Free Republic

Philip Kevin Paulson, who fought a 17-year legal battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from public property, died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was 59. Paulson, a 6-foot-5 Vietnam veteran who lived in City Heights, became so passionate about the separation of church and state that he filed a civil lawsuit against the city of San Diego in 1989 without an attorney. He won the case, and as the appeals dragged on he became one of the county's most reviled and respected characters. The CrossTypical Memorial Plaque around base During interviews with The San Diego Union-Tribune in September and...

Philip Paulson, who sued the city of San Diego 17 years ago to force the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from public property, has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Paulson, 59, and his lawyer, James McElroy, said yesterday they plan to add another plaintiff to the case so that it may continue. Like Paulson, the new plaintiff, Steve Trunk, is a Vietnam war veteran, an atheist and the product of a religious upbringing. “I'm deeply saddened to hear about Phil's health,” McElroy said. “He's been a very courageous man in my eyes to stand up against such difficult...

TAMPA - It may have been the least likely place for a man who doesn't believe in God to receive a standing ovation, but it happened Sunday morning when Joe Redner went to church. Bishop Randy White, senior pastor at Without Walls International Church, invited the strip club owner to join him in the pulpit and talk about his campaign for the Hillsborough County Commission District 5 seat. "All right, he's not running for pastor. My job's not up," White jokingly told parishioners while introducing Redner, as their continued applause prompted Redner to stand and nod his head in thanks.

The federal judge who ordered the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from city parkland yesterday rejected a bid by a private group to join the litigation, saying its efforts to save the cross come “much too late.” The decision means that San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial cannot appeal the judge's decision ordering the city to remove the 29-foot concrete cross by Aug. 1 or pay $5,000 daily fines. The group was behind Proposition A, a public vote last summer to donate the cross to the federal government for a national park. It says it wants...

San Diego lawyer Jim McElroy insists he isn't terribly bothered by the scathing insults and threats directed his way. A few weeks back, someone wrote him an e-mail telling him to “burn in hell.” Someone else sent a note that opened with the words, “Hey Dumb--- McElroy.” Then there was this message, e-mailed several months ago. “When outraged Americans come and commit justifiable homicide against James McElroy, I'm throwing a party and inviting McElroy's family and friends and co-workers . . . It will be a great festive day!” McElroy has practiced law in San Diego for 19 years, usually...

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has indicated that he would fight hard to save the Mount Soledad cross. He also indicated that “The courts have routinely approved secular monuments that have crosses as an element of the (war memorial) monument.” This is not a true statement. There is not one single federal or California case that has ever approved the permanent placement of a cross on federal land, state land or city land, monument or no monument, war memorial or no war memorial. Quite the contrary, there are 10 c ases that have ruled on the permanent presence of crosses...

federal judge on Wednesday ordered the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from property owned by the city of San Diego within 90 days or he will fine the city $5,000 a day. “It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad cross on city property,” said U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson. Thompson first found the presence of the cross on city property unconstitutional in 1991 because it violated the separation of church and state. Since then, his order, and the issue of the cross,...

A high school senior in the Chicago area complained to district officials because religious people were allowed to speak at a school-wide assembly,.. --snip-- Lane Tech's principal, Keith Foley (along with a teacher who attended the event) says God or faith was not mentioned once. --snip-- Soto didn't even attend the assembly, however. He sat it out along with four other students in the principal's office.

This is the title of a movie review written by British film critic, Poly Toynbee of CS Lewis' masterpiece turned Hollywood blockbuster entitled “The Chronicles of Narnia” . It clearly demonstrates the contempt that many non-believers have for Christianity. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA — For sixteen years atheist, Phillip Paulson, claiming he wants to maintain neutrality between government and religion, has been waging an unrelenting war against the Mt. Soledad Cross that is the centerpiece of the historic Veterans Memorial in San Diego. However, Paulson’s comments on the website of the Atheist Coalition of San Diego reveals his true motivation is hatred for Christianity. Paulson goes so far as to state; “We need to attack Jesus…” Those comments, followed by vulgar remarks about Christ, God and the Virgin Mary are so crude and offensive that the Thomas More Law...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - An outspoken Catholic cardinal took his war of words with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a new level in an interview published Sunday, calling him "a paranoid dictator" who needs "an exorcism." Rosalio Castillo, Venezuela's only cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, also accused Chavez of rounding up more than 100 political prisoners and torturing some captives. "There is no democracy here (in Venezuela)," Castillo told Colombia's main newspaper, El Tiempo. "This is a despotic government." Chavez, who insists he supports democracy, is up for re-election next year, and recent polls suggest he is strongly favored...

