I think I agree with both of you. This is absolutely not, though, a distinction between personal and professional practice. "Even" professionals - in every field - who follow the "ethics" required by their professional body do so as a part of their PERSONAL ethics. Take for example a doctor who is anti-abortion who refuses to perform the surgery or refer a woman in need to another doctor - that is not his "professional" ethics at work - it's entirely personal. I think this issue is rather like that.
I am well known for refusing to do such readings myself, and I go further and say I would rather that no-one read ABOUT my feelings for a third party. I would wish that any reader asked to ask about that would tell their sitter to come and ask ME (yeah, I know, not gonna happen.) As for how to read to dewte5mien whether someone is gay before the sitter is prepared to "waste their time" (this was a genuine thread here
) offering them a coffee - just no. I DO feel that there are some things that shouldn't be asked of the cards, because that can lead to a snakepit of misunderstanding and the rest.
But my ethics are my own, and I would never try to force them on others, however forcefully I might state them. (prudence will know how much we disagree on this specific issue - but I would never ever try to suggest she was less than an ethical reader.)
In a way, I think this thread is something of a red herring. Each of us has to read according to our own ethics. There are NO "accepted ethics", no "golden rules" - indeed there is a thread about THAT that got - more than heated
Yes, it is. Opinion is the wrong word here, but whether or not it is OK is totally personal.