Free Republic

NASHVILLE (BP) -- The centrality of the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is being emphasized by Southern Baptist leaders after a state newspaper editor wrote that he does not sing certain words of a popular hymn due to its mention of God's wrath. Substitutionary atonement refers to the belief that Jesus died in the place of sinners, taking on Himself the wrath of God that they deserved. Bob Terry, editor of The Alabama Baptist, in an Aug. 8 editorial, paralleled the angst expressed by a Presbyterian Church USA hymnal committee in rejecting the song "In Christ Alone" because of the line...

NORWICH, England (BP) -- He is difficult to find and even then is barely visible, but he's there. Green Man, a symbol of ancient pagan religion, stares down from the nave of Norwich Cathedral. In a way, his presence is symbolic of how it has always been, and still is, in this medieval city. Norwich has the unique distinction of being officially classified as England's most ungodly city. That's not unusual considering it's the only English city to ever be excommunicated by a Roman Catholic pope. The excommunication came in 1274. Its "ungodly" status comes from the 2011 census. The...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- One of Christianity's most popular worship songs has been deemed too controversial to be included in the latest edition of the hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA). "In Christ Alone," a modern hymn written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, consistently ranks in the top 20 songs sung in churches of all stripes, according to Christian Copyright Licensing International. Yet it contains one line that the PCUSA's Committee on Congregational Song did not wish to include in the denomination's hymnal. The line in question is from the song's second verse: "Till on that cross as Jesus died/The...

Where can he go now and live in peace? He will forever have a big target on his back for every racist hoodie wearing thug in the country. How will he be able to support himself now? He cannot just fade into obscurity/anonymity. I hope that his concealed carry rights are quickly restored. He will need it now, more than ever.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- A widely diverse coalition headed by Southern Baptist and Roman Catholic leaders has called on the Obama administration to reverse the religious coercion in its abortion/contraception mandate. In an open letter to Americans released Tuesday (July 2), the collection of about 100 religious, pro-family and religious freedom leaders urged the administration to extend the conscience protections to include individuals and organizations with objections to the mandate. The mandate, which is a part of regulations implementing the 2010 health care reform law, requires nearly all employers to carry insurance plans that cover drugs defined by the federal government...

There is a Relay For Life event coming up in our community (Pekin, Illinois). I recently found out that our church is involved in it. My question is: Is this event, in any way affiliated with the Susan G. Komen foundation? I have "Binged" it and do not find mention of Susan G. Komen anywhere but knowing the deceptiveness of liberals, they might try to hide their participation. It seems to be solely an American Cancer Society event, in which case, I haven't ever heard a bad thing about them. Any insights out there?

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP) -- California Baptist University is engaged in a legal battle against a transgender former student who is charging expulsion because of discrimination based on gender identity. Former nursing student Domaine Javier, a male who identifies as female, charges he was kicked out of the Baptist school because he revealed on an episode of MTV'S "True Life" reality show, that he is biologically male, the Press-Enterprise reported. The school counters Javier was expelled for falsely claiming on his application that he is female. A lawsuit Javier filed after the August 2011 expulsion has survived the university's attempt to...

Golfer Phil Mickelson made national headlines this year when he dared to grouse about his ever-growing tax burden. Faced with yet another tax increase in California, he threatened to relocate rather than lose 63 percent of his earnings to greedy governments. Naturally, he was set upon by the news-media horde, who without the benefit of even a peek at his books, declared his tax rate was only 50 percent. To journalists and other lefties, 50 percent doesn't rise to the level of "fair share" for a man of Mr. Mickelson's means. And though they didn't say so, down deep, you...

For a long time now, something has puzzled me, not a faith shaking puzzlement but puzzling nevertheless. The genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus, descended from King David, through his son Solomon thusly: 6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; 7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; 8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10 And...

Apartheid, as practiced in South Africa from the late 1940s until the early 1990s, was a body of law that ensured the supremacy of the white minority and deprived generations of black Africans of the most fundamental rights and government protections. Using this term to describe current practices in the United States and other Western nations is tantamount to applying the "Nazi" label to anyone with whom one disagrees on matters of policy. Deploying such a loaded term discredits the speaker. Consider the NAACP's New Haven branch discredited. The branch got a bit of news-media buzz last week upon releasing...

Hollywood comes out this week with "42," its first feature movie on the life of Jackie Robinson since the hero himself starred in "The Jackie Robinson Story" in 1950. Despite the 63 years between the movies, Robinson's is an oft-told tale, always at risk of being too self-congratulatory and smug, of celebrating the country's getting over race. But the new movie looks like it may at least depict the great drama of a time when no one really knew what would become of the Robinson experiment — the fearless Robinson provocation, actually, engineered by baseball executive Branch Rickey. In any...

