“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Christians are up in arms because the Massachusetts high court ruled that the state has the right to refuse to place children with foster parents who use corporal punishment with their own biological children. The question isn’t about whether spanking is right or wrong, it’s about religious rights. How did a case about spanking become a case about the First Amendment?
The Foster Parent Application
Melanie and Gregory Magazu, who have two children of their own, applied to be foster and pre-adoptive parents within the state of Massachusetts. As part of the application, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families asks about the parents’ methods of discipline. The Magazus explained that they did use corporal punishment on their daughters, although it was only a small part of their parenting plan, based on their biblical understanding. The punishment was in private and only after a “continuous pattern of disobedience.”
The Massachusetts DCF prohibits the use of corporal punishment with foster children. The Magazu’s application was subsequently denied, because in practice, the department does not want to expose the foster children to spanking on other children within the house. The Magazus told the agency that they would not use corporal punishment on the foster children, but the department was still concerned. The department did not tell them that they could not use corporal punishment on their own children, just that they could not use it if they had foster children. For the record, it is not illegal to spank your own child in Massachusetts, although there are sanctions for using too much force or causing substantial physical harm.
The Magazus sued the department, believing that their application had been denied because they were Christian. They believed that their rights were violated. As the case made it through the court system, never once were the Magazus told that they could not incorporate corporal punishment into their own parenting system. They just couldn’t bring any foster children into the environment. Ultimately, on January 4, the high court sided with the Massachusetts DCF.
Was This About Christianity?
When you take the parents’ deeply held faith out of the equation, does the argument still hold? What if an atheist or pagan family wanted to be a foster parent and still wanted to spank their own biological child? The agency would still have denied the application. It was never about the faith system of the family, but about the welfare of the foster children. No matter how hard any parent tries, what happens to one child is often very obvious to all of their siblings. There’s no way that the parents could have spanked one child without the others being subjected to the knowledge of it. Could these parents really expect vulnerable children to know they wouldn’t be subject to corporal punishment?
Foster Parenting for Christians
Parenting is not easy, no matter what your faith system is. Foster parenting is even more difficult. You have children who have been in a traumatic situation, much of which may not even be known for years. There’s no parental bond, and in some cases, the state may be attempting to reunify the family. This means you’re not only dealing with the children, but you have their biological parents as well. It’s going to be challenging.
However, foster parenting is also rewarding, provided you’re willing to follow the guidelines set by the state. Christians should not be concerned that they may denied the opportunity to be a foster parent simply because of their faith. They have to look at what’s best for the children in their care. If they can’t do that, the court should have ruled against them. The court wasn’t looking at their spiritual beliefs, but about how the children might fare in their home.