In Theory: Is Tennessee bill necessary for religious freedom?
Tennessee lawmakers have passed a bill stating that counselors can refuse to provide mental health services to patients if they find doing so would be a violation of their “sincerely held principles.”
Opponents say House Bill 1840 would legalize discrimination against members of the LGBT community, while supporters of the law call it a necessary step to protect religious liberty.
Even some Christian counseling networks in Tennessee say the bill is unnecessary and opens the door to discrimination.
The bill went to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam earlier this month to sign or veto.
Q: Is this a necessary law or does it go too far? How should lawmakers work to protect religious freedom while also ensuring discrimination isn’t allowed under the law?
I don’t understand why this keeps happening. Religious freedom is already and absolutely protected by the Constitution; the lawmakers have nothing left to do on that front. Lawmakers do, on the other hand, need to work on the expansion of antidiscrimination laws, the spirit of which is clear, in the 14th Amendment, while the letter is not.
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As for the ethical parameters for counselors in particular, they’re a bit more ambiguous. I feel that a counselor not only can but ethically must disclose, to a potential client, an extreme bias against something pivotal to that person’s selfhood.
If I were a counselor, and someone came to me wanting to discuss their extreme hatred of gay people, I would feel morally compelled to say, “You know, I’m an adamant supporter of gay rights; I’m probably not the right person for you to do this work with,” and I’d provide them a referral or two. And yet I would not, morally I could not, hang out a shingle that said, “No homophobes allowed.”
I see no reason why that shouldn’t be the right thing to do in the opposite situation, too. Honest disclosure of bias, yes; blanket discrimination, absolutely not.
I just cannot fathom this latest American craze, for seeing our personal opinions codified as public law. Personal opinions used to be just that, and everyone used to be grown up enough to live and let live. When did we get so hysterical about anyone who disagrees with us or is different, assuming that their difference is some sort of horrific violation of our own lives and values? When did we lose all sense of healthy self-differentiation, not to mention our senses of generosity and compassion?
I know that discrimination has always been an ugly part of American history, but nonetheless, I long for the day when our country’s ideals of fairness and equality will be finally realized, and commonly shared; the day when hate laws, against anyone, will be a ridiculous and embarrassing chapter of our past.
The Rev. Amy Pringle
St. George’s Episcopal Church
La Cañada Flintridge
The law goes too far, and one indication that the law has gone too far comes from some of the Christian counseling networks. If in Tennessee, the middle of the Bible belt, there are Christians who say the law goes too far, then the law goes too far!
Full disclosure here: My wife is a psychologist, and to do good therapy she has told me that she needs to put her own biases and prejudices aside in order to do good work. So as far as I’m concerned, the law is not needed, and it’s just another sop to the religious bigots who can’t accept anything they don’t understand.
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And let me say this: true Christianity involves the acceptance of the Other. What do those Tennessee Christians think the Good Samaritan story is about, if not the acceptance of the Other, the Alien, the One who is Not Like Me? Had Jesus been born in Tennessee, he’d have been crucified there, too!
Rev. Skip Lindeman
La Cañada Congregational Church
La Cañada Flintridge
Dear I.R.S.,
This is to inform you that due to my sincerely held principles that: One, what is mine is mine and I am keeping it all; and that two, everyone else must also abide by my sincerely held principles, I will not be sending your agency any payments again this period.
I’m sure you are aware that because of our enhanced laws expanding our freedom of religion to include the right to dictate the beliefs of others, this refusal to pay is completely lawful on my part.
Sincerely and na na na na na na…
cc: F.T.B.; L.A. County Tax Collector
This is my illustration of the bottom of the slippery slope we are sliding down with these ludicrous new laws supposedly addressing the nonexistent problem of denial of the freedom to practice our religions, a right already guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.
Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose
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