NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

Taxes

More Damage as Session Ends
More Damage as Session Ends
Jul 26, 2013
Steve Ford, Former Volunteer Program Associate

More Damage as Session Ends

The General Assembly has adjourned its 2013 session after a final cascade of disappointing and disturbing bills that now await review by Gov. Pat McCrory. Among the bills approved are ones that will make it less convenient for many citizens to vote and that weaken regulatory oversight of the environment.

There was at least one bright spot, as the House rejected a last-minute push by the Senate to speed up the environmentally risky natural gas extraction process known as fracking. But on the whole, legislators succeeded in putting the crowning touches on a session devoted to a conservative agenda the likes of which modern North Carolina has never before seen.
Tax Cuts Take Shape
Tax Cuts Take Shape
Jul 17, 2013
Steve Ford, Former Volunteer Program Associate

Tax Cuts Take Shape

It could be said that the elephant – symbol of the Republicans who control North Carolina’s General Assembly and governor’s office — has labored and brought forth a mouse. But this is a mouse with sharp teeth.

After weeks of effort, the legislature’s Republican majorities and Gov. Pat McCrory have agreed on a spate of changes to the state’s tax laws centered on cuts in personal and corporate income taxes. The cuts aren’t as deep as some conservatives wanted. Still, they will sap revenues that finance the entire portfolio of state programs and services.
Moral Mondays Reverberate Across the Country
Moral Mondays Reverberate Across the Country
Jul 5, 2013
Chris Liu-Beers, Former Program Associate

Moral Mondays Reverberate Across the Country

I finally had the chance to go my first Moral Monday earlier this week. Walking around Halifax Mall with our Executive Director, George Reed, I was struck by how many people we both knew. I’m deeply proud of the involvement by clergy and faith communities in particular. So many of our members are represented not only in the crowd but also in the faces of those participating in civil disobedience and getting arrested. As we celebrate Independence Day this week, we give thanks not only for the many freedoms our country offers, but in particular for the countless faithful voices speaking up and speaking out for those who are being pushed to the margins by this General Assembly.
New Videos: Legislative Seminar Awards
New Videos: Legislative Seminar Awards
May 3, 2013
Aleta Payne, Former Deputy Executive Director

New Videos: Legislative Seminar Awards

A leader against economic injustice and two longtime advocates on the Council’s board have received the North Carolina Council of Churches’ highest honors.

Gene Nichol received the Faith Active in Public Life Award. Barbara Volk and Sydnor Thompson II were recognized with Distinguished Service awards. All three were presented at the Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar which took place April 11 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh.
Gene Nichol: It’s Better Not to Be Poor in North Carolina
Gene Nichol: It’s Better Not to Be Poor in North Carolina
Apr 12, 2013
Chris Liu-Beers, Former Program Associate

Gene Nichol: It’s Better Not to Be Poor in North Carolina

Speaking to 200 social justice advocates, Gene Nichol delivered a powerful luncheon address at the Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar held April 11 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh. He received the Council’s Faith Active in Public Life Award at the Seminar for his “courageous, dedicated, humane and compassionate witness in the political arena.” Rev. George Reed, the Council’s Executive Director, introduced Nichol by saying in part, “To know Gene is to see the embodiment of Catholic social teaching about social justice and the common good.”
The Case for Fair Taxes
The Case for Fair Taxes
Nov 27, 2012
Justin Hubbard, Former Duke Divinity School Intern

The Case for Fair Taxes

The challenge of faith communities is not to deduct a set of moral principles from scripture that houses a model for a fair tax system. There are no formulas or bureaucratic maps that arise out of biblical texts that we might apply to our current context and tax system that will magically make the system fair. Rather, the biblical texts provide a framework to understand the Christian witness towards the common good and a Christian ethic of love and care for the vulnerable and exploited.
Increasing the Cigarette Tax
Increasing the Cigarette Tax
Dec 2, 2003
North Carolina Council of Churches

Increasing the Cigarette Tax

The question of raising the tax on cigarettes appears to pose a conflict between positions taken by the North Carolina Council of Churches in previous years. On the one hand, the Council has warned of the health risks associated with cigarette smoking, supported measures leading to better health and providing more accessible health care, and called for steps to limit youth access to cigarettes. On the other hand, the Council has long supported a more progressive tax structure and opposed regressive taxes.
Tax Justice
Tax Justice
Nov 9, 2000
North Carolina Council of Churches

Tax Justice

North Carolina faces a financial situation that is easy to summarize:  Tax cuts during the last half of the ’90’s have left the state with a revenue stream inadequate to provide the services which are expected by the state’s citizens and to respond to unexpected emergencies.  However, because the state’s political climate is less than hospitable towards tax increases, solutions to this situation will be more difficult to implement.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once stated that “taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”  In order for a civilized society to thrive, taxes at all levels of government must be sufficient to meet the legitimate needs of society, especially the modern equivalents of the biblical widows and orphans.