Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Georgia Student Sues Over "Remediation" for Gay and Lesbian Issues

Jennifer Keeton just wants to be a school counselor. She also wants to hold on to her Christian beliefs. Those two things should not be inconsistent, at least not unless your on the board of Augustana University's School Counseling Master's Program.
Keeton is suing the college for requiring her to refute her religious beliefs before being allowed to graduate from its school counseling program. In an unprecedented move, school officials have informed her that she'll be dismissed from the program unless she alters her "central religious beliefs on human nature and conduct."
The controversy revolves around a statement in American School Counseling Association ethics code, referring to diversity:
The professional school counselor:
a. Affirms the diversity of students, staff and families.
b. Expands and develops awareness of his/her own attitudes and beliefs affecting cultural values and biases and strives to attain cultural competence.
c. Possesses knowledge and understanding about how oppression, racism, discrimination and stereotyping affects her/him personally and professionally.
d. Acquires educational, consultation and training experiences to improve awareness, knowledge, skills and effectiveness in working with diverse populations: ethnic/racial status, age, economic status, special needs, ESL or ELL, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, family type, religious/spiritual identity and appearance.
 Unfortunately, in the Intellectual circles of many counselor education programs, "improving awareness, knowledge, skills and effectiveness" is interpreted as wholesale acceptance of client values and orientation, a ridiculous leap of logic at best. What counseling education program would require its students to accept a clients' religious beliefs, no matter how different from their own? The code expects a counselor will be aware of their own attitudes and how these might impact a client, not completely throw them out the window in exchange for a "professional view" of diversity.
But that is exactly what goes on in counseling programs around the country. Progressive intellectuals at Universities interpret Christian students beliefs  "as indicative of... improper professional disposition to persons of such populations (gays and lesbians)," despite the growing research that supports the  (according to the University) "view that homosexuality is a 'lifestyle,' not a 'state of being.'"


Two points on this case:
1. The college is way out of line in their view of the codes of ethics here. According to the codes, counselors are not required to give up their personal beliefs in order to help others, just to be aware of the possible affects of those views on clients.
2. The arrogance illustrated here by the college professors is profound. To claim that they are able to determine a potential bias based on, "disagreement in several class discussions and in written assignments with the gay and lesbian 'lifestyle,'" as well as Keeton's belief that those "lifestyles" are cases of identity confusion." Furthermore, to create a "remediation" plan that will change a student's "fixed binary male-female gender, with one or the other being fixed in each person at their creation, and not a social construct or individual choice subject to alteration by the person so created," is hypocritical for "professionals" in counseling to propose.

This is what Progressives do: Assert that their view is the only acceptable one, Inform that "education" will make everyone agree with them, and label you ignorant and racist if you refuse to agree.
Take immigration. Despite logic that says our borders need to be secure, Progressives assert that illegals should be allowed to enter and mingle freely. They hold summits to "educate" and cite University "studies" that support this view (and run counter tho law enforcement statistics). then when laws are passed that make sense and are likely to help in solving the problem, they label it's authors racist and call the majority who support it "ignorant."
And the next step for these "enlightened intellectuals" when they don't get their way? Do they further educate? Do they debate the facts? do they try to enlighten the population? No. They take to the streets and fight the police. They boycott innocent business people. They bus in outsiders who share their views to make themselves appear "overwhelming," a "grass roots movement." And people will watch and say, "look how passionate they are. They must be right." They are not. They are merely arrogant and stubborn.

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