Free Republic

Boy Scouts' use of Balboa Park land ruled unconstitutional Judge says use violates separation of church and state By Ray Huard UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER 2:29 p.m., July 31, 2003 The Boy Scouts' lease of public land in San Diego's Balboa Park is unconstitutional, a federal judge decided in a ruling released Thursday. U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. said the Scouts' lease of the 18-acre Camp Balboa in Balboa Park violates provisions in the U.S. and state constitutions governing the separation of church and state. Jones said the Boy Scouts are a religious organization because the Scouts require members to...

How the media's reporting on the Religious Right keeps it from seeing the story of the Secular Left As a practicing Christian, a political conservative and a professional journalist, I've long been amazed at how ignorant and uncurious my mostly intelligent and urbane colleagues are about conservatives, especially religious conservatives. Many have looked at me--their friend, despite my Catholicism and Republican Party registration--with the same slack-jawed incomprehension as elderly Southerners when they step off the tour bus in London and hear a black man speaking with a crisp British accent (I’ve seen this, and it’s a hoot). People like me--religious...

BLUE HILL, Me. The time has come for us brights to come out of the closet. What is a bright? A bright is a person with a naturalist as opposed to a supernaturalist world view. We brights don't believe in ghosts or elves or the Easter Bunny — or God. We disagree about many things, and hold a variety of views about morality, politics and the meaning of life, but we share a disbelief in black magic — and life after death. The term "bright" is a recent coinage by two brights in Sacramento, Calif., who thought our social group...

This Isn't a Good Sign Hillary Clinton's Senate Web page features a photo (scroll down to the second pic under "Senator Clinton's Latest Events") captioned: "Senator Clinton speaks at a press conference calling on the Senate to pass Hate Crimes legislation." In the background members of the crowd hold signs reading STOP HATE CRIMES and others with a giant equal sign. But look at the green sign at about 11 o'clock; it appears to read RELIGION IS IMMORAL. In case Clinton's office takes the photo down, we've put a copy here. Picture Here

Maybe you’ve cruised past the church marquee in the middle of a sweltering summer afternoon that read: YOU THINK IT’S HOT HERE? For some reason, making light of such a heavy topic just doesn’t seem right to me — though of course I know what they’re trying to accomplish. Hell. It’s not a popular subject these days. No one wants to talk about it, much less go there. I have a friend who actually wrote a full-blown, hardback book on hell. Needless to say, it wasn’t a bestseller! Part of me wants to forget I ever heard the word. I...

<p>Tony Blair is a hero of the liberation of Iraq, but a British prime minister who confronts Islamist terror abroad has to watch himself with his atheists at home.</p> <p>Mr. Blair is in a spot of trouble for trying to be nice to God. No Churchillian gestures allowed.</p>

(CNSNews.com) - Veterans and atheists are converging on Montgomery, Ala. Monday, hoping to rally their respective supporters over the display of the Ten Commandments at the state courthouse. The group American Veterans In Domestic Defense (AVIDD) and the Alabama chapter of the American Atheists are planning competing rallies in support of and opposition to Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's appeal of a federal court ruling that ordered Moore to remove the monument within 30 days. A week before the Dec. 18 deadline, Moore filed his appeal, noting in a statement that federal courts cannot "prohibit the acknowledgment of God that...

A "Godless America" By Bill Mosley Although there has been a surge in religion since the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Center, the swell is not nearly so great in true Christianity. The impact of that horrible act of terrorism indeed did drive true believers in Christ to their knees in prayer. Not only for themselves but in behalf of the suffering, sorrow, and sadness that filled hearts that day. Hearts remain broken and lives forever changed as a result of the action of a nation without the true God. It also stirred the "religious" to turn to what...

We Need Republicans Here to Give OUR Perspective, The Environmentalists want Ground Zero to be a Park and the Atheists want no mention of God on the Memorial. On Saturday, July 20, 2002, New Yorkers will come together to shape the future of Lower Manhattan.This historic gathering - called "Listening to the City" - will give 5,000 participants an opportunity to consider plans for the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan and the creation of a permanent memorial to the victims of 9/11.Using the latest in modern technology, participants will have the opportunity to voice their opinions on critical issues and vote...