Free Republic

What made non-Muslims convert to Islam, leading to the creation of the Islamic world? Early historical sources—both Muslim and non-Muslim—make clear that the Islamic empire was forged by the sword; that people embraced Islam, not so much out of sincere faith, but for a myriad of reasons—from converting in order to enjoy the boons of being on the “winning team” to converting in order to evade the dooms of being on the “losing team.” Modern day Muslims and other apologists—primarily in academia, government, and mainstream media—reject this idea. They argue that the non-Muslims who embraced Islam did so from sheer...

(www.teenvogue.com) A common assumption in our society, especially among the educated classes, is that ignorance—of a religion, culture, or race—invariably begets hatred and prejudice. A corresponding assumption is that the more you understand the other, the less you will fear him. Of course, this notion can be easily debunked by pointing out that German Jews who understood what Nazism was all about had good reason to fear the Nazis. Likewise, Southern blacks who understood the true nature of the Ku Klux Klan were justifiably on their guard against the Klan. Ignorance can breed unwarranted fear, but sometimes ignorance can...

Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron of Agana, Guam has posted a message on his archdiocesean website stating that the “true intention” behind the push for same-sex marriage “has always been about the destruction of the family and the imposition of a totalitarian system.” The archbishop also predicted the next step in the process would be to use the education system so “that our children, your children, will be forced to assimilate to this pattern of non-gender.” “It is important to understand that the political pressure to push the agenda for same sex ‘marriage’ has never been about gay rights; the true...

See Video: German Islamic Immigration 2015 Germany is Europe's largest economy and second most populous nation (after Russia). It is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. However Germany has a major problem. Germany has the lowest birthrate in Europe, with an average of 1.36 children per woman. Despite government incentives to encourage larger families, the population is dropping rapidly and that trend will continue, with an expected loss of as much as 12 million by 2050. That would mean about a 15 percent drop from the country’s current population of 82.4 million, the German news...

An atheist group is demanding that publicly funded universities take immediate steps to bar Christian coaches and chaplains from “converting football fields into mission fields.” “The words of coaches and chaplains make clear that their purpose is to instill Christianity in vulnerable young men,” the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) says in a new report, titled “Pray to Play.” “Public universities and their employees cannot endorse, promote, or favor religion,” the report states. “Yet, many football coaches at public universities bring in chaplains—often from their own church or even members of their own family—to prey on and pray with students,...

Over a decade ago, I went to Yale University to give a speech at the law school. While I was there, my host took me on a tour of the campus. When we visited the divinity school, he commented on the fact that atheists often sought their divinity degrees at Yale. We both agreed that it made sense. If you really hated Christianity, it would only be wise to try to destroy it from within. The concept of destroying Christianity from within was not unfamiliar to me when I visited Yale. I had already seen it before on my own...

Kathmandu -- The church in Nepal is on the edge as Nepal struggles to finalize its much-awaited new constitution amid sporadic protests, violent clashes and shut downs in several districts over demarcation of the provinces under the draft constitution.   "There is lot of tension, both good news and bad news for us on the constitution [making] front," Father Silas Bogati, vicar general of the Vicariate of Nepal told Aleteia August 19 — a day after as a young protester died in police firing.   On the positive side, Father Bogati pointed out that: "At least church and Christianity will...

Following the Supreme Court’s majority decision in June to legalise same-sex marriage in the United States, New York Times columnist David Brooks appealed to “conservatives” (those who do not accept the possibility of marriage between people of the same sex) to stop fighting a losing battle over sexual morality. Instead, he suggested, they should take their Christian values into underprivileged areas and help people overcome material and spiritual poverty.This struck Dr Thomas Lickona, director of the character education centre at the State University of New York and a fan of Brooks’ writing on character, as a false choice, and he...

I’m not telling you whom to vote for. I’m not predicting who will win their party’s nomination. I’m not giving you a primer on which issues to consider as you vote in a caucus or primary (several months from now) or as you vote (over a year from now) in the presidential election. Before you think through any of that, keep these ten things in mind.1. We’re not electing a king. It always amazes me how many Americans, even those who ostensibly believe in checks and balances and limited government, are eager to believe the wildest promises our politicians make. More...

Transhumanism, the movement which aims to use science fiction-esque methods such as brain uploading, cyborgism, and cryogenics to achieve immortality and/or a higher state of evolution, is strongly associated with atheism. Not only is there a strong emphasis on science, which is often considered to be at odds with religion to a certain extent, but this particular brand of science seems particularly opposed to the notion that God should have control over life and death. But according to transhumanist Micah Redding, there's a growing contingent of Christians in the transhumanist movement who are seeking a slightly different type of eternal...

