This time it is the expulsion of a Christian grad student from the graduate program in counseling at Eastern Michigan University over her apparent refusal to counsel homosexual students:
A federal judge has ruled in favor of a public university that removed a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling over her belief that homosexuality is morally wrong. Monday's ruling, according to Julea Ward's attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views.
“It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told FOX News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.”
U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh dismissed Ward’s lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University. She was removed from the school’s counseling program last year because she refused to counsel homosexual clients.
I am certainly am sympathetic to Ms. Ward and I would never counsel a homosexual without first pointing out that their lifestyle was in all likelihood the number one contributing factor in their need for counseling in the first place. Having said that, what do you expect from a secular school?
Why wouldn’t we expect this? Stuff like this is a natural result of the winding down of the pseudo-Christian civil religion of America. In the past, the secular majority in this country at least tacitly tolerated the public expression of faith as something inevitable, a cost of doing business so to speak. As religion becomes less a part of the fabric of America, we should fully expect to see more and more of this. It is completely inconsistent Biblically to expect that unbelievers are going to tolerate firm Christian convictions on their turf and frankly a secular state school is the very epicenter of the unbelieving culture. It is foolish to expect that institutions that glorify mankind and reject God are going to permit dissenting opinions for much longer.
As a parent, I would have to think long and hard about sending my kids to a secular public state school. I understand why some parents choose to do so. The name brand recognition of a public state school carries more weight as one explores careers and graduate & professional schools. From a strictly worldly standpoint it makes all the sense in the world to send your kids to a secular school. That doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do.
So what should the reaction of Christians be? Should we band together and bring suit against these schools for behaving precisely as we would expect a secular institution would? Do we shake the dust from our proverbial sandals and abandon these schools entirely? Do we eschew the very idea of going to college to get a degree to be more successful?
What do you think?
13 comments:
I saw this news earlier today and shared it on my FB page.
I agree that we should not be surprised when unbelievers behave this way...in essence making her diploma dependent on a certain set of beliefs.
But, these state schools, whether one likes the idea of them or not, do receive our tax dollars. And so, they should not be allowed to go unchallenged when they discriminate against one's personal religious belief system.
If the shoe were on the other foot, and a student was denied his diploma because he believes homosexuality to be morally acceptable, I would defend his right to get the diploma he and we all paid for.
If this is allowed to go unchallenged, where will the "belief" police stop? Will it be permissible to believe in the resurrection and still get a Religious Studies diploma from say...Michigan State University? They do offer one.
So I have to side with the folks who protest this ruling.
I have a tough time with this one. I don't really condone her suing the school, and I totally agree with you that we can't expect unbelievers to act and think like believers. But I also don't believe the school had the right to expel her (at least from what I know of the case). To me, her refusal is a valid, constitutionally protected expression of her religious beliefs. There is nothing in the constitution about homosexuality, yet they are protected against discrimination. You know I'm a big believer in Christians laying down their rights, but just Constitutionally speaking, she has just as much right as a homosexual student (if not more, because the freedom of religion--and free practice of that religion--is specifically stated in the Constitution) not to be discriminated against. But as far as what she should do about it now, I don't think suing the school is the answer, no.
Les and April,
I absolutely agree that these actions were unconstitutional on the part of Eastern Michigan and the ruling was an unjust one. Having said that, using the taxes that I pay as a resident of Michigan as an example, I would point out that the same taxes that Jesus said we should render unto Caesar were used to pay the Roman soldiers who crucified Him, down to the nails in His hand. I am more concerned about thinking through the motivations of believers here. Are we insisting on living the American dream and pursuing our careers at the expense of living out a Gospel witness?
To add: Just read the article you linked to. I can understand how she would be violating the ACA's code of ethics if she agreed to counsel a homosexual, and tried to counsel them out of that lifestyle (which, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in that individual's life, is a rather pointless endeavor if you ask me, but I digress...). She was not imposing her views on anyone--in fact, she was doing the only thing she could do in order to maintain her conscience without violating the ACA's code of ethics. Good grief--with this line of thinking, I couldn't counsel someone to abstain from pedophilia, because that would be imposing my own personal views on them.
Uhhhm, I'm finding a discrepancy in the story here. In the first quoted paragraph it states that the student was removed for believing that homosexuality is morally wrong. Then in the last paragraph it states that she was removed because she refused to counsel homosexual clients. These are two completely different things.
Since when is refusing to counsel homosexuals part of the Christian faith? Arthur, you said, "...I would never counsel a homosexual without first pointing out..." while Ms. Ward said she would never counsel a homosexual, period. Or am I missing something?
Arthur,
I want to be clear that I do think this is a violation of her constitutional rights as a US citizen, and that a court should rectify this. I also believe that as a Christian, she and the rest of us, shouldn't be surprised at this kind of mild persecution and should by God's grace bear up under it.
So in my mind she should do both. Bear the persecution for her faith but at the same time seek remedy through the legal means available to her.
Last, you said,
[Having said that, using the taxes that I pay as a resident of Michigan as an example, I would point out that the same taxes that Jesus said we should render unto Caesar were used to pay the Roman soldiers who crucified Him, down to the nails in His hand.]
Again I agree. But I do not think we as citizens of the US, whether Christian or not, should just roll over and not seek remedy for our tax dollars going to inflict injustice on citizens. When we see an injustice we should protest it and seek to change it. An example would be tax dollars used to fund the murder of babies. I don't think we should just chalk it up to Caesar and obeying quietly while he (Caesar) does whatever he wishes...and we just have to comply.
Anyway, I have probably rambles too much already. Good discussion to have.
Here is a link to more on this with actual ADF input on how this went down. Steve Scott I think it addresses your point about her refusal to counsel the "client" at all.
Ooops. Here is the link.
http://www.adftruthandtriumph.org/200911/leadarticle.html
I think this is a tough discussion. I have gone from having no political involvement right after I left the organized church, to now at least voting, and having distant interest in politics. The longer things go the more I begin to think that maybe the body should "let the dead bury the dead", and allow the world to govern itself, without my input. I am interested in THE kingdom, of God, and that is where my interest and dedication lie. According to the teachings of Jesus, if someone forces us to walk with them a mile, we should walk with them two. Should this instance follow the same principle? I agree wholeheartedly that this is a "natural result of the winding down of the pseudo-Christian civil religion in America", and I, for one, have no interest in wasting my time or money fighting the world's system, that in reality is stacked against me. My victory is in Christ, not in the courtroom.
Is it possible that some Christians might choose to go to a public university to be missionaries in a very difficult place? In the process they get a good education at a much better price than most private schools (even "Christian" ones).
http://renrutkram.com/2009/09/21/why-i-went-to-a-public-university/
Mark--exactly what you said. "Let the dead bury their dead." That is EXACTLY how I have been feeling lately. It's really tempting for me to get a little caught up in the political thing, because I see so much injustice in it, and that bothers me, as it should. But lately I have had an attitude that the government is not my concern. Reading so much about house churches lately, it is inspiring and convicting to see the true Christians in China. They are not demanding that the government cater to them. They are going underground and worshiping him, and they are flourishing--changing lives instead of changing policies. I think we have it so backwards here, because we have the right to vote.
Also, I wish I lived closer to you, because you run a scrapbook/coffee store, and I think that is the coolest darn thing I have ever heard of.
I wish a lot of us lived closer to each other instead of all over the country....
Who among us has web cams? Video conferencing, anyone?
Mark
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