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: 2022 NCGOP
Convention Pro-Life Petition
"The U.S. Supreme Court draft
opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Woman’s Health gave the
pro-life community a glimpse of hope — a moment we have been praying
for since Roe v. Wade was decided 49 years ago. If
Roe and Casey are overturned, as the draft opinion
indicates, abortion policy will return to the states to decide. I
hereby urge our leaders to enact the strongest protections possible
for unborn children and women in North Carolina."
If
you agree, add your name to this petition. To learn more
about this issue, check out our recent op-ed in the News
& Observer.
2. NEWS & OBSERVER: Roe v.
Wade draft is a glimpse of hope
"We agree with Justice Samuel Alito that the
Fourteenth Amendment never contemplated a right to abortion which was
fabricated by the Court. As the draft states, 'three quarters of the
States made abortion a crime at all stages in pregnancy' when the
Fourteenth Amendment was adopted. After 49 years, there appears to be
a majority on the court that recognizes abortion is 'fundamentally
different,' because it destroys fetal life — an unborn human being.
Alito stated in the draft: 'Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.
Its reasoning was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging
consequences . . . Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened
division. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of
abortion to the people’s elected representatives.' And that’s what
this opinion would do — not outlaw abortion, but give power to the
states."
3. CNN: Fights over school boards
share ballot with North Carolina's Senate primary
“What we’ve seen this year are parents stepping up to run for
school boards because they realize that if they don’t, schools will
continue the indoctrination of their children,” said Tami Fitzgerald,
North Carolina Values Coalition’s executive director.
4. MSN: Eighth graders using the
wrong pronouns is now considered sexual harassment
"The insanity of transgender ideology doesn’t stop
with encouraging children to undergo damaging, irreversible procedures
that involve mutilating or poisoning their bodies. Now, children who
don’t butcher the English language at the behest of gender-dysphoric
students must be investigated for sexual harassment.
This is
playing out in Kiel, Wisconsin, where the school district has filed a
Title IX complaint against three eighth graders. Their high crime was
their failure to use grammatically incorrect plural pronouns
“they/them” to refer to a single student. This even though school
officials apparently have failed to do the same, according to the
attorneys representing the students."
5. NEWS & OBSERVER: Why NC
Republicans aren’t planning to immediately try banning abortion
"Republican legislators in North Carolina are not necessarily
clamoring to quickly join other GOP-led states in fully outlawing
abortion — even with the Supreme Court expected to overturn Roe v.
Wade in the coming weeks and allow states to set stricter abortion
rules than in the past. Wednesday was the first day of the 2022
legislative session, which may only last a month or two, and N.C.
House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters his main focus is going to be
on the budget. Any attempts at passing further restrictions on
abortion, he said, likely won’t happen until next year. In part that’s
because Republicans assume anything they try passing now would
fail."
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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