Free Republic

A mob ransacked and torched seven Christian homes in a province south of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, after rumors spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman, according to a statement by the local Orthodox Coptic church. Released late Wednesday, it said that during the May 20 attack, the mother of the Christian man, who had fled the village, was publicly stripped of her clothes by the mob to humiliate her.

Although few talk about it publicly, I continue to be astonished by the rotten fruit in the Christian book publishing industry. I feel almost forced to say this at the outset: There are still good publishers. There are still good authors. There is still some good material being produced. It’s just not mostly in the popular categories/circles (makers). Checking out Christian retailing online the other day was a real downer. Among the top-selling books/authors making their rounds through evangelical circles: "Jesus Calling," "The Power of I Am" (Joel Osteen), Thom Rainer, Rick Warren, Jen Hatmaker, Steven Furtick and "Half Truths"...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Christian officials have launched historic restoration work at the Tomb of Jesus inside the Church of Holy Sepulcher, site where tradition holds Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

In a slanted hit piece against religious freedom laws for CBS Sunday Morning, correspondent Mark Strassmann proclaimed: "North Carolina's public bathrooms are the new frontier in American civil rights law....Just since the beginning of this year, lawmakers in 34 states have proposed so-called 'bathroom' bills and 'religious freedom' laws that, critics say, target gay, lesbian and transgender people."The reporter argued that the source of such supposed discrimination was signed into law decades earlier: "These state actions descend from a little-known bipartisan bill signed into law by President Clinton back in 1993....The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, prohibited the government...

Only a handful of mostly sick or elderly Christians remain in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, and Syrian Christians fear the forces that have brought that city’s population of Gospel followers to the brink of extinction could do the same for the entire nation. An estimated dozen Christian families are still in the northern city, forced under threat of execution to convert, pay an “infidel” tax or go into hiding. Forbidden from leaving, they also face death from attacks directed at ISIS by Damascus, Russia and the U.S.-led Western coalition. “We are trying to help them escape or stay safe,...

The Obama administration’s “surge” of Syrian refugee admissions approved for resettlement in the United States jumped by 37 percent in April – to 451 from 330 the previous month. Of those 451, 426 were Sunni Muslims and one was a Christian, according to State Department Refugee Processing Center data. The remaining 24 comprised nine Shi’a Muslims, five other Muslims and 10 Yazidis. The first ten days of May have brought a further 99 admissions, all Sunnis. President Obama last fall pledged to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in fiscal year 2016. After a slow start – four months into FY2016, only...

Christians in Turkey have become a tiny minority. The few remaining Christian churches in Anatolia are also on the path to total annihilation. Christians in Turkey have – throughout the centuries -- been turned into a tiny, dwindling minority. The remaining few Christian churches in Anatolia are also on the path to total annihilation. Hagia Sophia in Trabzon: Church-mosque-museum and now mosque again. The Hagia Sophia, Greek for “Holy Wisdom,” was one of the many historic Orthodox churches located in the city of Trabzon. ... The city of Trabzon .. is located in the ancient land of Pontos, in the...

Lately, a number of abortion activists have been claiming that their faith is the reason they support abortion. Abortionist Willie Parker calls his deadly practice a “ministry,” saying Christianity inspires him to help pregnant women who are struggling. Abortionist-in-training Carolyn Payne says Christianity led her to believe that doing abortions “is one of the most meaningful ways I feel I can contribute to making the world a more fair and equal place for women.” Equality and compassion toward the suffering are key aspects of Christianity, but abortion supporters who call themselves Christians limit these values, refusing to extend them to...

Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards seems to jump at every chance she gets to do an interview with a journalist who will flatter her abortion work. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In her latest interview, Richards revealed her proudest moment on the job – forcing Christians to pay for contraception, including methods that many say can cause early abortions.She told the Texas Observer: TO: And your proudest moment at Planned Parenthood?CR: Definitely the day President Obama called to say he was about to announce that birth control would be covered for all women under their insurance plans, because it had been a hard-fought...

The historic Manhattan cathedral that was gutted in a massive fire was one of four Christian Orthodox churches to go up in flames on Orthodox Easter Sunday — sparking fears of a coordinated attack on the religion. While FDNY officials said the blaze at the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava on West 25th Street does not appear suspicious, members of the Orthodox community have doubts. They are worried that the blaze — along with church fires in Australia and Russia — were set in retaliation for the religion’s role in blocking the canonization of Croatian Nazi supporter Cardinal Aloysius...

