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. NC VALUES: Meet Jaden, our volunteer
of the year
This young lady is one of the strongest I have met, even at the
age of 13. She’s homeschooled, and enjoys swimming, drawing, listening
to Christian music, and writing to her penpal. Her mother also just
recently started teaching her the piano. Her father described her like
this:
“She’s a gift from God to open our eyes, to
help us see humanity, and to help all of us know that God has a
purpose for everyone.”
Our volunteer of the year is Jaden Ng.
2. FOX NEWS: Supreme Court lets
challenge to Texas abortion law proceed, allows law to remain in
effect
"The Supreme Court Friday morning ruled that a lawsuit by abortion
providers against Texas over its abortion law may proceed, despite
arguments by Texas that the way the law was written made it so that
parties could not sue against the law until it was enforced.
'The Court concludes that the petitioners may pursue a
pre-enforcement challenge against certain of the named defendants but
not others,' the court, led by Justice Neil Gorsuch, said.
The court also let the law remain in effect pending the legal
challenges. The ruling is procedural and will not be the final word on
the law's constitutionality."
3. DAILY SIGNAL: Supreme Court Ponders
Whether Parents May Use Tuition Aid for Religious Instruction
"However, the Supreme Court left open the question of whether a
state could exclude families and schools from funding based on the
religious use to which a student’s aid might be put at a school.
In other words, does it violate the Constitution to prohibit
students who participate in educational aid programs from using that
aid to attend a religious school?
That question formed the crux of oral arguments Wednesday in Carson
v. Makin, a lawsuit brought by Maine parents who were prevented from
using available state tuition assistance to send their children to
private Christian schools."
4. PAUL 'SKIP' STAM: What You
Need to Know About North Carolina Abortion Law
“For 49 years, since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe
v Wade, it has been legal in North Carolina for a doctor to abort the
child of a consenting mother, up to birth, for almost any reason. A
statute limiting abortions after five months had exceptions so broad
that this limitation was disregarded and has currently been enjoined
by a federal district court. The practical limitation on third
trimester abortion is that I am not aware of facilities here that
actually commit abortions past six months. In those cases, North
Carolina mothers are referred to out-of-state hospitals, primarily to
Washington DC or Maryland.
There is only one
reason that can render an abortion illegal – if the purpose is to
select or deselect the sex of the child. If a mother wants a boy or
wants a girl and is naïve enough to tell the abortionist that she
wants to abort her child if the sex is different from what she wants,
then it is illegal. Governor Cooper vetoed HB453 that would prohibit
abortion where the mother is seeking the abortion because of the race
of the child or because the child has been diagnosed with Down
Syndrome.
Some limitations have been in place over
the last 5 to 25 years and, as a result, we have reduced abortion
rates about 25% from the peak rate. What are the limitations?"
5. BREITBART: Alito Raises
Critical Race Theory in Supreme Court Argument over
Maine
“Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito raised the issue of
Critical Race Theory during oral arguments in the case of Carson v.
Makin, which tests a Maine law that provides subsidies for parents to
send children to school, except 'sectarian' schools.”
 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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