By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

Anyone who resolved in January to be healthier, happier and more financially stable in 2012 may want to start by assessing the status of their marriage or their lack thereof.

This year’s National Marriage Week, Feb. 7-14, marks the 10th annual observation designed to elevate marriage as a national issue with policy leaders, promote its benefits, and create a nationwide calendar for marriage classes, conferences and events to help husbands and wives strengthen their ties.

“Marriage builds financial stability, greater longevity, better health, and research shows it’s the best circumstance for raising children,” said Sheila Weber, executive director of National Marriage Week USA. Read the rest of this entry »

By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

RALEIGH — The Cherokee gambling compact being touted by the Governor’s office as a job generator and a boon to public schools would truly be the government’s latest foray into what has proven to be one of the biggest public policy failures in the last 40 years, according to Les Bernal, executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling.

Bernal, who was in North Carolina early this week, said what is being proposed in the state has failed in every other state where it has been implemented.

“Government predatory gambling programs are based on pushing citizens into deeper personal debt and creating addiction in order to feed off of it,” he said. “There is no issue that better represents what is broken about government today than government’s failed policy of casinos and state lotteries.” Read the rest of this entry »

Guests Columnist: Kelly Boggs
Christian Action League

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released research it conducted on teenagers who participated in a study of “unintended” pregnancies. An examination of the research reveals the idea of “safe sex” is nothing more than a myth.

The CDC discovered that 45.3 percent of the teens who gave birth as a result of an unintended pregnancy had conceived while they were using either “highly effective” (birth control pill, et al.) or “moderately effective” (male condom, et al.) contraceptive methods.

The research was published in the CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” for Jan. 12 and titled “Pregnancy Contraceptive Use Among Teens with Unintended Pregnancies Resulting in Live Births — Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 2004-2008.” Read the rest of this entry »

by Tami Fitzgerald
Vote For Marriage NC

Dear Marriage Supporter,

As you are aware, North Carolina’s drive to preserve marriage as God designed it – the union of one man and one woman – has officially launched and now we need your help! Election Day is only three short months away and we need to raise funds quickly to be able to preserve traditional marriage in our state.

According to a poll released earlier this month by Public Policy Polling, support for the Marriage Protection Amendment has declined with 56 percent of voters surveyed in January supporting the amendment to preserve traditional marriage by protecting it in our state constitution.  In October, support for the amendment stood at 61 percent, according to the same poll. This is a 5 percent drop in support in just two short months.

Even more alarming, according to financial statements filed with the State Board of Elections today, our opponents have already raised over $260,000 to engage in an aggressive campaign to defeat the Marriage Protection Amendment. Read the rest of this entry »

By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

RALEIGH — “There is no issue of greater significance to this state than the way we will define marriage. It is the definitive issue of this generation,” the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said this week as Vote FOR Marriage NC officially launched its campaign in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment.

“Victory will require an ‘all hands on deck’ approach,” he said of the referendum which is set for the May 8 primary and will determine whether North Carolina inserts the definition of marriage as between “one man and one woman” into its Constitution. Presently ours is the only Southeastern state without constitutional protection for this sacred institution.

“How important is the institution of marriage to you? If we wish to save it and protect it for future generations, it will require being informed and participating with zeal and sacrifice in the campaign,” Dr. Creech added. Read the rest of this entry »

Vote For Marriage NC welcomes Democratic primary
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

RALEIGH — N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue’s Thursday afternoon announcement that she will not seek re-election sets the scene for an intense contest for the state’s top elected post this election season.

While the governor said in a statement widely reported in the media that she “does not back down from tough fights,” she also added, “… I understand this: We live in highly partisan times, where some people seem more worried about scoring political points than working together to address the real challenges our state faces. And it is clear to me that my race for reelection will only further politicize the fight to adequately fund our schools. A reelection campaign in this already divisive environment will make it more difficult to find any bipartisan solutions.”

The Governor’s announcement came on the heels of low poll ratings (she consistently trailed Republican Pat McCrory by 6 to 10 points) and in the wake of indictments of three of her former campaign workers. Read the rest of this entry »

By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

RALEIGH — Family and friends continue to mourn the loss of a Milbrook High School student killed in a Jan. 7 drunk driving wreck, an ordeal which has led to charges against four teens and one adult, who helped supply the alcohol.

“Underage drinking breeds bad decisions; decisions to drive after drinking and to ride with intoxicated drivers,” said Jeff Lasater, Special Agent in Charge of the Alcohol Law Enforcement Raleigh District Office. “This tragedy is an unfortunate reminder of the seriousness of both underage drinking and providing alcoholic beverages to minors.”

The Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, expressed his sympathy for the family of 17-year-old Elizabeth Molloy, who was killed when the 1999 Jeep she was riding in, driven by 16-year-old Garrett Prince, left Rainwater Road at a high rate of speed and struck a tree.

Dr. Creech said the tragic wreck illustrates the importance of keeping strong alcohol laws and adequately staffed enforcement agencies. Read the rest of this entry »

By Tami Fitzgerald, Chairwoman
Vote For Marriage NC, info@voteformarriagenc.com
January 23, 2012

Dear Marriage Supporter,

North Carolina’s drive to preserve marriage as God designed it – the union of one man and one woman – has been officially launched!

As you likely know, a bi-partisan majority of the North Carolina Legislature voted to put a Marriage Protection Amendment before voters on the May 8, 2012 primary ballot. To ensure this amendment passes, we have been busy putting together a coalition of marriage supporters who have come together and formed the Vote FOR Marriage NC campaign. This campaign is off to a fast start and we need your help to keep the momentum going to Election Day.

Today we launched our website www.VoteFORMarriageNC.com. Here you can sign up to receive campaign updates, find out ways to volunteer, download materials and also donate directly to the campaign. Over the coming weeks we will need marriage supporters like you to help grow our grassroots effort, make phone calls to voters, knock on doors, and place a yard sign in your lawn. We must start spreading the word now about this important amendment. You can also help spread the word by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Read the rest of this entry »

By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

Pro-life advocates in North Carolina will no doubt greet this weekend’s Sanctity of Human Life Sunday with a mixture of emotions — thankful that the state’s General Assembly took some positive action this session to protect the unborn, but also heartbroken for the thousands of babies still being aborted each year.

“Since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 more than 50 million abortions have been recorded in the U.S.,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. “It’s not easy to picture the bodies of more than 50 million babies.  So let me put it to you this way.  In the years since the Supreme Court legalized abortion, we have snuffed out a population approximately the size of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming combined.” Read the rest of this entry »

By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Dr. Patrick Wooden, senior pastor of Upper Room Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, was among a group of pastors and ministry leaders who gathered in Montgomery on Tuesday to challenge the Southern Poverty Law Center to stop attaching its “hate group” label to Christian organizations that hold fast to God’s truth.

“It breaks my heart that a time-honored Civil Rights organization that has done so much good would, for whatever reason, whether it is for financial considerations or whatever, buy into this lie,” the Rev. Wooden told Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality during an interview about Tuesday’s event.

“For any Civil Rights organization to label any other group a hate group because they are pro-family, because they believe in the model that the God of the Bible designed and introduced, it is sad; and they are wrong.” Read the rest of this entry »