"Too Late To Die Young: Nearly True Tales From a Life," by Harriet McBryde Johnson. About two years ago, Harriet Johnson appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. If you saw her portrait, you probably haven't forgotten it. A thin woman in a wheelchair leans forward, a purple shawl draping one shoulder. Johnson describes it this way in her new memoir: "The portrait has been described as beautifully disturbing, and most nondisabled people seem to see it that way. I'd prefer to call it disturbingly beautiful, but I'll take it the other way around if I must."...

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn College (search) professor has ignited a firestorm of controversy over comments he made about organized religion.

Flag shouldn't be lowered for pope, group says By Matt Pommer April 6, 2005 An anti-religion group is denouncing Gov. Jim Doyle's executive order to lower flags to mark the death of Pope John Paul II. Doyle's directive appears like "an endorsement of Roman Catholicism over other religious viewpoints," according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. On Saturday, the governor praised the pope as both an inspiration spiritual leader and a man who has made "a significant impact on social justice." Doyle cited the pope's fight against communism, his opening of dialogue with other faiths, and his fight for peace...

The Mount Soledad cross must go, the San Diego City Council said yesterday. The 16-year saga of whether the cross would stay on public land in La Jolla came to an emotional conclusion last night as the council voted 5-3 to reject a last-ditch effort to keep it in place. The vote capped a six-hour public hearing that attracted 350 people, most of them Christians who urged the council to donate the cross and surrounding land to the federal government so it possibly could remain where it has stood since 1954. But the cross now must be moved to comply...

The United States is often cited as the most devout nation in the Western world; somewhere around 90 percent of the population affirms a belief in God. So, what's it like to be among the 10 percent who do not share that view? Rik Myslewski is a 54-year-old San Francisco native who studied to become a Catholic priest before dropping out of seminary and eventually abandoning his faith altogether. Myslewski, a former rock musician who is editor in chief of MacAddict magazine, declared himself an atheist when he was in his 20s. Since then, he hasn't looked back. Let's start...

Jeddah: George Soros is warning all oil-producing countries about pegging their currencies and oil revenues to the dollar. "The US dollar is weak, and is expected to deteriorate more," said Soros. The famous currency trader and financier warned Russia and other oil-producing countries to sell their oil and price it in euros rather than US dollars, because the US dollar continues to fall against the euro. The US dollar poses a danger to oil-producing countries and their economies, he said. Many central banks intend to peg their currencies to the euro and increase their balances of European currency against the...

Atheist sues to prevent prayer at Bush inauguration The Associated Press (Updated Thursday, January 6, 2005, 4:45 PM) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An atheist who sued because he did not want his young daughter exposed to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is now filing a suit to bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, notes that two ministers, the Reverend Franklin Graham and the Reverend Kirbyjon Caldwell, delivered Christian invocations at Bush's first inaugural ceremony in 2001.

'MERRY CHRISTMAS" — I know those Christian-sounding words ought to feel odd coming from my lips — I'm a third-generation atheist of Jewish ancestry and I'm almost evangelical in my lack of faith. But they feel fine. 'Merry Christmas!' "

Going All the Way An atheist "converts" to intelligent design. Why so timid, Mr. Flew? BY ANDREW KLAVAN Friday, December 24, 2004 12:01 a.m. Antony Flew and I found God this year. We had different reactions to the discovery. Mr. Flew, an 81-year-old professor of philosophy in Britain, had been a leading champion of atheism for the past half-century. He has now hesitantly accepted a version of what's called the argument from design. He says the "unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life" shows that "intelligence must have been involved." But in a panel discussion taped...