Introducing NC4Marriage

We invite you to participate in one of the greatest opportunities and challenges confronting families and churches in North Carolina. What is at stake?  Your freedom to talk about and encourage the type of family life that God designed. Your freedom to teach your children the Biblical meaning of marriage, free from indoctrination in our public schools that homosexuality and same-sex “marriage” are normal and acceptable. And the freedom of churches and pastors to preach about and foster God’s divine design for marriage.

Marriage in North Carolina is under attack and needs protection. Activist judges in Massachusetts, Connecticut, California and Iowa have overturned their state marriage laws because they only allowed marriage between a man and a woman. These judges have declared traditional marriage unconstitutional and ushered in same-sex “marriage,” overriding the people’s wishes. This type of judicial activism could be coming to a court in North Carolina very soon.

Fortunately, voters in California this past November overrode their Court’s redefinition of marriage when they passed Proposition 8, protecting the traditional definition of marriage. Unfortunately, voters in North Carolina have been denied this same opportunity.

An unknown number of same-sex couples that reside in North Carolina have already obtained marriage licenses in Connecticut, in Massachusetts, or in California before Proposition 8 passed. At any time, one or more of these couples could file suit in a North Carolina court in an attempt to convince a judge to overturn our State’s marriage laws, arguing that they unconstitutionally prohibit “marriages” between same-sex couples. Without a provision in our State Constitution defining marriage as the union between only a man and a woman, any court in our State could redefine marriage by legalizing the union of same-sex couples.

To date, 30 states have passed Marriage Protection Amendments that place the traditional definition of marriage in their constitutions and beyond the reach of judicial activists. Unfortunately, North Carolina is the only state in the southern United States that has not protected marriage in its State Constitution, thus making us a target for same-sex “marriage.”

We must begin this process to protect marriage by convincing our legislators to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment bill that will allow the people of North Carolina to vote on a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of only a man and a woman. Similar bills have been proposed in the General Assembly for the past six years, but the leadership in the North Carolina House and Senate have not allowed lawmakers or the people an opportunity to vote on these bills. They have kept them buried in committees where they have no chance of receiving a vote. The only route to a constitutional amendment in North Carolina is to pass a bill through the General Assembly.

NC4Marriage is a campaign to convince state political leaders that protecting marriage is a serious matter that can no longer be put off and that a Marriage Amendment is vital to the future of our State. The campaign to protect marriage is being led by a statewide nonpartisan coalition of citizens, churches, ministry and denominational leaders, policy organizations, and political leaders who will work together to get a Marriage Protection Amendment bill passed by the General Assembly, so the people of our State have the opportunity to put the true definition of marriage in our State Constitution.

This new coalition, “NC4Marriage” will serve as a contact point and provide coordination for the many organizations and individuals who are working towards the passage of a Marriage Protection Amendment. The main thrust of NC4Marriage is empowering citizens to make their voices known to their legislators. The purpose of NC4Marriage is to collaborate and conduct a collective effort to get a Marriage Protection Amendment passed. To that end, we need your help. We need you to actively work for the passage of the Marriage Protection Amendment and ultimately the preservation of marriage.

NC4Marriage has promoted two main events in 2009:

• Marriage Sunday -- February 22. Pastors in churches across North Carolina preached about God’s design for marriage and educated their congregations about the NC4Marriage campaign to pass a Marriage Protection Amendment.

• Marriage Rally -- March 3 at the State Capital in Raleigh. Thousands came out to show their support for traditional marriage at a statewide Marriage Rally! Sponsored by Return America, the Marriage Rally will take place on the Halifax Mall beside the Legislative Building in Raleigh. Participants visited their legislators to let them know how important a Marriage Protection Amendment is to North Carolina. Busloads of your church members came to Raleigh from across the State. David Barton of Wallbuilders and David Gibbs III of the Christian Law Association were featured Rally speakers, along with several members of the General Assembly members who are sponsors of the Marriage Protection Amendment bill.

Please check our events section on a regular basis to see if there are events in your area. Citizens joining together will be critical to the success of this effort, and we hope we can count on your participation.

Your help is the key to the success of passing a Marriage Protection Amendment. We need your involvement in this campaign. Please sign-up to receive our email updates, and invite your friends and family members to do the same. We value your prayers for this campaign as well as your participation in other ways.

Thank you for your help in protecting marriage.