Free Republic

When Cal Poly Sal Luis Obispo hosts its annual Open House this April, during which campus clubs typically greet and recruit prospective visiting students, one longtime mainstay at the university will be conspicuously absent: Cru. The Christian club will not be allowed to set up a table and pass out fliers, or meet and greet guests. It’s the same at Chico State, where Cru will not be allowed to showcase itself during the school’s annual fall recruitment drive. They’ve also been forbidden from hanging up posters in freshman dorms. Gone are the days when Christian student clubs at Cal Poly...

Anna Marie Cox posed a useful question when she compared her faith to President Obama’s, who has been roundly criticized by conservatives such as my friend Erick Erickson, who wrote that Barack Obama is not a Christian in any meaningful way.  Cox asked “if Obama’s not Christian, what does that make me?” She announced her Christian faith to the world by writing “My understanding of Christianity is that it doesn’t require me to prove my faith to anyone on this plane of existence.” She’s right.  You could stop reading here—if you are not a Christian, maybe that’s the limit of...

Who do I need to prove my faith to—and why should I try? ... I’m nervous to come out as a Christian because I worry I’m not good enough of one. I’m not scared that non-believers will make me feel an outcast. I’m scared that Christians will ... Here is why I believe I am a Christian: I believe I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior. I believe in the grace offered by the Resurrection. I believe that whatever spiritual rewards I may reap come directly from trying to live the example set by Christ. Whether or...

The annual “Status of Global Christianity” survey published by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research is a cornucopia of numbers: some are encouraging; others are discouraging; many of them are important for grasping the nature of this particular moment in Christian history. This year’s survey works from a baseline of 1900 A.D., and makes projections out to 2050. Within that century and a half there’s some good news about the global human condition that ought to be kept in mind when remembering the bad news of the 20th century and the early 21st. For example: in 1900, 27.6 percent...

In Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital city, 75 percent of adults do not go to church at least once a week, according to the Gallup poll, while only 23 percent do. Another 2 percent told the polling firm they “don’t know” when asked how often they go to church. When ranked with the 50 states, D.C. was fifth from last in the percentage of its residents who attend church services at least once a week. …

A constant refrain when discussing issues of radical Islam is that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are not radicalized. I agree completely. The vast majority of Muslim men and women are people who just want to live their lives, bring up their families and make the most out of the short time they have available to them. Almost all Western intelligence agencies are unanimous in their estimates that anywhere between 15-25 percent of Muslims worldwide are radicalized. That means there are between 180-300 million radicalized Muslim men and women in the world today. It is quite right to point out...

If you want to realize that we have truly been the classic boiling frogs the last few decades, take a moment to look at this video from 1987. It's a simple video of a high school band from Cleburne Texas that won the state competition that year. Look at it, and imagine if this bunch of high school kids performed this today, after the socialist cultural revolution. If you are in a hurry and don't feel like watching the whole 10 minute show, skip ahead to the 2:20, 4:40, 6:10, and 7 minute marks. See if you can find the...

Quietly on Christmas Eve, the Obama administration changed the rules on handling refugee children who enter the country without their parents and report being victims of sexual assault. All refugee aid groups, including Catholic and other Christian groups, will now be required to refer those girls to facilities that provide abortions. Religious groups that work with refugees are concerned that the new rules may require them to give up federal funding. Dr. Susan Yoshihara of the New York and Washington DC-based Center for Family & Human Rights (C-Fam) first reported the change last week: “Faith-based groups say this is a...

Editor's note: This piece was co-authored by the author's daughter, Kristin Carey. If you showed up at an Ash Wednesday service last week, chances are you heard the word “repentance” quite a few times. It isn’t a term we often use outside of a church context. It’s one of those scary-sounding “Christianese” words that few of us feel comfortable with, probably because it conjures up images of crazy old men standing on street corners, holding picket-signs and yelling at people as they pass by. Look it up in the dictionary, and you’ll find explanations like “to feel sorry,” “conscience-stricken,” and...

Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Hassakeh have been involved in fierce fighting with Isil jihadists including Chechens. A Christian militia formed to protect the community as Syria falls apart is fighting its first major battle against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), attacking across a front in the north-east of the country before being driven back again in a fierce counter-blow. Christian groups said they were checking a report that up to 200 civilians had been kidnapped by Isil jihadists in the fighting and were being held as hostages. A number of fighters from the militia,...

