In 2009, student Julea Ward was expelled from Eastern Michigan University. She had been enrolled in a master’s program in pursuit of certification to be a school counselor. Her expulsion was warranted by her refusal to counsel homosexual students.
This decision precipitated a lawsuit. Ward claimed her enrollment was unlawfully terminated, that she had been discriminated against. The Christian organization, the Alliance Defense Fund, has supported her and made her lawsuit a national conflict.
A federal judge ruled in favor of EMU’s decision.
This ruling is not an act of discrimination against Christian students. It is a statement to people of all faiths that, in an increasingly diverse nation, the professional agenda of anyone seeking employment in public education must be secular in order to create a welcome atmosphere for all students.
Christian organizations are ever sensitive to any limitations on the percolation of their faith into all aspects of their lives. Anytime a Christian person is expected even to demonstrate mild religious neutrality, it becomes a national conflict.
Each time this happens, Christian leaders warn of the precarious teetering of Christian Americans’ constitutional rights.
Permit me to be frank: the rights of Christians in America will never be jeopardized. They constitute the majority of our population. That means they hold more money, more votes, more cultural sway than any other demographic.
So “what in God’s name” is all of the fuss about?
The public outcry in support of Christian rights is a bombastic smokescreen. What’s really at stake here is not a Christian’s right to practice her or his faith. This fight is about public perception of homosexuality.
Our nation is sluggishly becoming more tolerant of homosexuals. Radical Christians view this as a sinful blemish on the America they envison. More broadly, they view it as a challenge to their authority over the cultural climate. Granted, that’s probably not Ward’s motivation for her lawsuit, but it is certainly why so many Christian organizations are rallying around her.
After all, no one is arguing against Ward’s right to maintain her convictions. If she thinks “the gays” are condemned to an eternity of pain and gnashing of teeth, that’s her problem.
If Ward wants to start her own Christian counseling firm that is exclusive of public education, there is no conflict. Under those circumstances, she would have the full constitutional right to discriminate between clients with unfettered zealous bigotry.
The reason Ward was expelled was because her refusal to counsel homosexual students constitutes an inability to perform the mandatory tasks of her profession. There’s no way around it. She was professionally inept. Therefore, it would have been unethical for EMU to allow her to graduate and would have harmed EMU’s credibility as an educational institution.
In the arena of public education, the absolute expectation is all employees be capable of treating students equitably. Ward should have been aware of this prior to her decision to be a school counselor. Her expulsion is her own fault.
