By TIME.COM
Added: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:00:00 UTC

[Update 10:02 MDT] It was noted in comments below that this article is about forty years old - "Monday, Dec. 07, 1970". I didn't notice that when I posted it but the link came from several people and I credited the first e-mail that was received. I don't know why several people thought it was post worthy. It hopefully shows some progress over the years but they may not have noticed the date either. /Mike

Thanks to Pablo for the link.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877155,00.html
After six years of childless marriage, John and Cynthia Burke of Newark decided to adopt a baby boy through a state agency. Since the Burkes were young, scandal-free and solvent, they had no trouble with the New Jersey Bureau of Children's Services—until investigators came to the line on the application that asked for the couple's religious affiliation.

John Burke, an atheist, and his wife, a pantheist, had left the line blank. As a result, the bureau denied the Burkes' application. After the couple began court action, however, the bureau changed its regulations, and the couple was able to adopt a baby boy from the Children's Aid and Adoption Society in East Orange.

Last year the Burkes presented their adopted son, David, now 3 1/2, with a baby sister, Eleanor Katherine, now 17 months, whom they acquired from the same East Orange agency. Since the agency endorsed the adoption, the required final approval by a judge was expected to be pro forma. Instead, Superior Court Judge William Camarata raised the religious issue.
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http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,877155,00.html

TAGGED: ATHEISM, RELIGION