Friend,







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.  <[link removed]>



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! <[link removed]>



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1. NC VALUES: 🎓 Are you part of the 2 percent?





Did you know that in the average school board election, only 2% of adult voters choose the winning candidate?



That’s right! Just a few votes can determine the outcome of important elections that affect our everyday lives. That’s why it is crucial to be involved in local elections. And now more than ever, we are reminded of the importance of electing good candidates to local school boards across the state.



As you prepare to vote in the May primaries, we have rounded up a list of school board candidates that have been involved in our efforts to protect parental rights. All of these candidates have either attended our Schoolboard Bootcamp Training in February, our Mama Bear Workshop in April, or have been connected with our training about harmful school indoctrination in some way.



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2. NEWS & OBSERVER: How abortion rights groups and opponents in NC are preparing for Roe’s possible demise



"Tami Fitzgerald, the founder and executive director of the socially conservative N.C. Values Coalition, said if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, her organization would try to find consensus for the 'strongest possible protections for both the unborn child and its mother'



'The exciting opportunity in front of us is that, if the draft opinion holds, the outcome is that the North Carolina people will be able to decide the issue of abortion through their elected officials in the General Assembly,' Fitzgerald said in an interview. 'Roe puts un-elected judges in charge of abortion policy, and we believe that abortion laws should be debated and decided by the people of North Carolina.'”































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3. POLITICO: Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows





"The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO."



Per the alleged initial draft majority opinion: "Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”































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4. THE DAILY SIGNAL: ‘You Can’t Get a Tattoo If You’re 12’: DeSantis Supports Ban on Child Sex-Change Operations





"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would support banning child sex-change operations in Florida in a Monday podcast interview on “The Truth With Lisa Boothe.”



DeSantis, a Republican, said it was unhealthy to let children permanently alter their bodies through operations such as mastectomies and castration, and that there appeared to be an organized effort to push children into these extreme forms of medical intervention. He said he would support a bill banning those procedures for children."



































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5. THE DAILY SIGNAL: Unanimous Supreme Court Flies Flag for Free Speech in Case Against City of Boston





"In a rare unanimous ruling on Monday, the Supreme Court secured a major victory for free speech.



In the opinion in Shurtleff v. Boston, authored by retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, the court ruled that the city of Boston violated the Constitution when it prohibited a group from flying a Christian flag on a flagpole it had held open to other groups and their flags.



The court determined that simply by permitting private groups to fly their flags on the City Hall flagpole, the city was not endorsing any message behind those flags and that, therefore, the flag and what it represents did not constitute government speech."



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WEEKLY PRAYER: LIFE



LORD, we recognize that you are Sovereign over all creation. We recognize you made man from the dust, and in your mercy, you crowned creation with man and woman made in your image. What a wonder it is that you would bestow upon us this blessing and responsibility! LORD, may we not take this blessing for granted. We pray that this great responsibility and dignity may motivate us to love You, our neighbors, and our families more.



LORD, may we as a culture truly see and believe that children are a blessing from the LORD—born or unborn; able or disabled. All children should have an opportunity to experience the liberty of life. LORD, make us your vehicle to change our culture into one that cherishes and protects life. Keep at the forefront of our minds our responsibilities to respect, cherish, and serve the youngest and oldest in our society.



Finally, LORD, we pray even further for our children. Across our state, country, and world, an entire generation of youth have seen their lives and education ruptured by the pandemic and its closing of schools. Father, as a result so many of these children are not only wounded by the quality of their education, but by a likely onslaught of mental illness brought about by social isolation. LORD, bring them hope and healing as only You can. 



"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.'" (Matthew 18:1-6)



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. <[link removed]>





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Sincerely,



North Carolina Values Coalition



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NC Values Coalition - 9650 Strickland Rd, Suite 103-226, Raleigh, NC 27615-1902, United States

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