|
A Dangerous Precedent
By Mike Mickey
A federal judge today ruled in favor of Eastern Michigan University's recent decision to remove a Christian student from its graduate program in school counseling because she refused to provide counseling for homosexual clients on the basis of her religious beliefs.
The student, Julea Ward, had filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the school leading up to today's court ruling after she was told by the school that she would "only be allowed to remain in the program if she went through a "remediation" program so that she could "see the error of her ways" and change her belief system about homosexuality", according to a Fox News report.
The judge wrote the following, in part, in his decision (emphasis added mine), "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."
For EMU to tell Miss Ward that she would have to change her "belief system" and "see the error of her ways" in order to continue obtaining her education was nothing short of asking her to deny the Word of God and, essentially, refute her Christian faith. The court did the same in this instance, the judge noting that Miss Ward's sole reason for failing to comply with the university's requirements was her Christian faith!
Make no mistake about it, today's ruling has set a very dangerous precedent, endangering Christian students seeking higher education across the United States of America. For now, public universities, the majority of which are so liberal that Christian students are already ridiculed beyond what should be acceptable for refusing to believe in politically correct societal trends and scientific theories which fly in the face of God's Word, are going to be able to require Christian students to compromise or, for all practical purposes, abandon their faith without fear of reprisal. While we can hope this was but an isolated incident, it's hard for me to believe that greater persecution of Christian students isn't going to occur on the heels of this ruling, which the Alliance Defense Fund is going to be appealing on behalf of Miss Ward.
For a long time now, Christians in the United States have avoided the sharp sting of persecution others have known in nations less free than our own, but the spirit of antichrist is flourishing in the hallowed halls of government and courtrooms all over our nation today. Should the Lord delay His coming much longer, there is little doubt in my mind that freedom of religion, as enshrined in our nation's Constitution by our founding fathers, is going to be a thing of the past.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Original Article
| 
