Campbells/Above Rubies in Mother Jones/Adoption (Merged)

[nelliebelle1197]

Mother Jones has a great article on the Campbell/Allison family from Above Rubies and the failed Liberian adoptions. Nancy Campbell's daughter Serene Allison and her husband Sam adopted 4 children from Liberia in 2005; two were basically kicked out of the family and two others were kept as virtual slaves (ironic huh?).

None of the children were given time to adjust, fed well, educated AT ALL (they were illiterate years after Serene Campbell Allison commenced homeschooling them) and were used as labor around the Campbell and Allison property. One of the girls reports she was told she would be trained to be a midwife - as an illiterate preteen!

The article expounds more on the fundy foreign adoption trend and discusses how so many of these adoptions fail, with children left often illegally in US (the Allisons, for example, acquired the children in a shady way and never finalized the adoption of at least the older girl) and even shipped back to Liberia with nothing and no where to go. Nancy Campbell's failed adoptions and attempt to cover her tracks as an instigator of this trend are touched upon as well.

The article is not online but I thought many of you would like to pick up a copy. It will probably be in MJ's free online archive soon. I am a subscriber and encourage those in the US to pick up a copy.

[debrand]

Thanks!

[nelliebelle1197]

If the article comes online I will post it!

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Wow! These guys were my gateway fundies when I was a teenager. I read a Above Rubies magazine left in the doctors office & was fascinated by them. This was around 1998 & I followed them & their later adoptions. I can't wait for this article to be available for us in Australia!

Thanks so much for posting.

[Sola]

What happened to the children, do we know?

[nelliebelle1197]

What happened to the children, do we know?

Serene sent one son to Liberia. Another daughter went to a family in Atlanta. The Atlanta family, former friends of Nancy Campbell, after hearing the stories, brought the expatriated child to Atlanta and adopted him, too, Luckily, Serene's children were biological siblings and had family settled in Tennessee who helped as well. Nancy Campbell's adopted children seem to be vanishing, probably repatriated to Liberia. Apparently, she only claims one of the kids now.

The kids sent back end up in the orphanages again, which are worse than ever since the fundy adoption trend is waning.

Some of the people she featured in Above Rubies have been charged with abusing the children, using the Pearl plumbing line (Michael Pearl is quoted several times and was interviewed for the article; his claims his child discipline methods should not be used on adopted children, for what it is worth). Elizabeth Schatz was featured in Above Rubies adopting MORE children after murdering one her of adoptees through the Pearl methods.

Refresher:

http://freethoughtblogs.com/butterflies ... ia-schatz/

[ILoveJellybeans]

That is terrible :( How can someone keep their child as uneducated slave labor, and not look after them at all. Theyre adopting a child, not buying a slave.

and Elizabeth Schatz got to adopt again after killing her daughter??? How did this happen, I presumed that murdering a child is one of those things that get you banned from adoption for life.

[chaotic life]

It's got to the the preliminary articles for Kathryn Joyce's book that is supposed to be released next month. Kathryn Joyce tracked ALL of the Campbell compound adoptees, traveling to Liberia to find the whole story. Her book being released is called The Child Catchers and specifically looks at the trends of conservative Evangelical Christians (including the QF families) surge in adoptions in recent years.

[nelliebelle1197]

That is terrible :( How can someone keep their child as uneducated slave labor, and not look after them at all. Theyre adopting a child, not buying a slave.

and Elizabeth Schatz got to adopt again after killing her daughter??? How did this happen, I presumed that murdering a child is one of those things that get you banned from adoption for life.

Ack, I got my murdering fundies mixed up. The one that Campbell featured in a magazine adopting Liberian triplets after she neglected her adopted child to death (making him eat dog food and not treating illnesses) was Kimberly Forder. The Lydia story just conflated in my mind because of the Pearl and Campbell connections. Sorry! :oops:

I hate that there are enough of these tragedies (let's not forget all the gone bad Eastern European adoptions, too!) that I got these poor kids confused.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/Feb/ ... z2QRvMc8OT

And yes, it's Katherine Joyce's article. I will keep checking online for it to appear.

[Mary C Doates]

It's got to the the preliminary articles for Kathryn Joyce's book that is supposed to be released next month. Kathryn Joyce tracked ALL of the Campbell compound adoptees, traveling to Liberia to find the whole story. Her book being released is called The Child Catchers and specifically looks at the trends of conservative Evangelical Christians (including the QF families) surge in adoptions in recent years.

Looks like the book is being released this Tuesday (4/16). Just pre-ordered it. Thanks for the heads-up--it sounds interesting!

[debrand]

On Amazon, you can read the first few pages of the book. One thing that struck me is that a lot of families would be helped if the organizations focused less on adoption and more on education or basic services in those areas.

[nelliebelle1197]

On Amazon, you can read the first few pages of the book. One thing that struck me is that a lot of families would be helped if the organizations focused less on adoption and more on education or basic services in those areas.

