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 thepublic square!
1. NC VALUES: The iVoterGuide is
Out!
We're excited to announce to you the
launch of the 2022 primary election's iVoterGuide. As in years past,
we have partnered with iVoterGuide, which produces a digital tool
assessing over 12,000 candidates, and reaching 8 million voters in 35
states.
For the first time in North Carolina,
school board candidates in select counties will be included in the
ratings.
With today marking the last day to
register to vote, and the start of early voting on April 28th right
around the corner, we encourage you to check out the
iVoterGuide and lookup your primary ballot.
You can also find access to the
iVoterGuide on our NC
Values Voter Toolkit. Our toolkit is designed to equip you
to vote your values by organizing a number of important voter
educational tools in one location (ncvalues.org/vote). It
includes important election dates and information; our 2022
Legislative Scorecard; our 2022 Endorsements, and more. We've also
included some QR-coded palm cards, share sheets, and bulletin
inserts that you can print out and share with your church
and neighbors.
2. LIFE NEWS: Republicans in 11
States Promote Bills to Stop Schools From Pushing Sex on Kids
"Lawmakers in eleven states are considering bills that would
limit school lessons on sex and gender for certain age groups,
restrict books with sexual themes, require sex education to emphasize
biological sex rather than gender identity and crack down on gender
and sexuality-related trainings for children."
3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: Parents’ Bill
of Rights proposed for NC families in K-12 education
“A new Parents’ Bill of Rights out this week is intended to
protect the right of parents to direct their children’s education and
protect their safety in the classroom. The document is a framework for
legislation, proposed by the John Locke Foundation, that would codify
parental rights’ in state statutes. It lands as a sizable majority of
North Carolinians report dissatisfaction with schools — 66% of likely
voters say K-12 public education is headed in the wrong
direction.”
4. NC POLITICAL NEWS: Treasurer
Folwell says state benefiting from legislature's low tax, disciplined
spending policies
"'This is tremendous news for North Carolina. I
applaud the General Assembly leadership and members who have been
instrumental in a decade-long mission to steer the state onto a path
of much-needed reform based on disciplined tax and spending policies.
At a time when there is widespread economic pessimism and concern,
North Carolina residents can take heart that we have created a
powerful economic engine with prospects for future sustainability
rated second best in the nation. From a financial perspective, NC
stands for Nothing Compares,' said State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell,
CPA."
5. FOX NEWS: Libs of TikTok oust
campaign was designed to shut down a highly effective Twitter
feed
"So, Libs of TikTok not only found all kinds of tape on the
internet, but they found a bunch of selfie-style videos from the
publicly available social media accounts of teachers. They didn't
snoop. They just put what people already posted. Here's some of what
they found, which you can see on the video here:
'TEACHER: Hi, my name is -- and I'm a preschool teacher. Recently,
we started wearing pronoun pins and the kids get to pick a new pronoun
pin every day. We have something that pick she/her every single day
and we have some that change it up.
TEACHER: So, I'm a non-binary preschool teacher and my kids know
I’m non-binary. They know I'm not a girl or a boy. I use they/them
pronouns in the classroom. We work on it. Not all kids get it. That's
OK and I go by Mx Gray in the classroom, not Miss or Mister.
TEACHER: Man, y'all thought me teaching the children about me being
poly was crazy, but not only that, but they also know that I'm
gender-fluid.'"
This is why we do the Mama Bear Workshops, School Board Bootcamps,
evaluate school board candidates for our Voters Guide, and sponsor the
Parents Right to Know bill.
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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