School District Bans Christian Student Teachers
Pay attention, Illinoisans, because this is just the sort of policy over which Illinois leftists slaver.
Yet another shocking violation of the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty just took place at a Washington Elementary School District board meeting in Arizona, a school that serves Phoenix and Glendale. The governing board voted unanimously to sever its contract with Arizona Christian University (ACU):
“[T]he board unanimously voted to discontinue its partnership with Arizona Christian University (ACU) whose policies do not align with our commitment to create a safe place for our LGBTQ+ students, staff, and community. … This is not a rejection of any particular faith as we remain open to partnering with faith-based organizations that share our commitment to equity and inclusion."
Riiight. They remain open to partnering with any faith-based organization that holds the same beliefs that the “LGBTQ+” community holds. Did you hear that, theologically orthodox Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews? Did you hear that, devotees of diversity and teachers of tolerance?
The long march through America’s cultural institutions by leftists hell-bent on stigmatizing and marginalizing theologically orthodox Christians is picking up speed.
In addition to its religious bigotry and ignorance of the U.S. Constitution, the governing board of Washington Elementary School is noteworthy for its peculiar composition: Three of its five members are also “LGBT” activists.
Here’s a bit about the non-inclusive, non-diverse, intolerant, partisan, unsafe board.
Vice president of the governing board is Jenni Abbott-Bayard, an out and proud lesbian, who brings her heretical United Methodist values to the school.
Kyle Clayton Gore is a homosexual man who campaigned on his commitment to run “not just for families like mine but for all families, particularly those often left out of the conversation.” And now he’s voted to exclude any teacher who is a committed theologically orthodox Christian from teaching in the district. How will this vote make theologically orthodox Christians feel? Included or excluded?
And last but definitely top of the intersectional pyramid scheme is lesbian activist Tamillia Valenzuela, who describes herself on the board website as a “disabled, neurodivergent Queer Black Latina” and “wife.” It is Valenzuela who led the effort to exclude Christians in the name of inclusivity.
In the board discussion of whether to renew a contract with ACU that allowed student teachers to be placed in Washington Elementary School District schools, neurodivergent queer Valenzuela argued that the following belief of ACU renders its student teachers unfit for Washington Elementary School District schools:
“Before all else, be committed to Jesus Christ – accomplishing His will and advancing His kingdom on earth as in heaven.”
Valenzuela continues criticizing the theologically orthodox Christian views shared not just by ACU but other Protestant and Catholic colleges, churches, medical missions, soup kitchens, and other parachurch organizations:
“Part of [ACU’s] values is “influence, engage and transform the culture with truth by promoting the biblically informed values that are foundational to Western civilization, including the centrality of family, traditional sexual morality and lifelong marriage between one man and one woman.”
Valenzuela rejects those beliefs and the values derived from them, and, worse, wants to ban anyone who holds them from teaching in Washington Elementary School District schools. With no evidence, she asserts that any teacher who holds those beliefs necessarily rejects the district’s commitment to achieving “Excellence for every child, every day, every opportunity.”
Valenzuela shares that her reason for rejecting teachers with theologically orthodox Christian beliefs is that those teachers would not affirm Valenzuela’s and her fellow homosexuals’ beliefs on the nature and morality of homosexuality and marriage:
“I want to know how bringing people from an institution that is ingrained in their values that will very directly impact three of your board members who are a part of the LGBTQ community. We have added our pronouns at the dais as … solidarity, to let our LGBT community know that we stand in making sure that they feel protected.”
So much to unpack, so little time.
· Is Valenzuela less “ingrained” in her values than ACU is in theirs?
· How specifically will the values of student teachers hired to teach English, math, science, social studies, and P.E. “very directly impact” the three homosexual board members?
· How specifically do the beliefs and values of theologically orthodox Christian teachers make homosexual students and teachers objectively “unprotected”?
· Do the ingrained beliefs of Valenzuela make theologically orthodox Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel “unprotected”?
· Does the unanimous vote of this ideologically monolithic board to disallow theologically orthodox Christians from student teaching make Christian families in the community feel unsafe and unprotected?
Surely, the religious bigotry of the board “very directly” and negatively “impacts” students at ACU.
In an interview with the Christian Post, Len Munsil, president of ACU, shared a bit of the history of ACU with Washington Elementary School District:
“For years Arizona Christian University has partnered with the Washington Elementary School District. More than 100 ACU students have served the district, including 25 student teachers, many of whom were hired full time after graduation. … Administrators have time and again asked us to send more ACU students because of the quality of our students' work and their love and servant's hearts for all.”
Some Americans committed to logic wonder how commitments to diversity and inclusivity transmogrified into demands for ideological uniformity, leftist cultural hegemony, and exclusion of non-conformists.
Valenzuela wonders how students graduating from a university that seeks to “influence people to be biblically minded” can “hold space for people of other faiths. How does that hold space for our members of the LGBT community? How does that hold space for people who think differently and do not have the same beliefs?”
Valenzuela clearly hasn’t thought very deeply about either diversity or tolerance.
Having ingrained beliefs like theologically Christians, Orthodox Jews, or Muslims does not “deny space” (whatever that means) to people who hold other faiths or no faith, or to sexual anarchists.
There’s the rub for leftists: In a diverse, tolerant society, people hold different beliefs, including on what makes people safe.
The wee bit of good news in this story is that ACU’s president has publicly stated the university plans to take action. Let’s hope ACU sues the rainbow-colored jackboots off Washington Elementary School District.