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Dear CIC Supporters & Friends,
In the October Christian Citizenship In Action I shared that Shirley’s business isn’t doing as well as it has in the past and that there was a need for an additional $1,000 dollars a month to be given to Community Issues Council in order for me to continue to work full time on CIC issues.
God has blessed us, and you have responded! He is meeting our financial need in two ways:
· Shirley continues to be contacted by prior clients for upgrades and small additional jobs.
· You have truly risen to the occasion and given “over & above” gifts and pledges that average out to $1,050 per month!
The value of being able to “stay in the fight” for the long term can’t be overstated. It proved itself out last year as we won a major victory in CIC’s years-long battle to have Hillsborough County Schools stop teaching “abstinence plus” sex education. “Abstinence plus” sex-ed pays lip-service to abstinence, but it actually encourages students to be sexually active - just do it “safely”! Our effort to eliminate this damaging sexual indoctrination continues this year and I will have to opportunity to present a true relationship management curriculum that will focus on the value of a strong family and provide guidance and valuable avoidance techniques in all areas of risk behavior.
In January of this year we are seeing another manifestation of that truth. In the April 2017 CCIA an item on the Founders Page noted that the Tampa City Council passed a ban on what they termed “conversion therapy”. The ban prohibits licensed therapists from providing counseling to minors on how to deal with, and if desired, overcome unwanted same sex attractions. In the May 2017 CCIA I wrote that the ban might be a blessing in disguise. The law was being challenged in court as unconstitutional and if it was struck down it could lead to the striking down of similar bans across the state and the nation.
On January 30th, a federal magistrate issued a preliminary injunction that keeps the part of Tampa’s law that prohibits counseling from going into effect while the case works its way through the legal process. While it may or may not have had any effect on the magistrate’s decision, when people supporting our position showed up in the courtroom, I believe it markedly helped our cause.
There will be additional chances for you to play a part in both of these situations. Please stay alert for updates and invitations to participate.
If you recall, one of the main topics of concern for CIC is “the indoctrination of our kids in the public schools". Lately it seems that God has been directing me to focus more and more of my attention on pushing back against the devil’s assault on our children. Both of the subjects in the prior paragraphs fall into that category.
Now He has led me to a group of Pastors in Pasco County who are eager for the Church to have an influence with their elected leaders. They’re facing the bath/locker/shower room “transgender” controversy we successfully faced here in Hillsborough County. We’ve had several planning meetings and have already had about a hundred people show up at a School Board meeting. More than 35 people spoke up in an effort to encourage the Board to enact a policy that would put boys in the boys’ facilities and girls in the girls’, with a single user unisex facility to accommodate those confused students who are afflicted with “gender dysphoria”.
This issue only came to the surface when a male teacher refused to oversee a locker/shower room when the Pasco School District allowed a confused girl unrestricted access to the boys’ facility. Now that light is shining on the situation, people of the community are rising up to make their voices heard. Over 1,000 petitions encouraging the School Board to enact an acceptable official policy have already been gathered with more coming in daily.
The same teacher mentioned a problem with the Pasco sex-ed curriculum and I’m looking into that.
Your involvement — hands & feet, prayer, and financial — has made it possible to follow God’s leading in these and many other attacks on our Judeo-Christian values. Please keep them coming!
Together we can make a difference!
God bless you!
Terry