Bigotry is borne of ignorance and the nasty snark the Political Wire’s Taegan Goddard launched at Scott Walker’s Christian faith Tuesday is a perfect example of a secular leftist who finds everyday Christianity freakish. Sadly, it is also the result of a media environment where bigoted attacks on the faith against conservatives are becoming more and more acceptable.

What difference does it make now? [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8INIH0JfNA8] Video linkHe is not up for reelection and won't be impeached regardless of whatever He is or loves. If impeached, He wouldn't be convicted. On the other hand, such questions and their responses provide useful distractions from what He and His acolytes are doing to America.According to Dana Milbank at Organizing for Action the Washington Post, knowing that Obama is a Christian and loves "His" country should be a no-brainer. This is not a matter of conjecture. The correct answer is yes: Obama is Christian, and he frequently speaks about it in public. Balz and Costa presented Walker with this...

Political Wire publisher Taegan Goddard got a lot of flack on Twitter after mocking Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for claiming he could discern God’s will, only to admit that he had no idea Christians believed they could communicate with God through prayer. It all began with a rather snarky tweet about Walker’s comments that he was still waiting for “God’s calling” before he announced a presidential run. [snip] As Goddard received criticism from religious followers, he shot back at critics by claiming that he wasn’t showing disdain for people of faith, even as his tone became more and more sarcastic....

A Virginia Tech student has announced that he will be petitioning the college to change the historic War Memorial Chapel into a Mosque because of perceived “oppression” of Muslims. Posting on Facebook, the student outlined his plans on the Virginia Tech class of 2018 page. Screenshots were taken by a member of the group and the students’ names have been hidden to keep them anonymous. The student believes that converting the Church into a Mosque will “play an essential role in improving the campus:” Explaining why he believes this to be true, the student explained, "having a chapel in the...

(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is advancing federal regulations that require federally funded organizations caring for illegal alien minors who are in the United States without their parents (Unaccompanied Children or UC) and who may have been sexually abused access to “emergency contraception” services. “Emergency contraception” includes abortion-inducing drugs. These care providers currently include Catholic and other faith-based organizations that oppose abortion, according to the Center for Family and Human Rights or C-FAM, a Catholic advocacy group. The Interim Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 24,...

Hindus Ask Pope Francis To Punish Priest Who Said Yoga Leads To Satanism, 'Kingdom Of Darkness' By Bruce Wright @bctw on February 23 2015 The pope has been asked by some Hindus to discipline a Catholic priest who equated yoga and the devil. Reuters/Max Rossi A group of Hindus is appealing to Pope Francis to intervene after a Catholic priest from Northern Ireland insinuated that the ancient discipline of yoga is tantamount to Satanism and paganism. Rev. Roland Colhoun from Glendermott parish was delivering a sermon in the village of Drumsurn on Feb. 8 dealing with the devil and exorcism...

Whether President Barack Obama is truly a Christian has been a hot topic for debate recently, especially after the mainstream media attempted to trip up pro-life Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker on the question. The question of whether anyone is truly a Christian person has more to do with faith than anything else. Does the person in question truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ and acknowledged the fact that he died on the cross to save humanity from our sins and bridge the gap sin caused between ourselves and God. While that question has more to do with worldview...

It has been called the most contested plot of land in the world — the fissure at which three major faiths come together, and break apart. There have been holy wars fought over it and holy writ foretelling of battles yet to come. It’s Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. But what if history got it wrong? What if the spot where Solomon built the first Jewish Temple, and Herod built the second, was actually about 600 feet to the south, in a place known as the ancient City of David? Enter Robert Cornuke. He travels the world solving Bible mysteries: Noah’s Ark,...

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has offered florist Barronelle Stutzman a deal: She can cater to same-sex weddings or she can stop doing weddings altogether. Of course, there’s always a third option: She can go out of business. Ms. Stutzman, the 70-year-old owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, Washington, is opting for none of the above. “Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about,” Ms. Stutzman said in a letter to Mr. Ferguson. “It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything...

I am often asked how I can believe in God when there have been so many wars caused by religion. The implication is that if only people would leave behind their convictions about the existence of a God the world would be a much better, more peaceful place. Of course very few people ever reflect on the fact that the very reverse of this was demonstrated in the 20th century, which saw the atheistic communist and Nazi ideologies rise. In fact, that century saw more killing than the previous 19 put together.None of this is to say that religion...