In Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, (SD GA, June 22, 2012), a Georgia federal district court, in a lengthy opinion, dismissed claims by a former graduate student in Augusta State University's graduate counselor education program that her constitutional rights were infringed when she was dismissed for refusing to complete a required remediation plan. The remediation requirements were imposed when graduate student Jennifer Keeton, a devout Christian, told faculty that she would not condone the propriety of homosexual relations or a homosexual identity in a counseling situation. This position violates professional ethical standards of the American Counseling Association that require counselors to respect the diversity of their clients and avoid imposing values on them that are inconsistent with counseling goals. The court rejected both Keeton's facial overbreadth and vagueness challenges as well as her "as applied" challenges to the remediation plan. Finding no viewpoint discrimination against Keeton, the court said...
...The court also rejected Keeton's "compelled speech" claim, saying that when someone voluntarily chooses a profession, the person must comply with its rules and ethical requirements. Finally the court rejected Keetons's free exercise of religion, unconstitutional condition and equal protection challenges.
The court's decision was consistent with an earlier 11th Circuit decision in the case that refused to grant a preliminary injunction because plaintiff had not shown a substantial likelihood of succeeding on the merits. (See prior posting.) SPLC reports on the district court's latest decision.
Monthly Archives: July 2012
Georgia Federal Court Dismisses Christian Counselor's Attempt to Opt-Out of Gay Counseling
DumpStarbucks.com News: Jitters and Bliss Coffee respects ALL customers
Welcome to the DumpStarbucks.com News!
At www.DumpStarbucks.com you can enter your city or zip code and come up with local coffee shop alternatives to Starbucks. However, most of us do not purchase every cup of coffee while we are out around town. This week we are proud to roll out Jitters and Bliss Coffee as a provider of excellent coffee that can be brewed with a clean conscience any time you want at home, at the office or at your church.
With over 160 different types of coffee they have something for every taste. Do you want to purchase free trade, organic coffee? They have 20 options. Do you like flavored coffee? Try one of the 58 different types offered by Jitters and Bliss Coffee. Are you an espresso fan? They have 14 varieties. Need a decaf to settle you down in the evening? Jitters and Bliss has 19 different types with which to relax. All this and they’ll ship you whole beans or grind them for you in one of five different styles.
During the month of July Jitters and Bliss is offering a 5% discount to every customer who enters the promotional code "marriage". A small portion of each purchase made also goes to support the National Organization for Marriage as we work to educate people and corporations on the importance of marriage to our society.
What you can do this week:
Check out Jitters and Bliss Coffee! Jitters and Bliss came to us a few weeks back and said that they respect the views of all of their customers on marriage and that they would like to work with us to provide high-quality coffee to former Starbucks customers through their online store.
Let me be clear. Jitters and Bliss has not, as a corporation, taken a position in the debate over marriage. Just like every company, they have customers, employees, and vendors who hold personal views on what marriage ought to be. They are committed to honoring those views by maintaining a neutral corporate position on marriage.
Per a couple of former Starbucks employees—they also have great coffee!
Having worked at Starbucks for 7 years and my husband having been there for 13 years, we are a little picky about our coffee. I prefer being called a coffee connoisseur as opposed to coffee snob!
I have tried 10 brands since we started DumpStarbucks, but hadn’t found a satisfactory replacement until now. I received 3 bags of coffee from Jitters & Bliss yesterday. I have tried two of the coffees so far and they are delicious. The beans are beautiful. Oily and dark. Just yummy!
Not only is their coffee good but they are more reasonably priced than all the other coffees I have tried. I am sold!
Great coffee for a fair price from a company that respects the diverse views of all of their customers on marriage. Check out Jitters & Bliss Coffee!
Don't forget to enter the promotional code "marriage" to receive 5% off your order and support marriage!
Have a great week!
Video: NOM's Goddard’s "Riveting Account" of Firing Over His Pro-Marriage Tweet
"In his speech at the CLC pro-life Forum, Damian Goddard gave a riveting, very personal account of his firing from Rogers Sportsnet after having ‘tweeted’ in support of the true definition of marriage.
Goddard, at first continues from Part 1 to describe how the 911 “act of terrorism… harnessed me to get re-acquainted with my faith to re-connect with the ‘whole why am I here?’” Emphasizing that he “loved being a sportscaster” while on this spiritual journey, Goddard then said, “fast forward to May 10, 2011”, the date of his infamous tweet."
YouTube link here.
Some Liberals Fret Over Possibility Justice Kennedy Will Vote Against SSM
It's still too soon to know -- legal experts are still digesting the Supreme Court's decision upholding the individual insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act -- but some liberals were already fretting last week that if Justice Kennedy was willing to side with the conservative wing of the court on something garnering as much national controversy as Pres. Obama's healthcare law, will he do the same when the court takes up gay marriage?
Myths & Facts About Marriage
Minnesota for Marriage explores and shares the truth about the Minnesota Marriage Protection Amendment -- but of course many of the topics are useful for defending marriage in general!
Check it out here and please share it far and wide!
How Are Marriage and Religious Liberty Intertwined?
The US Bishops' Marriage, Unique for a Reason blog ties the question of marriage into their two week fortnight for freedom efforts:
"...The Church’s teaching on marriage and on religious liberty both find their roots in Christian anthropology, that is, the understanding of the human person and his or her dignity. Concerning marriage, upholding the meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman upholds human dignity by, among other things, honoring the uniquely complementary natures of man and woman, their capacity for union and fruitfulness, and the child’s birthright of being given the best chance to know and be raised by his own father and mother.
Concerning religious liberty, as was said in a previous post, man’s ability – and responsibility – to seek truth and conform his life to it necessitates religious freedom. In fact, Bl. Pope John Paul II saw religious freedom as so important to human dignity that he called it the “source and synthesis” of rights basic to human flourishing. Concern for the human person means concern for marriage,and for religious liberty."