"Midtown Manhattan cathedral engulfed in flames: 'Irreplaceable' 160-year-old Orthodox Christian church is consumed by fire" A 160-year-old Orthodox Christian cathedral in New York has been completely destroyed after a huge fire tore through it on Sunday The blaze broke out at the Serbian Cathedral of Saint Sava on 25th Street in Manhattan's Flatiron district at around 7pm. It is not known how the fire started, though it is believed to have broken out on the first floor of the building before consuming the interior and roof. An FDNY spokesman said that nobody was believed to be inside the building at...

In 2016 more than half of converts in Vienna were Muslim, according to reports An increasing number of Muslim migrants in Austria are converting to Christianity, according to reports. According to Austrian website Kurier, 83 adults were approved for baptism in Vienna in 2016, with Friederike Dostal of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference estimating that about half of them were Muslims, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. This figure is up from one-third in 2015. There is expected to be a further rise of Muslim converts in 2017 due to the fact that there has been an increase in the number...

TED CRUZ: So let me make things real simple: Even if Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he shouldn't be using the girls' restroom. By the way I apologize for that image, it is going to haunt you at night... Donald in a bright blue pants-suit. But let me just say to Jimmy Fallon and the Tonight Show. Please...

The president of the largest chain of abortion clinics in the United States is thanking “Faith Leaders” for standing with them. In a tweet by Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, recently released she states, “So grateful to the many faith leaders who stand with Planned Parenthood and our patients. http://ppact.io/1IIU4QF Thank you, @awkukla!” Cecile Richards Planned Parenthood Faith Leaders @awkukla is Andrew Kukla, who describes himself as a , “Presby minister, love philosophy and Kierkegaard in particular, dad of four young kids, and I live in Boise, ID,” on his twitter page. The link takes you to a post written...

A new study released last week included new evidence that links and further authenticates two holy relics that millions of Christians believe offer physical proof of the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But before we explore the research and the relics, let us recall a New Testament passage concerning faith in Christ and the need for physical evidence. I mean the familiar story of “doubting Thomas” (John 20:24–29). The apostle Thomas was absent when the resurrected Christ appeared to some of the apostles. On hearing the astonishing news, Thomas declared, “Unless I see the nail marks in...

Most Americans say they believe in God. And around the world, religious Jews, Christians, and Muslims all say they believe in God, as do many people who do not identify with any formal religion. But this statement is actually meaningless. To cite but one example, the God in whose name Muslims cut innocent people’s throats and rape women cannot be the same God as the God of those who believe that God hates such actions. Who, then, argues that all those who say they believe in God believe in the same God? Two groups make this argument. The first consists...

“This skit was outright sacrilege. They know if they did this to Muslims they’d have to be put into the witness protection program,” the singer-actor said. Pat Boone is calling out NBC and Saturday Night Live for allegedly being anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, cowardly, “diabolical” and even demonic for a skit over the weekend that parodied God’s Not Dead 2, the actor-singer’s latest movie. In God’s Not Dead 2, Melissa Joan Hart plays a public school teacher who is persecuted for answering a student’s question about Jesus. In the SNL skit, a trailer for a movie called God is a Boob Man...

Textbooks in Pakistan that are used to teach about 41 million children, negatively portray religious minorities such as Christians and Hindus, referring to them as "nefarious, violent, and tyrannical by nature." (Reuters/Kham)Third-grade level students attend class at the Mashal Model School on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. "Pakistan's public school textbooks contain deeply troubling content that portrays non-Muslim citizens as outsiders, unpatriotic, and inferior; are filled with errors; and present widely-disputed historical 'facts' as settled history," said Robert George in a press release. George is the chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). A study done by...

Those of us who have been around awhile look at all that is going on in our nation and the world, and realize how far we have fallen. Literally, not a single day passes without new revelations regarding the corruption and treason that is the norm among the so-called leaders of both America and pretty much every other country. I take hope knowing God is in ultimate control, and that all will eventually work to the good in His will and in His time. That certainly does not excuse, however, the lack of sound moral principles of those in control...

A 60-year-old Christian woman was caned yesterday (April 12) in Indonesia’s Banda Aceh province—for breaking rules aimed at Muslims. It was the first time somebody from outside the Islamic faith was caned under the province’s harsh sharia regulations. Until recently, sharia regulations applied only to the province’s Muslim population. But under bylaws that went into effect late last year, now members of other religions can also be punished under the rules—although until yesterday it wasn’t clear just how far that would go.