|
 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.
 1. NC VALUES VOICE: Live on the 11th Congressional DistrictEarlier this week we had another episode
of “The NC Values Voice”, a weekly 30-minute interview by Executive
Director, Tami Fitzgerald, with a special guest. The NC Values Voice
aired on Facebook Live and www.ncvalues.org/voice
on Wednesday night at 7:30pm. Our goal with these programs is to
inform and motivate our statewide coalition members with current,
relevant information.
This week's program features Madison Cawthorn and Lynda Bennett,
two candidates currently in a runoff election to determine the next
Republican candidate for Mark Meadows former NC 11th congressional
district seat.
 2. BREITBART: Liberty Leaders: Far-Reaching Effects of Supreme Court LGBT RulingTami Fitzgerald, North Carolina Values Coalition executive
director, said in a candid statement, “No one in their right mind
believes that when Congress enacted the 1964 Civil Rights Act, ‘sex’
included homosexuals and transgenders.”
She predicted a disastrous effect on religious liberty as well as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling: From this day forward, this decision will degrade one of our most fundamental rights as Americans—the right to religious freedom. It cuts off the right of Americans who have deeply held religious convictions to fairness and freedom in the workplace, in sports, and in academics. Redefining “sex” to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” threatens everyone’s freedom and will set off years of litigation against business owners, churches, religious institutions, and people of faith, who will suffer greatly because of the Court’s short-sighted wokeness. Fitzgerald said the high Court appears to want to continue in its mode of dismissing the separation of powers. “Adding ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to the list of covered categories in the Civil Rights Act is a function of the legislative branch, not the courts,” she asserted. “The Court today enacts those failed legislative initiatives by usurping the powers of the Congress.”
 
3. FOX NEWS: Shannon Bream breaks down Supreme Court's big LGBT rights decision: 'This is going to be a big change'"For every employer, just about, in this country,
[for] those who are covered by Title VII, which is most of them, this
is going to be a big change and we have to think about the ripple
effects," Bream told host Jessica Rosenthal.
4. PUBLIC DISCOURSE: Sen. Josh Hawley's SCOTUS Commentary: Was It All for This? The Failure of the Conservative Legal MovementI rise today to offer a few thoughts about the Bostock case handed down by the Supreme Court yesterday. I have it here. I have now had the chance to read the case, the decision by the majority of the court, and the two dissenting opinions, and I have to say I agree with the news reports that have said that this is truly a seismic decision. It is truly a historic decision. It is truly a historic piece of legislation. This piece of legislation changes the scope of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It changes the meaning of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It changes the text of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In fact, you might well argue it is one of the most significant and far-reaching updates to that historic piece of legislation since it was adopted all of those years ago. Make no mistake: this decision, this piece of legislation, will have effects that range from employment law to sports to churches. There’s only one problem with this piece of legislation: it was issued by a court, not by a legislature."
5. ERLC: 6 legal issues to consider when reopening your church1. Review your insurance policy and discuss your
coverage with your insurance carrier.
 WEEKLY PRAYER: LIBERTYLORD, 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. In the past 100 years, we have continued to hear the cry of the martyr and believer whose lives are ravished in countries that rob them of this natural and fundamental right. We mourn with the brethren in China and other abusive countries when their churches are demolished by bulldozers, and their families are imprisoned for the Christ-focused profession of their lips. 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. In particular, we lift up Tom Harris and his family owned funeral home, where the Court is deciding whether Tom and other employer across our country can exercise their religious freedom in their businesses. “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)
Sincerely, North Carolina Values Coalition
|
|
