There is only 'a child'

I've just found this article on RichardDawkins.net. The writer and his wife are going through the process of being approved for adoption. He complains about the 'right' of the birth parents to require that the child be adopted only by parents of their choice of religion, and the child raised in that particular faith. He says:

"There are 2-year-old children who must be raised as Muslims because their father is listed by their Irish mother as "unknown, presumably Iraqi (Muslim)" and so they are deemed to be genetically Muslim. There are children who are 1 year old but are, according to their substance-abusing mother, Catholic and so they cannot go to a couple of heathens like us."

Now, I'm no expert on adoption but this article on Adoption UK (mentioned in the comments to the above article) indicates that new guidance is moving away from a requirement that children be placed with families of the same background. The article does, however, state that "Current advice states that social workers must give "due consideration to the child's religious persuasion..."". I'm sorry? How does a child have a 'religious persuasion'?

I know I've said this before, but when are we going to learn that there is no such thing as a 'Christian child', a 'Muslim child' or, indeed, an 'atheist child'? There is only 'a child'. Period.