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!
1. COLSON CENTER: Barronelle Stutzman’s
Long Obedience and the Failure of the Court
"[Last] Friday, in an act of what can only be described as
dereliction, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear
the case of Arlene’s Flowers, Inc. vs. Washington. In refusing to hear
this case, the Court has failed to bring clarity to a situation it
ultimately created.
Despite the utopian thinking
of Justice Anthony Kennedy in the Obergefell vs. Hodges decision,
legalizing same-sex marriage has led to a crisis of religious liberty.
Barronelle Stutzman is the definitive answer to the question, 'How
will my gay marriage affect you?'"
2. NC VALUES: The US
Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to
Barronelle
Barronelle appealed to the US Supreme
Court, which vacated the Washington Supreme Court's decision with
instructions for the Court to decide her case in accordance with Jack
Phillips' Masterpiece Cakes case, where the US Supreme Court ruled the
state could not display animus towards a business owner's religious
beliefs.
However, the Washington Supreme Court cut and
pasted its original decision against Barronelle into a new decision,
defying SCOTUS. It is that defiant and unconstitutional ruling that
SCOTUS refused to rectify.
It is
painful and
heartbreaking that
SCOTUS refused to take Barronelle's case
and administer true justice in this case. Now, Barronelle and her
husband Darold could lose everything they have worked for all of their
lives-their business, their home, their retirement, and all their
possessions-just to pay the ACLU's attorney's fees.
3. FOX NEWS: San Francisco Gay
Men's Choir faces backlash for 'we're coming for your children'
video
"'We’ll convert your children. Happens bit by bit. Quietly and
subtly. And you will barely notice it. You can keep them from disco.
Warn about San Francisco. Make ’em wear pleated pants. We don’t care.
We’ll convert your children. We’ll make them tolerant and fair.'
Later, the lyrics continue: 'We’ll convert your
children. Someone’s gotta teach them not to hate. We’re
coming for them. We’re coming for your children. We’re coming for
them. We’re coming for them. We’re coming for your children.'
'Your children will care about,' the choir adds,
'fairness and justice for others. Your children will work to convert
all their sisters and brothers. Then soon we’re almost certain, your
kids will start converting you!'
'The gay agenda is
coming home. The gay agenda is here! But you don't have to worry
because there's nothing wrong with standing by our side.'"
4. THE FEDERALIST: "I Shouldn’t
Be Forced Into Politics To Play College Sports"
"By the next game, while running out of the tunnel 10 of my 13
Davidson College teammates and all four of my coaches were wearing
T-shirts with 'Black Lives Matter' bannered across the front. When the
national anthem played and with our U.S. Army veteran team doctor
behind us, most of my team dropped to one knee in protest of America’s
'institutional racism.'
The virtue signaling was clear: those
wearing the T-shirt and those on their knees supported basic human
rights, and the rest of us simply did not.
Political messaging
in sports isn’t new, but the grip and scale this possesses over sports
is. Administrators providing collegiate athletes the platform to speak
out on important issues has transformed athletics into a system of
coercive speech. Today, athletes and coaches with fashionable views
are pressuring their programs into mirroring their beliefs and being
applauded by the media and universities for doing it. But is anyone
stopping for a moment to question whether the players protesting
really want to be?"
5. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Local
school leaders balk at controversial social studies
standards
"At least one local board of education has voted to
delay controversial new social studies standards that emphasize race
and gender in teaching U.S. history and civics. The Moore County Board
of Education voted unanimously June 14 to adopt a resolution, urging
the N.C. State Board of Education or lawmakers to delay implementation
of the new standards until the 2022-23 school year. If either body
fails to act, the board reserved the right to delay implementation
unilaterally."
 WEEKLY PRAYER: LIBERTY
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.
Sincerely,
North Carolina Values Coalition
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