North Carolina Marriage Amendment Update

For the past couple of weeks, Gaston County (the county in which I reside) has been in a heated debate about the North Carolina Marriage Protection Amendment (to see my previous post about this, click here).

 The reason for this controversy is the proposal by Gaston County commissioner Tracy Philbeck that Gaston County take an active part in encouraging people to vote on May 8.

To see a recent interview with Tracy Philbeck, click here.

According to this proposal, the county would encourage people to vote for the Amendment,  and focus on raising awareness about the purpose of the Amendment in protecting traditional marriage. This would still allow people to decide for themselves, while encouraging them to actually take a stand for traditional marriage. As expected, this has raised a large scale controversy amongst gay rights activists and traditional marriage proponents in Gaston County. Last night, the debate came to a head in the Gaston County courthouse, where the county commissioners were preparing to vote on the proposal. We joined around 150 other supporters of the Amendment to encourage the county commissioners to vote for the proposal to raise awareness in Gaston County about this vital vote on May 8.

The courtroom was filled with those for and against the proposal, and there was also an overflow room filled with people.

We were able to get into the courtroom and see the debate first hand. For about an hour, people from both sides of the issue spoke passionately about why they thought Gaston County should or should not approve the proposal. There were about six pastors that spoke, which was such an encouragement in times where the church seems apathetic to public issues.



This man, a pastor, was for the proposal.



 The county commissioners very graciously listened to each speaker.

After all of the speakers were through, the county commissioners discussed the proposal, and then they voted. The result was a unanimous vote FOR the proposal! We are so thankful for the courage of Tracy Philbeck in presenting this in the first place. He has received a lot of flack, and yet he stands firm. We are also thankful to Commissioner Chad Brown , who co-sponsored the proposal.

Thanks to all of the commissioners for voting the right way on this important and controversial issue. Most importantly, thanks be to the Lord for prompting godly men like Philbeck and Brown to hold public office! To view the news articles and videos regarding this, go here and here. Please keep in mind that the news orgazinations linked to do not hold the same values as we do.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR NORTH CAROLINA AS WE COME TO A DEFINITIVE DECISION ON MAY 8.

I hope to post the full video of the commissioner meeting in the near future, for those of you who are interested.