Free Republic

Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible's satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Honest. This isn't a joke. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their "common faith" (Christianity) and told him: "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East. ... The biblical prophecies...

An Idaho community had secured an Air Force flyover for its local festival every year for more than 40 years, organizers say, but this year, the Air Force turned the request down over the festival's religious focus. The God and Country Family Festival in Nampa, Idaho, applied to the Pentagon for the flyover but was denied in an e-mail, board member Patti Syme told KTBV. Syme said the e-mail from a defense official informed her the Pentagon prohibited support of special interest groups. "I called him immediately and just said, you know hey we've been doing this for 42 years,...

http://www.reddirtreport.com/news.php?id=12076 OKLAHOMA CITY – The flyer is simple but informative. “Community Organizing at St. Charles.” Sounds innocuous enough. But upon closer inspection, it appears to be further attempts by ACORN-esque organizers to infiltrate well-meaning parishioners in the Catholic Church in the Oklahoma City area, among other places. The flyer reads: “Come to a special training in community organizing for Catholic parishes, presented by Oklahoma Sponsoring Committee and hosted by Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish.” Not much could be found about the Oklahoma Sponsoring Committee, other than a Grace Presbyterian Church flyer online that notes that “the OSC is a...

Watch this video - I did a keyword search for 'flyover', and 'God and Country' - so sorry if this has already been seen. If there's a better link, please add it to the thread.

Tuning in to President Obama's health care town hall today, you couldn't help but notice how much tamer the line of questioning was compared to what Obama's fellow Democrats have been up against. By and large, instead of the persistent tough queries that greeted the likes of Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), the president fielded much easier questions. The toughest questioner tried to tag him on his earlier comments approving of a government-run "single-payer" system but unfortunately couldn't get the point of distinction between it and the much more amorphous "universal" health care system, thus allowing Obama to...

The so-called New Atheists are attacking the mantra of science and faith being compatible. Others in the science community question the value of confrontation.This fall, evolutionary biologist and bestselling author Richard Dawkins -- most recently famous for his public exhortation to atheism, "The God Delusion" -- returns to writing about science. Dawkins' new book, "The Greatest Show on Earth," will inform and regale us with the stunning "evidence for evolution," as the subtitle says. It will surely be an impressive display, as Dawkins excels at making the case for evolution. But it's also fair to ask: Who in the United...

Here is a video of this past Friday's hate speech by the NY Muslims of RevolutionMuslim.com. This week their spokesperson kindly tells us that the time will come when the cross will be broken and non-Muslims will have no choice but to convert to Islam, as Sharia Law will rule the world.

Culture Challenge of the Week: Immoral Sex Indoctrination Much of what is being taught to our young girls and boys in sex-education classes is too graphic and vulgar to be quoted in the newspaper. For that, you can blame Planned Parenthood, Advocates for Youth, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS). The content of sex-education programs is dominated by these groups, which instruct our children on how to perform sexual acts, including homosexuality and sadomasochism. Their materials promote a radical political agenda, are highly pornographic, encourage our children to be sexually active and are largely...

SNIPPET: "It is often said that ridiculing Christians and their beliefs is the last acceptable form of bigotry." SNIPPET: "Bringing it back to the secular level, the friendships I have developed with Israeli colleagues over the past six years, and especially my trip to Israel last November, have solidified my support for the country. As if I didn’t realize it before, walking through the besieged city of Sderot and seeing Hamas missiles literally stamped “Made in Iran” truly brought home the fact that Israel’s enemies are America’s enemies. We share a common radical Islamic foe that seeks our destruction. That...

Amsterdam, Netherlands, Aug 4, 2009 / 03:07 am (CNA).- The Amsterdam offices of an organizer for the upcoming World Congress of Families were defaced with paint and vandalized with obscenities and anti-Christian slogans last Thursday, prompting the pro-family conference’s leaders to pledge they will not be intimidated by “radical opposition.” The World Congress of Families V (WCF V) is to take place in Amsterdam on August 10-12 at the RAI Centre. In its pamphlet for the event, the Congress describes itself as the world’s largest gathering of pro-family leaders and grass-roots activists. It bills the event as “the most exciting...

