Free Republic

A U.S. Army training instructor listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned.

You will be shocked when you view American Life League’s latest video report. Directed toward adults only, the report Hooking Kids on Sex contains jolting, unedited pictures from Planned Parenthood’s community efforts to indoctrinate children and teens into a sick culture of sex. This report is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, a long-overdue wake up call. It provides the ammunition that concerned citizens need to get Planned Parenthood out of local schools and community organizations, and is an indispensable aid in defunding the predatory organization. The report drives home the fact that the abortion giant is...

A Florida Atlantic University student said he was punished after he refused a professor’s directive to stomp on a piece of paper with the word “Jesus” written on it. The university, meanwhile, is defending the assignment as a lesson in debate. “I’m not going to be sitting in a class having my religious rights desecrated,” student Ryan Rotela told television station WPEC. “I truly see this as I’m being punished.” Rotela, who is a devout Mormon, said the instructor in his Intercultural Communications class told the students to write the name “Jesus” on a sheet of paper. Then, they were...

In our increasingly politically-correct society, Christmas isn’t the only holiday too hot to handle for school districts. Easter, another holiday rooted in Christian faith, is now being marginalized by governmental entities. School districts and cities across America are holding “Spring egg hunts” and similar events, frequently omitting the word “Easter” from calendars and public announcements. Consider these: • On March 16th, Flat Rock Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina is holding a “Community Egg Hunt.” • West Shore School District will be holding its “PTO Egg Hunt” on March 16th. • New York’s East Meadow Schools will be holding its...

If you think by abstaining from teaching about sex within a moral framework that Planned Parenthood is not teaching a definite belief system to children, think again. ETR Associates—a sex program clearinghouse and offshoot of Planned Parenthood of Santa Cruz—admits on its webpage that a program being taught in North Carolina schools and elsewhere across the nation teaches toward four major “outcome expectancies or behavioral beliefs.” Belief number 4 is described in the ETR overview as “Hedonistic Beliefs.” Hedonistic philosophy places pleasure above everything else—as the greatest good. For more than 13 years, North Carolina mandated that its schools teach...

Whoops. I'm sure the President just made a mistake and the words "under God" just happened to be missing in the pledge of allegiance. During the pledge of allegiance during the inauguration yesterday, the words "under God" were removed by the President. Introducing the President, Myrlie Evers-Williams read a flowery version of the pledge: “We now stand beneath the shadow of the nation’s capital, who’s golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all...” Of course this isn't the first time that the Democratic party has removed God from their speeches. During...

The American Humanist Association is promoting a new Web site that is designed to furnish children with a naturalistic or atheistic perspective on science, sexuality, and other topics. The stated goal of the Web site is laudatory: “to encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and tolerance among young people, as well as to provide accurate information regarding a wide range of issues related to humanism, science, culture, and history.” The problem is that those values have no inherent connection with naturalism, which is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that there is nothing beyond the physical contents of the universe. One doesn’t need...

The Navy directed service members serving in Bahrain to cancel and dismantle a “Live Nativity” after receiving a complaint from a military atheist group who said the manger scene endangered Americans serving in a Muslim country and violated the U .S. Constitution. The chaplain at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain confirmed to Fox News the nativity scene was cancelled – but referred any further comments to the NSA’s public information officer. The “Live Nativity” was a long-standing tradition at NSA Bahrain that featured the children of military personnel dressed as shepherds, wise men, along with Mary and Joseph. It was...

A cadet quitting West Point less than six months before graduation says he could no longer be part of a culture that promotes prayers and religious activities and disrespects nonreligious cadets. Blake Page announced his decision to quit the U.S. Military Academy this week, telling The Associated Press that he could not become an officer because of clinical depression played a role in his public protest against what he calls the unconstitutional prevalence of religion in the military. "I've been trying since I found that out: What can I do? What can I possibly do to initiate the change that...

The rigors of teaching apparently got to Michigan State University professor John McCarthy Monday. According to multiple sources, the math teacher stripped naked in the middle of his Calculus 1 class and started shouting obscenities.

