This is how it works in the circular logic of the far right.
Child protective services, the agencies charged with preventing child abuse, are grossly underfunded for years by the Republican legislatures of states like Texas. This means, of course, that children in foster care are not protected adequately. There are horrific cases of child abuse and neglect.
The response from the right wing government of the state is outrage. State agencies are failing our children, they cry! We have to step in!
Then, good Christians that they are, they pass laws giving control of child welfare to “faith based agencies.”
This is exactly what has happened in Texas. The Texas Tribune reports that the state’s Lt. Governor, Republican Dan Patrick, is offering an initiative to encourage “faith based” communities to identify families and children who are in need of foster care.
He said:
“I’m asking faith-based leaders across Texas to reach out to their congregations and communities to open their hearts and homes to the foster children of Texas.”
It sounds so warm, and welcoming, and kind, doesn’t it? Asking good folks to open their hearts to those kids who need some extra loving.
Here’s the problem, though, if you haven’t already thought of it.
By drastically underfunding the state agencies charged with the protection of foster children, the Republican legislature of Texas has put those children at terrible risk of child abuse, of homelessness, of hunger and worse.
By offering to let “faith based” groups step in, the State Legislature is shirking its duty to those children. It is sending them to a community of providers who have no public scrutiny or public control.
This would be problematic in any state, given the lack of government oversight of these church groups. But in Texas, the problem is even more serious.
Salon reports that Texas has become the center in the battle over so called “conversion therapy,” which treats homosexuality as a choice. This approach allows church groups to “pray the gay away” in group “treatment sessions” which seek to force the gay child or adolescent to “choose” a heterosexual lifestyle.
As recently as 2014, at the Lone Star State’s GOP Convention, conservatives voted to support the idea of “Conversion Therapy.” They voted to see homosexuality as a “choice.”
This is not a small matter. Children in Texas have been through “therapy” sessions, they have been forced through exorcisms, they have been shamed and scorned.
This is all a part of the plan formed by Texas lawmakers when they chose to deny funding to actual child protection agencies. It is what they wanted when they decided to turn at-risk children over to churches instead of social workers.
The legislation being pushed by the Lt. Governor of Texas supports and encourages child abuse. Pure and simple.
The people of Texas, and the rest of the nation, need to speak out strongly against this horrible crime against innocent and vulnerable kids.
You can learn about conversion therapy here.
Featured image by lady_lbrty via Flickr. Available through CC BY 2.0
