Christian Girl Not Allowed to Graduate

[Pilgrimtozion]

No one asked them not to carry their beliefs into their work.

However, when you present yourself as a non-religious counselor, then your faith has nothing to do with the task that he person is hiring you to do. The social contract includes the representation that if I go to a counselor that I am not subjecting myself to their opinions about my faith unless I ask them about it.

If a Christian cannot do that, then they do not need to be in non-religious counseling settings.

There is no such thing as a non-religious counselor. And again, anything and everything is influenced by a person's basic set of beliefs about the world, God, others, and themselves. You cannot avoid bringing that into any type of conversation in a counseling session.

[RabbiKnife]

Our society sees a distinction between "Christian" counseling and "secular" counseling. You may not agree with it but you cannot change it merely by refusing to acknowledge the world's perception.

You and I know that there is no distinction between the sacred and the secular but our society does not.

In our society, if I want a "Christian manicurist", I search for one. If I want a "Christian painter", I search for one. If I want a "Christian counselor", I search for one.

A part of our being in the world but not of it requires that, as much as possible, we participate in the social contract of our society. In our society, we generally expect professionals....those whom society and the law place a specially high burden of care, confidentiality, and to whom we reveal our deepest darkest secrets.... to refrain from speaking of matters of faith unless we (the person seeking professional help) initiate that inquiry.

My faith my guide and influence my thought processes, certainly. But my faith cannot dictate to the other person what his or her thought process must be, and should not enter the conversation unless the counselee makes the request.

[Pilgrimtozion]

Granted. No saying that this is what the girl was doing though. Sounds like they have a problem with her convictions, not her counseling.

[HisLeast]

Granted. No saying that this is what the girl was doing though. Sounds like they have a problem with her convictions, not her counseling.

Well if that's the case, it should be a pretty open and shut matter. However, I would suspect that if its gone this far already the convictions are becoming a problem to the counselling. Its not like ChristianPost is going to give a balanced view on the matter.

[Jeanne D]

Well now I don't know if this applies to the topic at hand, but when my son went to college, his English Prof introduced herself to the class as a "bleeding heart liberal" Throughout the course she continually interjected her political views. So I do think people views, beliefs etc.. do come to the surface at some point in their careers.

Jeanne

[RabbiKnife]

But not with professionals.

The traditional three professions....clergy, law, and medicine....all were granted certain immunities and protections under the law because of the extreme degree of trust that was placed in the persons practicing those professions. We tell our deepest darkest secrets to doctors, lawyers, and clergy, and our society believes that we will only do so (which our society values) if we believe that those persons hold our interests above their own.

Over time, this concept has expanded to the counseling arena even when counselors are not medical doctors, including psychologists and licensed counselors. Because of this social compact, we require that professionals keep their opinions as to non-related matters, such as faith, to themselves unless the person seeking advice brings up the issue.

Teachers are not "professionals" in the legal sense of the word, so they can say whatever their administrators will let them get away with.

[Dani H]

She shoulda gone to a Christian College and gotten her Master's there if she can't get past bringing her opinions and convictions into a counseling environment with unbelievers and if she can't leave her prejudices at the door. Simple as that, really. She chose to go to a State university, and them's the breaks.