Guess what? God’s name has been removed from the Democratic National Committee platform. This is the paragraph that was in the 2008 platform: “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.” Now the words “God-given” have been removed. The paragraph has been restructured to say this: “We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work...

Landmark cases, brought by four British Christians, including two workers forced out of their jobs after visibly wearing crosses, have been heard today at the European Court of Human Rights David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has previously pledged to change the law to protect religious expression at work but official legal submissions on Tuesday to Strasbourg human rights judges made a clear “difference between the professional and private sphere”. James Eadie QC, acting for the government, told the European court that the refusal to allow an NHS nurse and a British Airways worker to visibly wear a crucifix at work...

Charlotte billboards will rip religion, politicsModified: Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 TAMPA, Fla. A prominent atheist group is using next month’s Democratic National Convention to take aim at the presidential candidates’ religion, putting up billboards targeting Mormonism and Christianity in Charlotte. “Our political system … depends too much on religion and not enough on substance,” said David Silverman, president of American Atheists. “Religion is silly and religion has components that are inherently divisive. … There is no place for any of that in the political system.” The billboards go up Monday and will stay up for a month at a cost...

MINNEAPOLIS (WTAQ) - A federal judge says a Wisconsin man cannot hand out Bibles inside a gay pride festival this month at a public park in Minneapolis. Brian Johnson of Hayward sought an injunction giving him unfettered access to the festival grounds.

An elementary school in Massachusetts has told kids not to say the word “God” in the Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA” during a recent assembly. Instead, they wanted students to say, “We love the USA.” Many parents were not happy with this move, but some agreed that the principal did the right thing. The school decided that they would pull the song from the assembly all together instead of continuing a debate about it. Michael Graham, a conservative radio talk show host with WTKK in Massachusetts, joined Martha MacCallum on America’s Newsroom to discuss the matter. Graham disputes...

The Obama administration has stepped into another controversy by announcing its opposition to the inclusion of a plaque depicting Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day prayer at the memorial that celebrates his life and presidency. The proposal to include the prayer is being offered by Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, and has bipartisan support. It is expected to pass committee, then be passed by the House. Its fate in the Senate is unclear. The objection was raised by Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, who claimed such a plaque would "dilute" the memorial's central message and therefore should not be...

Sometimes you can focus so hard on a single tree, you lose sight of the forest. For instance, every sane person, which automatically excludes leftists, realizes that we can easily un-elect Barack Obama next year. But we should not lose sight of the fact that we will simultaneously be sending Hillary Clinton, Cass Sunstein, Timothy Geithner, Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder, Jeffrey Immelt, Jay Carney, Valerie Jarrett and Joe Biden, back where they came from. That should certainly provide all Republicans, no matter which candidate they happen to support at the moment, with plenty of incentive to vote for our ultimate...

NEW YORK, July 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - American Christians may one day find themselves facing legal penalties simply for believing marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, a fate already suffered by believers in other countries, said the leader of America’s most influential Catholic pulpit this week. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reflected on his blog Thursday on the recent legalization of gay “marriage” in New York, and what repercussions true marriage supporters can expect in the future. He called it “haunting” that the marriage bill became law on the day Catholics celebrate the feast of...

The report in the New York Times that atheists are looking for official recognition as chaplains in the American military in order to cater to the needs of non-believing servicemen is interesting. On the one hand, it’s kind of absurd. Atheist chaplains? It’s a contradiction in terms. What are they going to teach? Non-belief? What services will they offer? Non-prayers and sermons on evolution? And what comfort will they offer dying soldiers, G-d forbid (oops! Even that doesn’t work). Will they say, “Game over. You’re going to a place of complete oblivion. Thank you for your service.”? On the other...

In the military, there are more than 3,000 chaplains who minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of active duty troops, regardless of their faiths. The vast majority are Christians, a few are Jews or Muslims, one is a Buddhist. A Hindu, possibly even a Wiccan may join their ranks soon. But an atheist? Strange as it sounds, groups representing atheists and secular humanists are pushing for the appointment of one of their own to the chaplaincy, hoping to give voice to what they say is a large — and largely underground — population of nonbelievers in the military.