Free Republic

Exclusive: Chaplain Sonny Hernandez declares, 'Persecution is here!' On June 30, 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that transgender individuals will be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. As a result, the Department of Defense has directed commanders to conduct face-to-face “transgender awareness” training for all military members and civilians who supervise military personnel. So far, the DOD has provided medical protocol and constructed a commander’s training handbook to ensure homosexual service members that they may begin to change their gender markers in the Defense Eligibility Enrollment System, or DEERS. If homosexual service members are afforded the...

FULL TITLE: Supreme Court: Government Can’t Exclude Christian Groups From Programs Just Because They’re Christian In a huge victory, the Supreme Court today ruled that government programs can’t exclude Christian groups from them just because they are Christian. The specifics of the case at issue are not directly related to pro-life causes but the decision certainly could have impact on pro-life organizations. Previously, Christian-based abstinence organizations have been denied funding and pro-life organizations have been denied participation in governmental programs. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Monday that the government cannot exclude churches and other faith-based organizations from a secular...

A Colorado baker being punished by his state, which also imposed an indoctrination requirement on him and his employees, for living by his Christian faith now will have his case reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices announced on Monday they will hear the dispute involving Jack Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop in the fall.

The AKP government has usurped churches, monasteries and graveyards belonging to the Syriac community in Mardin and handed them over as state property to the Diyanet, Turkey's Presidency for Religious Affairs. According to the Armenian newspaper Agos many churches, monasteries, graveyards and other assets of the Syriac community in the city of Mardin have been usurped and transferred to the state's Treasury and other relevant state institutions. After Mardin became a Metropolitan Municipality, its villages were officially turned into neighbourhoods as per the law and attached to the provincial administration. Following the legislative amendment introduced in late 2012, the Governorate...

Dave Daubenmire: Christians Better Get Angry Or ‘Your Grandkid Is Going To Be A Homo’ Religious Right activist “Coach” Dave Daubenmire called on right-wing Christians to start displaying more “righteous anger” over what is happening in this country … like the fact that “your grandkid is going to be a homo.” “I think America could use a little bit of anger,” Daubenmire said on his “Pass The Salt Live” webcast this morning. “Was Jesus ever angry? And if Jesus was angry, was that a sin? Are we allowed to be angry? Are Christians allowed to be angry? Or are Christians...

Alliance Defending Freedom joined 47 other signatories to a letter delivered to congressional leaders this week that encourages them to make hearings and votes on the Free Speech Fairness Act a priority. The bill, introduced by Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., in February, would allow non-profit organizations to speak freely in the ordinary course of their business on all matters of life, including elections and candidates, if they choose to do so. ADF has been actively seeking to end enforcement of the Johnson Amendment against churches through its Pulpit Freedom Sunday effort since 2008. “Americans don’t need...

Who are the terrorists? Depending on who happens to wield the weapon of choice (be it gun, knife, bomb or motor vehicle) there seems to be a real dispute regarding the label’s application. Officials sit on their hands before calling it terrorism when it comes to dozens and hundreds (Paris 11/13/15) of Christians, conservatives, concert-goers or baseball fans losing life and limb. Monday morning’s incident of a van driver mowing down individuals outside of a Finsbury Park mosque in North London was a different story. Politically correct officials had no compunction applying the term terrorist to the vehicle’s operator that...

Ben's tweet was in reply to one of mine about Steve Kerr's post-championship appearance on the Lowe Post earlier this week. Discussing the topic of the best players in the league, Kerr told Lowe, "LeBron's the best player in basketball, and KD [Kevin Durant] is right there with him." The Warriors are NBA champions for the second time in three seasons. We have you covered with the latest news and analysis from Oakland. Finals » When Lowe followed up about mentioning Durant and not Stephen Curry, Kerr explained the choice. "Steph is one of the great players in the world,...

Question: "What is a true Christian?" Answer: According to Acts 11:26, the followers of Jesus were first called Christians at Antioch. Why were they called Christians? Because they were “followers of Christ.” They had committed their lives to “walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). Other Scriptures explain how a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ and begins this relationship. For example, Ephesians 2:8-9 reveals that a person becomes a Christian by faith, not by following a list of rules or good works: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;...

Actress Amy Brenneman thinks the right has committed an injustice. They’ve paired pro-life with the term Christian. In a video done for the Lives of Women series, the star of “The Leftovers”, while being filmed in a church, started her PSA by saying, “I absolutely think the term ‘Christian’ has been stolen in 2017 in America by the ‘Christian Right.’” She then proceeded to say that while she has been extremely open about having an abortion when she was 21, it was time to re-state that, because of the rise of social media. Brenneman also expressed her anger with the...

