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Missouri State Violates Freedom of Conscience
Last week FIREasked the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to 鈥渢ake action against political litmus tests in America鈥檚 schools of social work.鈥 HHS requires its social workers to have degrees from schools accredited by the Council on Social Work Education, which requires its schools to 鈥渋ntegrate social and economic justice content grounded in an understanding of distributive justice, human and civil rights, and the global interconnections of oppression.鈥
At Phi Beta Cons, David French, former FIREpresident and current Director of the Alliance Defense Fund鈥檚 Center for Academic Freedom, of the threat posed to freedom of conscience by such ideological litmus tests. Emily Brooker, a Christian student at Missouri State University (MSU), was required by her professor to send a signed letter to the Missouri state legislature supporting homosexual foster parenting and adoption. As French writes,
No public official 鈥 not even the President of the United States 鈥 can require an American to publicly advocate for policies they find objectionable. The right not to speak is one of our most basic and morally vital civil rights.
According to French, Emily refused to complete the assignment and the professor relented. However, shortly thereafter she was accused of violating MSU鈥檚 鈥淪tandards of Essential Functioning鈥 and subjected to a lengthy interrogation where she was verbally attacked by faculty members. The Alliance Defense Fund is currently filing suit against MSU.
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