Julea Ward was a student enrolled in the counseling program at Eastern Michigan University until she refused to counsel homosexuals because of her deeply held Christian beliefs. So she was expelled from the program. She sued. The University won. Now the manure is hitting the spreader.
Monday's ruling, according to Julea Ward's attorneys, could result in Christian students across the country being expelled from public university for similar views.
“It’s a very dangerous precedent,” Jeremy Tedesco, legal counsel for the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told FOX News Radio. “The ruling doesn’t say that explicitly, but that’s what is going to happen.”
The university contended she violated school policy and the American Counseling Association code of ethics.
“Christian students shouldn’t be expelled for holding to and abiding by their beliefs,” said ADF senior counsel David French. “To reach its decision, the court had to do something that’s never been done in federal court: uphold an extremely broad and vague university speech code.”
Eastern Michigan University hailed the decision.
The case is similar to a lawsuit the ADF filed against Augusta State University in Georgia.
Counseling student Jennifer Keeton was allegedly told to stop sharing her Christian beliefs in order to graduate.
Keeton's lawsuit alleged that she was told to undergo a reeducation program and attend “diversity sensitivity training.”
“Public universities are imposing the ideological stances of private groups on their students,” [Tedesco] said. “If you don’t comply, you will be kicked out. It’s scary stuff and it’s not a difficult thing to see what’s coming down the pike.” [FoxNews]
What's next, rulings that Jewish students will be required to undergo "diversity sensitivity training" and counsel radical Muslims, or face expulsion?
And by the way, this isn't about "gay rights", it's about freedom of thought.
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