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: 🏛 U.S. Supreme
Court win for life in Dobbs case and repeal of Roe v.
Wade
Today is a major victory for unborn children and their
mothers.
It is a day we have long prayed and worked for:
Roe v. Wade is officially overturned. Let
the magnitude of this moment sink in.
Praise the LORD!
Lives are now being protected in Mississippi and in other
states around the country as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision.
In North Carolina, our work is only beginning.
2. NC VALUES: 🏛 U.S. Supreme
Court win for parents in school choice and religious liberty
case
On Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court issued a big win for parents,
for school choice, and for religious freedom.
The State of
Maine offers a tuition assistance program to parents who live in a
remote part of the state in school districts that are too small to
have a high school. Under that program, parents designate the high
school they would like their child to attend, and the school district
transmits payments to that school to help defray the costs of tuition.
Maine has limited tuition assistance payments to “nonsectarian”
schools. Parents who sought tuition assistance to send their children
to two different Christian schools sued the State of Maine because the
ban on religious schools violated the Free Exercise clause and the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The lower courts ruled
against the parents.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the lower
courts and agreed with parents.
Our sister organization, the Institute for Faith & Family
filed an Amicus Brief in the Carson v. Makin case
last September, because we understood that a ruling for religious
freedom and school choice in the Maine case would have an impact on
North Carolina’s school choice programs.
3. WWNY7: 🏛 U.S. Supreme Court
win for NC Republican lawmakers in voter ID case
“The Supreme Court gave Republican legislative leaders in North
Carolina a win Thursday in an ongoing fight over the state’s latest
photo identification voting law.
The 8-1
decision doesn’t end the more than three-year dispute over
the voter ID law, which is not currently in effect and has been
challenged in both state and federal court. The decision just means
that Republican legislative leaders can intervene in the federal
lawsuit to defend the law. A lower court had ruled the lawmakers’
interests were already being adequately represented by the state’s
attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein.
Justice Neil Gorsuch
wrote that: ‘Through the General Assembly, the people of North
Carolina have authorized the leaders of their legislature to defend
duly enacted state statutes against constitutional challenge.
Ordinarily, a federal court must respect that kind of sovereign
choice, not assemble presumptions against it.’”
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4. CAROLINA JOURNAL:
Public support for a Parents’ Bill of Rights remains
strong
“A new poll from WRAL/SurveyUSA shows that 58% of
North Carolina adults support legislation that would ban
instruction in sexual orientation or gender identity issues for
students in kindergarten through third grade, with 45% strongly in
favor. That provision is one of several contained in House Bill 755.
A recent Civitas poll put support for the Parents’ Bill of
Rights as a whole at 57%, with 24% opposed.
Republicans say
the bill is needed to protect children and ensure that parents know
what their kids are being taught in public schools. Democrats, on the
other hand, say the bill would discriminate against LBGTQ youth.
H.B. 755 only prohibits K-3 curriculum from containing
instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity issues and still
provides leeway for discussions if the topics come up
naturally.”
5. NATIONAL REVIEW: The
Fall of the Wall around Religious Education
“If the past two years have taught us anything as a society,
it is that American schoolchildren should not be held hostage by a
public-education monopoly that is unable to keep schools open, safe,
competent, or free of indoctrination in left-wing fads and
anti-American lies. Many of the parents voting with their feet to take
their children out of public schools have an additional urgent
interest on their minds: They want their children schooled in their
faith, and in the values informed by their faith.”
 WEEKLY PRAYER: SUPREME COURT OFFICIALS
LORD, we worship a mighty God who has the power to change
hearts and minds. We lean on you as we continue to fight for the
values we hold dear. Give our leaders Your wisdom—and courage to live
it out. Give your wisdom to the leaders of our towns, cities,
counties, states, and country.
LORD, we pray for the safety of our Supreme Court’s justices.
We pray for their protection against those who would do them harm for
worldly gain. We pray for the justices courage, conviction, and
decisions.
LORD, our joy at the repeal of Roe is beyond words.
How much of our lives have been spent laboring for this day? You are
good to us, LORD. You are good, and worthy of all our
praise.
Thank you.
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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