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Friend,

Welcome to the Friday Five! Every Friday we share our top five articles, stories, and quotes for you to read and share with your friends and church families. We would be very grateful if you could make a donation of $100, $50, $25, or $10 today towards our work producing these Friday Fives and fighting for your values on the public square!

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1. USA TODAY: Americans less supportive of transgender athletes playing for teams of their choice, poll finds

"Americans are less supportive of transgender athlete participation in single-gender sports than they were two years ago, a national survey has found, even as more people say they know someone who is transgender.

The findings, gleaned from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, suggest Americans see the issue more as one of competitive fairness than of transgender civil rights, said Jeff Jones, a senior editor for the public opinion polling firm.

Support fell for transgender athletes being able to play for teams aligned with their gender identity even among those who said they knew a transgender person, Jones said."

“Gallup’s telephone survey of 1,011 U.S. adults was conducted last month. It found that 69% of Americans say transgender athletes should be restricted to sports teams that conform with their birth gender, compared to 62% in 2021."

2. ABC 11: Transgender sports ban nears finish line in North Carolina legislature

"The bill would designate sports by biological sex, as determined by ‘reproductive biology and genetics at birth.’ Restrictions would apply to state universities and community colleges, as well as all public and some private middle and high schools. They do not apply to intramural college sports. Students would also have the right to sue if they are harmed by a trans student violating the restrictions.

Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the socially conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, said the committee vote Wednesday moves the state one step closer to ensuring that ‘all student female athletes have a level playing field.’”

3. OUTKICK: Trans Cyclist Austin Killips Wins Women's Race By Over FIVE Minutes; Female Competitor Calls Out Lack of Fairness

“Austin Killips is a male cyclist who entered the women’s category and easily won the Belgian Waffle Ride 131-mile course in North Carolina on Saturday.

After the race, second-place female cyclist Paige Onweller called out Killips’ advantage as a transgender competitor. She called for event organizers to create a separate category in order to preserve fairness in the women’s category.”

4. CAROLINA JOURNAL: We’ve been here before on ‘compassionate’ experimental medical treatments

“I’ve heard it said that ‘the only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.’ As I consider the enigmatic issue and the paradoxical problems that loom before me, I think the question at hand is often very simple.

Take, for instance, ‘gender-affirming care.’ I believe the appropriate question for this issue is: Have we as a nation stood at the crossroads of what some would call a medical miracle that others call medical malpractice? Fortunately, history bears clear, concise, compelling, and convincing proof that we have indeed stood at this fork in the road at least twice over the last 100 years.”

5. FOX NEWS: SPLC director who placed parents’ rights group on ‘hate map’ met with Biden counterterror official: report

"Conservative groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the Family Research Council (FRC), and now Moms Defending Liberty have been labeled hate groups by the SPLC. They've joined an ever-growing SPLC hate list that also includes the Ku Klux Klan.

The Washington Free Beacon acknowledged it was ‘unclear’ what Corke discussed with the counterterrorism official, though the meeting raises concerns that the Biden administration could be coordinating with liberal organizations.”

WEEKLY PRAYER: FREEDOM

LORD, you have blessed us with a spiritual liberty that is so wonderful and beyond description, that it can only be understood through experiencing a life-giving relationship with Christ. However, we also recognize that in your grace, you have blessed our country with a political liberty that enables us to openly proclaim the experience of a life lived in the freedom of the Gospel.

LORD, as individuals and as a nation, may we never take the inalienable right of religious freedom for granted. Right now our country has faced a rapid increase in the number of attacks made against this cherished right. We have seen groups across our public arena increase in boldness and frequency their smears against religious liberty. They claim it is bigotry, when we know it is the security of the greatest of all possible loves.

Be with your people and our country as it continues to protect the constitutional right protected by our nation’s Founders. Be with legislators and the Supreme Court, as they determine through their actions the protection of this particular and fundamental freedom.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)

“Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” (1 Peter 2:16)

Amen

Will you chip in $100, $50, $25, or even $10 to help the NC Values Coalition continue to fight for your rights? You can donate by clicking here.

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Sincerely,

Tami & Team
NC Values