The religious left feels left out. According to an article in The New York Times, liberal clergy feel excluded from the political arena and blame the religious right for occupying what they once believed was their exclusive territory. They are, according to the story’s headline, “seeking to break right’s grip on nation’s moral agenda.” I wasn’t aware the nation had a moral agenda. An immoral one, perhaps. The religious left’s agenda is little different from that of secular progressives — from gay rights, to sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, bigger government and tax increases, abortion. Some on the religious left...

A new Marie Claire article blames pro-life Christians for being the ones behind the effort to defund and shut down the nation’s largest abortion chain, Planned Parenthood. Pro-life Christians may take this as a compliment, but author Laura Kasinof does her best to keep pro-lifers – particularly evangelical Christian pro-lifers – from thinking that they are succeeding. Kasinof uses several personal stories, along with statistics, to show that evangelical Christian women are using Planned Parenthood and aborting their unborn babies, despite the wide-spread opposition to abortion among evangelicals. Kasinof painted the abortion chain as a savior for these women –...

President Donald Trump struck a positive cord with Christian voters attending the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference yesterday. Trump told the pro-life voters in attendance there that government bureaucrats should not dictate the values of the citizens of the United States. Instead, Trump said Americans — via their families in churches — know best how to create a strong community and that they are successful because they worship God not government. “Bureaucrats think they can run over your lives, overrule your values and tell you how to live, but we know that families and churches – not government officials know...

Ontario passes ‘totalitarian’ bill allowing gov’t to take kids from Christian homes Lianne Laurence Follow Lianne bill 89 , gender ideology , kathleen wynne , lgbtq+ , liberals , parental rights SIGN THE PETITION: END transgender tyranny, Ontario MUST repeal radical LGBT law​ TORONTO, June 1, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne Liberals have passed what critics describe as “totalitarian” Bill 89 by a vote of 63 to 23 on the last day before Queen’s Park adjourns for the summer. Pro-family advocates warn Bill 89 gives the state more power to seize children from families that oppose the LGBTQI and...

Question: "Why is sola fide important?" Answer: Sola fide which means "faith alone" is important because it is one of the distinguishing characteristics or key points that separate the true biblical Gospel from false gospels. At stake is the very Gospel itself and it is therefore a matter of eternal life or death. Getting the Gospel right is of such importance that the Apostle Paul would write in Galatians 1:9, “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Paul was...

An Arizona man is fighting for his right to wear his religious headwear - a spaghetti colander - in his drivers license photo. Sean Corbett is part of the "Pastafarian" religion, a belief that a flying spaghetti monster created the universe. According to the website of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the religion became more mainstream in 2005 after an open letter concerning the teaching of Creationism in schools. The site states that all religions are welcome to join their community, which believes their heaven consists of a beer volcano and stripper factory. The church recommends wearing colanders...

By their fruits ye shall know them is a classic truth from the Bible which speaks volumes about the Islamist slugs who committed the latest massacre of Coptic Christians , this time travelling on a bus in Egypt. It is a reminder of the continuing worldwide reach of ISIS and other radical Islamic terrorist. Egypt is  an example of how terror will always find an opening  to spread its deadly venom. A team of gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of Cairo Friday, killing at least 28, including children, and wounding 22 other people, Egyptian officials...

Whether we are playing a game, driving a car, or baking a cake, there are certain rules that must be followed for our safety as well as our success. The Bible teaches that the Christian life is one of constant growth. When you were born again, you were born into God’s family. It is God’s purpose that you will grow into fill stature and become mature in Christ. It would be against the law of God and nature if you were to remain a baby and thus become a spiritual dwarf. In 2 Peter 3:18, the Bible says that we...

Question: "Can a Christian lose salvation?"Answer: First, the term Christian must be defined. A “Christian” is not a person who has said a prayer or walked down an aisle or been raised in a Christian family. While each of these things can be a part of the Christian experience, they are not what makes a Christian. A Christian is a person who has fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and therefore possesses the Holy Spirit (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:8–9). So, with this definition in mind, can a Christian lose salvation? It’s a crucially important question....

FULL TITLE: New York ‘Concerned Clergy for Choice’ Group Gathers in State Capitol in Support of Abortion, Contraception ALBANY, N.Y. — A group known as “Concerned Clergy for Choice” and others recently gathered in the New York state capital to advocate for access to abortion and contraception, and to express support for the sexually-centered organization Planned Parenthood. “As pastors, we believe in New Yorkers’ ability to get the health care that is supported by their religious teachings and personal beliefs,” Director Dennis Ross, a Reformed Jewish rabbi, told the Legislative Gazette. “People of all faiths believe in safe and legal...