‘PUNCHED IN THE GUT’

Tenn. Couple: Christian Agency Nixed Adoption Because We’re Jewish

Holston United Methodist Home for Children allegedly said it would not help the couple because they are not Christian.

A Tennessee couple says a Christian adoption agency refused to help them foster a child because they are Jewish, and now they are suing the state in a case that challenges a new law allowing such discrimination. The Tennessean reports that Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram’s lawsuit comes weeks after the agency, Holston United Methodist Home for Children, sued the federal government over regulations that prohibit religious discrimination in taxpayer-funded programs. Elizabeth Rutan-Ram said that after Holston said it would not assist in the adoption process, “I felt like I’d been punched in the gut.” She added, “And it was very hurtful that the agency seemed to think that a child would be better off in state custody than with a loving family like us.”