Tag Archives: North Carolina

Woman Who Found Church Gunman Credits God

The woman who spotted the South Carolina church shooter at a stoplight in North Carolina says it was God that put her in that place at that time.

Debbie Dills says when she looked beside her at the stoplight and noticed the bowl haircut on the white man driving a black Hyundai there was a disturbance in her spirit.

“At first I thought, nah, it couldn’t be,” Dills said. “I didn’t want to overreact.”

South Carolina license plate. “In my mind I’m thinking, ‘That can’t be.’ … I never dreamed that it would be the car.”

Dills, a part-time minister of music, had been devastated by the tragedy and had been praying for the victims of the event as she drove on.  She pulled off the highway and called her boss to ask him what to do.

“I was nervous, I was scared, I’m normally not that kind of person, and I got back on the bypass to go see just if I could get a tag number, just to see — just had a feeling and I’m sure that was divine intervention,” she told TODAY. “I feel like God has his hand in it and that he had me where I needed to be.”

Roof confessed to the killings after being taken in custody.  He claimed that he was targeting blacks because he felt blacks were taking over the country.

State prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.

Supreme Court Allows Striking Down Of N.C. Abortion Law

A North Carolina abortion law that would have required women to see an ultrasound of their baby before having an abortion has officially been declared unconstitutional as the Supreme Court refused to hear the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling.

The Women’s Right to Know Act was passed in 2011 and immediately challenged by pro-abortion activists and groups.  The law required the abortionist to show the ultrasound to the woman and describe to her the child’s features along with offering a chance to hear the baby’s heartbeat.  The law also included a 24 hour mandatory waiting period.

The rejection by the Supremes means the Fourth Circuit’s ruling invalidates the law.

“This compelled speech, even though it is a regulation of the medical profession, is ideological in intent and in kind,” the panel wrote. “The First Amendment not only protects against prohibitions of speech, but also against regulations that compel speech. A regulation compelling speech is by its very nature content-based, because it requires the speaker to change the content of his speech or even to say something where he would otherwise be silent.”

“Moreover, the statement compelled here is ideological; it conveys a particular opinion,” it continued. “The state freely admits that the purpose … is to convince women seeking abortions to change their minds or reassess their decisions.”

Supporters of the law say that they can’t understand why abortion is the only medical procedure in the state where doctors don’t have to tell the patient what can happen during the procedure.

“In any other medical procedure, doctors would have a duty to disclose all of the relevant information, and, yet, a procedure as destructive and life-changing as abortion is held to a lower standard,” Tami Fitzgerald of the North Carolina Values Coalition told reporters.

“We’re disappointed that the Supreme Court has decided not to review a decision that denies mothers this fully informed consent about human life in the womb and the methods abortionists use to end it,” also commented Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Legal Counsel Steven Aden in a statement. “Contrary to the 4th Circuit’s decision, there is nothing ‘extreme’ about a measure that only seeks to require abortionists to employ technology they are already using for abortions. Abortionists simply don’t want to use it in a way that jeopardizes their profits and shows women the truth.”

Pastor Who Lost Both Sons In Car Wreck Forgives Driver Who Caused Wreck

A North Carolina pastor who lost both of his baby sons in a car accident said that he and his wife have forgiven the man who caused the accident.

Pastor Gentry Eddings of Forest Hill Church in Charlotte was driving home in a car separate from his pregnant wife Hadley and his two year old son Dobbs.  The car driven by Hadley was struck from behind by a box truck driven by 28-year-old Matthew Deans.

Dobbs died in the accident.  Their other son, Reed, was delivered via emergency C-section but died two days later.

Deans has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor death by vehicle and a count of failure to reduce speed.

“We have, in our hearts, forgiven the man who did this,” Eddings proclaimed at the funeral for his sons. “It was not the easiest thing to do, but in some ways it was because we know — Hadley and I — that Jesus Christ has forgiven us our debt. … So in some ways, it was very easy to forgive a man who made an accident.”

Members of the congregation set up a fund to pay for the funeral expenses and raised almost $200,000 in nine days to help the family.

