Free Republic

(The link is to a map supposedly showing the spread of world religions through time. Conveniently, It fails to show that Palestine, North Africa or the Middle East was Christianized prior to Mohammed, or, in fact, ever. This is the BS the machine is spreading as fact.) Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are five of the biggest religions in the world. Over the last few thousand years, these religious groups have shaped the course of history and had a profound influence on the trajectory of the human race. 

Futurism is when experts make educated, knowledgeable predictions about where humanity is going in the future. It is a growing and important field used by many national and transnational organizations to help give them an edge over competitors. The military is deeply involved in futurism, trying to gain an advantage over future potential enemies. Banks and hedge funds, also for similar reasons. Nation-states and governments spend substantial amounts of money in futurist-orientated research each year. Futurists examine trends and attempt to extrapolate where these trends may lead. It is a fascinating field and anybody who spends any time looking at...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – More parents than ever before are choosing to homeschool their children, driving a movement that’s grown by 62 percent in the last decade. The National Catholic Register reports that recent data from the U.S. Department of Education shows explosive growth in homeschooling among American families, particularly in the last 10 years, when the number of students between the ages of 5 and 17 went from 1.09 million in 2003 to 1.77 million in 2012. Homeschooled students now represent about 3.4 percent of the school-age population, a percentage that’s increased significantly for a variety of reasons. “The first...

Muslims in the western part of Central African Republic are being forced to hide their religion or convert to Christianity under threat of death, Amnesty International said Friday. […] Widespread human rights abuses committed by Seleka led to the formation of a Christian militia known as the anti-Balaka, who have targeted Muslims and sent tens of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries. Muslims told Amnesty International they’ve been forced to convert or hide practices. “We had no choice but to join the Catholic Church. The anti-balaka swore they’d kill us if we didn’t,” said a 23-year-old man in the Sangha-Mbaere prefecture,...

The impending crisis that the swirling vortex of signs and events is pressing upon this world brings to mind that song of Johnny Cash titled, “Five Feet and Rising,” where he progresses through the song’s narrative of flood waters overwhelming his family’s farm. [1] Not only does it identify with all the turbulent storms and flooding in recent months, but it resonates with the flooding of crime, murders, rioting, sexual assaults and social immorality. Not a pretty sight, for sure! One of the prophecies proves my point, however, according to 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But know this, that in the last...

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have confirmed that they have filed a petition to local politicians in St Petersburg to discuss the return of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which is currently an historical monument and a museum. Russian media sources report that the news of the proposal has generated heated discussion in Russian society. Maxim Reznik, the deputy of the St. Petersburg legislative, and who also chairs the legislature’s commission for culture, confirmed on Thursday that he had received information on a petition filed by Metropolitan Barsanuphius, the ruling hierarch of the diocese for the return of the city’s landmark cathedral....

An evangelical pastor from Texas joined American Muslim leaders Thursday (July 23) in denouncing recent anti-Muslim comments by evangelist Franklin Graham as they announced upcoming efforts to build bridges between their religious communities. In response to the killing of five service members in Chattanooga, Tenn., last week, Graham, son of evangelical leader Billy Graham, wrote on Facebook that the U.S. should bar Muslims from immigrating. "I was so sad when I read the Facebook posting of Franklin Graham," Bob Roberts Jr., pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, Texas, said Thursday at a gathering on Capitol Hill. "This is not 'evangelical'...

I suppose it’s a bit more of an anecdote than a commentary. Twenty-two years ago and it seems like last week. Isn’t that something old farts say? The aftermath from the previous night’s whirlwind revelry had become all too familiar. Friends had come and friends had gone. My tiny, one bedroom apartment in Thornton, Colorado, was, once again, strewn with empty beer bottles and soggy cigarette butts that lay decomposing in makeshift ashtray tombs. The pungent pong of stale beer and cheap tobacco turned my stomach as I, having just roused at the crack of noon and suffering the hangover...

JERUSALEM — Muslim militants, evoking a jihadist pretext and backed by rogue states, are attacking vital Western interests. The president of the United States fails to convince Europe to join a coalition to confront the aggressors. No, this is not President Bush versus Saddam Hussein, but Thomas Jefferson versus the Barbary pirates of North Africa, who were plundering Western ships and enslaving their crews. When Jefferson proposed creating a multilateral force to stop the pirates, Europe went on bribing them. "This is money thrown away," Jefferson concluded, before ordering the Navy into action. On Aug. 1, 1801, the first American...

