Losing Her Religion

A foster mother has been struck off by a council after a teenage Muslim girl in her care became a Christian.

The carer, who has ten years’ experience and has looked after more than 80 children, said she was ‘devastated’ by the decision.

‘This is my life,’ she revealed. ‘It is not just a job for me. It is a vocation. I love what I do. It is also my entire income. I am a single carer, so that is all I have to live on.’

Oh, but we can’t let people brainwash young, impressionable children into...

Oh:

The woman insisted that, although she was a Christian, she had put no pressure on the Muslim girl, who was 16 at the time, to be baptised.

But council officials allegedly accused her of failing to ‘respect and preserve’ the child’s faith and tried to persuade the girl to reconsider her decision.

So, the council seem to be a lot stricter on religious faith than some religions – this woman should have ‘preserved’ the faith the girl was born to, even though she’s of the age to be able to make her own decisions? What the hell should she have done? And why does the council abrogate to itself the right to try to ‘persuade’ her to recant?

The carer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is now preparing to take legal action against the council with the support of the girl, now 17, who also cannot be named.

Oh, this is going to be a can of worms the SS will regret opening...

Mike Judge, a spokesman for the Christian Institute, a pressure group which is funding her case, said: ‘I cannot imagine that an atheist foster carer would be struck off if a Christian child in her care stopped believing in God.

‘This is the sort of double standard which Christians are facing in modern Britain. In recent months, we have seen grandparents, a nurse, adoption agencies, firemen, registrars, elderly care homes and now a foster carer being punished because of the Christian beliefs they hold. It has got to stop.’

Indeed. It might be that they’d have done the same thing if a Muslim foster family found they had a willing convert on their hands. Anyone want to bet on it? Anyone?

In 2007, she was asked to look after the girl, who had been assaulted by a family member.

She told council officials that she was very happy to support the girl in her religion and culture.

‘We had a multicultural household and I had no problems helping the young person maintain her faith of birth,’ she said. ‘I have always prided myself in being very professional in what I do. If something works for a young person, whether I agree with it or not, I am happy to support them in that.’

But children aren’t obedient little robots – and so much less are teenagers:

But the girl, whom the foster mother describes as caring and intelligent, defied expectations by choosing not to wear overtly Muslim clothes or to eat Halal food.

The girl, whose interest in Christianity had begun at school some time before her foster placement, also made it clear that she wanted to go to church.

The carer, an Anglican who attends a local evangelical church, said: ‘I did initially try to discourage her.

‘I offered her alternatives. I offered to find places for her to practise her own religion. I offered to take her to friends or family. But she said to me from the word go, “I am interested and I want to come.” She sort of burst in.’

Her choice, anyone sane might think. But we are dealing with people here with an even more warped view of life than people who believe in invisible deities:

The carer said that the girl’s social workers were fully aware that she was going to church and had not raised any objections.

The girl had told her auxiliary social worker of her plans to convert before she was baptised in January last year, and the social worker had appeared to give her consent.

Her ‘consent’...? Why would that even be needed? She’s 16!

If she’d told her social worker she was planning to have sex, would the social worker have felt the need to give ‘consent’ to that..?

‘At that point the brakes were off,’ the carer said. ‘I couldn’t have stopped her if I had wanted to. She saw the baptism as a washing away of the horrible things she had been through and a symbol of a new start.’

And who could blame her?

Three months later, however, senior officials complained that they had not been fully informed of the girl’s intentions to become a Christian.

Two things here – firstly, it should be none of their business, and secondly, even if it was, their complaint should be aimed at their social worker who failed to pass on relevant details (not an uncommon thing with social workers!).

They said that she should have undergone counselling to ensure that she understood the implications, especially as such conversions are dealt with harshly in some Muslim countries.

Hint for you, council staff: she doesn’t live in ‘a Muslim country’.

She lives in England, and no-one, not even a child, is required to undergo counselling before changing, adopting or losing their religion.

The foster carer said, however, that the girl had thought about her decision very carefully and was aware that members of her family might react strongly, so she was adamant that they should not be told.

The carer said that as the auxiliary social worker knew about the baptism, she had not thought it necessary to tell the fostering team as well.

Fair enough, you might think...?

Not so:

But she received a phone call from the fostering manager who was ‘incandescent with rage’ that the baptism had gone ahead.

The carer said: ‘Up to that point, we had had a good relationship, so I was quite taken aback. I was very shocked.’

You shouldn’t have been – these people aren’t rational.

In April, council officials told the girl that she should not attend any church activity for six months, so that she could reconsider the wisdom of becoming a Christian.

Since when were councils invested with the power to determine whether 16 years olds should attend church, synagogue, mosque or forest clearing with standing stones...?

The carer was also instructed to discourage the girl from participating in any Christian activities, even social events. The council then told the carer there had been a breakdown of trust and in November removed her from the register.

How many times do I have to type this – she’s 16, and her beliefs are no-one’s business but hers!

‘It never occurred to me that they would go that far,’ she said. ‘I was concerned that the council seemed to view Christianity in such a negative light. I wonder whether if it had gone the other way – if one of my Christian young people had decided to embrace another faith – there would have been this level of fuss.’

She added that the girl has been devastated by the experience.

But she has learned a valuable lesson – the kind of official that desires dominion over people is a more dangerous threat than any demon, djinn or evil spirit...

The carer’s solicitor Nigel Priestley said: ‘There is no doubt that the event that provoked the council was the decision by the girl to be baptised. This girl was 16 and has the right to make this choice, so for the council to react in this way is totally disproportionate. Even at this late hour, we hope that the council will resolve the issue.’

Fat chance.

A council spokes-man said: ‘From the details provided, we believe that this information relates to a child who is the subject of a final care order in favour of the council. In those circumstances, we are unable to pass any comment.

‘We would never be able to comment on sensitive issues surrounding a child in care.

‘To do so would be irresponsible and in this particular case may put the child at risk of harm.’

From whom? Angry Christians...?

No, I don’t think so somehow...