Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (BP) -- The "Family Guy" animated comedy series increasingly jokes about sexual violence against children and teens, with nearly 80 percent of all such scenes in the past three years perpetrated against that population group, a Parent Television Council (PTC) study found. Jokes or humorous depictions of rape, statutory rape, molestation or pedophilia against children were included in 91 percent of the series' scenes depicting sexual violence in the 2014–2015 season, up from 75 percent in 2012-2013, according to the PTC study. "Why would we ever want to be in the position to laugh at humanity's wors[t] offenses...

ROSHARON, Texas (BP) -- Clang, clang, clang, clang -- the series of four gates closed, separating me from the free world as I was searched and ushered into the maximum security prison. The contrast was instantly striking. The blue sky and slight breeze outside were replaced with the dark, humid and warm prison. A ringing bell that sounds seven times a day to signal the counting of the inmates replaced chirping birds and the background noise of life. Individualism was immediately replaced by conformity. There I stood on the cold concrete floor, under the ever-watchful eye of guards and the...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP) -- Scholars at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have discovered, within the institution's Spurgeon Library collection, a Psalter that 19th-century Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon used in the compilation of his commentary on the book of Psalms, "The Treasury of David." "One of the purposes for the existence of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary is to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the church and the academy by preserving the personal library of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and fostering a deeper appreciation of his life, legacy, theology and preaching," Jason K. Allen, president of Midwestern Seminary, said....

HERRIMAN, Utah (BP) -- You've looked out the front window and seen them coming. Two young males wearing white shirts and black ties are riding bikes in the neighborhood. When they knock on your door, what do you do? North American Mission Board missionary Travis Kerns would encourage you to do what he has learned to do -- to love them. Kerns' love for Mormons has grown to the point that he now lives 35 miles from downtown Salt Lake City, serving as city missionary for NAMB's Send North America church planting initiative. Kerns has something most Southern Baptists don't...

An elderly Pennsylvania husband and wife are being asked to pay their deceased adult son's medical bills under a law making family members responsible for a loved one's unpaid bills. The case is a reminder that such “filial responsibility” laws may go both ways – requiring parents to pay the debts of adult children as well as the children to pay for their parents'. Peg and Bob Mohn's son died at age 47, leaving unpaid medical bills. Now according to an article in The Morning Call, debt collectors are trying to dun the Mohns using an archaic state law that...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- An article by a popular evangelical blogger arguing that the six "days" of creation in Genesis were not literal 24-hour periods has prompted discussion among Christians about the earth's age and whether orthodoxy necessarily entails believing in a young earth. Justin Taylor, senior vice president and publisher for books at Crossway, posted a blog article Jan. 28 arguing that there are "biblical reasons to doubt the creation days were 24-hour periods." The article, which was shared on Facebook 15,000 times during its first two weeks online, also noted famous people from church history who did not believe...

Did anybody else fail to receive the 01.6% raise on their S.S. check? I dread it but I have to go to the S.S. office to see what's going on or rather to see what's not going on. I suspect that raise went straight into Obama's stash. I'm 69 years old and am betting that I will be 30 years older than the next oldest person in that waiting room.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will support civil rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people if religious freedom protections also are ensured, its leaders announced Tuesday (Jan. 27). Southern Baptist leaders, however, said the Mormons' approach to the conflict between sexual rights and religious liberty is naive and unhelpful, as well as unacceptable to proponents of LGBT rights. In a Salt Lake City news conference, Mormon leaders described their stance as "fairness for all" -- or a "balanced approach between religious and gay rights" that endorses protections in housing, employment and public transportation...

NASHVILLE (BP) -- LifeWay Christian Resources' decision to stop selling a discredited book about a 6-year-old's supposed vision of heaven is being cited as a reminder that followers of Jesus should rely on the Bible rather than subjective experience for their knowledge of the afterlife. "Anytime you step away from the clear, revelatory, propositional statements of Scripture into your own experience, then you open yourself to every kind of weird existential idea out there," Chris Osborne, a Texas pastor who believes books like Malarkey's are unbiblical, told Baptist Press. "We want people bound to truth, not to what they feel...

PLANO, Texas (BP) -- Plano Citizens United, a coalition of churches and civic leaders, cleared the first hurdle this week in rescinding a city ordinance that legal experts said would stymie free speech and religious liberty, while opponents of a similar ordinance in Houston prepare to take their fight to court. With no preexisting ministerial alliance in place, Plano churches were caught unprepared when the city council, led by Mayor Harry LaRosilier, passed an ordinance Dec. 8 creating a protected class of citizen based on sexual orientation and gender identity. With help from the Houston pastors' coalition, opposition to the...

