House Bills Senate Bills Notable Quotes Arizona-like Immigration Bill Introduced
In the wake of failed attempts by Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, states and localities have increased their own efforts to enforce current immigration laws and to implement new programs designed to reduce immigration. Many of these efforts have created a more hostile environment toward immigrants, with people – both documented and undocumented – living in fear of harassment, arrest and possible [...]
Continue reading Arizona-like Immigration Bill Introduced: Raleigh Report, May 3, 2013
In keeping with its mission of supporting peace, unity and social justice, the Council recently has signed on to three letters involving issues being addressed at the federal level. We have spoken out for a faithful budget, for preserving low-income tax credits, and for gun violence prevention and school safety.
The call for a faithful FY 2014 budget demonstrates how federal budget choices can and must reflect America’s shared values. A prominent coalition of major [...]
Continue reading NC Council of Churches Supports National Groups to Assist the Less Fortunate
With the passage of deadlines for the introduction of most bills, there’s been a flurry of new legislation. This issue of Raleigh Report will cover some of these new bills, with others to come in the next issue. [...]
Continue reading Deadlines Pass – Raleigh Report April 22, 2013
It has been a difficult week for anyone who lives from a place of compassion. For people of faith who believe in a kind and loving God and who may recently have celebrated the resurrection of the Prince of Peace, the tragedies have seemed endless.
Horror in Boston, devastation in Texas, decisions around gun violence grounded in elections rather than protection and made blasphemously in the shadow of the sixth anniversary of the massacre at [...]
Continue reading Believing in Goodness and Mercy After a Very Hard Week
The National Council of Churches, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and others are sponsoring an Interfaith Call-in Day to ensure that the voices of faithful Americans are heard throughout the halls of Congress on April 9. You can call NC Senators Hagan and Burr at 1-888-897-0174 and urge them to act to prevent gun violence.
As the President of the Christian Conference of Connecticut wrote following the passage of historic legislation there last week, “It was [...]
Continue reading Interfaith Call-in Day to Prevent Gun Violence April 9
Next week, the United States Senate is expected to take up legislation intended to curb gun violence. Given recent mass atrocities at the hands of gunmen along with the daily loss of life by those who turn to guns as a surrogate for civil disagreement, progress on the issue should be inevitable. But it’s not.
Lobbying by groups like the NRA has been relentless and some politicians are wavering, either out of genuine conviction or fears about reelection. Faiths [...]
Continue reading U.S. Senate Expected to Take Up Gun Legislation
Gun bills that extend the availability and use of guns flood the General Assembly. [...]
Continue reading Raleigh Report-Gun Bills Flood In
The folks at North Carolinians Against Gun Violence have called House Bill 17 a “Recipe for Disaster.” That about sums it up. This is the bill that would allow anyone with a concealed carry permit for a handgun to take that weapon into eating establishments, including those serving alcohol. That’s a boost for drinkers and diners who enjoy their happy hour or all-you-can-eat-buffet more when they’re armed. It should be a huge cause of concern for the rest [...]
Continue reading Guns in Bars and Restaurants Before Subcommittee on March 20
From the Palm Sunday chapter of Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent. We’re offering this free resource to you and your congregation as we walk through the season of Lent together. Download the full PDF here.
Scripture: Matthew 21:1-11 (NRSV)
And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will [...]
Continue reading Preparing the Way: The Price of Faithfulness
If ending gun violence were easy, nightmares like Sandy Hook would never happen. Young lives would not end on urban streets in a hail of bullets. We wouldn’t need to parse the difference between automatic and semi-automatic. Just as taking away guns does not inherently make us safe from harm, we need to move beyond the lie that minimal regulation of those guns makes us any safer either. Some leaders in North Carolina seem more threatened by [...]
Continue reading National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath — March 15-17
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Attacks on Struggling North Carolinians Advance Medicaid Coverage Unemployment Insurance Earned Income Tax Credit Fracking Moratorium Gun Violence Raise the Age Refusing to Extend Medicaid Coverage
SB 4, which would deny Medicaid coverage to more than a half million North Carolinians under the Affordable Care Act and also would put the state under a federal Health Benefits Exchange, has passed both [...]
Continue reading Raleigh Report – February 25, 2013
In a recent column for the Daily Caller, Wayne LaPierre – the official spokesman for the NRA and a recent witness in Congress – urges his readers to buy more guns to protect themselves from Latinos. Without citing any sources, he launches into this fear-mongering tirade:
During the second Obama term, however, additional threats are growing. Latin American drug gangs have invaded every city of significant size in the United States. Phoenix is already one [...]
Continue reading The NRA Takes Aim at Latinos
If you are interested in attending, but have not pre-registered, you may call our office at 919-828-6501 on Tuesday, April 9 until 5:00 p.m.
Gene Nichol, Director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the UNC-CH School of Law will be the lunch speaker at this year’s Legislative Seminar.The day’s topic for Nichol, who is also the school’s Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor, is “It’s Better Not to Be Poor in NC.”
The seminar takes [...]
Continue reading Program and Registration for 2013 Legislative Seminar
After a one-day organizational meeting in early January, the 2013 General Assembly convened in earnest last Wednesday. Bills introduced and advanced during these first two days give a taste of things to come. Note especially the bills affecting the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, weakening the benefits of unemployment insurance, and extending the presence of guns. [...]
Continue reading Raleigh Report – February 1, 2013
Click here for a free download of our new 2013 social justice study for Lent: Preparing the Way. This simple 10-page document combines traditional Lenten themes and Bible passages with contemporary issues including hunger, care of creation, and immigration. We invite you to join us in this season of reflection and preparation. [...]
Continue reading Preparing the Way: A Social Justice Study for Lent (free download)
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