Ex. Dir. urges friends of the League to pray for justice tempered with grace and mercy
Christian Action League
December 12, 2013
RALEIGH – This week, State Representative Deb McManus (D-Chatham, Lee), a first term legislator, resigned her seat in the House of the North Carolina General Assembly. McManus’ resignation follows her arrest and indictment on felony tax charges.
According to the Raleigh News and Observer, McManus “was charged with three counts of embezzlement of state money related to more than $47,000 in state individual income tax withheld between January 2011 and July of this year at her husband’s medical office, Carolina Family Practice in Siler City.”
A press release from the North Carolina Department of Revenue states she appeared before a Wake County magistrate and was placed under a $150,000 bond.
McManus’ short resignation letter to Speaker Thom Tillis stated:
“It is with deep sadness that I have decided to resign from the House of Representatives effective today in order to focus on a personal matter that has arisen. It has been one of the greatest honors and pleasures of my life to have served the people of the 54 District, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish. I will remain forever grateful for the opportunity to serve and for the support I have received throughout my service.”
The Raleigh News and Observer also reported that North Carolina Republican Party Chairman, Claude Pope said, “During the last two elections, North Carolinians have sent a clear message that they will not accept the corruption, abuse of power, and hypocrisy of Democrats any longer…There is an emerging trend of prominent Democrat leaders who repeatedly demand that hardworking North Carolinians pay more taxes while they themselves break the law to avoid paying their fair share.”
“I am a Republican,” said Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “I don’t think such matters are a partisan problem, but a human one. Moreover, in this great country we must assume a person is innocent until proven guilty.”
Rev. Creech went on to point out that in July of 2012, the Vice Chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, a Republican, former Rep. Stephen LaRoque (R-Lenoir, Greene, Wayne), resigned his seat in the North Carolina House after being indicted for misusing federal funds given to non-profits he operated. LaRoque was later convicted of 10 counts related to loan fraud and currently awaiting a new trial on two offenses.
“There is no wrong in pointing out evil, injustice, and sin when it’s plain and clear. Nevertheless, whether we’re Democrat or Republican, whatever the case, our proclivity as human beings, as sinners, is always to think the other fellow’s manure stinks worse than our own. Politics today could use less rhetoric and more understanding,” said Rev. Creech.
The Christian Action League, he added, had very little in common with McManus’s political philosophy. “Still, I urge those who follow and look to our ministry for direction on the social issues of our time to pray for McManus and her family,” he said. “Pray that justice will be secured and always tempered with God’s grace and mercy.”