GOJRA, Pakistan — The blistered black walls of the Hameed family’s bedroom tell of an unspeakable crime. Seven family members died here on Saturday, six of them burned to death by a mob that had broken into their house and shot the grandfather dead, just because they were Christian. The family had huddled in the bedroom, talking in whispers with their backs pressed against the door, as the mob taunted them. “They said, ‘If you come out, we’ll kill you,’ ” said Ikhlaq Hameed, 22, who escaped. Among the dead were two children, Musa, 6, and Umaya, 13. The attack...

One of the UK's oldest Christian denominations - the Quakers - looks set to extend marriage services to same-sex couples at their yearly meeting later. The society has already held religious blessings for same-sex couples who have had a civil partnership ceremony. But agreeing to perform gay marriages, which are currently not allowed under civil law, could bring the Quakers into conflict with the government.

ATLANTA, GA - While U.S. airports often have chapels, many of them no longer display crosses or other symbols that would make them specific to a particular faith. The chapel at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport features a silhouette of a person kneeling and a generic stained-glass window. It also has a library stocking everything from Gideon Bibles to Jewish mystical texts, and a large floor mat provides a cushiony spot to kneel for prayer. A large compass on the chapel floor helps guide Muslims who pray toward Mecca.

DETROIT, MI - A coach who's in the Michigan Wrestling Association Hall of Fame has filed a federal lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools and the principal of Fordson High School. Gerald Marszalek claims he was fired after 35 years because of his Christian beliefs. Marszalek says his troubles began in 2005 when a minister lost his job as a volunteer assistant coach after introducing Muslim students to Christianity during a private off-campus wrestling camp. Marszalek, who also is Christian, said his contract wasn't renewed in 2008 because of his religious beliefs and his association with the minister. Dearborn has a...

There are many things Evangelical Christians are good at, such as bake sales and talking to me on planes. They're less adept at other things, such as comedy and fighting lions. Christians aren't funny because they tend to be literal-minded. Also because they're sad about having had sex with only one person. So when Kevin Roose, author of the excellent new book The Unlikely Disciple, told me that Rick Warren's giant Saddleback Church has its own improv group, for the first time in my life, I felt my calling. I may not be the Woody Allen or Jon Stewart of...

The interior of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Kathmandu Rome, Italy, Jul 16, 2009 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- Following the recent bomb attack on the Cathedral of the Assumption, which was attributed to the Hindu group Nepal Defense Army, extremists are now threatening priests and religious in Nepal with death if they do not leave the country “within one month.” The Apostolic Vicar of Nepal, Bishop Anthony Francis Sharma, said the threats were made to the associate vicar, Father Pius Perumana.  L’Osservatore Romano reported that the police have beefed up security at the diocesan chancery in Godavari, where Father...

SNIPPET: "While Hizb ut-Tahrir, a pro-jihadist group which met openly near Chicago last weekend, is surprisingly candid about its desire to re-establish an Islamic Caliphate, literature available at its conference shows the group also views Christians and Jews as untrustworthy enemies of God. More than a dozen issues of a Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) newsletter called The Shield were obtained from the conference by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. The publication repeatedly condemns interfaith "outreach initiatives" and shows HT believes in the death penalty for Muslims who leave the faith. HT pushes a radical ideology that is similar to Al Qaeda,...

"The exhibit, Untitled 2009, was proposed by the Metropolitan Community Church, an international Christian group which describes itself as offering “inclusive Christian ministry to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities”. The £7,000 exhibition, which is funded by the Scottish Arts Council and is free of charge, has been created by the artists Anthony Schrag and David Malone in association with organisations representing gay Christians and Muslims. Mr Schrag, 34, told the newspaper: “Any offensive things that have been written are not the point of the work. It was an open gesture. Are those who say they are upset offended...

July 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Famed CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite has been lauded in the media since his death on Friday, at the age of 92, with tributes paid not only from secular media, but even Vatican Radio and other Christian news sources.  But while remembered by many as "the most trusted man in America," many of Cronkite's more radical, but lesser known views, would be considered repugnant even to many of his greatest fans.For instance, up until his death Cronkite served as honorary chair of the Interfaith Alliance, an organization dedicated to countering the influence of conservative Christianity on...