The pastor and his wife’s choosing to forgive and show Christ to the driver has also made waves in the secular world, with magazines such as People featuring the couple and their hard choice.

Judge Rules Commissioners Can’t Pray Only In Jesus’ Name

A federal judge has ruled that a group of county commissioners cannot present prayers in Jesus’ name even if all the commissioners are Christians.

The ACLU and the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation filed suit against the commissioners of Rowan County in March 2013 claiming that commissioners said during their opening invocations that “there is only one way to salvation, and that is Jesus Christ,” and thank the Lord for the “virgin birth,” the “cross at Calvary” and “the resurrection.”

A local resident who was against the Christian message in the public meeting explained why they helped bring the suit.

“I want my local government to be open and welcoming to people of all beliefs,” Nan Lund, a local resident who is among three plaintiffs named in the suit, stated in a news release announcing the legal challenge. “But when officials begin a public meeting with prayers that are specific to only one religious viewpoint, I feel unwelcome and excluded.”

Federal Judge James A. Beaty Jr., ruled in favor of Lund and the other plaintiffs, saying that the actions of the councilmen was unconstitutional.

“The practice fails to be nondiscriminatory, entangles government with religion, and over time, establishes a pattern of prayers that tends to advance the Christian faith of the elected commissioners at the expense of any religious affiliation unrepresented by the majority,” he wrote.

“While an all-comers policy is not necessarily required, a nondiscriminatory one is,” he said. “When all faiths but those of the five elected commissioners are excluded, the policy inherently discriminates and disfavors religious minorities.”

The county has not announced if they will appeal the ruling.

Homeless Donor Inspires North Carolina Church

A homeless man who left an 18 cent donation to a North Carolina church along with a message that melted the hearts of all who read it is asking to remain anonymous despite a media campaign to identify him.

The note read: “Please don’t be mad. I don’t have much. I’m Homeless. God Bless.”

One of the organizers of the Muffin Ministry of First United Methodist Church of Charllotte said that the man told her he wants to stay behind the scenes.

“He’s a very humble person he doesn’t want to be noticed or recognized,” Ann Huskey said in an exclusive interview with People.

The pastor said that he met with the man and said that many church members made offers of support.

“I said, ‘There are people that are willing to help you financially. They are concerned about you,’ ” Pastor Patrick Hamrick said.

The man rejected the offers, saying the gift was between him and God.  The pastor hopes that the man will accept the invitation for a job interview offered by a local businessman.

Vandals Cause Ten Thousand Dollars In Damage To N.C. Churches

A group of vandals attacked churches in North Carolina leaving one with ten thousand dollars in damage.

The first church were struck last Saturday.  Bales Memorial Wesleyan Church in Jamestown, N.C. had their sign broken, windows smashed and parking signs ripped from the ground.  Flower beds were destroyed and the building struck with eggs and silly string.

Messages spray painted on the church included “He hates you!”

Grace Baptist Church in Greensboro found similar damage to their facility on Sunday.

Pastor Carl Pulliam said that Bales Memorial Wesleyan suffered around $10,000 in damages.  The other church said it would cost at least $300 to repair a broken window but wouldn’t say how much it would cost to repair the cosmetic damage.

“Why would someone stoop so low to vandalize a church? In a word: Sin! The prophet Jeremiah says that ‘the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things,’” Coward wrote in a post on Facebook. “Yes, it’s true that Satan opposes God and he is probably laughing about this vandalism. But God’s shows us the destructive sin nature found in all mankind—including each one of us!”

Pastor Pulliam said he’s not angry at the vandals and forgives them.  Pastor Paul Coward of Grace Baptist Church agreed.

“[W]e need to listen to the words of Jesus from the sermon on the mount, ‘But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44),’” Coward stated.

Arkansas Governor Refuses To Sign Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has refused to sign the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The governor said that he wants the bill to mirror the federal Religious Freedom Restoration act so that the state is known “as a state that does not discriminate but understands tolerance.”

“The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions,” Hutchinson said. “It has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue.”

