Counseling Student Expelled for Christian Values

[nathan]

This is a very interesting case, beyond the knee-jerk "now Christians are being persecuted in public ed." Here is the basic question: if a student's beliefs are fundamentally incompatible with the goals of a degree, should that student be conferred that degree? The university in this case has guidelines for its counseling program, which includes not sharing religion in counsel, and not treating homosexuality as immoral. The student in question refused to treat homosexuality as neutral, and so was excluded.

It seems this student may want to find a Christian grad school with a more compatible degree track.

So, justified? Should a geocentrist be allowed to teach celestial physics?

[AGS]

I think a differention should be made between someone studying a subject simply for gaining knowledge and for someone who wants to work in that field.

If this christian wanted to complete the degree for the sake of studying the field only this expulsion is wrong.

If this christian wanted to complete the degree to go work in the field and use that as a platform to gain access to gays in a private setting this expulsion might be more justified.

[Kafir]

The article, frustratingly, provides neither a link to the ruling nor the name of the case. Here's the text of the decision (pdf download).

(edited to replace incorrect link.)

[ggeezz]

I think a differention should be made between someone studying a subject simply for gaining knowledge and for someone who wants to work in that field.

If this christian wanted to complete the degree for the sake of studying the field only this expulsion is wrong.

If this christian wanted to complete the degree to go work in the field and use that as a platform to gain access to gays in a private setting this expulsion might be more justified.

Why should that matter? Does getting a degree imply adherence to a certain dogma? Should it?

I don't think so.

[Kafir]

If this christian wanted to complete the degree to go work in the field and use that as a platform to gain access to gays in a private setting this expulsion might be more justified.

The young woman in question seems to have been willing to refer gay clients to other counselors, and she was willing to counsel gays on matters not related to sexual relationships. I don't see anything wrong with her position.

And the school seems to be interested in producing students who are fully capable of counseling people regardless of their sexual orientation; I don't see anything wrong with that, either.

So far as I can tell no one's done anything obviously wrong here, but I'd agree with nathan's suggestion that Ms. Ward should find a counseling program more compatible with her convictions.

[Kafir]

Does getting a degree imply adherence to a certain dogma? Should it?

In general, no. I don't see anything wrong with someone who has geocentric beliefs getting a degree in astronomy, so long as they understand modern scientific models of the universe as well.

But AGS's distinction between a field of knowledge and a profession might be relevant here: counseling is primarily an applied, practical field, and I think it's not unreasonable to expect a degree in a profession to imply a willingness to adhere to professional standards.

[ggeezz]

I think it's not unreasonable to expect a degree in a profession to imply a willingness to adhere to professional standards.

I do. It's quite similar to how the Church of Scientology operates. You're not granted access to upper level teachings until they're sure you'll agree with them. But how can you know if you'll agree with something until you know what it is? How can you know whether an argument will convince you until you've heard the argument?

More to the point, there are other mechanisms for ensuring adherence to standards like associations. Ensuring adherence to dogma necessarily compromises the pursuit and perfection of knowledge. It's a flawed process.

Perhaps if we're talking about welding or hair styling, then a degree can serve both of those functions because there's no perfection of knowledge to protect. But for everything else we need to separate the degree as meaning "mastered a certain body of knowledge" and membership in an association as meaning "adheres to a certain set of standards."

You'll also notice the latter is ongoing. What if she practiced for 5 years and then changed her mind? Do you revoke her degree? What if the counseling community decides to significantly change their standards in 5 years, but some keep the old ways?