Christian College Sues, Claims Public School Discriminated Over Biblical Views

A legal dispute has broken out between Arizona Christian University and the Washington Elementary School District, with the college accusing the public school system, located in Arizona, of cutting ties over the university’s “religious beliefs.”

Dr. Linnea Lyding, an assistant dean at ACU and the head of the Shelly Roden School of Education, and Ryan Tucker, an attorney at Alliance Defending Freedom, sat down with CBN’s Billy Hallowell to discuss the complex case and why ACU is suing over the ordeal.

“For the past 11 years, Arizona Christian University and Washington Elementary School District had a mutually beneficial partnership where students in the university’s elementary educational program would student-teach and shadow teachers in the school district,” according to ADF. “The school district, however, decided it no longer wanted to partner with ACU because of the university’s religious beliefs on biblical marriage and sexuality, terminating the partnership without citing any complaint or issue regarding an ACU student or alumnus.”

Lyding told CBN that, before a February school board meeting that made national headlines, the relationships was “wonderful” between the college and Washington Elementary School District. She was completely “shocked” to see the district cancel the relationship during the controversial board meeting, with the board voting unanimously not to renew a student-teacher contract with the college. Washington Elementary District School Board Member Tamillia Valenzuela was among those at the meeting who made comments about ACU’s biblical beliefs.

“While I full-heartedly believe in religious freedom and people being able to practice whatever faith that they have, I had some very concerned concerns regarding looking at this particular institution,” she said. Valenzuela, a member of the LGBTQ community, seemed to take issue with the school’s biblical stance. She continued, “How does that hold space for our members of the LGBTQ community. How does that hold space for people who think differently and do not have the same beliefs? That makes me feel like I could not be safe in this school district.”

Watch Lyding and Tucker break down ACU’s legal challenge and what’s to come.

Download the free CBN News App: http://cbnnews.com/app

SUBSCRIBE to the CBN News Channel for more:
http://youtube.com/c/CBNnewsonline/?sub_confirmation=1

SUBSCRIBE to the QuickStart Newsletter by visiting quickstart.news

SUBSCRIBE to the Quickstart Podcast. New episodes every morning at 7am: cbn.com/cbnnews/quickstart

What’s coming up next? Have a look at our program guide: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2Fcbnnews%2Fnewschann&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description

CBN features 24-hour TV news from a Christian perspective. The CBN News Channel provides independent news programming to an underserved audience to enlighten, entertain and inspire Christians around the world. Comments below do not necessarily reflect the views of CBN.

Share this live feed with your friends and family:
https://www.youtube.com/c/CBNnewsonline

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cbnnews/
Like us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBNNews
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cbnnews/

Contact News Editors: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2Fcontact%2Fcontact-&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description

Questions about other CBN programs: https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2Fcontact%2Fcontact-&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description

Questions about supporting CBN?
http://www1.cbn.com/cbn-partners (and) https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.google.com%2Fyoutube%2F%3Fp&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description

Questions about Helping the Home Front? Call: 800-700-7000
https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww1.cbn.com%2F700club%2Fhelping-&redir_token=3Xja-7LE5ZQebEu1fn-B5ib34tN8MTU3OTg4MjMzMkAxNTc5Nzk1OTMy&v=P0mHVeNNfDw&event=video_description

#breakingnews #politicalnews #christiannews #christian #christianity #church #breakingnews #cbnnews