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.

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1.FOX NEWS: Department of Education Significantly Dismantled in New Trump Executive Order

“Trump has frequently discussed plans to eliminate the Department of Education dating back to the campaign trail and said in September 2024 he wanted to cut down on the federal government’s influence over education to ‘stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth.’

‘Everybody knows it’s right, and we have to get our children educated,’ Trump said Thursday. ‘We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t for a long time.’

A White House fact sheet said the order would direct Secretary Linda McMahon ‘to take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure (of) the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.'”

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/department-education-significantly-dismantled-new-trump-executive-order

2. NC VALUES INSTITUTE: Mahmoud v.Taylor Amicus Brief

Our c3 sister organization, the NC Values Institute, has submitted another amicus brief in a major pro-parental rights, pro-religious freedom Supreme Court case.

This amicus brief argues that parents have a fundamental right to control their children’s education, including deciding what religious and moral teachings they receive. The case arose after a Maryland school board introduced LGBTQ-inclusive books into the curriculum without allowing parents to opt out. The brief claims that this policy violates parents’ religious freedoms by forcing their children to be exposed to lessons that conflict with their faith. It argues that parental rights are deeply rooted in U.S. history and legal precedent, and that schools should not override parents’ authority on sensitive issues like gender and sexuality.

The brief also asserts that the school board is effectively pushing a “religious orthodoxy” by promoting one viewpoint while disregarding others. It argues that denying opt-outs places an unfair burden on religious parents, forcing them to choose between violating their beliefs or pulling their children from public school—an option that may not be financially feasible. The brief claims this is a form of indirect coercion, as parents should not have to sacrifice their children’s education to maintain their religious values. Ultimately, it urges the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court ruling and protect parents’ rights to direct their children’s upbringing.

Read the brief yourself: https://ncvi.org/mahmoud-v-taylor-amicus-brief/

3. FOX NEWS: Lia Thomas Former Teammates React to UPenn Federal Funding Pause Amid Trump’s Vow to Enforce Title IX

“President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up its crackdown on trans athlete inclusion in women’s sports, and many women impacted by the issue are speaking out in support.

After the administration paused $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania over its inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, which FOX Business exclusively reported Wednesday, many of the women who had to compete alongside former transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas have spoken out in celebration of the funding pause.”

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/lia-thomas-former-teammates-react-upenn-federal-funding-pause-amid-trumps-vow-enforce-title-ix

4. WRAL: NC House Bill Would Criminalize Using Public Money for DEI

“Some North Carolina lawmakers want to go beyond just banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state and local government. A bill that passed a key House committee Tuesday would make it a criminal offense to use public funds to give preferential treatment to any group.”

Read more: https://www.wral.com/story/nc-house-bill-would-criminalize-using-public-money-for-dei/21917143/

5. DAILY SIGNAL: Payton McNabb: Women’s Sports, Delta Zeta & the Cost of Truth

“The incident left her with a serious concussion, permanently ending her dreams of playing collegiate sports.

So, when McNabb encountered a man in her college restroom in the spring of 2024, she pulled out her phone, hit record, and ask him what he was doing in the women’s facility. McNabb shared the video on social media, and it quickly gained the attention of a wide audience, including her sorority, Delta Zeta.

After meeting with Delta Zeta leadership, McNabb was told she violated the sorority’s “anti-bullying policy” and was kicked out of the sorority.”

Read more: https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/03/19/cost-truth-payton-mcnabb-her-own-words/

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

Sincerely,

Tami & Team

NC Values