Keeping It 101: A Killjoy's Introduction to Religion Podcast · Profs. Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst and Megan Goodwin

RELIGION & ADOPTION: Religious Freedom

·1 hr 2 min·5 clips

Elyse Morgenstein First calls religious freedom “a legal framework,” not “a vibe” or a religious hall pass.

1. Keeping It 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion Podcast examines religious freedom and adoption in part two of a four-part series. 2. Megan Goodwin, a scholar of American religions, race, gender, and politics, and Elyse Morgenstein First, a historian of religion, Islam, race, racialization, and South Asia, host the discussion. 3. The episode asks how adoption became connected to religious freedom, state authority, and Christian imperialism. 4. Goodwin and Morgenstein First argue that adoption is inseparable from social systems including religion, law, race, and government power. 5. The hosts describe adoption narratives built around saviorism, including a good parent rescuing an unwanted or “bastard” child. 6. Goodwin defines abuse through physical or psychological harm, sexual violence, deprivation, withholding, neglect, isolation, coercion, and no reasonable right of exit. 7. The hosts debate whether poverty, restricted family contact, religious instruction, or state definitions of abuse can determine parental fitness. 8. Goodwin says power is central because whoever defines an unsafe home also defines a safe home and an unfit parent. 9. The discussion connects white Christian and state power to the removal of Native, Muslim, Black, Asian, and other non-Christian children. 10. The hosts cite the 2008 removal of nearly 400 children from the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas. 11. Morgenstein First describes religious freedom as a legal framework involving constitutional protections, laws, and judicial rulings rather than “a vibe.” 12. The hosts explain that adopted children and foster children may have limited control over religious participation before reaching adulthood. 13. The episode discusses churches and ministries using foster care as an opportunity for missionary work. 14. Goodwin describes the historical shift from church and orphanage models toward family placement and foster care. 15. The hosts connect Catholic Charities and other agencies to the Baby Scoop Era, closed adoptions, sealed records, and alleged coercion of birth mothers. 16. Goodwin says DNA services such as 23andMe can sometimes help adoptees search for biological relatives when official records remain closed. 17. Goodwin and Morgenstein First use banter, profanity, personal experience, and legal examples in an emotionally direct conversational format. 18. The episode moves from definitions and historical examples into live lawsuits, including the Oregon case involving Jessica Bates. 19. Listeners interested in adoption law, religion, race, and child welfare. 20. Listeners avoiding historical abuse and contentious legal disputes.

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