Was and is the 1797 Treaty with Tripoli an official treaty of the USA? Yes, all 12 articles as printed in English. See Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America , Hunter Miller,ed., 2:349-385:“Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed at Tripoli November 4, 1796,. . . and at Algiers January 3, 1797, . . . . Original in Arabic. Submitted [in English] to the Senate May 29, 1797. (Message of May 26, 1797.) Resolution of advice and consent June 7, 1797. Ratified by the United States June 10, 1797. . . . Proclaimed June 10, 1797”...

For Christians in the Middle East, 2014 has been a catastrophe. The most wrenching stories have come from Iraq, where the nascent Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL in news reports) has savagely persecuted ancient Christian communities, including Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syrian Orthodox. Iraqi Christians have declined rapidly in number since the first Gulf War in 1991, but survivors long believed they could maintain a foothold around Mosul...

SHELBY, N.C. (BP) – North Carolina pastor Rit Varriale wants to see churches fly the Christian flag above the American flag as a biblical statement, reversing flag etiquette that calls for the American flag to be flown in the prominent position. Varriale, as senior pastor of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby, N.C., said the church installed its first-ever flagpole in order to raise the two flags in a special ceremony after morning worship on Sunday (July 5) in which the Christian flag was raised in the higher position — which prompted interviews by Charlotte-area NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates. “If...

Most of the arguments in support of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding same-sex marriage have been positioned in terms of “equality,” “justice,” “fairness,” and “non-discrimination.” And arguments opposed to the decision have often been framed by “not wanting to change what has been practiced for thousands of years.” But the most important argument has often been missing. That is, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision flies in the face of Creation itself, as well as the Creator. Let me explain. The creation bond between God and humankind is embedded in two ordinances: Sabbath Rest and Marriage. They stand as two...

Sweet Cakes by Melissa owners Aaron and Melissa Klein had the audacity to defend their religious beliefs two years ago, and they suffered mightily. When a lesbian couple, Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer, requested a cake from the Oregon-based Christian bakers for their wedding, the latter politely declined because doing so would violate the religious edicts they so strongly follow. The Kleins’ religiously motivated decision prompted the gay couple to sue, and the Oregon labor commissioner ruled that the Kleins would have to shell out $135,000 in damages. Thanks to Americans who still cherish religious freedom, however, it appears this Christian family...

If we are really going to see a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution, then we must be a spiritual army, and if we are really going to be a spiritual army, then we must be a people who are submitted to authority. Otherwise, there will be a revolution, but not a Jesus revolution. It will be a revolution of the flesh, a revolution of rebellion, of pride, of self-will, of independence, of retaliation, of carnal anger – of everything other than the Spirit of God. It will not be born in heaven, but it will be “earthly, unspiritual, of the...

While much attention is understandably focused on the repercussions of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, the movement to bring the Boy Scouts of America into alignment with current LGBT orthodoxy is well underway. National Boy Scouts of America president Robert Gates announced in May that he wanted to end the organization’s blanket ban on “open and avowed” homosexual adults serving as BSA leaders. Less than 30 days later, the Cradle of Liberty Council issued a press release announcing that Council’s new policy is as follows: “Discrimination in any form, including but not limited to discrimination on the basis of...

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on same-sex “marriage”, the utter failure of legal protections for Christian businesses, and a growing ambient hostility in the culture to all things Catholic, voices in many Catholic circles are muttering darkly about the days of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the monarchs who famously protestantized England over the dead bodies of thousands of Catholics. These were periods of dramatic carnage and martyrdom, which is relatively easy to conceptualize because it is concrete and fleshy. It is also a clearly delineated situation; the good guys are getting their heads chopped off, and...

HOUSTON, TX – A new song by two of Houston’s own cranks out the bass, all while beating down boundaries. The unlikely duo of gangster rapper Slim Thug, and preacher Joel Osteen is breaking the internet as much for their pairing, as for their musical message. Slim, a member of Osteen’s Lakewood Church for many years, used clips of the pastor on “Chuuch”, a song on the rappers latest release “Hogg Life Volume 2″. And while mixing religion and rap might not be the norm, for many the sermon and the song are a perfect fit. The message of the...

Little surpasses the sheer joy and excitement within the scientific community when discussing the mere possibility of discovering the faintest traces of life – the elemental building blocks of nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen – beyond the celestial confines of Earth. Unfortunately for the so-called “evolved” minds of progressive thought, their lust for alien intelligence cannot begin to remotely fathom the unbridled passion a mother feels when cradling her newborn child for the first time; a sentient being she created without having to leave our solar system, the comfort of her home, and without the assistance of a microscope. While...

Israeli police made several arrests Sunday in connection with last month's arson at the historic Church of Multiplication, authorities said. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said there was no immediate confirmation of the number of people arrested, but the investigation was led by the Israeli police unit that deals with crimes committed by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Christians believe the Church of the Multiplication, in Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee, is where Jesus multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5,000 of his followers.