Norwegian Children are Taken from Their Christian Family and Placed in Foster Care

An ongoing child welfare case in Norway shows how imperfect Scandinavia’s system is, Jayme Metzgar writes in a column for The Federalist.

According to the column, Bernie Sanders has pointed to Scandinavia as an example of what democratic socialism could look like in America. However, Metzgar writes that there is a “dark side” to the “utopia” of Scandinavia.

Christians Marius and Ruth Bodnariu have five children in a Norway school. In October 2015, two of their daughters were arguing with another girl on the bus. The principal then interviewed the girls and asked them about their home environment. Legally obliged, she made a call to the local child protection office.

The report said that the parents sometimes spanked the children but “were very resourceful and did a good job providing for the children’s needs.” The principal said she did not think the girls were abused.

The children’s protection office then interviewed the children’s doctors (who reported nothing significant) before then going to the school and interviewing the girls without parental consent.

“Asked if they were afraid to go home, they said they were not. The family’s religion also came up in discussion, including the subject of God answering prayer,” Metzgar writes.

The girls were then taken into custody that day and Marius was arrested. From there came a whirlwind of charges and the family was further divided: the boys were taken into state care.

“The two girls would have absolutely no contact with either parent outside 10-minute phone calls. The Bodnariu family had been dismembered, and not a single judge had been involved in the process.”

Publication date: April 19, 2016