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.
1. CHATHAM JOURNAL: North Carolina only southern state to adopt Biden’s Title IX gender rules
“North Carolina is the only state in the south where President Joe Biden’s executive order changing the interpretation of Title IX took effect on Thursday, August 1. The gender rules rewrite expands sex-based discrimination definitions to include gender identity and sexual orientation. It opens bathroom and locker room usage at schools based on an individual’s perceived gender identity. Title IX was initially implemented in 1972 to protect individuals from sexual discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds, ensuring women sports opportunities and fairness. Pending litigation has paused the new Department of Education rules from going into effect in over half of the 50 states.”
2. DESERT REVIEW: Biden’s Title IX changes now blocked in 26 states
“On June 17, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Kentucky, who barred the Title IX update in six other states, stated ‘[t]here are only two sexes: male and female,’ and the result of inserting ‘subjective gender identity’ into the educational environment is ‘not only impossible to square with Title IX’ but also with ‘the broader protection of all students.’ Altogether, the Title IX Final Rule is blocked in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.”
3. CAROLINA JOURNAL: NC’s foster-care laws should put children first
“A simple question lurks in the halls of the North Carolina’s General Assembly. Why is it so hard to get legislation passed in this state that furthers the interests of children in foster care Child-centered legislation is moving forward in other parts of the country. Georgia requires family courts to consider written testimony by caregivers on behalf of the child. Missouri elevates the status of a foster family to “relative” if the child has resided in that home more than nine months, making it easier to adopt. Tennessee has a full-blown “Adoption Project.” Ten states now provide a lawyer, paid by federal monies, to represent the child’s best interests before a judge. Other states help children get into stable homes sooner. But not North Carolina. Why?”
4. DAILY SIGNAL: Moms Terrified by ‘Anti-Parent’ VP Pick Tim Walz
“Moms across the country say Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is the most anti-parent running mate Vice President Kamala Harris could have chosen. ‘The worst part is that Walz claims to care about kids, but his policies have done nothing but hurt kids,’ Rochester, Minnesota, mother of three Jeannine Buntrock told The Daily Signal. ‘Walz is a loyal soldier for the progressive movement, and will advance that cause, no matter the cost to Minnesotan families and children.’”
Read more: https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/08/06/moms-terrified-anti-parent-vp-pick-tim-walz/
For more on VP pick Tim Walz, check out his anti-life values here, and his anti-religious freedom values here.
5. NC VALUES: We endorse Michele Morrow for North Carolina State Superintendent
For years Michele Morrow has been involved at the legislature and in her community to improve education. A mother of five, Michele’s children have been educated in public, private and homeschool settings which gives her unique insight on how to approach problems and solutions for North Carolina public schools. Michele’s mission to take politics out of schools, create a safer environment for teachers and students, and improve test scores is exactly what North Carolina needs, not a far-left candidate who doesn’t represent the values of our state.
Read more: https://ncvalues.org/pr-nc-values-endorses-michele-morrow-for-north-carolina-state-superintendent/
Weekly Prayer: Family
LORD, we cry out to you as Father. You are a model of the love, mercy, and authority of the perfect parent. We thank you for modeling for us what every parent should strive for, and for creating this wonderful institution called family.
LORD, we thank you for creating us with a basic nature designed to not be alone. You made us to desire the intimacy of relationships, and it is here where we experience joys indescribable: the joys of marriage, the joys of having children; the joys of seeing our children have children. What a blessing and mercy you gave us in the family! In it we find our first teachers, our first guardians, and our first authorities.
LORD, we recognize how deeply you love your children, and how deeply it pains you when they go astray. Alongside our adoration and thanksgiving, we pray in confession—as individuals and as members of larger communities—over any sins we may have committed that undermine your beloved institution. Forgive us when we endanger your institution through selfishness and arrogance. Forgive our communities and nation for attempting to redefine some of the most basic and deepest parts of being human—being made male and female, having lifelong marriage vows and responsibilities, and having parental rights over educating one’s children.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:12-17)
Amen
NC Values