It’s never fun to be proven right when warning of some impending wrong. Many in the pro-family movement have long stressed that the cultural Marxist left’s belligerent push for the judicial fiction that is “gay marriage” was never about gaining “equal access” to this biologically exclusive male-female institution, as they profess, but, rather, is, and has always been, about control. While there are many layers to unfold, the almost instant explosion in government-sanctioned, anti-Christian extremism on display post Obergefell v. Hodges, confirms the poisonous three-fold agenda that underlies the “social justice” mob’s flowery “marriage equality” propaganda. That is: 1) the...

A lot is happening at a very rapid rate. And with all the discussion that’s been going on, I’ve been kind of eager to get to you, and maybe help to give you a perspective. And I know that there have been comments made from this pulpit—exceptionally helpful, clear, well-chosen comments on the issues that face our country today. But I need to just kind of add some of my own insights and perceptions, and then direct you to a particular portion of Scripture. This country talks a lot about terrorist attacks—and rightly so. Almost anybody in America can give...

Christianity is booming in communist-ruled Cuba, and one indication of this is the continuing inflow of tens of thousands of Bibles which are distributed to the faithful in the country's more than 1,000 churches. Last month, some 83,000 copies of the Bible poured into the country courtesy of the International Missions Board. The copies of the Bible are distributed by the Baptist Convention in Cuba. The American Bible Society, which claims to have "strong relations with Cuban churches, both Catholic and Protestant," also started its "Million Bible Mission" last year. About 60,000 Bibles were imported and distributed to the faithful...

from Rosaria Butterfield [former professor at Syracuse University and lesbian activist...her testimonial speech on her submission to Jesus Christ. Audio link]

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) – It was an unscripted moment like few others on the presidential campaign trail Monday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Ted Cruz paused for a moment and looked into the audience at a community center for a man who changed his family’s life. “I was told Pastor Gaylon Wiley was here,” he told the crowd. “I haven’t seen Brother Wiley since I was a kid.” Then as the room with a thousand people fell silent, Cruz said “Brother Wiley led my dad to the Lord.” Out in the audience that day was Gaylon Wiley, who now lives in nearby...

"Earlier this year, I had the privilege of attending the Ligonier National Conference in Orlando, Florida. One of the speakers was Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. She proceeded to give one of the best gospel presentations I have heard. This was more than a change of lesbianism to heterosexuality, but a true Jesus-encountering and life-altering experience marked by total transformation. Her memoir The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert is outstanding and is the free audiobook of the month for August. -Todd Hoyt, eChristian"

During the height of one of the most brutal months of Muslim persecution of Christians, the U.S. State Department exposed its double standards against persecuted Christian minorities. Sister Diana, an influential Iraqi Christian leader, who was scheduled to visit the U.S. to advocate for persecuted Christians in the Mideast, was denied a visa by the U.S. State Department even though she had visited the U.S. before, most recently in 2012. She was to be one of a delegation of religious leaders from Iraq — including Sunni, Shia and Yazidi, among others — to visit Washington, D.C., to describe the situation...

Forty-six years.That’s how long William Wilberforce labored to see the end of slavery in the British Empire. His work began in earnest in 1787 when he first came into contact with abolitionists such as Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More and Charles Middleton. These activists found a kindred spirit in Wilberforce, whose conversion to the Christian faith had given birth to an abiding concern for social reform—so much so, in fact, that he wrote in his diary, “God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.”The dark and dehumanizing practice of slavery weighed heavy on him. He first...

The first book printed in America was the Bay Psalm Book by John Eliot, who was baptized in England as an infant on Aug. 5, 1604. Called “Apostle to the Indians,” he sailed to America and preached his first sermon in the Algonquian language in 1646. He translated the Ten Commandments, Lord’s Prayer and the Bible – the first to be printed in America, in 1663. In a 1674 census, 4,000 “Praying Indians” were in 14 self-ruling villages with houses, streets, bridges and their own ministers. “Praying Indian” villages were located throughout Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard and Rhode Island. John Eliot...

Thousands of People Are Being Transformed by Jesus Christ in the Arab World as the Gospel Breaks New Ground in a Region Hostile to Its Message and Its Missionaries. ERBIL, IRAQ — Amidst the battle against Islamic State across Syria and Iraq, an Arab Holocaust continues to unfold as millions of people flee their extremist ideologies and horrifying violence. The situation is reaching a "new level of barbarity with each passing day" that's resulting in "devastating spillover effects across the region," stated U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting with world powers late last year. Here in Iraq and...