Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), attended the National Religious Broadcasters convention last week and spoke with Stuart Shepard of First Liberty Institute about her personal story, religious freedom, and more.
The left sends messages that America is inherently evil, systematically racist, and irredeemable, and that we need to transform it. Star said her story is proof that is not true. She used to believe the “lies of the left,” that she was poor because others were wealthy, and we need to take their money from them. Listen to Star Parker’s story in this video by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
“I heard the lies that my problems were somebody else’s fault,” Star told Shepard. “We keep hearing them over and over. But when you tell young people this, they can get very lost” if they don’t hear the other side of the story. Star says that is what happened to her. She explains why she began CURE. She thought of ways to dismantle the welfare state. CURE promotes market-based solutions to fight poverty, and its mission includes restoring dignity through a message of faith, freedom, and personal responsibility. Star wants the politicians out of the “war on poverty” business and the churches back in.
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit law firm that handles religious-freedom cases exclusively. Shepard asked Star how religious freedom is connected to what CURE does.
The government has expanded itself in so many places, Star said, that you need a lawyer and law firm to get you out of the mess, whether churches or businesses. For example, Christian baker Jack Phillips, who won at the Supreme Court, is still in litigation after a man pretending to be a woman sued him for “discrimination” after he declined to make a custom “transition” cake. CURE and religious freedom are connected in this way: First Liberty is helping to put out the fire, and while CURE, through social policy, is in the nation’s capital “trying to take away the matches, trying to stop them from putting people at risk.” Star cited the recent Supreme Court case involving Catholic Social Services and foster families in Philadelphia.
Watch the full clip below for more.
