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.
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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!
2. NC VALUES: Rep. Dean Arp is our 2021
Legislator of the Year
As we find ourselves in the middle of November, the anticipated
approach of Thanksgiving provides a seasonal invitation to take
inventory of that which we—as individuals and an organization—are
grateful for. During this month of thanksgivings, we wanted to share
with you an individual who we are especially blessed to serve
alongside.
At this year's earlier Celebration of Carolina
Values event, we got to publicly thank one legislator in particular
for his exceptional dedication to advancing NC Values this past
year.
Representative Dean Arp (R-Union) was awarded our
“Legislator of the Year” award, for his passion for parent’s right to
know legislation and his tireless work advancing the Human Life
Nondiscrimination Act this past legislative session.
2. DAILY SIGNAL: Pro-Life Group Begs
Lawmakers to Block Biden Administration From Stealthily Easing Access
to ‘Death by Mail’ Abortion Drugs
"A major pro-life group is asking lawmakers to stop President Joe
Biden’s administration from stealthily easing Food and Drug
Administration regulations on abortion pills.
In a letter first
obtained by The Daily Signal, Students for Life Action President
Kristan Hawkins wrote that 'an abortion crisis is developing in
America through a radical shift in policy in the works that will
create a reckless death-by-mail, online, chemical abortion pill
market.'
3. NORTH STATE
JOURNAL: Legislator’s ‘equity coaching’ organization involved in Wake
County schools’ Critical Race Theory course
"An 'equity coaching' organization
co-founded by a North Carolina state representative was scheduled to
offer professional development training on the controversial Critical
Race Theory to Wake County Public School teachers and
staff.
The course, which was titled “Intro to Critical Race
Theory,” was to be conducted by a member of the Equity Collaborative,
an organization co-founded and run by state Rep. Graig Meyer
(D-Orange)."
4. N&O: NC birth certificate
law discriminates against transgender people, federal lawsuit
says
"A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday says North Carolina law prevents
some transgender people from changing their birth certificate to
reflect the gender that they identify as. State law says individuals
can legally change their gender on a birth certificate only if they
have undergone sex reassignment surgery. The lawsuit says that’s
unconstitutional and discriminatory. Represented in the litigation is
a transgender woman and two plaintiffs who are transgender minors
represented by their parents. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina by Lambda
Legal, a national law firm specializing in LGBTQ issues."
5. THE CHRISTIAN POST: Christian
Florist agrees to pay $5K to end lawsuit over refusal to serve gay
wedding
"A Christian florist has agreed to pay $5,000 to end a yearslong
legal battle centered on her refusal to provide floral arrangements
for a same-sex wedding ceremony. She has also announced that she will
retire so that her flower shop can be run by her employees.
Barronelle Stutzman of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington,
was sued by Rob Ingersoll, a man she had done business with in the
past, because she refused to provide a floral arrangement for his
same-sex wedding in 2013.
Stutzman was represented by the conservative legal nonprofit
Alliance Defending Freedom, while Ingersoll was represented by the
progressive group the American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU argued that
Stutzman’s refusal was a violation of state discrimination law. The
florist suffered legal defeats in lower courts before her appeal to
the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected earlier this year.
A settlement has been reached in the legal case that allows
Stutzman to avoid having to pay crippling fines and legal fees."
 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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