Some rare individuals are born to be knights in shining armor, looking for every opportunity to strike a blow for truth and justice.
Others just want to live quiet and peaceable lives but find themselves caught up in a cause greater than themselves.
As a Tolkien fan, I’ve often thought that the underlying message of “The Lord of the Rings” is that sometimes the Lord takes an ordinary person like Bilbo Baggins, calling him to play a pivotal role in a cosmic struggle between forces of good and evil, the dimensions and consequences of which he was previously unaware.
Such a person is Kaley Chiles. A licensed family counselor in Colorado Springs, Colo., Chiles simply wanted to help troubled families and disturbed persons while enjoying her own marriage, being part of her community, and living out her Christian faith.
A devout Christian, Chiles knew she could not separate her faith from her family counseling. Probably all counselors bring their values into play as they assess what is best for their clients. Chiles and her Christian values were no exception. Based on the Bible, Chiles believes that sex outside marriage and homosexuality and transgenderism are not only immoral but also detrimental to a good marriage relationship and good emotional health. She does not force her views on her counselees, but she doesn’t shrink from laying them on the table for the counselee to accept or reject.
Occasionally, young people seek Chiles’ help for unwanted homosexual desires. Others might seek “gender-affirming care,” in which a counselor works to make them feel comfortable about their homosexuality.
But some do not want to be homosexuals, whether for religious or other reasons, and they seek Chiles’ help to get rid of those desires so they can live heterosexual lives, marry someone of the opposite sex, and have children. Helping people overcome their homosexuality is called “conversion therapy.”
But in 2019, under pressure from LGBTQ forces, Colorado banned conversion therapy for minors, even with parental consent, joining about 20 (mostly blue) states and numerous municipalities. Ironically, Colorado allows “gender-affirming care,” encouraging persons to become homosexual or remain homosexual, but the opposite is prohibited.
This is wrong, Chiles thought. "One size fits all’ is not going to work,” she says in an interview with “Faith and Justice.” “Not only is every teen different, but allowing state officials to dictate to counselors that there’s only one way to help youngsters they [the state officials] have never met or engaged with is absurd,” the publication explains. “I get to make my choices,” Chiles tells “Faith and Justice, “and my clients should be allowed to seek theirs.”
At that point, I suggest, the Lord rested His hand upon Chiles’ shoulder, telling her, “You’re right. This is wrong. And somebody has to fight it in court. You need to be that person.”
And with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Chiles challenged the constitutionality of the Colorado law, birthing Chiles v. Salazar. ADF has taken her case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and as senior counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law, I have filed an amicus brief supporting her position.
The Foundation argues that Colorado’s law violates Chiles’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. We argue that the First Amendment guarantees not only her right to believe and say that homosexuality is harmful and contrary to biblical morality, but to incorporate that belief in her family counseling practice. As a professional counselor, she has a right and a duty to employ the best possible strategies to help her clients, and if the best interest of the client means helping him leave homosexuality, she has a right and duty to practice conversion therapy.
Once upon a time, liberals would salivate at the mention of free speech, and a free speech argument was almost certain to score points with a liberal judge. Not anymore! “We’re all for free speech, but…” With this caveat, liberals have tried to carve out a “professional speech” exception to the First Amendment. Professional speech, such as a doctor giving advice to a patient or a lawyer advising a client, is not fully protected by the First Amendment and is therefore subject to government regulation.
However, the Foundation argues that the professional speech exception lacks a constitutional foundation, is very narrow, and is mostly limited to speech that involves action, such as a doctor treating a patient. It does not apply to conversion therapy, which is almost entirely an oral conversation. And the Colorado law infringes not only on the right of the therapist to employ conversion therapy but also on the rights of the youthful patients who want and need conversion therapy.
We note, further, that the Colorado law prohibiting conversion therapy is a content-based restriction as it is limited to sexual orientation. It is also viewpoint-based because it prohibits speech against the homosexual lifestyle but does not prohibit speech supporting that lifestyle. Both, especially the latter, are disfavored forms of regulation.
“Few if any professions are more ideologically-driven than psychology,” we note in the brief:
The mental health practitioner’s way of practice is driven by his or her worldview. As he counsels patients on what is right and what is wrong (and if the practitioner tells his patient there is no right or wrong, that too is a worldview), how to deal with guilt, he is following his own religious and moral views. Sigmund Freud believed psychoanalysis was not a specialized branch of medicine; rather, he described it as within the realm of religion…
For all these reasons, Chiles should have the protection of the First Amendment in her family counseling practice.
Will the Court grant certiorari in Chiles v. Salazar? Mathematically, it’s a longshot; the Court denies cert in about 99% of all cases. But the issue has gripped the nation, and the lower courts are split. This could be one of the 1% the Court accepts, establishing a landmark precedent.
Please pray that as the Lord has called Chiles into this cosmic struggle, He will cause her to prevail.
Colonel Eidsmoe serves as Professor of Constitutional Law for the Oak Brook College of Law & Government Policy (obcl.edu), as Senior Counsel for the Foundation for Moral Law (morallaw.org), and as Pastor of Woodland Presbyterian Church of Notasulga, Alabama (woodlandpca.org). He may be contacted for speaking engagements at [email protected].
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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