Free Republic

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A decade-old allegation accusing a local teacher is being re-investigated after the teacher was arrested for similar charges. Matthew Graziotti, who works at the Warner Christian Academy in South Daytona, was arrested on Monday for producing and distributing child porn. Graziotti had been accused of misconduct with minor children in 2004, according to Edgewater police, but no evidence was discovered at that time. With this new arrest, the past allegation is being re-investigated, police told Local 6.

A city in Massachusetts has opted to end a contract with a Christian college over the academic institution's opposition to homosexuality. The mayor for Salem recently announced that the city's contract with Gordon College for usage of the Old Town Hall, set to expire later this year, will be immediately terminated. Rick Sweeney, vice president of marketing and communications at Gordon College, told The Christian Post about the contract to use the Old Town Hall. "Gordon College had been in a contractual relationship with the city of Salem since 2008 to manage Old Town Hall, one of the most historic...

Saw the trailer for this the other night...it looks goooood. Opens July 18, 2014. Let's give it a big opening day.

Conservative Christians have generally been known for their enthusiastic support for the Jewish state. But a new movement of young activists is seeking to change that.In 2010, a film was released that perfectly encapsulated the erosion of Evangelical Christian support for Israel. The film, With God on Our Side, featured a young man learning about the Palestinian struggle and coming to see Israel not as evidence of God’s faithfulness, but as a mean and heartless nation enabled by American Evangelicals who have embraced Zionist ideology. The film’s narrative of peace-loving Palestinians mistreated by heartless Israelis and their Christian Zionist supporters...

CHINA GROVE State records indicate Rowan County has a drug problem. This week, residents learned that it extends to one of its best schools. Four faculty members from Bostian Elementary were arrested Tuesday and accused of being part of a ring that illegally obtained thousands of doses of the painkiller hydrocodone. China Grove police and state investigators say family physician Orrin Walker unlawfully wrote hundreds of prescriptions that were filled by his wife, Abby, her co-workers and friends. Orrin Walker, 48, operated Main Street Family Practice. Abby Walker, 44, was a second-grade teacher at Bostian. Both were charged with trafficking...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Brown County Sheriff's Department reports the arrest of a 27 year-old Hobart man on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child. Wayne Makela was arrested Wednesday. The Brown County Sheriff's Department says he is a teacher and coach at Pilgrim Lutheran school in Green Bay. Investigators say the assault may have happened to a child under the age of 16. The suspect was in a position of trust at a church and school in Green Bay, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School confirmed to NBC26 that the suspect teaches a...

SHELBY COUNTY, TN - A once trusted Hope Presbyterian Church music teacher is now at the center of a child sex investigation. Officials are releasing very few details about the investigation, but they do say that it involves multiple agencies. On Wednesday, Matthew Williams was charged with child sex abuse involving a family member. On Saturday, Hope Presbyterian Church found out and terminated Williams' contract immediately. Collierville Police Department confirmed there is an investigation, but that is all it would say. Williams taught piano lessons at Hope Music Academy at the church for almost a year. A spokesperson for Hope...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – ObamaCare's controversial HHS mandate suffered another setback on Thursday, as the Supreme Court voted to allow a Christian college to opt out of signing a form that would result in their insurance company providing employees with “free” birth control and abortifacients. Instead, says the high court, the coverage will kick in after they inform HHS of their religious objection. The 6-3 decision exempts Wheaton College from filing Form 700, which certifies its religious objection to providing abortifacient drugs to women, until the case has been fully adjudicated. In all likelihood, the matter will ultimately be decided by...

The media are poring over each and every detail of the life of U.S. soccer team’s heroic goalkeeper. Here’s one they probably won’t mention: Tim Howard is a Christian. Beating the U.S. soccer team in a 2-1 game, Belgium eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup, on July 1. Despite that, the U.S. team still boasted a win: goalkeeper Tim Howard made 16 goal saves during the match, the most in World Cup history since 1966 (when record-keeping first began). ABC, CBS and NBC noted the champion’s popularity – but failed to mention his faith. During the morning segments after...

