For more than two decades, the NC Council of Churches has called for access to health care for all. The score from the Congressional Budget Office makes it undeniably clear that the American Health Care Act takes us farther from that goal. It would put the lives of many at risk and negatively impact the quality of life for others. Its hurried approval by the U.S. House of Representatives before valuable analysis was even available implies that political gamesmanship is more important than people. It is not. The 23 million individuals who would…
UPDATE: Trumpcare Just Got Worse — Call Before Today’s Vote
Thank you for every call, email, and letter to Congressional leaders that led to today’s decision to pull the American Health Care Act without a vote. Those committed to a compassionate and just vision for our society have had many moments of despair in recent months. Today was a reminder that persistence matters. There is work to be done to fix Obamacare, and vigilance is also needed as attention shifts to other policy areas. But thanks to voices from across America, legislation that would have endangered millions of our sisters…
Raleigh Report — March 21, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXATION HB 329, Home School Education Tax Credit, would give a $1,250-per-student-per-semester income tax credit to the parents of children being home schooled. Introduced by Reps. Pitman (R-Concord), Boswell (R-Kill Devil Hills), and Brody (R-Monroe). Referred to House Education—K-12 and, if favorable, to House Finance. HB 333, Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility, would, like S 166 (see Education section in Raleigh Report, for March 13), permit an increase in local sales taxes of ¼% or ½%, after a referendum,…
Women and Wages
Remarks delivered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at a press conference on fair wages on March 8, 2017. Today is a day without women. Across the world women have been encouraged not to labor, whether for pay or not for pay. We are taking the day off, all on the same day, to demonstrate how much of what happens in the world happens because of women. Several schools have canceled classes because they know their schools cannot function without its women. Good for them, but the truth is, the world…
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,…
Seeds of Change in a Momentous Year
As we watched the egregiously unqualified Donald Trump campaign for and win election to the White House, any good news on the government and politics front was likely to be obscured amid concerns about what Trump’s ascent could bode for the nation’s well-being. Concerns? That’s putting it mildly. Those of us who value our efforts to avoid war, our programs to protect the environment, our democratic institutions and civil public discourse, and our pledge of justice for all under the rule of law can’t be blamed if our hair is…
Separating Church and Hate Since 1935
We work toward a church that is all-loving. That’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re going to keep doing. Stay connected with the Council to learn about opportunities to welcome our immigrant sisters and brothers, care for creation, work for economic justice and voting rights, build toward Christian unity and interfaith understanding, teach our church-goers how to be healthier, and do all that we can to help everyone live into the beloved community. Please pray with us and work with us to be sure that all beloved children…
Proposed H.B. 2 Deal Falls Short
Who can blame North Carolina’s restaurant and hotel operators for wishing the whole House Bill 2 controversy would just vanish into thin air, as if it had never existed? They’d love to see the clock rolled back to that glorious time before Charlotte strengthened the city’s anti-discrimination rules and before the General Assembly responded with a law that does the opposite – codifying discrimination against lesbian, gay and transgendered people. It’s because of that law, known as H.B. 2, that the state’s hospitality industry stands to lose millions in spending…
Bad Law vs. Big Games
When ultra-visible organizations with major economic leverage press for political change, sometimes the right thing to do is to tell them to take the proverbial long walk off a short pier. Or something more colorful. But what if the change being sought is one that advances ideals of fairness and human dignity? Then, to go along would not be a case of bowing to selfish special interests. It would represent progress toward the goal of a society, or state, that rejects discrimination in all forms – even those bitter residues…
Governor in the Glare
There was a time, back in the range of 2008, when Pat McCrory looked as though he probably would do a pretty good job if elected as North Carolina’s governor. At least, there weren’t any solid reasons to think that this moderate, business-oriented Republican who was the veteran mayor of the state’s largest city would wind up hitching his political fortunes to homophobia and to the fate of a presidential candidate who “trump-ets” his unfitness for office virtually every time he opens his mouth. But as McCrory tries to convince…
Gender Equality-Proper 6 (Updated 6-16-16)
Bathroom Drama’s Many Plots
Here’s a funny thing about House Bill 2, the “bathroom bill” (now law) that’s causing North Carolina so much grief: The Charlotte ordinance that the General Assembly was in such a rush to block — the one that supposedly threw the usual custom of sex-separated public bathrooms to the winds — doesn’t directly mention bathrooms at all. Oh, it’s true that backers of the ordinance understood it would affect permissible restroom choices by transgendered persons, allowing them to use the “facilities” matching the gender with which they identified as opposed to the…
Christian Ethics and HB2: Gushee, Spearman, and Meyer to Speak
The Council is joining EqualityNC and the Equality Federation to bring noted Christian ethicist David Gushee to Durham on April 24 to speak about Christian ethics and the recently passed House Bill 2. He will present the keynote and be joined by T. Anthony Spearman, pastor of St. Phillip African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Greensboro and William S. Meyer, associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Duke University Medical. The Council’s opposition to HB2 rests on policy, dating back more than two decades, that speaks against discrimination based on sexuality….
Making Discrimination Easier in NC
Almost 24 years ago, leaders of the North Carolina Council of Churches approved a policy statement opposing discrimination against beloved children of God based on their sexuality. Progress has been made and crucial rights have been extended over the last two decades, but Wednesday, a majority of the NC General Assembly reminded us we still have much work to do with their passage of the artfully named and rushed-through-the-legislative-process “Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.” To be clear, the legislation, signed by Governor Pat McCrory on Wednesday night, extends beyond public…
Tenth Annual HKonJ is February 13
Join the NAACP, NC Council of Churches, and other coalition partners for the Tenth Annual Moral March on Raleigh. Historic Thousands on Jones Street 2016 takes place on Saturday, February 13; gather and rally is at 8:30 a.m. and the march begins at 10 a.m. Participants can meet across the street from Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at 2 East South Street. Since its beginnings, HKonJ has drawn together a broad cross-section of North Carolinians committed to justice for all in this state, especially the most vulnerable among us. This year’s march is…