Judge Deserves a Doctorate in Indoctrination

Yesterday we wrote about a lawsuit filed against Georgia's Augusta State University by a counseling student, who was told she must submit to a program of indoctrination to change her disapproval of homosexual conduct. The piece was written before we received word that a decision had been handed down in a similar case in Michigan, Ward v. Wilbanks, about a student who was dismissed from the counseling program at Eastern Michigan University for attempting to refer a homosexual client to another counselor because she could not affirm the client's homosexual behavior.

The record clearly showed that such referrals based on “value conflicts” are a legitimate part of counseling practice. Yet U.S. District Court Judge George Carem Steeh ruled that the blatant violation of Julea Ward's freedom of speech and of religion constituted “an integral part of the curriculum.” Alliance Defense Fund has announced their intention to appeal this misguided ruling.