This Is Just Wrong !

It turns out that incredible stupidity is not the exclusive province of politicians and political groups. There's plenty enough left over for other organizations to display their share. Take for example a private Maryland-based foster agency called Contemporary Family Services -- which investigates potential foster homes and places children in the approved homes.

Tashima Crudup, a 26 year-old mother who was herself a foster child, applied to be a foster parent. She said she has always wanted to be a foster parent since being raised in the foster system from the age of 8. Crudup is a muslim, but assured investigators that she was "accepting of religious practices other than her own" and was willing " to make arrangements to have a child attend the church of his or her own choice if requested."

Tashima Crudup sounded like a great prospect for becoming a foster mother -- a loving mother who was familiar with the system, had no black marks on her record, and willing to respect a child's religious preferences. But after conducting a home visit, Contemporary Family Services turned her down. Why? The reason they gave was because she did not serve pork in her home! Do you believe that? Neither do I. It's pretty obvious that she was discriminated against just because she's a muslim.

Fortunately, this has caused a bit of a firestorm in the state. The Baltimore Sun said, "There are thousands of kids across the state who desperately need stable homes and loving caretakers; that's what foster care and adoption officials should be focusing on, not on which meat dish gets put on the table every night."

The state's Department of Human Resources, which gave the private company the contract to supervise the foster parent program, went even further suggesting the company is violating state law. The DHR spokeswoman said, "The law does not permit the agency to make a determination solely on the type of food served in a home."

The ACLU has now entered the fray. They have filed suit against Contemporary Family Services alleging an anti-muslim bias. Their spokesperson said, " I have a hard time believing (the company) denies every vegetarian or Orthodox Jewish person a foster care license."

This is nothing more than religious discrimination, and it is not only illegal, it is unconstitutional. If this company wants to keep its contract, they need to terminate the person that made that decision and bring their policies into compliance with the U.S. Constitution and state law.