Free Republic

Houston's Lesbian Mayor Annise Parker is at it again after standing down on subpoenaing pastor's sermons. We had not heard from her for a few months after she got blasted by pastors and the public following the City Council's attempts to push through an unlawful "bathroom bill" and the city attorney's attempts to manipulate signatures in a petition against their illegal actions. However, that has changed. Now she is claiming that the pastors have no right to a jury trial and is calling for a "special master" to investigate. Though the city withdrew its subpoenas of the pastor's sermons,...

Kelvin Cochran was five-years-old when he realized that he wanted to be a firefighter.... God granted Kelvin Cochran the desires of his heart. The little boy in the shotgun shack grew up to become the fire chief of Shreveport. He was named the Atlanta fire chief in 2008 – a position he served until 2009 when was called to serve in the Obama Administration as a fire administrator. In 2010 he returned to Atlanta where he was unanimously confirmed to once again be the city’s fire chief. But now Chief Cochran’s storied career is up in smoke – all because...

It was an attack of unreasoning rage and unrelenting hatred on one of the world’s greatest symbols of love and peace, life and hope. On Christmas Day in the heart of Catholic Christianity, St. Peter’s Square in Rome, the leftist radical and militant feminist group, Femen, staged another of its outrageous “happenings” against its favourite target, the Catholic Church.

One of the secular left’s latest windmills at which to tilt is America’s fanciful “rape culture.” There is a universal ethos of violence against women, as they imagine it, that stems from a millennia-old global patriarchy chiefly derived from religion in general and Judeo-Christianity in particular (another of their pet nemeses). Paradoxically, these “progressive” Don Quixotes actually believe in said “rape culture,” something that, outside of Islam, does not exist, while they disbelieve in their Creator, Christ Jesus, who both did and does exist. Exhibit A, of course, is the now-debunked UVA fraternity gang-rape hoax concocted in the disturbed minds...

Newsweek magazine decided to greet the start of 2015 with a massive cover story on the Bible. For decades now, major newsmagazines have tended to feature cover articles timed for Christmas and Easter, taking an opportunity to consider some major question about Christianity and the modern world. Leading the journalistic pack for years, both TIME and Newsweek dedicated cover article after article, following a rather predictable format. In the main, scholars or leaders from very liberal quarters commented side-by-side those committed to historic Christianity on questions ranging from the virgin birth to the resurrection of Christ. When written by journalists...

By Ed Whelan December 28, 2014 2005—“Allah” yes, “Christ” no. Having already enjoined the Speaker of Indiana’s House of Representatives from permitting “sectarian” prayers to be offered as part of that body’s official proceedings, federal district judge David Hamilton draws a curious line between “sectarian” and “non-sectarian” prayers. Whereas prayers that “use Christ’s name or title” are sectarian, Hamilton says that it’s presumptively not sectarian for a Muslim imam to offer a prayer to “Allah.” In March 2009, Hamilton’s politically correct favoritism of Islam over Christianity in the public square helps make him President Obama’s first nominee to a federal...

NBC Nightly News offered two stories on Christmas in their December 25 newscast, including a show-ender about “what Christmas means to me.” Substitute anchor Tamron Hall offered this introduction: “Finally, on this special night, a question: What does Christmas mean to you? Maybe it’s the presents, the lights, the music, or getting together with family. We put the question to people around the country and discovered once against that Christmas means something a little different to everyone.” Somehow, this perfectly pleasant three-minute segment included lot of talk about family time and presents, and even someone saying “Happy Hanukkah,” but included...

And the bells chimed for victory at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. The so-called War on Christmas, says overpaid bloviator Bill O’Reilly, has been won by his god-fearing, flag-flourishing side. “We won the war,” the Fox News personality proclaimed last week. “I have to confess, you know, I’m like a guerrilla fighter in the War on Christmas…We did this War on Christmas thing for about 10 years. This is the first year I didn’t get one call or letter saying, ‘This store has said it won’t say [“Merry Christmas”].’” Hallelujah.

He was born in a barn to penniless parents who were part of a people under occupation. Get it? So why do so many of us not get it? I’m against the War on Christmas. No not that one! Wishing someone “Happy Holidays” doesn’t rob Christmas of its meaning—after all, being sensitive to others’ religious beliefs ought to be the attitude of every Christian. And not the one that says we have over-commercialized Christmas—after all, there’s nothing wrong with a time of year when we purchase thoughtful gifts for those we love.

Couldn't the New York Times put aside its hostility to traditional religion on Christmas Day and feature a column by a believing Christian? No, it couidn't. Instead, believers who blunder onto the online op-ed page today are hit with a lead column entitled "Religion Without God." And just in case you didn't get the message, there's a second column called "An Atheist’s Christmas Dream."