Governor Hutchinson is the latest to back away from a bill to protect religious freedom after anti-faith activists in Indiana launched an attack on the state’s governor for signing a religious freedom law in his state.  North Carolina’s governor is also backing away from a bill to protect religious freedom saying the law “makes no sense.”

Fourteen states are considering similar legislation this year.

Police Investigating Chapel Hill Shooting as Possible Hate Crime

Is it a hate crime or not?

That’s the question being investigated by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office after a 46-year-old man gunned down three Muslim students near the campus of the University of North Carolina Tuesday.

Craig Hicks turned himself into police after the execution style killings of Deah Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, 21 and Abu-Salha’s sister Razan.  Barakat was a student at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry.

Hicks claims that he shot the three because of a dispute over parking arrangements in their condominium complex.  However, many residents claim that Hicks was a violent, angry atheist that openly spoke out about his hate toward all faiths.

Hicks has a social media account where he shared his love of Richard Dawkins’ book “The God Delusion”, said he was a supporter of “Atheists for Equality” and spoke of the commonality between Muslims and Christians.

“Of course I want religion to go away,” his Facebook cover reads. “I don’t deny you your right to believe whatever you’d like, but I have the right to point out it’s ignorant and dangerous for as long as your baseless superstitions keep killing people.”

Police said initial indications were the shooting was related to the parking problem but were open to it being more.

“Our investigators are exploring what could have motivated Mr. Hicks to commit such a senseless and tragic act,” Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said in a statement. “We understand the concerns about the possibility that this was hate-motivated and we will exhaust every lead to determine if that is the case.”

North Carolina City’s Officials Bow To Anti-Christianists

City leaders in King, North Carolina are removing a memorial to veterans because of threats from anti-Christianist Barry Lynn and the anti-Christian hate group Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

In 2012, the anti-Christian group filed suit against the city because of a memorial that showed a soldier kneeling before a cross.  The group said they were acting on behalf of Steven Hewitt, a local veteran.

“The United States Armed Forces are highly diverse,” Lynn told the Stokes News. “To have a veterans’ memorial that only honors soldiers of one religion is not only a violation of the First Amendment, but also an insult to the memory of non-Christians who served their country.”

“I proudly served alongside a diverse group of soldiers with a variety of different religious beliefs,” Hewitt added in a news release last November. “The City of King should be honoring everyone who served our country, not using their service as an excuse to promote a single religion.”

The city council voted 3-2 to agree to a settlement with the anti-Chrsitianists, stating they didn’t want to continue spending tax dollars to fight the attempts to remove Christians from society.

“The decision to settle this case has been very difficult for the King city council,” a statement from the city outlines. “It was not reached until it became clear that the costs of proceeding to trial would greatly exceed the city’s insurance policy limits.”

Court Rules North Carolina Ultrasound Law “Free Speech Violation”

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that struck down North Carolina’s law requiring mothers to obtain an ultrasound prior to killing their child via abortion.

The court agreed with the lower court that the requirement is unconstitutional because it violates the “right to free speech.”

North Carolina lawmakers passed the Women’s Right to Know Act in 2011, which required women to obtain an ultrasound prior to an abortion, and that the abortionist describe the child’s features to the mother, as well as offer the opportunity to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.  The governor at the time, Beverly Purdue vetoed the bill because of her endorsement of abortion.  The legislators overruled the veto.

Mega-abortionist Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Center For Reproductive Rights sued to block the law and it was struck down by Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles as “an impermissible attempt to compel providers to deliver the state’s message in favor of childbirth and against abortion.”

“This compelled speech, even though it is a regulation of the medical profession, is ideological in intent and in kind,” the panel wrote in support of Eagles’ ruling. “The First Amendment not only protects against prohibitions of speech, but also against regulations that compel speech. A regulation compelling speech is by its very nature content-based, because it requires the speaker to change the content of his speech or even to say something where he would otherwise be silent.”

Attorney General Roy Cooper, who said he personally opposes the law, said he will appeal because it’s his responsibility to defense state law regardless of his personal beliefs.