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. THIS WEEK IN THE TRIANGLE: Satanic drag “nuns” ride in Cary Christmas parade
A Cary Christmas “parade came under criticism this week, as community members discovered Pride of Cary would be featuring the president of Smokin’ Cardinal Sisters, Bryan, on their parade float. Bryan, who goes by ‘Bea Yourself’, was previously honored by Cary Pride with a ‘Unicorn Award’.
A petition started yesterday calling for the ‘controversial’ group to be removed from the parade lineup had nearly 1500 signatures as of the publication of this article. The inclusion of the ‘sisters’ in the event was discussed on the Steve Noble yesterday, with NC Values Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald calling on listeners to contact the parade organizers, the Cary Jaycees, with their concerns.”
Read more: https://www.thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/drag-nuns-ride-in-cary-christmas
Also check out our story here.
2. OP-ED, NC VALUES’ MARY SUMMA: Some NC school districts resist implementing Parents Bill of Rights
Across the state, county by county, school boards are grappling with how to comply with the new Parents’ Bill of Rights, SB49. The Parents’ Bill of Rights was passed to spell out all of the rights parents have with regard to schools and healthcare decision-making. It also contains provisions to stop the indoctrination of young children with LGBTQ ideology by schools and to stop schools from keeping important medical information from parents, like a child’s desire to transition to another gender.
Some boards have complied. Others are trying hard but haven’t reached the goal yet. Still others are simply defiant.
Read more: https://ncvalues.org/op-ed-some-nc-school-districts-resist-implementing-parents-bill-of-rights/
3. FILED: John and Jane Parents 1 v. Montgomery County Board of Education Amicus Brief
Our sister 501(c)(3) organization, the Institute for Faith and Family (IFFNC.com), filed an important pro-family and pro-parental rights amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court’s John and Jane Parents 1 v. Montgomery County Board of Education case.
The case itself involves “Gender Identity” Guidelines issued by the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland, which contains a “Parental Exclusion Policy” that gives school staff and students total control over a child’s gender identity and pronoun decisions. The amicus brief argues that “Pronouns are an integral part of everyday speech based on objective biological reality and often coupled with the belief that each person is created immutably male or female. This aspect of speech touches a matter of public concern. Parents, students, and school personnel do not sacrifice their constitutional rights as a condition of participating in public education.”
Read more: https://ncvalues.org/john-and-jane-parents-1-v-montgomery-county-board-of-education-amicus-brief/
IFF also recently filed amicus briefs in the Kirkland vs. Kreidler case, and the State of Idaho vs. The United States of America case
4. THE NEW AMERICAN: North Carolina County Passes Pro-family Policies, Meets Resistance from LGBT Groups
“On December 7 the Buncombe County Board of Education passed several new policies to bring the district more in line with North Carolina’s new ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights.’ LGBT advocates were on hand to voice their displeasure with the new measures and with the Tarheel State’s new law.
Passed in August of this year, the ‘Parents Bill of Rights’ survived a veto from Governor Roy Cooper (D). Cooper had referred to the bill, as well as the ‘Fairness in Women’s Sports Act’ and the ‘Gender Transition/Minors,’ which he also vetoed, as ‘a triple threat of political culture wars using government to invade the rights and responsibilities of parents and doctors.’
In reality, the law is meant to ‘enumerate the rights of parents to direct the upbringing, education, health care and mental health of their children.'”
Here’s an example from Durham Public Schools.
As you’re well aware, we worked hard on all three of these bills (both getting them passed, and getting the vetoes overwritten). However, what you may not know is we are also working very hard behind the scenes getting them implemented (including conversing with school boards like Buncombe about the law).
5. DAILY SIGNAL: Abortion pill case at supreme court could curb agencies
On Wed., Dec. 13, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a case out of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In that case, Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, the plaintiffs challenged FDA regulations in 2016 and 2021 which weakened the requirements under which the chemical abortion drug, mifepristone, could be administered. The 5th Circuit enjoined the dispensing of mifepristone due to FDA’s lack of evidence showing continued safety for women with these changes. Danco, the pharmaceutical company producing the drug, requested the review.
To read more of our analysis of the case, click here. To learn more about the story, check out this article by the Daily Signal.
WEEKLY PRAYER: FREEDOM
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
Tami & Team
NC Values
