Free Republic

[AP Photo/Toby Talbot] By: Pardes Seleh December 28, 2015 Locker room policy at the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Seattle, Washington, now allows self-identified “transgender” males to shower with 15-year-old girls. Controversy surrounding this decision has led many to question the organization and even cancel their memberships. According to an inside source at the YMCA, the decision had been brewing ever since March of this year, when a “open door” policy for trans individuals was being discussed. In April 2015, the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap Counties established a “no questions asked” policy, allowing open access to locker rooms...

FULL TITLE: About those “20 Minutes of Action”: 20 Things We’d Better Tell Our Sons Right Now About Being Real Men Dear Sons, When you’re the mother of four sons, the Stanford rape case — it’s not about somebody else… it’s about us. Let’s be real clear, boys — I’m never writing you a letter like the father of Brock Turner, defending any sexual assault of a horrifically traumatized young woman as merely as “20 minutes of action.” Rape is not “20 minutes of action” — it’s a violent act with lifetime consequences and it’s time for parents to take...

When all else fails, abortion activists often resort to the old “pro-lifers are forcing their religion on us” argument to push their agenda. That is what a group of Indiana University student editors used to attack a new state law that protects the dignity of unborn babies by requiring that aborted babies’ bodies be buried or cremated. The new law will help stop the kind of sale of aborted babies’ body parts that Planned Parenthood facilities in other states have been caught arranging. Although Roe v. Wade prohibits states from completely banning abortions, pro-life advocates in Indiana believe the aborted...

Gallup released a new poll this week that examines people’s positions on abortion based on their religious affiliation. The poll asked people about a series of moral issues, including abortion and doctor-assisted suicide, and then examined their answers based on their religious affiliation. Researchers found major differences among religious groups, with Protestants, Catholics and Mormons taking a pro-life stance and Jews and the non-religious taking a more liberal stance. Gallup reports: Jews and those with no religious preferences have virtually identical views on the morality of abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, gay-lesbian relations and cloning animals. Jews are somewhat less likely than...

About a dozen pastors, including the Rev. Jim Velazquez of Temple Baptist Church of Santa Fe, complained during a gathering outside the state Capitol this week that under the Obama administration some Christians are being forced to comply with transgender-friendly policies that go against their religious beliefs. Baptist Pastor Franklin Raddish of Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries in South Carolina helped lead what was billed as a Bible study session Thursday morning that drew about 13 people, most of them clergy. The event was a shot at President Obama’s May 13 order that directs public schools nationwide to allow transgender...

For nearly two and a half centuries, Americans have enjoyed the enormous privilege and responsibility of forming our own government—a privilege rarely experienced throughout most of human history. For most of history, humanity has struggled with the question of how to respond to a government that was essentially forced upon them. But Americans have often struggled with a very different reality; how do we rightly respond to the government that we choose? Thus, the idea of a limited government requires that society uphold and pursue the health of its most basic institutions. When a civil society is weak, government becomes...

Speaking with Breitbart’s Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon Friday, ethical expert and theologian Dr. Thomas D. Williams said that from the perspective of America’s involvement, World War II undoubtedly satisfied all the conditions to be considered a “just war.”

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...