CAL’s Executive Director asks you to take steps to help protect traditional marriage
By Dr. Mark Creech
Executive Director
Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
Dearest Friend of the Christian Action League,
For more than eight years, the Christian Action League supported the introduction of legislation for a Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) to our state’s Constitution that would define marriage as one man and one woman. After the election of 2010 and the the leadership changed in the North Carolina General Assembly, legislation for a constitutional amendment was finally heard and passed with three quarters of lawmakers in both chambers voting for it. Then there were our indispensable campaign efforts to get the measure passed at the ballot box, which garnered a victory of 61% to 39% in May of 2012.
But the fight to protect our state’s MPA is a constant challenge.
You may have already heard that our neighbor to the north, Virginia, which in 2006 approved its own MPA, had its amendment overturned recently by a federal activist judge. U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen stayed her decision while an appeal is pending to the 4 Circuit Court of Appeals. Nevertheless, her ruling currently represents the first major advancement for gay marriage in the South.
Judge Allen’s ruling was outrageous — imposing a right to same-sex marriage onto the nation’s Constitution! But unfortunately, one of the outcomes of President Obama being elected twice has been his power to appoint judges and change the composition of the courts. The Associated Press recently reported:
“Just over 60 percent of appellate judges were Republican appointees when Obama took office in January 2009, according to Brookings Institution scholar Russell Wheeler. Just over five years later, Democratic appointees hold more than half the seats on the appellate courts – a transformation magnified by majority Democrats who changed Senate rules last year to make it harder for the minority party to block the president’s nominees.”
The AP article rightly adds that a judge’s party affiliation is not necessarily a “predictor” of how he or she will rule on a matter like redefining marriage. Nevertheless, I think we can safely assume that a court packed with appointees who are more likely to see the Constitution as a malleable, living document, as Obama does, is a court that presents a considerable contest. Such is the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the Virginia case is to be heard.
Moreover, North Carolina’s MPA is currently being challenged in court, although the case has yet to be heard. The ACLU has amended a federal lawsuit that was filed in 2012 on behalf of six same-sex couples demanding so-called “second-parent” adoptions, those in which an unmarried cohabiting partner of a parent adopts that person’s child. The lawsuit now includes a challenge to the state’s MPA.
North Carolina’s Attorney General (AG) has said he will defend the amendment. Yet, he gave permission for the lawsuit to be altered to include the state’s MPA. What is more, he was outspoken against the MPA during the campaign to pass it, and he was recently the key-note speaker for Equality North Carolina’s Annual Gala. Equality NC is the premiere homosexual advocacy organization in the state.
As a result of legislation that passed last year in the General Assembly, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tempore may now intervene for the state if they believe the AG is not providing a vigorous defense for the MPA. But if the federal judge hearing the case were still to rule North Carolina’s MPA unconstitutional, we would be facing the same scenario as Virginia, by having to appeal to the less than conservative 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
As you can see, this is an extremely daunting situation. And I am sharing these important matters with you for a number of critical reasons:
- I implore you to begin praying fervently that the Lord would intervene and protect his first institution – the institution of holy matrimony – the institution of marriage. The Scriptures assure us, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). There is nothing we can do more powerful than to pray. And there is nothing weaker than Christian service performed without prayer. So pray, pray, pray for marriage and pray for the efforts to protect it in court.
- I urge you to be an informed Citizen Christian by signing up for “The CAL Insider,” the Christian Action League’s weekly newsletter. “The CAL Insider” will not only keep you informed concerning the latest news to protect marriage, but when appropriate, it will also tell you how to engage and make an impact on our state’s public policy via a Christian worldview. If you have not signed up for “The CAL Insider,” please click here right now and follow a few prompts. (It will take you less than three minutes.) Once you have signed up, be sure to watch your inbox for an email with the Subject Line: “Request Confirmation.” Open the email and confirm your free subscription to “The CAL Insider.” The integrity of our email list for “The CAL Insider” is so high, it requires a double opt in. We also promise never to give our email list to any other person or group.
- Lastly, please keep in mind that your contributions to the League are what keep this ministry on the front lines for marriage. Last year was a very difficult year financially for CAL. This year we need at least 300 more people who will give a gift of $100 (totaling $30,000) to make the budget – a budget that is extremely tight already. Would you click on this link and make a secure online donation of $100 to the Christian Action League? If you can’t give $100, consider giving your best gift, maybe $25, $50, or $75.
You may prefer to send your gift via the U.S. Mail. If that’s the case, please send your contribution to:
Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.
809 Spring Forest Road
Suite 1000
Raleigh, North Carolina 27609
There is a lot at stake if marriage as one man and one woman ultimately fails to withstand the legal challenges by pro-homosexual forces. Dr. James Dobson listed the consequences a decade ago in his book, “Marriage Under Fire.”
- It will quickly destroy the traditional family.
- Children will suffer the most.
- Public schools will embrace homosexuality.
- Adoption laws will become obsolete.
- Foster care programs will be impacted dramatically.
- The health care system will stagger and perhaps collapse.
- Social Security will be severely stressed.
- Religious freedom will be jeopardized.
- Other nations will march toward homosexual marriage following our lead.
- The Gospel of Christ will be severely curtailed.
- The culture war will essentially be over.
No one really knows what the courts will ultimately do with the state MPAs. But the situation is most distressing, and we need every hand on deck. We need a greater zeal on the part of our partners, and we need new partners as well.
Stand with us, as the Christian Action League prepares to do anything and everything within its power to protect the sanctity of home life in North Carolina as God ordained it.
Look over the three things mentioned above once more and pick one, or two, or preferably all three. As Helen Keller once said, “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”
God Bless,
Dr. Mark Creech
Executive Director
Christian Action League of North Carolina, Inc.