Christian Action League Staff
Christian Action League
March 25, 2016
This week when lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly took up HB 2 – Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act – the measure to overturn Charlotte’s dangerous Bathroom and Public Accommodations Ordinance – public comment was allowed for up to two minutes from speakers pro and con on the bill.
The ordinance, pushed by groups like the Human Rights Campaign and Equality N.C., was touted as protections for the LGBT community. It allowed biological males who identified as females and biological females who identified as males to use the restroom, locker room, showers, etc., with whichever gender they identified.
What is more, the ordinance denied the right of North Carolinians to live and work in accordance with their religious beliefs without being punished by the government. It unfairly allowed the government to overreach into private businesses and churches by forcing them to promote and participate in ideas and events that conflicted with their deeply held beliefs.
Dr. Creech was slated to testify in favor of the legislation to overturn the ordinance before the House Judiciary 4 Committee, but was bumped because of time. He was later slated to speak before the Senate’s Judiciary 2 Committee. As Providence would have it, Dr. Creech’s speech in the Senate was the last public comment on the proposed legislation.
Comments from the public during committee hearings were limited to two minutes. After his speech, many would say Dr. Creech’s remarks may have been one of his finest moments. His words were short, powerful, and very succinct.
Here is what he said:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee,
My name is Rev. Mark Creech, and I am the executive director of the Christian Action League
Let me begin by saying on behalf of the League and the thousands of churches that are connected to us – thank you for holding this special session of the legislature. The matter before you, as you well know, is urgent.
There are some who will argue that by overturning Charlotte’s Bathroom and Public Accommodations Ordinance that you are discriminating and victimizing one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our state. I trust that you will neither be distracted or disheartened by such claims.
It is unfortunate that the great concepts of “tolerance” and “compassion” these days have often been twisted to play upon our emotions with unnecessary guilt. Tolerance doesn’t mean that we should accept all truth claims as valid. And compassion doesn’t require that we put our women and children in danger.
The Charlotte ordinance defies logic. It caters to the interest of a very few that embrace a purely subjective reality and then requires that the rest of us adjust our reality accordingly. That’s not tolerance or compassion – that’s absurdity.
The real victims of Charlotte’s ordinance are those who are endangered by government’s forced recognition that XX or XY genetic markers are not objective – that blue is pink and pink is blue. The real victims are private businesses and churches forced to bow the knee and cast their incense upon the alter of this new religion of gender denial and function.
You don’t need to have any reservations about upending this ordinance. By upending it you will actually be exposing its true nature, which is intolerance practiced in the name of tolerance – selfish indifference practiced in the name of compassion.
The Christian Action League of North Carolina wishes to express its appreciation for your prayers and financial contributions that make such strategic moments for righteousness possible in our state.