A Pennsylvania pastor rejected by the state's House of Representatives will pray in the Senate instead. The pastor is Gerry Stoltzfoos of Freedom Valley Worship Center in Gettysburg. He was asked to pray before the House by his own representative and sent officials a written prayer on their request. "I wrote the prayer and sent it to them and they sent back a very short rejection notice," he recalls. "So I wrote back, 'I'm curious as to why.' And they said it had an offensive word. Can you tell me what the word was?' And they came back and said...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose officials in the past have been convicted for being associated with Muslim terrorist groups, said it will announce at a news conference Tuesday that it is launching an “education campaign” and will distribute 100,000 copies of the Koran to local, state and national leaders. The books will provide an English translation and commentary. CAIR said the distribution is prompted by U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent speech in Cairo, in which he said he wants to reach out to Muslims throughout the world. He praised the Muslim community in the U.S, whose values he...

Christian Organization Denied Free Speech Rights At Arab International Festival Restrictions requested by Dearborn police upheld in court Dear AMERICA, Imagine a large Christian festival being held on public streets in a major city. A Muslim organization dispatches volunteers to mix and mingle with festival attendees, handing out pro-Muslim leaflets. The local police, concerned about crowd control and possible violence, order the Muslim organization to confine its leafleting to a single street corner out of the way of most of the festival traffic. If this is hard to imagine it's because we all know that the outcry from the...

"We're not going to win this case, but that's okay. Once we get 'hate crime' laws on the books, we're going to go after the Scouts and all the other bigots." This was a remark made in the gallery by the Clinton White House liaison for "gay" issues during U.S. Supreme Court hearings on the Boy Scouts case in 2000. She had whispered it to the Rev. Rob Schenck, whom she mistakenly thought was one of those liberal clerics who think God is still making up His mind about sexual morality. The point is that the proposed federal "hate crime"...

As we watch the horrors in Iran, it makes us wonder if anything like that could happen in America. In Iran, the mullahs control everything and feel justified in any injustice they commit because of a belief in the rightness of their own actions. Is there anyone like that here? In an answer to that question, Frank Schaeffer wrote a column for the Huffington Post entitled “The Real Lesson of Iran — Beware America’s Republican Mullahs.” Reading it and the comments to it, I came to a realization: people who think the religious right are just like Iranian mullahs are...

Do you believe in God? Really? And you're willing to admit it in public? Oops. Sorry, for a moment I slipped back into the arrogant Atheism of my youth. Before my parents had children, they decided to raise their kids in a secular home. We had gifts at Christmas time and chocolate covered matzoh during Passover, but there was no religion and certainly no God. When I was in grade school, God was just a kind of nondescript character who popped up in Little House on the Prairie books from time to time. He seemed like a decent enough fellow,...

First gay couple to become fathers in UK expecting fourth child By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 18th June 2009 Britain's first gay fathers have announced that they are having a fourth child on Valentine's Day. Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow sparked outrage when they used donated eggs and surrogate mothers in the USA to have their nine-year-old twins Aspen and Saffron and five-year-old son Orlando. The pair from Danbury in Essex, battled the American authorities to become the first gay couple to have both their names on their children's birth certificates.

On Tuesday June 16, 2009 the Board of Directors of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) met in its offices in Crystal City, located in Arlington, Virginia, to discuss the pressing issues they face. Top on its agenda was to consider whether it would continue airing “religious programming” or allow any more such programming to be aired on its member stations in the future. In explaining its mission on its’ own website the Corporation notes “…that PBS is a private, nonprofit corporation, founded in 1969, whose members are America’s public TV stations. PBS provides quality TV programming and related services to...

In the days since President Obama’s highly touted “speech to the Muslim world,” a number of commentators have pointed out that Obama, a self-described “student of history,” managed to serve up a pastiche of half-truths, exaggerations, and utter nonsense about Islamic history, and that even in his supposedly gutsier moments — as when he criticized the treatment of women in Muslim societies — he was hardly as forceful as the circumstances warrant. It’s no coincidence that the commentators who have made these points have done so, almost without exception, not in major media organs but in places like Pajamas Media....