When America was liberalizing divorce in the 1960s, the conventional wisdom was it would produce myriad benefits, especially for women, children and the economy. The arguments survive to this day. Women are better off because they no longer are "trapped in bad marriages"; unshackled from their tormenters, they are free to pursue their careers and otherwise live the happy, productive lives that marriage once denied them. Children are happier and more relaxed when their parents aren't fighting, and get more one-on-one parenting through shared custody. And the economy benefits because divorce creates two households where there was one, while supporting...

I bought a new desk top today, Gateway and it has Windows 8 as the O.S. This is in addition to the desk top I already have, not to replace one. I ignorantly assumed that I'd be able to hook it up and pick up my wireless router signal, not so.. Can anyone tell me what I need to do so? I get a box from widows saying I need an Ethernet cord (not card) and to hook the computer to a modem that's connected to cable, which would make it not wireless at all. Years ago, when I first...

Republican deep thinkers who have been agonizing lately about their party's future should take heart in recent developments in Michigan and Tennessee. The lesson: Money talks. Michigan famously banned mandatory collection of union dues last year, and the measure takes effect Thursday. But public-employee unions are fighting back. "(U)nions representing thousands of public-school and university employees are racing to reach long-term contracts that cement the dues-collection practice for at least the next several years," The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. At one university, a labor contract preserves mandatory dues collection for eight years. Legislative Republicans are engineering a counter-attack. Under...

In nominating Thomas Perez to be secretary of Labor, President Obama cited the personal story of Mr. Perez, a first-generation American, as "remind(ing) us of this country's promise." The president's decision is alarming. Throughout his career, Mr. Perez has been motivated by one goal: the advancement of the far left's agenda. It seems unlikely that he is flexible enough to run the Labor Department as the economy changes rapidly. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Perez was Labor secretary in Maryland. The Washington Post reports he was best known for pushing a minimum-wage increase. Mr. Perez staunchly backed unions, and several...

Not a new problem but I'm looking for a solution, other than the obvious one. Comcast puts a pop up ad for their soft ware on every web page I open, "XFinity Constant Guard". It covers about 75% of the page. There is no way to simply exit out of it, all I can do is grab it in the upper left corner and drag it out of sight to the far right side of the page. I went to Comcast in person yesterday and the woman there said, "I should go into my programs and remove it". The rub...

In his 36 years in Congress, corrupt Democrat Chris Dodd reveled in pawning himself off as an expert on everything, especially the housing and financial-services industries, foreign policy and campaign-finance laws. History tells a different story. Mr. Dodd's vanity presidential run in 2007-08 kept him away from his duties as Senate Banking Committee chairman while the economy was imploding; the collapse was rooted in his manipulation of federal housing policies and his blocking of lending reforms that might have forestalled the Great Recession. On foreign affairs, he is known in some circles as "Sen. Wrong" for his reflexive support of...

People who lost their homes to foreclosure, homeowners whose mortgages are under water, and everyone else who suffered economic and employment miseries because of Chris Dodd's dirty dealings while a U.S. senator from Connecticut, will be interested to know Mr. Dodd is doing a whole lot better than they are. Trade publications report he made $2.4 million in his first year as chief lobbyist for the movie industry. That's almost 14 times what he grossed in his last year in the Senate and nearly twice what his predecessor made. But Mr. Dodd seems intent upon running the Motion Picture Association...

Good morning — despite all the doubts of late, we're confident the sun has risen — and welcome to Sequestered America. On your way to work, presuming the economy hasn't collapsed, don't be surprised to see mushroom clouds in the distance from America's exploding nuclear-weapons stockpiles. Which reminds us: If you work at a nuclear-power plant, you might as well stay home since your reactor by now has melted down and is on its way to China. If you are commuting, try not to run over all the old ladies, disabled children, unvaccinated preschoolers, emaciated mothers and infants, Section 8...

Gearing up for the 2014 gubernatorial election, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is desperate to portray himself as a tax cutter. But even if he prevails in ending municipal taxes on vehicles worth less than $28,500, he can't really believe voters would forget he boosted state taxes by $3.8 billion in this biennium and wants to increase them a further $1.9 billion in the next. In reality, his car-tax plan is a small herd of Trojan horses for taxpayers because scant few people actually will see a net decrease in their tax burden, already the third highest in America. First, there's...