You mean a turn to mission work that isn't just evangelizing? Yeah, the resources they pour into these "adoptions" could feed, house and educate many more!

[GolightlyGrrl]

I believe my local library gets a copy of Mother Jones so I will take a look when I go to the library tomorrow evening. I feel so bad for those kids. They were treated horribly, like slaves or chattel.

And I'm thrilled Kathryn Joyce has a new book coming out. I thought "Quiverfull" was execellent.

ETA: Ooh, looky here. Ms. Joyce has an article on sketchy fundie adoptions at the Nation's website:

http://www.thenation.com/article/160096 ... on-crusade

[chaotic life]

I insisted that my son's therapist read Quiverful because he could not wrap his head around what my kiddo went through. Thankfully, when he heard about the book, he wanted to read it.

I may preview this new book and see if it might also be helpful as well.

[nelliebelle1197]

I insisted that my son's therapist read Quiverful because he could not wrap his head around what my kiddo went through. Thankfully, when he heard about the book, he wanted to read it.

I may preview this new book and see if it might also be helpful as well.

I am going to have to put these books on my paperback swap wish list today!

[GolightlyGrrl]

I believe my local library gets a copy of Mother Jones so I will take a look when I go to the library tomorrow evening. I feel so bad for those kids. They were treated horribly, like slaves or chattel.

And I'm thrilled Kathryn Joyce has a new book coming out. I thought "Quiverfull" was execellent.

ETA: Ooh, looky here. Ms. Joyce has an article on sketchy fundie adoptions at the Nation's website:

http://www.thenation.com/article/160096 ... on-crusade

Eesh! Excellent, not execellent. Stupid cold making me do these riffles.

[Mary C Doates]

Mother Jones has a great article on the Campbell/Allison family from Above Rubies and the failed Liberian adoptions. Nancy Campbell's daughter Serene Allison and her husband Sam adopted 4 children from Liberia in 2005; two were basically kicked out of the family and two others were kept as virtual slaves (ironic huh?).

None of the children were given time to adjust, fed well, educated AT ALL (they were illiterate years after Serene Campbell Allison commenced homeschooling them) and were used as labor around the Campbell and Allison property. One of the girls reports she was told she would be trained to be a midwife - as an illiterate preteen!

The article expounds more on the fundy foreign adoption trend and discusses how so many of these adoptions fail, with children left often illegally in US (the Allisons, for example, acquired the children in a shady way and never finalized the adoption of at least the older girl) and even shipped back to Liberia with nothing and no where to go. Nancy Campbell's failed adoptions and attempt to cover her tracks as an instigator of this trend are touched upon as well.

The article is not online but I thought many of you would like to pick up a copy. It will probably be in MJ's free online archive soon. I am a subscriber and encourage those in the US to pick up a copy.

Do you know which issue the article is in? The local newsstand had the April issue, but the article isn't in it.

[nelliebelle1197]

Do you know which issue the article is in? The local newsstand had the April issue, but the article isn't in it.

May- June

I am a subscriber so I probably am a few days ahead

[hoipolloi]

Not a subscriber but was able to read this article at MJ's website. An excellent piece highlighting the damnable connections between & among all these fundie fuckwads:

The Liberian kids weren't the only ones questioning their lot. I spoke with Rachel Johnston, a 28-year-old from Louisiana who arrived at Primm Springs in 2007 as an Above Rubies intern­—one of many home-schoolers who signed up as "Rubies Girls." "I had only been there about a day when I realized that things weren't really right," she said. For one, she saw the Allisons and the Campbells refer to To Train Up a Child, a book by fundamentalist preacher Michael Pearl and his wife, Debi, that advocates strict physical discipline starting when children are less than a year old. The book, which has sold nearly 700,000 copies, promises that "the rod" (the Pearls suggest flexible plumbing supply line) will bring harmony to a family in chaos, creating "whineless" children who have learned to submit. "Somehow, after eight or ten licks, the poison is transformed into gushing love and contentment," they write. "The world becomes a beautiful place. A brand new child emerges."

May the Campbells join the Pearls in hell everlasting since it appears their victims won't receive any justice in this lifetime.

[chaotic life]

It's publically available now.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... ria?page=1

I feel sick to my stomach, and I had fore knowledge of it.

[C Potter-Pirbright]

They "were going to Liberia and literally saying, 'This is how much I have, give me as many as you can.'

I think I'm going to be sick. :ew: These are children , people, not possessions.

[mistyweather]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/201 ... on-liberia

[Miranda]

Interesting. I look forward to Kathryn Joyce's new book on this topic. Her Quiverfull book was excellent.

[doggie]

May the Campbells join the Pearls in hell everlasting since it appears their victims won't receive any justice in this lifetime.

I think they will have to kick out some of the lesser evil people to fit in all the horrible Christians in hell.

[Bethella]

There's already a thread. freejinger.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=16913