In October, Jeffrey Tayler wrote in Salon that the Qur’an “backs up jihad, suicide attacks (“martyrdom”), beheadings, even taking captive women as sex slaves.” This was singular for Salon, which usually whitewashes the truth about Islam and jihad and excoriates those who expose it as “racists” and “bigots,” but now it is clear why Tayler was able to get away with it: he is supremely hostile to Christianity. Here, he gives a characteristic Salon Christmas greeting: Jesus likely never existed, but Muhammad’s existence is well established. “Let’s make Bill O’Reilly’s head explode: We desperately need a war on Christmas lies,”...

Finally, understanding the sub-culural history of "Smithmas" is making more digital headway! Smithmas Free Republic articles are "bumping up" among top five hits on Google searches! What exactly IS "Smithmas," anyway? Well, Joseph Smith -- THE founder of Mormonism -- was born on December 23. Through the decades, that recognition has often eclipsed a certain Other figure's birthday, Dec. 25. (To be fair to Mormons, who are my beloved extended family members, I would think they could extend a similar critique toward some Christians for allowing a jovial North Pole-based figure to edge out Jesus' birthday!) But if you want...

Valerie Tarico wrote an article at Alternet, republished at Salon, that should get her a lot of invites to ironically themed liberal Christmas parties.  The title: "Why rape is so intrinsic to religion." Tarico lays out a series of myths from pagan traditions, mostly Greek and Roman, in which women are abducted, violated, and coerced.  We have Danae, Europa, Rea Silvia...and, what do you know, the Virgin Mary. Notably, Tarico avoids using the same dire language for the Blessed Mother that she uses for the pagan myths: "[I]n the Gospel of Luke, the Virgin Mary gets pregnant when the...

<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's Capitol has displayed a Pabst Blue Ribbon Festivus pole, atheist banners and even a tribute to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. But a display showing an angel falling into flames with the message "Happy Holidays from the Satanic Temple" was too much for one woman.</p>

Nativity scene has caused quite a stir in his neighborhood, with some considering it a holiday treat. But others see a nightmare before Christmas. Responding to two anonymous complaints, officials in Ohio’s Sycamore Township said on Tuesday they have ordered Jasen Dixon to take down his display by Friday because it violates local property maintenance codes. Dixon, who manages a haunted attraction in Indiana, faces a $1,000 fine if he does not remove the 10-foot by 10-foot structure he built three weeks ago. He said he made the models for the zombie Mary and three wise men and borrowed props...

Dozens of people were injured tonight when a man ploughed his white van into a Christmas market crowd while screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’, Five people were left seriously hurt when the vehicle drove into the pedestrianised Place Royale area of Nantes in France. Within seconds of running down as many people as he could, the driver stabbed himself nine times. It is the third incident of its kind in as many days in the country which have been linked to Islamic terrorism. The man, who is said to be aged 44 but otherwise unidentified, was tonight under armed guard in the...

Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (U.S. Army-Ret.) says the Army violated its own regulations by punishing Chaplain Joseph Lawhorn for “using Christian scripture and solutions” in a mandatory suicide prevention training session. Boykin, chair of the Restore Military Religious Freedom Coalition (RMRFC), also said that the treatment of Lawhorn violated the chaplain’s constitutional rights. “First of all, his case is important because it is an infringement on his First Amendment rights,” Boykin told CNSNews.com. “Secondly, he is a chaplain. By definition, chaplains deal with spiritual issues, and all he was doing was explaining how his faith helped him. The third thing,...

FULL TITLE: Polish retailer caught off guard by pro-life protests after Christmas ads feature Satanist and pro-abort The slogan for retail giant Empik claims the company “inspires everybody differently.” The ads inspired one pro-life group to boycott its stores. Polish pro-lifers organized a boycott of Empik, whose 200 stores sell books, magazines, DVDs, video games and other products. Empik’s Christmas ad campaign seems a better fit for Halloween, featuring a famous Satanist and an author who has boasted of her own abortions. Empik’s controversial campaign consisted of TV spots and posters with famous entertainers advertising various Christmas gifts. Among the...

Silent Night! Endless night! All is dark, there’s no light. Cyclone clouds have blocked out the sky, We’re almost out of our dry-meat supply. Sleep in uneasy peace. We may have to eat Aunt Bernice. What the New Yorker is calling "Climate Change Carols" are a series of Christmas songs whose lyrics have been rewritten to focus on environmental issues, gutting the carols of any relationship to the season of Christ’s birth. Not only that, but the hope and joy characteristic of Christmas has also given way to gloom and doom. Granted, this dechristianization of carols began years ago with...

You’ve got to be careful what you share online. Over the weekend Facebook and Twitter were suddenly inundated with links to a new recording of the Christmas hymn “Angels From the Realms of Glory” mashed up with “Angels We Have Heard on High.” It was recorded by The Piano Guys and features David Archuleta, a one-time runner up on American Idol. It is a creative recording that intersperses shots of the musicians with video taken to record the world’s largest nativity scene. The song is beautifully sung and the music is rich; it is no surprise that it quickly gained...