Last night I listened to the new Reasonable Doubts podcast, which included a detailed account of the case of self-righteously Christian former major league baseball player and eventual sex abuse convict, Chad Curtis. The show is a gripping and revolting listen, and as usual the Doubtcasters bring to bear a lot of insight in the process both of telling the story and in analyzing it at the end. Doubtcaster Jeremy Beahan went to college at Cornerstone University where Chad Curtis was a prominent figure, earning his degree to go into high school coaching (where he would commit his sex crimes)....

Two years ago, I sat on a panel before Congress, testifying to the importance of religious liberty in America today. It seems like a long time ago. Since then, we have seen and heard a steady stream of news, from the church and the culture, about the Health and Human Services’ mandate and the Affordable Care Act, abortifacients and the conscience, religious freedoms and what this means for women. Thankfully, the wait is over. The Supreme Court has ruled, and the verdict is in: In a landmark case, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious liberty, specifically in regard...

Ogden • A Plain City man accused of beating a fellow churchgoer last year at a Mormon baby blessing and mission farewell was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail. Wayne Dodge, 52, pleaded guilty last month in Ogden’s 2nd District Court to one count of class B misdemeanor assault. One charge of felony aggravated assault was dismissed, according to court records. Judge W. Brent West ordered Dodge to complete an anger management class as part of a 12-month probation. The judge also ordered Dodge to pay a $550 fine and have no contact with the victim. Dodge, who faced...

A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death for renouncing Islam has been freed from detention for a second time. Meriam Ibrahim has now sought sanctuary at the American embassy in the capital Khartoum. Speaking exclusively to the BBC she thanked the Sudanese people for standing by her.

Last week the mainline Presbyterian USA Church decided to allow homosexual marriages. In doing so, PCUSA had to change its centuries old adherence to the Westminster Confession which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. The Confession, which in theory members of PCUSA are required to believe, has been altered to read a marriage is between “two people.” Of course, to get to two people PCUSA had to ignore the Confession’s scripture proofs, which clearly show a marriage is between one man and one woman. (Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5) The big question at this point is whether the...

The Christian Sudanese woman released from prison and then re-arrested at Khartoum airport Tuesday has now been charged with fraud and banned from leaving the country, according to authorities. Meriam Ibrahim, who has been held in a Sudanese prison with her son since February, was freed of her death sentence for practicing her Christian faith, after international groups and government officials put pressure on the Sudanese government. Ibrahim gave birth to a baby girl while in prison. Ibrahim was then re-arrested at the airport with her husband and two children. Now, new charges are being brought against her for allegedly...

The Sudanese woman sentenced to death for her Christian faith and released from prison yesterday was arrested with her family at Khartoum airport, according to sources. Meriam Ibrahim was arrested in February and gave birth to a baby girl while in custody. She was sentenced to death for apostasy, or renouncing Islam. Ibrahim was arrested today together with her two children and husband, Daniel Wani, an American citizen.

Reports today indicate the Sudan court has reversed itself and will free Meriam Ibraham, the pregnant Christian woman jailed and sentenced to be flogged and hanged for her Christian faith. Meriam was later forced to give birth in chains in a Sudanese prison as she awaited a death sentence ad brutal flogging by Muslim officials. “The appeal court ordered the release of Mariam Yahya [Ibrahim] and the cancellation of the [previous] court ruling,” Sudan’s SUNA news agency said on Monday. Although reports a couple of weeks ago suggested Meriam would be freed, they turned out to be false. Thesudan4se reports...

A private academic institution based in Colorado was granted an injunction from the Department of Health and Human Services' birth control mandate. Colorado Christian University will not have to pay a fee for refusing to provide certain types of birth control effective July 1, ruled a Denver federal judge. Filed last Friday, District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn concluded that Colorado Christian University could be unnecessarily burdened by the HHS mandate of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," and that CCU will likely win its suit against the Obama administration. "I conclude that there is a substantial likelihood...

Superintendent Jody Goeler released a statement today responding to the charge that a Woodbury school discriminates against conservative and pro-life websites by blocking them.Andrew Lampart, a senior at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, told his local Fox station that he discovered a clear political bias at his school, based on which websites are blocked. His initial discovery was that the National Rifle Association’s website was blocked, but not anti-gun websites. But the more websites Lampart tried to reach, the stranger it got.“I immediately found out that the State Democrat web site was unblocked but the State GOP web site was...