Free Republic

The 2023 census of Albania has shown a notable demographic change that marks a historic transformation in the religious scene of the nation. Muslims are no longer the majority of the population for the first time in more than 200 years. The Muslim count dropped to 45.7% based on the most recent census figures. This is a clear departure from past years when Muslims often accounted for the majority. On the other hand, the nonreligious population has grown somewhat steadily, reaching 23.4%. Furthermore, the Orthodox Christian community has expanded and now accounts for twenty percent of the population overall The...

The homecoming of pilgrims who have completed the Hajj is usually an opportunity to celebrate with their loved ones. This year, however, hundreds of families in Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Jordan are in mourning: More than a thousand pilgrims have died during the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which took place from Friday, June 14, to Wednesday, June 19, with the thermometer showing intense heat, topping 50°C on Monday. Tragedies, such as a deadly crowd crush in 2015 (which led to more than 2,000 deaths), regularly occur during this major religious event, which brought together more than 1.8 million...

Two Arab diplomats told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday that at least 550 Muslims have died during 2024’s hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, most of them from “heat-related illnesses.” Temperatures in Mecca have soared to 125 degrees Fahrenheit in June. Saudi officials said on Sunday that more than 2,000 pilgrims have been treated for heat stress, but they did not mention any fatalities and have not provided updated information since Sunday. AFP’s tally of deaths, based on local media sources, stood at 645 on Wednesday. The Arab diplomats who spoke to AFP said 550 bodies were being held...

At least 550 pilgrims have died during the hajj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year. At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, the two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP. “All of them [the Egyptians] died because of heat” except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding that the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca. The hajj is one of the five pillars...

In a disturbing video, a Christian man interviewed a Muslim immigrant living in London. The Muslim man said: “Any Christian, any Jew, I hate you all for the sake of Allah. If we were at war, I would chop your head off.” VIDEO AT LINK......................

This article might be the most controversial and incendiary but most accurate ever written in the last 120 years regarding the Islamic belief system. All I request from our readers is to judge its contents not based on emotions or perceptions but entirely upon its accuracy grounded upon the Islamic scripture and sources. 20% of humanity is Muslim, and 80% is none Muslim. Both Sunnis and Shia Muslims are the enemies of 80% of humanity, whom they call Kuffar/Infidels. Among the 20% of Muslims, 85% are Sunnis and 15% are Shia. Each considers the other Kuffar. Therefore, according to Islam,...

Parents cannot force a school district to let them pull their children out of classes with LGBTQ themes, an appeals court has ruled. Three sets of parents and a parental rights group sued the Montgomery County Public Schools board in Maryland after it announced the classes in 2022. They claimed not being allowed to opt out their kindergarten to grade 5 children violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. But the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals denied their request for a preliminary injunction 2-1 as the parents failed to show how the policy would infringe their rights...

On January 30, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) razed the Akhoondji mosque and a madrasa, describing them as “illegal structures” in Sanjay Van, a reserved forest area. No one’s quite sure when the Akhoondji Masjid was built in Mehrauli. But the “Mosque of Akhondji” was listed in a 1922 publication by an officer of the Archaeological Survey of India who recorded that while its construction date was “unknown”, the mosque was repaired in “1270 AH (1853-4 AD)”, and that it lay west to to an old Idgah that “existed when Timur invaded India in 1398 AD”. “Removal of the illegal...

Korean Muslim YouTuber Daud Kim’s plans to build a mosque in the western port city of Incheon has come to a grinding halt after it received backlash from local residents. Following the backlash, the land purchase contract he signed has been cancelled upon the request of the landowner, according to a report by the Korea Times. YouTuber Daud Kim, or Kim Jae-han then agreed to cancel the contract with the property owner. The property owners wanted the contract cancelled and said that he did not know about Kim’s plans to build a mosque. Kim posts about living as a Korean...

As ChristianTwitter catfights over whether or not John Lindell was justified to bring on noted sword-wallower Alex Magala to perform at his 2024 Stronger Men’s conference, and whether or not disgraced and disqualified Pastor Mark Driscoll was right to call it out in the bizarre and Driscollian way that he did, another question remains: what about the other performers that Driscoll did NOT call out? Amid the brawl, Magala took a shot at Driscoll for comparing his Chinese pole to a “stripper pole” and for describing his performance as “a man who ripped his shirt off like a woman does...

