Religious Freedom In School Settings

At Eastern Michigan University, they have now expelled a student from their counseling, which I assume means their psychology or social work program because she apparently thinks homosexuality is an abnormal and unacceptable behavior that can be counseled out of somebody. There is now controversy surrounding it, because people believe it's religious freedom.

To some degree, it is religious freedom. But at the same point, in any medical field, there is some degree of agreeance to do no harm. I know plenty of practicing therapists who do not themselves religiously condone homosexuality or think it to be something that people should do. But at the same point in time, they do not follow the mindset that you can counsel it out of somebody. They take not a different, but a certain mindset in work accordingly.

They do this, because every major study has found that when you try to convince somebody not to be gay using therapy, it has an extremely negative and harmful effect. People actually incur psychological damage from these processes, whether they are willing participants in the therapy or it is mandated by family or other authorities. So that violates the very basic code of ethics in any medical field of any kind.

In short, while it is not okay to violate a person's religious rights by terminating them for what they believe, there is a line. In certain fields of work, there are certain rules and certain definitions. For example, if you have a history of committing violent acts against others, any medical school worth its salt is at least going to think twice about taking you on as a student and might expel you if you lie about it to get in. Likewise, if you are going to practice in a way that is contrary to studied and verified facts, which would in fact due harm to the people you are supposed to be helping, than there is no school that should be taking you into that particular program or for that matter keeping you in that particular program. This is a simple fact of life. So no, I don't think this is a violation of her religious freedom.