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Student Forced to Choose Between Christian or University Beliefs |
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Prayer-Soldier writes "
On 22 Jul 10, The Christian Post reported that a law suit was filed against Augusta State University for telling a student she must “change her Christian beliefs or otherwise be expelled from the school's graduate counseling program.” According to the Christian Post, Jennifer Keeton is a student enrolled in the College of Education's School Counselor masters degree program. The issue apparently arose as Keeton expressed Christian beliefs during class discussions and in written assignments in relation to non-heterosexual issues.
The report related that in the complaint filed, “"She has stated that she believes sexual behavior is the result of accountable personal choice rather than an inevitability deriving from deterministic forces. She also has affirmed binary male-female gender, with one or the other being fixed in each person at their creation, and not a social construct or individual choice subject to alteration by the person so created. Further, she has expressed her view that homosexuality is a 'lifestyle,' not a 'state of being.'"
According to a 22 Jul 10 WorldNetDaily, School officials notified that Keeton must go through a "remediation" program as a result of the views she expressed. The report related, “The remediation program was to include 'sensitivity training' on homosexual issues, additional outside study on literature promoting homosexuality and the plan that she attend a 'gay pride parade' and report on it.
The report quoted Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) Senior Counsel David French as saying a public university student "shouldn't be threatened with expulsion for being a Christian and refusing to publicly renounce her faith, but that's exactly what's happening here."
On 22 Jul 10, an ADF report alleged, Keeton was “told to stop sharing her beliefs with others and that she must change her beliefs in order to graduate from the counseling program.” It further alleged, “If she [Keeton] does not change her beliefs or agree to the plan, the university says it will expel her from the Counselor Education Program.” ;;
The report quoted French as saying, “Abandoning one’s own religious beliefs should not be a precondition at a public university for obtaining a degree. This type of leftist zero-tolerance policy is in place at far too many universities, and it must stop. Jennifer’s only crime was to have the beliefs that she does.”
According to the complaint filed with the United States District Court Southern District of Georgia, the suite was being filed to “vindicate Plaintiff Jennifer Keeton’s constitutional rights of speech, belief, and religious exercise....” The complaint further stated, “Because Miss Keeton will not agree to undergo an ideological remediation program that requires both (1) that she submit to an extended supplemental curriculum of sources hostile to her belief-system, and (2) that she “alter her beliefs” (as the faculty put it) and agree to affirm the propriety of behaviors she believes immoral, the faculty has stated it will dismiss her from the graduate counseling program at ASU.”
The complaint states that the remediation plan established by university officials stated, “Another equally important question that has arisen over the last two semesters is Jen’s ability to be a multiculturally competent counselor, particularly with regard to working with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (GLBTQ) populations.”
After outlining the requirements of the remediation plan designed to change Keeton's beliefs, the complaint noted the remediation plan stated, “Based on these written reflections and two scheduled meetings with Jen prior to December 2010, faculty will decide the appropriateness of her continuation in the counseling program.” ;; The complaint further related, “The written Remediation Plan concludes with the following admonition: Please note that failure to complete all elements of the remediation plan will result in dismissal from the Counselor Education Program.”
According to WorldNetDaily, Keeton responded to university officials in part through an email, "At times you said that I must alter my beliefs because they are unethical. … other times you said that I can keep my beliefs so long as they are only personal and I don't believe that anyone else should believe like me. But that is just another way of saying that I must alter my beliefs, because my beliefs are about absolute truth. ….. in order to finish the counseling program you are requiring me to alter my objective beliefs and also to commit now that if I ever may have a client who wants me to affirm their decision to have an abortion or engage in gay, lesbian, or transgender behavior, I will do that. I can't alter my biblical beliefs, and I will not affirm the morality of those behaviors in a counseling situation."
Cited Articles and Posts
WorldNetDaily (22 Jul 10) http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=182441
The Christian Post (22 Jul 10) http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100722/ga-school-forces-christian-student-to-alter-beliefs-to-graduate/index.html
Alliance Defense Fund (22 Jul 10) http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/news/story.aspx?cid=5346
ADF Complaint (21 Jul 10) http://www.telladf.org/userdocs/KeetonComplaint.pdf"
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Posted on Thursday, July 22 @ 23:20:16 MDT by admin
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