Thursday July 20, 2006
Christian Teachers Turning to Alternative Unions Over NEA's Support of Same-sex "Marriage"
By Peter J. Smith
UNITED
STATES, July 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The National Education
Association’s (NEA) endorsement of same-sex “marriage” has lead a
number of teachers to consider alternative organizations to the
powerful liberal teachers union for job insurance and legal aid,
according to Agape Press.
As Agape Press reports, the NEA’s pursuit of an anti-family agenda and
its promotion of homosexual “marriage” has caused an upsurge in the
numbers of conservative, Christian, and pro-family educators looking
for alternatives to the liberal teachers union. Just one day after the
American Family Association (AFA) warned its members that the NEA was
preparing to endorse homosexual “marriage”, the Christian Educators
Association International (CEAI), recorded 5,000 more visits to its
official website than the daily average.
“We have been receiving e-mails, phone calls, and a lot of interaction
through our website with a level of frustration like I have never seen
before,” said Finn Laursen, the executive director of CEAI. “It almost
seems like this open endorsement of same-sex marriage is almost the
straw that broke the camel’s back, if you will.”
The NEA, during its June 25 – July 6 annual convention in Orlando,
Fla., approved an amendment to Section B-10 of the NEA handbook,
Racism, Sexism, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification
Discrimination, stating that "sexual orientation and gender
identification ... should not affect the legal rights and obligations
of the partners in a legally-recognized domestic partnership, civil
union, or marriage in regard to matters involving the other partner,
such as medical decisions, taxes, inheritance, adoption, and
immigration.”
NEA leaders have defended the resolution as an endorsement of
same-sex “marriage” only in places where it has legal status. The
amendment, however, was a toned-down version of a previous amendment proposed by
the Union’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Caucus, which called for
a nationwide sanction of same-sex “marriage.”
The liberal organization also voted to alter NEA policy statements to
replace the word “tolerance” with “acceptance”, and has also pushed for
the mandatory inclusion of homosexual, bisexual and transgender issues
as part of the required content necessary for teacher accreditation.
“There is a rumbling out there that’s saying enough is enough”, said
Laursen, asserting that many teachers tolerated the NEA’s liberal
agenda in the past, because the powerful liberal union could provide
them with legal services and job protection. However, the availability
of alternative groups such as the CEAI, which provides liability
insurance, job protection, and legal services like the NEA, means
members have alternatives.
See the Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) website at: http://ceai.org
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.