By Hunter Hines
Christian Action League
December 18, 2015
RALEIGH – Tuesday, the Christian Action League, sent out an Urgent Christian Action Alert, calling upon its supporters to call the offices of U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R) and Thom Tillis. Sources had informed the League that Senator Lindsey Graham (R) of South Carolina had introduced language in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that would grease the skids for a Catawba Indian Nation Casino to locate in Kings Mountain.
The League is delighted to report that according to the office of U.S. Senator Richard Burr, any effort by Congress that would pave the way for the Catawba Indian Tribe to locate a Casino in North Carolina has been prevented.
For more than two years the Catawba Tribe, which is actually based in York County, South Carolina has been trying to convince the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to take a parcel of land (located just outside of Kings Mountain) into trust on their behalf. If they were to succeed in getting the Bureau to grant their request, a major hurdle would be cleared in allowing them to erect a 220,000 square foot Las Vegas-style gambling casino along the I-85 corridor, just west of Charlotte.
Since the Catawba Indian Nation has been unsuccessful in their efforts to locate a casino in South Carolina, it’s approximately 2800 members have looked northward to the Tar Heel state. The proposal to locate in Kings Mountain, however, has been met with considerable resistance on both the state and local levels.
Governor Pat McCrory (R), N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin (D), principal leaders in the North Carolina Senate and over 100 members of the North Carolina House, are on the record for expressing their opposition.
The North Carolina Family Policy Council has written a position paper on the initiative titled, “Off the Reservation.” They essentially argue that because the Tribe’s lands are located in South Carolina, “any property placed in trust for the benefit of the Tribe is necessarily subject to the laws of South Carolina, including the state’s ‘civil, criminal, and regulatory jurisdiction,’ gambling laws, real property taxes, local building codes, etc. If the Kings Mountain site were placed into trust, as the Tribe argues it should be, such North Carolina land would correspondingly fall under the jurisdiction of another State, resulting in a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.”
The people of Kings Mountain have also made it clear that they are opposed to casino gambling. During the last election in Kings Mountain, the city ousted its long-standing Mayor, Rick Murphrey, who was staunchly pro-casino. Scott Neisler, Murphrey’s opponent, who was much more responsive to people in the community that were anti-casino, won by a 52% to 40% margin.
The Christian Action League has worked diligently along with concerned citizens connected to the Kings Mountain Awareness Group (KMAG) and StopCatawbaCasino.com to build a coalition of opposition to the Casino proposal. Adam Forcade, who spearheaded that movement, is a member of the Christian Action League’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said, “I know that many of the League’s supporters contacted the offices of Senators Burr and Tillis on this matter. Apparently, those contacts have been heard. Concerned citizen Christians from across our state are determined not to be silent in the face of the insidious nature and progression of gambling.”
He added, “An emphasis on luck and chance is a philosophy that defies the sovereignty of God. Faith in luck and faith in God are mutually exclusive. It is a form of pagan superstition that God hates. This world is not a place of undefined chaos. When gambling, a person is only chasing fantasies, recklessly using what God has graciously given, and feeding the mother of all sins – covetousness. That’s not good for the individual, that’s not good for the family, and that’s not good for this state.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.