Missouri State University faces lawsuit from student kicked out of program over his Christian beliefs

A former student of Missouri State University (MSU) filed a federal lawsuit against the school for dropping him out of a master's degree program in 2014 because of his Christian beliefs.

The student, Andrew Cash, said the trouble began years ago when he said he would not counsel same-sex couples because of his religious convictions. The lawsuit says that because of this, he was "targeted and punished for his Christian worldview."

In 2011, Cash underwent his internship at a faith-based organization called Springfield Marriage and Family Institute, according to a report from the News-Leader. During a class presentation, Cash invited W.K. Boyce, his supervisor at the organization, to speak. Cash's classmates asked Boyce if the organization he represented counseled people from same-sex relationships, and he said he personally doesn't because of his beliefs.

A few days later, Kristy Perryman, the school's internship administrator, talked to Cash about the incident, and he told her he also will refuse to counsel gay couples but will refer them to other counselors.

According to the lawsuit, Cash told Perryman that he would counsel based on his "core beliefs, values and Christian worldview." Cash explained to her that gay couples would benefit most from the counsel of those "sharing their core value system and core beliefs."

Perryman said Cash's beliefs contradicted with the American Counseling Association's code of ethics and told him to transfer to a different organization for his internship. However, in 2014, he was dropped out of MSU's master's program.

Tom Olp, Cash's attorney, said Perryman "took offense at his religious beliefs."

American Counseling Association chief professional officer David Kaplan said Cash's lawsuit against MSU is not the first of its kind. In fact, he said, students from other states have filed lawsuits against their schools for the same reason as Cash's.

"You are entering a profession," Kaplan explained. "People we serve are more important than we are. Our client's need to be accepted is more important than our need to discriminate."

Olp said MSU's treatment of Cash is "extremely intolerant."

"We have this very dangerous trend toward allowing the government to shut down religious expression," Olp said. "That is contrary to the First Amendment. A democracy requires vibrant expression of various points of view and it really needs robust religious expression."

He said his client wants to be taken back to the master's program.