tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post5680757292522398638..comments2023-10-09T04:11:47.358-07:00Comments on Not A Potted Plant: When Religious Freedom Protects PrejudiceBurt Likkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16060980744675990412noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post-59990929015942425412009-04-08T19:40:00.000-07:002009-04-08T19:40:00.000-07:00So you've got a Christian student counselor, in a ...<I>So you've got a Christian student counselor, in a clinical setting, who refuses to treat a homosexual patient on religious grounds, and instead seeks to refer the patient to a different counselor. Because of this she gets disciplined and ultimately expelled from her program.<BR/><BR/>Now, we don't know what the University's side of the story is. It may well be that its version of events does not describe a student counselor acting professionally and appropriately in the face of a dilemma; perhaps their claim will be that she said and did things that were harmful to the patient, or that there was an 'escape mechanism' available to her which she unreasonably refused to avail herself of. We ought not to draw very many conclusions after only hearing one side of the story.<BR/><BR/>My initial reaction is to have sympathy for the patient here. The patient came to the program expecting some help with something that was apparently so serious as to have required counseling in the first place. That patient should be able to get that counseling instead of what was pretty obviously a value judgment.</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, there is a lot of documentation, such as the transcript of the disciplinary hearing, available <A HREF="http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/04/federal_lawsuit_claims_eastern.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. According to the letter denying her appeal to the Dean of Education, the cause for dismissal was transgression of the requirement that students "conduct themselves in a responsible and professional manner at all times" and "adhere to the code of ethics of the American Counseling Association."<BR/><BR/>Not being a member of the ACA, I can't speak to its ethics code. But as a clinical social worker, I know that therapists of all stripes are obligated to refer clients elsewhere when they are aware that they would not be able to render their best service to that client. So if someone wants to see me professionally who, say, has abused her child in the same way my mother abused me, it is the most professional and ethical thing for me to do to suggest some other professionals who may be in a better position to serve that client than I. If I am an atheist with bad memories of clergy and someone wants to see me who is working out adjustment problems as they enter a religious order, it may serve them best to refer them elsewhere. It is not a judgment -- it is a combination of good sense and responsible service to the client.<BR/><BR/>The student consulted with her faculty supervisor before she met with the client. The supervisor instructed her to refer the case to another student. The <I>supervisor</I>, then, instituted disciplinary action against the student. Given the student's religious convictions, what was a more responsible action for her to take? As far as is apparent, the client in question never became aware of the situation -- in what way were divergent values imposed on him or her? <BR/><BR/>It is not a step forward for the gay-lesbian-transgendered community if those of its members seeking counsel see counselors who did not have the option of recusing themselves if they felt unable to give them the quality of service they deserve.Rozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06233565410780178589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post-48576615284267968232009-04-07T19:23:00.000-07:002009-04-07T19:23:00.000-07:00Indeed, many people do not know to distinguish tra...<I>Indeed, many people do not know to distinguish transgendered people from homosexual people, thinking that one must necessarily be gay to seek or wish for a gender identity reassignment -- or that the desire for sex with the same gender is the same thing as a desire to be the opposite gender.</I><BR/><BR/>I disagree. I lost my discomfort with homosexuals a long, long time ago. Transgendered people, though, are a separate internal struggle altogether.trumwillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03156143676616919381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post-46394866396899206442009-04-07T09:49:00.000-07:002009-04-07T09:49:00.000-07:00I'd agree with you, but I see their struggle as ve...I'd agree with you, but I see their struggle as very similar to and ultimately intertwined with that of homosexuals. Indeed, many people do not know to distinguish transgendered people from homosexual people, thinking that one must necessarily be gay to seek or wish for a gender identity reassignment -- or that the desire for sex with the same gender is the same thing as a desire to be the opposite gender. So while I see that there are substantively different challenges that transgender people face which gay people do not, improving gay rights will have a direct benefit to transgender people -- and improving understanding and tolerance for gay people will also increase understanding and tolerance for transgender people.Burt Likkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16060980744675990412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13589532.post-81814732786276355922009-04-06T22:05:00.000-07:002009-04-06T22:05:00.000-07:00"I've written before, on many occasions, that ther..."I've written before, on many occasions, that there are only two kinds of prejudice that seem widely socially acceptable anymore in the United States -- that directed against gay people, and that directed against atheists."<BR/><BR/>Transgendered individuals? They might be in an even weaker position.David Schraubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.com