Christian sex therapist sacked for refusing to counsel gay couples

[bodie]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/4177427/Christian-sex-therapist-refused-to-counsel-gay-couples.html

An employment tribunal ruled that the national counselling service Relate was entitled to dismiss Gary McFarlane after he said that encouraging gay sex went against his devout religious beliefs.

The decision prompted Christian groups to demand a rethink of religious discrimination laws, following a string of other high-profile cases in which courts have found against Christians who claim they have suffered as a result of standing up for their beliefs.

Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, which supported Mr McFarlane in his claim, said the religious discrimination law was "in danger of becoming a dead letter", while the Christian Institute said there was a growing feeling among churchgoers that religious discrimination laws only applied to Muslims and other minority faiths.

Legal experts suggested the ruling had left discrimination laws in "a confused state" by giving the impression that "gay rights trump Christian rights" when they directly oppose each other.

Mr McFarlane, 47, brought his claim for unfair dismissal after he was sacked in March 2008.

 The father of two had joined Relate in 2003 and had given relationship advice to homosexual couples in the past. But in 2006, after he qualified as a psychosexual therapist, he made it clear to his employers that his strong Christian beliefs meant he did not feel able to give sex therapy advice to homosexuals.

Fellow counsellors objected to his stance and claimed his views were homophobic, and in March 2008 he was sacked.

Do you think he was discriminated against and unfairly dismissed?

I am a bit unsure about this.  It's not black and white.  If he had continued his employment and carried on refusing to offer his service to gay couples then the gay couples would be the ones discriminated against! - and they would have a valid complaint. 

 I definitely think his christian principals and beliefs to be wrong and outdated.     However, is it fair to expect him to go against his strong beliefs?  I am not so sure.  A small part of me thinks we should respect the views of homophobics, just like we do all other groups!   

["couldbecousin"]

  Gary McFarlane should work for a Christian counseling practice rather than a secular one. 
  He's entitled to believe what he believes, but not to refuse service to clients on the basis of those beliefs.

["couldbecousin"]

  On the other hand, I once read advice to therapists to avoid counseling certain clients if they
  (the therapists) had unresolved issues similar to those of the clients.  The advice continued,
  "At a minimum, get experienced supervision to stay clear."  So I suppose McFarlane could just
  have asked his supervisors to assign him only to hetero couples because he did not feel qualified
  to help gay couples, and theoretically no one would have been harmed, as there would have been
  other counselors in the practice to counsel same-sex couples.  I dunno if firing him was necessary in that case.
  I still wonder why he did not seek employment in a church-sponsored counseling practice. 

[Al Swearegen]

Non-isue.
It was his job. If you can not do your job then what happens?
A salesman who can not sell? A diplomat who fails at diplomacy? A soldier that can not shoot and obey orders on demand?
Here is just another can of exactly the same thing and he is expecting different because of a belief in sky creatures?

[bodie]

Perhaps then, it should have been settled when he went for his interview.  Why did he even get the job?

I read some more into this and he used to counsel gays before he qualified.  Therefore he appears to be up his own asshole.  He must have a contract of employment, and it sounds like he honoured that until he received his qualification.  So yeah, fuck him.

[Parts]

Looks like there is more to it than is said as he counseled gays before.  This could have just been the final thing that sent them over the edge and fired him.  I do think though if he had been muslim they would not have gotten of the hook so easy

["couldbecousin"]

  On the other hand, I once read advice to therapists to avoid counseling certain clients if they
  (the therapists) had unresolved issues similar to those of the clients.  The advice continued,
  "At a minimum, get experienced supervision to stay clear."  So I suppose McFarlane could just
  have asked his supervisors to assign him only to hetero couples because he did not feel qualified
  to help gay couples, and theoretically no one would have been harmed, as there would have been
  other counselors in the practice to counsel same-sex couples.  I dunno if firing him was necessary in that case.
  I still wonder why he did not seek employment in a church-sponsored counseling practice. 

  Then again, that option of recusing oneself from certain cases was presented as a means of
  protecting *clients* from counselors who were not yet recovered enough from their own issues to be of help to
  the clients ... not as a way for counselors to avoid working with people they disapproved of.  Eh.  McFarlane should
  just have left the practice and gone to work for a Christian practice.

[Calavera]

Not at all. He reaps what he sows.

People should not be given special treatment for being faithful to superstitious religious beliefs.

[bodie]

Yeah he knows what the job involves, and if he wants to only deal 'with his own kind' then he should work 'for his own kind' too

[Adam]

If you can't do your job, you're in the wrong fucking job mate

Cunt. I have no sympathy for him

There were three other ECHR cases that day btw - two about wearing a crucifix at work and two homophobic ones (this guy and a woman who did marriages but refuses to conduct civil partnerships)

All were thrown out except one of the crucifix ones. The other one was upheld becuase it was againts health and safety 9I think she was a nurse or something)

[bodie]

I did hear about the others, but didn't catch all the details.

Christians are apparently now keen to demand the law should protect them so they can be as prejudice as they like!

 

glad it is not happening

[Adam]

I find the idea that dicrimination and bigotry are somhow justified if they're based on religion to be ridiculous, insulting and dangerous.

Religious people should not be given a get-out clause from jobs/laws that apply to everyone else

[El]

Looks like there is more to it than is said as he counseled gays before.  This could have just been the final thing that sent them over the edge and fired him.

Entirely possible.  I kinda wonder wtf made him get the sex therapy specialty/if he really thought his religion wouldn't be an issue.  Was he also refusing to work with unmarried couples, I wonder?

["couldbecousin"]

Looks like there is more to it than is said as he counseled gays before.  This could have just been the final thing that sent them over the edge and fired him.

Entirely possible.  I kinda wonder wtf made him get the sex therapy specialty/if he really thought his religion wouldn't be an issue.  Was he also refusing to work with unmarried couples, I wonder?

  That's a good question.  I'm confused by the inconsistency of Christians who oppose same-sex marriage
   as if it were the only variation on their Biblical image of what marriage is supposed to be.  Specifically I wonder how
   professing Christians can justify remarrying after divorce if their ex-spouses are still alive.  It says in the Bible that such
   marriages are adulterous, and that divorced people must remain unmarried.  I am not any kind of Bible scholar,
   but Brother PPK probably knows the chapter(s) and verse(s) I'm talking about.