The boy accused of stabbing a bishop as he delivered a sermon had been mentally 'poisoned' in the lead-up to the alleged attack, Muslims who prayed with him have claimed. The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly lunged at Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, 53, and stabbed him in the head at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, in Sydney's west, at about 7pm on Monday. Father Isaac Royel, who serves in the Assyrian ministry at St Shimun Bar Sabbae and St Mary Cathedral, was among many parishioners who attempted to intervene - and as a result...

An Assyrian Orthodox Church bishop who was stabbed during a livestreamed church service in Sydney had spoken critically about Islam in a video recorded four months ago. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in Sydney's west just after 7pm on Monday when a 16-year-old boy walked up to the altar and allegedly stabbed him multiple times. On a separate video of the aftermath of the alleged terror attack, the boy said in Arabic 'If they didn't insult my prophet, I wouldn't have come here. If he didn't involve himself in my religion,...

Sydney has been shaken by another stabbing attack with a priest and worshippers assailed by a knife-wielding man Monday in a suburban church. Bishop Mari Emmanuel was preaching a live-streamed sermon at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the city’s west when a man dressed in black approached the altar and allegedly stabbed the Christian Orthodox priest multiple times. Horrifying footage of the incident, which was being broadcast live on the church’s YouTube page, shows Bishop Emmanuel look up in astonishment as the attacker suddenly rains down blows on his face and head, news.com.au reports. The local Sydney-based outlet goes...

AP) – The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex – a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church. Around the world, major religions have diverse approaches to gender identity, and the inclusion or exclusion of transgender people. Some examples: Christianity The Catholic Church’s disapproving stance toward gender transition is shared by some other denominations. For example, the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the United States – adopted a resolution in 2014 stating...

Whenever there is a major terrorist attack in any area of the world, it is generally safe to assume that the attack has some connection to followers of the Islamic faith. In the past 20 years, we had several mass shooting events where the killer was not a Muslim. If there is more than one attacker, the odds instantly rise to nearly 100% that the killers are Islamic. When I read the news that 130 people had been killed in Moscow, I wondered if Ukraine had developed a new strategy. It was quickly shown that 11 of the attackers were...

Atheist author Richard Dawkins described himself as a "cultural Christian" and lamented the faith's waning cultural influence in Europe, though he still derided its key tenets as "nonsense," during an interview on Easter Sunday. Speaking with British journalist Rachel Johnson, Dawkins noted that the United Kingdom is "fundamentally a Christian country," and he still personally values the Christian ethos despite not believing the religion from which it emerged. "I call myself a cultural Christian," said the evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion. "I'm not a believer, but there's a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a...

The founder of an Illinois militia group, who was found guilty in connection to the bombing of a Minnesota mosque in 2017, has demanded to be transferred to a women's prison, despite having male genitalia. Michael Hari, who now identifies as Emily Claire Hari, 53, had already asked to be legally recognized as a transgender woman during her trial but has now requested to be moved from Allenwood USP in Pennsylvania to FMC Carswell, a women's prison in Fort Worth, Texas. Hari continues to deny taking part in the bombing of which she's been convicted and is serving a 53-year...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The federal government is asking a court to halt California’s enforcement of a rule requiring prison guards to be clean-shaven, saying it amounts to religious discrimination for Sikhs, Muslims and others who wear beards as an expression of their faith. The civil rights complaint filed Monday by the U.S. Justice Department says the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s prohibition on facial hair denies on-the-job accommodations for officers of various religions. It seeks a temporary court order “allowing these officers to wear beards while CDCR fully assesses options for providing them with religious accommodations while complying...

The Gods of Political Correctness dictate that all religions are of equal worth; that there are “…three great Abrahamic religions,” and “The Arabs are Semites too, so they can’t be anti-Semites.” All three of these sacred cow clichés need to be slaughtered on the altar of truth. While Christianity and Islam are both offshoots of the Jews and took from them the concept of having one’s own holy writ, their self-definitions as new faith communities were radically different. The Koine Greek language narratives that Christians append to their version of the Hebrew Bible purport to be a continuation of Jewish...

Villagers at a cemetery in Dordogne Department in southwest France were horrified that vandals painted Islamist slogans in French and Arabic on 58 graves, a church door, a World War I memorial and tomb art depicting the crucifixion. The defacement happened overnight in Clermont d’Excideuil between March 10 and March 11. A local church building near the cemetery had “Ramadan Mubarak” (“Blessed Ramadan”) daubed on its doors. Slogans within the cemetery included, “Submit yourselves to Allah,” “Happy Ramadan non-Muslims” and “Koufars,” meaning “unbelievers.” One of the grave slogans read, “France is already Allah’s,” according to British newspaper the Daily Mail....