ACTION ALERT MARCH 25, 2013
“Occupy until I come” Luke 19:13
Dear CWA of Washington Member and Concerned Citizen,
I throw out a challenge to you with the Scripture above. Are Christians occupying/doing God’s business until Christ returns? Does political intimidation and liberal bullying cause you to go quiet rather than to defend the Gospel truths that reflect the reality you understand intuitively? Luke tells us that the nobleman’s citizens hated him and rejected his leadership; when he returned, he held his servants accountable for what they had done with what he had given to them. When Christ comes, will He say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”? Perhaps today is the day for you to step up, commit to pray for our nation, our state, our churches and our families. Perhaps it is today that you will consider starting a Prayer/Action Chapter or Home Team and contact CWA of Washington. Perhaps it is a day to talk with others of like mind and see what you can do to motivate your church body to stand up and make a difference. Please contact CWA (4225-869-1923; director@washington.cwfa.org) to get connected and do something.
Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman and historian stated this: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
From where else but the church body can the goodness Tocqueville referred to come? Check out these websites to get informed and get involved: www.cwfa.org; Christian Post for a letter about religious liberty (CLICK HERE TO READ); Churches Impacting Culture (http://www.churchesimpactingculture.com/). Let’s join together to do God’s work here on earth!
Regional Meetings: CWA of Washington is planning to host several regional meetings during the summer months. If you live in any of these areas and can help us find a location, please contact the state office: Everett, Vancouver, Ellensburg/Yakima/Wenatchee, Spokane. We would like to meet in a local church or restaurant and invite members from that area to join us for fellowship, prayer and education. We will invite state speakers plus district legislators to join us so that you can learn and ask questions of leaders. Please contact the state office with any good ideas! Telephone 425-869-1923; e-mail director@washington.cwfa.org.
Marriage Court Case: The battle to protect marriage as defined by God and the family will reach its peak THIS WEEK when the Supreme Court convenes to hear arguments in a case that could determine the future of marriage. Oral arguments on the constitutionality of laws that define marriage as the union between one man and one woman are scheduled for March 26 and 27.
On Tuesday, March 26, Concerned Women for America and fellow marriage-supporters will converge in our nation’s capital to stand united in support of traditional marriage, religious liberty, and the right of every child to have both a mom and a dad. PLEASE be in prayer for this extremely important case, a case that could negatively impact the culture as severely as Roe v. Wade has.
Day of Silence: On Friday April 19, 2013, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is once again using the public schools to promote homosexuality and gender confusion as moral and normal through the Day of Silence. Please, call your children’s middle/junior and high schools to ask if they allow teachers and/or students to refuse to speak in class, thus impeding the educational process. If that is the case, pray about keeping your children home that day. It’s time for people of Biblical faith to stand against immoral political correctness. There’s no easier way to resist than to keep your children out of school on the Day of Silence, thus making a statement as well as removing funding of such choices. Every student absence costs school districts money.
We are approaching the final month of the 2013 Washington State Legislative Session. Be diligent in prayer that our state’s leaders will be conscious of their moral responsibilities to the people they serve rather than to their own particular philosophy, that they will listen to those who contact them, and that Bible-believing citizens will fulfill their duty to influence their state representatives on moral and religious issues so that we may be a good nation and thus be a great nation that finds favor in God’s eyes.
SANCTITY OF LIFE and RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
HB 1044 Known as the “Reproductive Parity Act”, this bill mandates that any insurance policy that covers maternity care or services must also include equivalent coverage for t abortion. CWA of Washington is OPPOSED to this bill.
Simply put, this bill forces citizens to pay for abortion coverage as well as maternity care in spite of their moral/religious objections to abortion. This is an attack on our religious liberty as well as an insult to motherhood. Live birth and abortion are not equal; in fact, they are direct opposites, and no citizens should be forced to pay for someone else’s abortion in direct contradiction to their sincerely held beliefs about abortion.
This bill passed the House of Representatives. Please contact your legislative district’s Senator to politely express your opposition to this bill. Remember that our opponents are constantly contacting the legislators, and we must provide the counter balance to their activism in order to influence our legislators to represent our views.
There will be a public hearing on April 1 at 10:00 a.m. I encourage you to pray that this bill will be stopped in the Senate Committee on Health Care. I would also ask that you and others attend the hearing in order to show the committee members and the entire Senate our opposition to this bill. Consider testifying in favor of the sanctity of human life, motherhood and religious liberty. Check for meeting details on the state legislative website: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/.
FAMILY
HB 1934 Concerning visitation rights for persons, including grandparents, with an ongoing and substantial relationship with a child. CWA of Washington is OPPOSED to this bill.
Imagine that you marry or live with someone (perhaps a family member or a friend) who is not the parent of your children and then you separate from that person for significant reasons. Then imagine that person demands visitation rights with your children because he/she has lived with you and your children for at least eighteen months, claiming “an ongoing and substantial relationship” with the child. If this bill passes in the Senate (it has already passed the House), that person can go to a judge and demand visitation rights over your objections. You may file an opposing affidavit, but if the judge determines that your objections are not worthy, you will lose your parental rights to determine with whom your children spend time. There are some protective statements in this bill, but it is a foot in the door of parental rights-a step that government should not take. A fit parent/s should always have the final say about their children’s activities.
This bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Committee on Human Services and Corrections on Tuesday, March 26, 10:00 a.m. Again, go to this website for meeting details: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/.
Please pray that this bill dies in that committee after sound opposition to it at the hearing. Pray that the testimony of supporters will be confused and clearly expose the danger of this bill.
While there are other bills to be concerned about this session, CWA watches only those that fit into our six core issues (family, sanctity of life, religious liberty, pornography, education and national sovereignty). Many good bills die without hearings, but will appear again in the 2014 session.
Pray, be informed and take action! Thank you for standing in the gap with Concerned Women for America to protect the culture. Pray for revival and restoration of our great Republic founded on Biblical principles and dependent on those righteous principles to maintain, as Tocqueville stated, her goodness and her greatness.
In His Service,
Maureen Richardson, CWA of Washington State Director
425-869-1923; director@washington.cwfa.org
P. O. Box 143 Woodinville, WA 98072
www.cwfa.org