Foes of the global jihad are constantly accused of quoting the Qur'an "out of context," but when Barack Obama actually did so in Cairo yesterday, no one seems to have minded. He quoted one Qur'an verse in connection with speaking of our shared interests as human beings: As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth." That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far...

Christians in the UK Facing Increasing Official Discrimination: Poll By Hilary White LONDON, June 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll conducted by the Sunday Telegraph has found that thousands of Christians in Britain fear losing job promotions and are being harassed at work because of their religious beliefs. The poll has been released at the same time that reports that Britain is becoming increasingly hostile to Christian believers are increasing. In the Telegraph poll, one in five said they had faced “opposition” at work because of their beliefs. Over half said they had suffered from some kind of “persecution” at...

Breaking news 4:24 PM N.H. legislators OK gay marriage The governor is expected to sign the bill, which would make New Hampshire the sixth state to legalize gay marriage.

I spend a lot of time arguing about the fact Obama may be a Muslim, I always get this response, So what? Whats a good come back?

This is a french interview. If you can speak French you can watch it. I think the MSM will show it soon in the US Channel. You'll find the videos through the Figaro link.

The BBC Trust has dismissed a complaint about an episode of Bonekickers, a BBC One drama series about a team of archaeologists, that involved a fundamentalist Christian beheading a Muslim (as so often happens in real life, right?). The Trust has backed an earlier BBC ruling that there is "no reason why viewers would have been given the impression that the fanatics in the programme were evangelical Christians or that the programme gave an offensive portrayal of such people". We are deep into the realms of BBC bias and ignorance here. Only a BBC drama series would, to quote the complainant,...

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a bible study....

Around 175 people were arrested in San Francisco while taking part in peaceful protests against a California Supreme Court decision to uphold a ban on same-sex marriage, police said. A spokeswoman for the San Francisco Police Department said the arrests came as demonstrators blocked an intersection near the court building. Those arrested were released at the scene, Sergeant Lyn Tomioka told AFP. California's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a referendum that outlawed gay marriage, but said 18,000 same-sex weddings carried out before the ban would remain valid. Gay and lesbian activists had sought to overturn the result of a November...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Gay marriage supporters are holding a prayer service on the eve of the California Supreme Court's expected ruling on the legality of a voter-approved ban on same-sex nuptials. The group Marriage Equality USA plans to hold the interfaith event Monday night at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. On Tuesday morning, the state's high court plans to rule on a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. Opponents of the gay marriage ban argue that the issue was improperly put before voters; they say it revised the state constitution's equal protection clause to such a dramatic...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not know how long the Worldwide Intelligence Update cover sheets quoted from the Bible. Air Force Maj. Gen. Glen Shaffer, who was responsible for including them, retired in August 2003, according to his biography. For a period in 2003, at least, the daily reports prepared for President George W. Bush carried quotes from the books of Psalms and Ephesians...

In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday night, David Axelrod opened up about comparisons to Karl Rove, the White House dress code, President Obama’s battle against smoking, the First Family’s new dog and even Miss California. He did this all on a game show. The senior adviser to the president and former campaign consultant was the special guest on National Public Radio’s “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” which made a road trip to George Washington University in the nation’s capital for an episode that will air this weekend. Mr. Axelrod – or, as host Peter Sagal called him, “the moustache behind the...

A Law suit was filed in federal court May 13, 2009 against a radical anarchist group that openly advocates the use of riots and crime to further its views in favor of homosexual behavior. The complaint was filed on behalf of Delta Township’s Mount Hope Church in Michigan against the group “Bash Back!,” which invaded the church’s building during a worship service on Nov. 9 of last year. “The use of violent threats and criminal behavior to make a political point should never be acceptable in America,” said ADF attorney Gary McCaleb. “Bash Back! revealed how dangerous the homosexual agenda...

AINA) -- As a result of a rumor that a young Christian Copt hurled a stone towards a mosque, thousands of Muslims congregated and attacked Copts and their properties, leaving several injured and arrested. The incident, which took place on Wednesday, May 13, 2009,in the area of Saft El-Labn, Giza, resulted in the injury of 14 people from both sides. The police arrested 20 Copts, including 6 women, and 7 Muslims, and security imposed a curfew on the region. Among the Copts randomly rounded up by the police is 29-year-old Sabry Shaker, a physically handicapped man suffering from infantile paralysis....

