From Brad Williams recent church wide newsletter:
You may not have ever heard of Julea Ward, but I hope that you soon become familiar with what has happened to her. Julea was a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University in pursuit of her Master’s in school counseling. That is, until Julea was recently expelled. She was expelled, not because of her conduct but because of her conviction that homosexuality is morally wrong. She refused to counsel homosexual clients, doing so was a breach of school policy and of the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics.
Julea sued the university on the basis that she had been discriminated against due to her religious beliefs. The judge refused to hear the case. She never got her day in court. Here is Judge Steeh’s statement as to why:
The university had a rational basis for requiring students to counsel clients without imposing their personal values…In the case of Ms. Ward, the university determined that she would never change her behavior and would consistently refuse to counsel clients on matters with which she was personally opposed due to her religious beliefs – including homosexual relationships.
The only way that Ms. Ward would be re-admitted into the program was if she went into a remediation program in order to see the error of her ways and change her belief system about homosexuality. The remifications of this decision are dizzying, and the logic used to reach this decision is patently absurd.
In this decision, the University of Eastern Michigan has done precisely what they have warned Ms. Ward not to do: that is, they have imposed their beliefs onto her. They believe that homosexuality is morally fine. They believe that to counsel otherwise is a breach of ethics. Their “Bible”, if you will, is the American Counseling Association’s code of ethics. Ms. Ward’s code of ethics is the Bible itself, the University has declared that the ACA’s code is a higher and more correct authority than the Bible, and this deviation from their faith in the ACA is met with expulsion from the program. So much for academic freedom of thought.
Should Ms. Ward have refused to counsel homosexuals? The details are vague as to what is meant by that. If she outright refused to counsel them, I believe she erred. I believe she should definitely have given them counsel, but she should have pointed out that homosexual behavior is sin, and that abandoning the counsel of God’s Word in pursuit of illicit pleasure will always result in misery. That counsel would have gotten her expelled also, it seems, but it would have been a better way to get kicked out.
We are hearing more and more about public prayer being banned and Christians being told they must "change" their beliefs in order to graduate. I am not a prophet but I do think this is just the beginning. I agree with Brad, she hould have shared the only hope these people have with them. I'm not being negative or a messenger of doom and gloom. I think if God allows persecution to happen it will only be used to strengthen the true church. Don't think because we live in America that we are exempt from persecution.
Persecution is allowed to strengthen God's people and drive them to do what they wouldn't do without persecution. I pray that you take the initiative to disciple your children and your wife. There are those who will challenge us and like unreasoning animals attack truth with lies. We must learn how that we are to respond and how that we are to survive in these times. If you have not, I encourage you to listen to the series on Jude that Bro. Cliff Cook and myself preached at New Covenant Baptist Oneonta recently. You can visit the churches website to listen to the series.
www.ncbconeonta.org
I pray that God will work in your heart so much that your confidence in God would surpass all your fears of man! There is a proper way to live this life for the glory of God. I pray that you and I will obey the Word of God
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