ATLANTA (BP) -- Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran has been terminated following a city investigation into a book he wrote that calls homosexual behavior immoral and upholds a biblical view of sexuality. Kelvin Cochran Cochran is a deacon, Sunday School teacher and Bible study leader at Atlanta's Elizabeth Baptist Church, a cooperating church with the Georgia Baptist Convention. A two-time Atlanta fire chief, Cochran also served as U.S. Fire Administrator under President Obama from 2009-10. Mayor Kasim Reed said Jan. 6 that Cochran's failure to obtain proper city permission to publish the book and his refusal to remain silent about...

At its recent annual conference the Illinois Municipal League, a century old adviser and advocate for local government, took the unprecedented step of sponsoring an in-depth session on a volatile topic: hometown bankruptcies. The Sept. 18 session, entitled “Finance: Lessons from Detroit and Pension Cases,” couldn’t have been timelier. Many of Illinois’ municipal leaders are warily eyeing Motown’s bankruptcy proceeding while questioning whether their financially desperate and cash-crunched cities, suburbs and villages could face the same fate, a Rescuing Illinois investigation finds. At the very least, these leaders are now, more than ever before, openly questioning if bankruptcy is a...

In the wake of the Nov. 24 decision by a Missouri grand jury to not press charges against the White officer responsible for killing an unarmed African-American teen, a coalition of civil groups presented a unified front in its denouncement of the decision and its call for systemic changes to the American justice system. “We are profoundly disappointed with the miscarriage of justice that occurred last night,” Barbara Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said during a press call on Nov. 25. Although the Ferguson grand jury did not indict Darren Wilson, she added,...

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Human Rights Campaign brings a notable track record of helping change public opinion on homosexuality. Now it has set its sights on persuading Baptists and other Mississippians that homosexuality is compatible with Christianity. The country's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization unveiled its "All God's Children" public relations campaign Nov. 10. The drive to increase public and legislative support for LGBT rights is focused on faith in a state Gallup pollsters found early this year to be the most religious in the country. "We want to successfully engage a majority of Mississippians...

My computer changed time, it's new. My phone did not.

What does this part of the letter from Paul, to the Romans mean to you: Romans 7, V 14-25 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that...

WILSON, N.C. (BP) -- When news broke that legendary comedian and actor Robin Williams had died of an apparent suicide, people were saddened that someone who had brought so much joy to the lives of others had taken his own life. Immediately some began to speculate about his ongoing battle with alcohol addiction and depression as the cause of his desperate act. Others began to comfort themselves with the thought that Williams was now at peace from such battles. And a few observed that suicide is the ultimate selfish act. There is little doubt that suicide is a fierce goodbye....

Rockford, Il – (ProLifeCorner.com) – 5-14-2014 – by Rockford Pro-Life Initiative – The Illinois Republican candidate for Governor has again shown he is no friend of the unborn or the family. Bruce Rauner attended a gala fundraiser for the ACLU that was a celebration of abortion in the state of Illinois. We here in Rockford know what that means. A celebration of the murder of babies by dirty, dangerous, and unsanitary abortion mills that take pleasure in the deaths of babies and mocking God. Bruce Rauner refused to attend a dinner with pro-life politician Mike Huckebee and Rauner also refused...

The Southern Baptist Convention’s former top spokesman for moral concerns says the New Testament “is quite clear” that homosexuality and transgenderism are forms of moral rebellion. By Bob Allen Transgenderism is “the ultimate rebellion” against God’s created order, a former Southern Baptist leader said recently in a television interview. Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary near Charlotte, N.C., made the comment June 26 on Newsmax TV during a discussion of Vice President Joe Biden’s declaration that protecting gay rights is a defining mark of a civilized nation and must trump national cultures and social traditions. Land, who served 25...

Both sides claimed partial victory in a ruling last week by a California judge involving a former transgender nursing student expelled from California Baptist University in 2011. By Bob Allen A California judge ruled July 11 that a Baptist university was within its rights to expel a transgender student for violating the school’s moral code but went too far in barring her from university-controlled businesses and services that are open to the public. Superior Court Judge Gloria Connor Trask ordered California Baptist University to pay 27-year-old Domaine Javier $4,000 in statutory damages plus attorney fees under the state’s Unruh Civil...