The optics, as they say, are terrible. But in a state whose motto is “To Be Rather Than to Seem,” it’s even more important to look at the substance. And the substance is worse. Think about it: In a Southern state where the legacy of race discrimination and its attendant social ills remains starkly visible, our leading public law school is on the verge of being forced to abandon the courtrooms where the struggles for civil rights have so often played out. Conservative ideologues now clustering among the leaders of…
Gov. Cooper Speaks Up for Protecting NC’s Coast
Governor Roy Cooper has announced his strong opposition to offshore drilling and seismic blasting along North Carolina’s coast. “Our coast is part of our identity,” he said, speaking to the press at Fort Macon State Park near Atlantic Beach Penny Hooper, NCIPL Leadership Council Chair, was in the room for the Governor’s press conference. She was among representatives of faith communities, businesses, fishing families, beachgoers, and conservationists that have all joined together to protect our coast from drilling operations even as some political leaders push to let oil companies drill…
Now what? Staying Engaged and Grow the Interfaith Climate Movement
We were already living in a time of profound consequence. President Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement means that while the needs of our endangered climate are increasing, the response to global warming is diminishing at the national level. Our actions now, as climate conscious people of faith, matter more than ever. There are a few things you can do right now to help maximize our collective impact as North Carolina’s statewide multi-faith network committed to addressing climate change as a moral issue: Engage your interfaith climate conscious…
2018 Budget Proposal is the Antithesis of our Call
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written than most of us can fully absorb, but Politico offers a key observation: On close reading, the budget is less a credible attempt to eliminate, or even pay down, the U.S. debt and more an ideological policy agenda disguised as a program of fiscal responsibility. If the proposal is, as such plans are often described, a place to begin discussion…
Speak Out Against Anti-Climate Executive Order
This week, Donald Trump issued an executive order to turn back the clock on the climate progress we have made over the past decade. In addition to directing the EPA to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, this sweeping executive order also attempts to undo methane standards for oil and gas operations, stop federal agencies from considering the impact of climate change in their decisions, and open up federal lands for coal mining. The issues and impacts of climate change go to the heart of our spiritual values and our call to…
2017 Legislative Seminar — Thank You plus Worship and Awards Presentation Online
For those who could not be with us at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh, video from portions of the day is available on our Facebook page. The morning worship was led by the Revs. Jill and Rick Edens of United Church of Chapel Hill, and NCCC board member the Rev. Paula Dempsey provided music. Lisa Price and Congressman David Price received our Faith Active in Public Life Award, marking the first time the honor has been presented to a married couple. We hope those who joined us found…
2017 Legislative Seminar Check-In Instructions
Thank you to those who have registered for the 2017 Legislative Seminar. We are looking forward to having you join us this Monday, March 27, at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church (4801 Six Forks Road, Raleigh). In an effort to get everyone checked-in as efficiently as possible, we have a few suggestions: Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. with a light breakfast provided by Partners in Health and Wholeness. Opening worship will begin at 9:15 a.m. Directions: From I-440 heading north on Six Forks Road turn left onto Northbrook Drive just…
If a Budget is a Moral Document, Then What Does this One Preach?
The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump on Thursday cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women of color, that would mean the same old same old), the arts, the environment, education, job creation, and science. Couple it with the proposed health plan released by Congress, and it feels like some elected leaders at the federal level want to freeze, starve, poison, under-employ, and un-inspire a significant portion of the country’s population. If a budget is a…
Whispers and Shouts
Sometimes God whispers. Whether through hymns or homilies or kids dancing their way down the aisle to children’s chapel. Sometimes God shouts. Through the amplified suffering of others, known or strangers, all created in the same image. Or through the aftermath of a cataclysmic election. Lately, the lectionary readings have provided desperately needed whispers for me, reminders of what our faith promises. On the third Sunday after Epiphany we were offered Isaiah and the 27th Psalm, promising light and a faithful stand against fear. On the fourth Sunday, the Beatitudes….
Getting Back to Our Normal: Some Suggestions for the Long Haul
Our friend Rob Schofield over at Policy Watch wrote a column on Tuesday that was as vitally important in its truth-telling as it was hard to read for the future it forecasts. One of the crucial facts he offered — those of us opposed to the policies, personalities, and vicious rhetoric of the current administration must be prepared for the long haul. The reality is proving to be every bit as damaging as we thought it might. So what now? A couple of thoughts: Don’t accept the lies. Trust your brain,…
Let’s Keep Marching
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to shoulder with a half million others. But there I was, pink hat and all. I chose to be there because my grandmother cleaned other people’s homes and worked in food service in the promise that her two daughters, and then her three granddaughters, would all attend college. I chose to be there because I have raised three brown sons to…
Speak Out on Cabinet Nominees
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & Light, MomsRising, Faith in Public Life, and the National Council of Churches are just some of the organizations calling on people of conscience to speak out against nominees who have been described as: Representing and promoting “hateful ideals and policies.” (MomsRising) Having “questionable ties to foreign governments with anti-democratic leadership and human rights abuses.” (Interfaith Power & Light) Epitomizing “extremist,…
Knowing the Truth
Remarks delivered by Jennifer Copeland at a November 15 press conference in Fayetteville opposing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Roughly half the people in this country, give or take six hundred thousand, voted for a president who purports not to care about the environmental cares we have. Roughly half the people in North Carolina, give or take a hundred and seventy thousand, voted for a president who purports not to care about the environmental cares we have. The good news is, it’s roughly half, not a whole, not three quarters, not two-thirds, not…
2016 Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day
On May 11, NCIPL hosted the Second Annual Faith Voices for Clean Energy Advocacy Day. Members of faith communities from across the state met with representatives of the NC General Assembly to hear their vision for North Carolina’s energy future and to express our support for new and existing clean energy policies. Throughout the legislative session you can participate virtually in the Faith Voices for Clean Energy campaign by sending emails to your members of the NC General Assembly through NCIPL’s online system. Clean energy policies in NC are generating billions of…
The Leadership of Pope Francis
By Wayde Marsh, Duke Divinity School Intern “[Pope] Francis almost makes me want to convert to Catholicism.” This is the sentiment generally expressed by many of my colleagues at Duke Divinity School. Many of us who are not Catholic find refreshing a Pope who is faithfully in touch with so many social justice concerns in such a visible way. He was almost from the outset a popular leader for all Christians in many ways because of his concern for the poor, the marginalized, and those without a voice (including our…