Note: Read the whole article and check out the hypertext-links in the article. # FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Where does the Obama administration stand on Israel? Although that vexed question is still open, the worrying signs are accumulating. On Sunday it was National Security Adviser James Jones telling ABC that “We understand Israel’s preoccupation with Iran as an existential threat. We agree with that”—and adding: “…by the same token, there are a lot of things that you can do to diminish that existential threat by working hard towards achieving a two-state solution.” With Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slated...

KIRKUK, Iraq, May 13, 2009 – Provincial police representatives in Iraq’s Kirkuk province met May 4 with Christian leaders in Kirkuk city to address concerns about increased violence against Kirkuk's Christian minority. Only about 3 percent of Iraq's total population -- about 800,000 Iraqis -- are Christian. "Anyone that targets you, targets us also," said Maj. Gen. Turhan, the Kirkuk city deputy police chief, a Kurdish Muslim. Two attacks April 26 left three Christian residents of Kirkuk dead and two others injured, the third series of attacks targeting Christians in the city in recent months. "Our history has always coincided...

The president of a Christian mission organization is trying to help believers become better equipped to battle their biggest enemy. Dr. Jerry Rankin is president of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. In his new book Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God's Glory, Rankin examines the causes for spiritual warfare, and the methods and disciplines Christians can use for victory. Rankin says spiritual warfare is real for all believers. "Satan is not just going to roll over and relinquish the kingdoms of the world to become the kingdoms of our Lord," he counsels. And in much more...

John Gechter's story has been troubling me ever since I read it in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09128/968674-298.stm)on Friday, May 8th. Gechter was set to graduate from Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania which is about 65 miles north of Pittsburgh. The college is situated in a rural area, and was founded in 1879 as a strict Christian institution, which it remains today. It prides itself as an authentic Christian institution. The college is also listed as one of the top ten conservative schools in the nation with very rigorous academics. Sex outside of marriage, heterosexual or gay is forbidden,...

Note: The following text is a quote: May 8, 2009 UK bans cross-shaped medal as offensive to Muslims and Hindus When in Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Muslim sensibilities. In non-Muslim countries, non-Muslims must conform their behavior to Muslim sensibilities. Got it? It is a pity that the prevailing multiculturalist fog is such that the Hindus joined this initiative. They may ultimately find their allies in this struggle turning on them. Cultural Abdication Alert from Absurd Britannia: "Queen's medal of honour scrapped... because it's too Christian for Muslims and Hindus," from the Daily Mail, May 8 (thanks...

The Rutherford Institute is suing a Billings, Montana, school over a graduation decision. John Whitehead, founder of the Institute, says many people were scheduled to speak at the 2008 Butte High School graduation. Some chose serious subjects, others humor, he says. "Renee Griffith, who is a Christian, wanted to mention Christ once and mention God once in one of her very short remarks, and the school said she couldn't do it," he explains. "She [insisted she] wanted to do it, so then they actually removed her from the graduation ceremony and did not allow her to speak." According to a...

The Taliban on Thursday threatened "harsh reprisals" if Pope Benedict XVI does not immediately intervene to stop Christians proselytising in Afghanistan. In a message posted on their official website, the Taliban made the threat against the pope and Christians for spreading their faith. The message followed video footage aired on Arabic satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera earlier this week apparently showing Christian soldiers proselytising outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, and handing out copies of the bible in Pashtun. "We are sending out a message to the most important personality in the Christian world - Pope Benedict XVI," read the message. "If...

It was supposed to be a kind gesture to brighten up a hospital for patients. But a council managed to enrage local artists when it asked them to contribute their paintings to hang in wards. In an unsolicited letter, Havering council in East London made it clear it would accept pictures of any subject - except churches.

Tuesday afternoon, April 28, several major homosexual activist figures, including a prominent state employee, led a screaming demonstration to terrorize a downtown Boston church while it was holding a peaceful religious training event inside. Using a bullhorn, they illegally trampled through an adjoining Revolutionary War-era cemetery in order to be directly outside the church's windows. Despite numerous apparent violations of the law, the Boston Police talked with them but refused to make any arrests.