acknowledge. Moses' mother loved him, wanted him, and had the means to care for him. BUT she was part of an oppressed people group and as the ruler of the country waged genocide on her people, she was trying to find a way to save her son.
Moses was hardly the poster child for transracial adoption, and I don't think that his adoptive family is exactly who Christian adopters want to empathize with either.
As a Christian, I think that the Bible is a vital and relevant source of guidance and truth for those that profess faith in Christ. But to justify something as "Biblical" without taking into account all the dynamics and truths bound up in the stories, is, in my opinion, misguided. Of course there are other stories of adoption in the Bible, I've just go Moses on my mind.
So when I read this story I take away some different insights. I do not read it as "Moses mother placed him for adoption and he was adopted by a wonderful princess and he lived happily-ever-after-amen." I see the struggle his mother made for his survival, while his people were being exterminated. I see a brave woman who dared to bring him into her home, while her own father waged a genocidal campaign. I see her view of Moses centering around his place in HER life and experience. I see Moses struggling with his identity and ultimately defying and abandoning his adoptive family, his adoptive culture and his adoptive country. No one ever paints the glowing picture of Moses as the adult transracial adoptee. We focus on his mother's heroic efforts to save him. There is a whole lot of struggle and a whole lot of insight to be gained from reading a little further.
Exodus 1,2 tells the full story.
I’ve been reading about the push to adopt in the evangelical world and I really have mixed feelings about it. For the most part, I think it is a positive thing but I also have several serious concerns.
1. Feeling a call to adopt doesn’t mean that you are equipped to be an adoptive parent, especially if you are adopting a child that is older or has special needs. Unfortunately, I know of local cases where children adopted by “Christian” families have been abused and even killed. It’s hard to believe, I know. Being a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean that you are ready and prepared to be a good parent. So I hope that in cases where churches are starting their own agencies, they also maintain rigerous examination of potential adoptive parents and extensive training. I don’t think there’s enough training and assistence provided for adoptive families across the board.
2. While I think that the church is called to care for those in need, there are some common pitfalls that a lot of us Christians get stuck in that actually end up harming those in need. I think we often view people in need as victims and think that by removing them from their situation or introducing Western style Christian solutions, we are “saving” them. We need to be careful to maintain respect for people while we’re trying to help them. That’s what Jesus’ love is all about. So when we’re helping aid people in poverty, let’s respect them. When we’re adopting a child under any circumstances, let’s extend respect and love to their birth family and culture. I’ve heard way too many people talking about “those poor people in Africa who don’t even know how to help themselves” or “that destitute country where children are bound for prostitution/death/whatever”. Those attitudes are condescending and overlook the rich God-given values and strengths that are the foundation for success in people lives and in whole countries.
So I’m excited that evangelical Christians are hearing about children in need. I just hope that while they are helping those children they are approaching the whole situation from a desire to empower others, and contribute to stability as a whole, not just “rescuing” individuals.