Free Republic

Courts can't stop the corrosion of liberalism, but they can stop state-sponsored attacks on individuals. If a long Struggle Session couldn’t break Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop, I doubt another frivolous lawsuit will do the trick. Then again, the campaign to destroy Phillips’s business was never merely about punishing a single man for refusing to submit to prevailing leftist orthodoxy. It was also a warning to all would-be apostates that thought crimes could lead to fiscal ruin, public denunciation, and endless harassment. In that sense, the prosecution has probably already paid off. Courts won’t put to rest the...

Muslims destroying Christian crosses all over the world, and no one reports it June 10, 2019 (American Thinker) — A Muslim migrant in Rome recently stabbed a Christian man in the throat for wearing a crucifix around his neck. The assailant, a 37-year-old Moroccan, is accused of attempted homicide; "religious hate" is cited as an "aggravating factor" in the crime. This is hardly the first "religious hate" crime to occur in the context of the cross in Italy. Among others, A Muslim boy of African origin picked on, insulted, and eventually beat a 12-year-old girl during school because she too was wearing a...

ADF says court 'narrowly' interpreted 2018 Supreme Court decisionThe Washington Supreme Court has again ruled against Christian grandma florist Barronelle Stutzman who faces the risk of crippling fines for refusing to create floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding. The state’s highest court unanimously upheld its 2017 decision, leaving Stutzman on the hook to pay thousands in legal fees for violating the state’s non-discrimination law that protects on the basis of sexual orientation. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Washington court’s 2017 decision last June and sent the case back to the court for further consideration in light of the court’s...

Jacob Rudenstrand’s Stream article Friday on Christian refugees being denied asylum in Sweden and the United Kingdom is disturbing on multiple levels. These governments have taken on the authority to determine Christian doctrine. They’re deciding who counts as Christian. This is just wrong. In Britain, reports Rudenstrand, “the government quoted Bible verses” to argue that Christianity isn’t a religion of peace. In Sweden, officials regularly give asylum seekers “pop quizzes on theology to determine whether they are genuine believers.” Some of those questions have been so complex, “not even experienced pastors have been able to answer.” That’s bad. Worse yet,...

A Christian school in California is facing a huge battle with the state. Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is representing River View Christian Academy in northern California. The school was raided earlier in the year, SWAT style, by the state. According to PJI, the raid was carried out by 16 armed law enforcement from California Highway Patrol, two canine units and 17 social workers. Students and staff were horrified by the sudden and unexpected attack. The state was misled into thinking that the school was harboring illegal drugs, amassing ammunition, and preparing for doomsday. RVCA works under the ministry Teen Rescue,...

Sri Lanka. April 21. Five hundred wounded, over 300 dead in terrorist attacks. According to mainstream media and many in the international community, these attacks were another senseless assault on “humanity.” But the destruction of Christian churches on Easter morning was not motivated by generic hatred. We know exactly why these men, women, and children died. They died for their Christian faith. On the holiest day in the Christian calendar, three bombs ripped through Christian churches, killing hundreds who had gathered peacefully to celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. But international leaders have studiously avoided calling this what it is:...

During the 2014-2015 school year, a Christian teenage girl was forced to recite the Islamic conversion creed — the Shahada — in writing for her 11th-grade class. She was also taught that "Most Muslims' faith is stronger than the average Christian." The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) sued the school responsible, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled with the school. TMLC appealed to the Supreme Court, filing a Writ of Certiorari on Monday. "Under the guise of teaching history or social studies, public schools across America are promoting the religion of Islam in ways that would never be...

BREAKING: Ontario appeal’s court rules Christian doctors must participate in abortion, euthanasia TORONTO, May 15, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — An Ontario appeal court struck a blow against religious freedom today, ruling that the right of doctors to conscientiously object to participating in abortion and euthanasia is trumped by their patient’s right to equitable access to health care. In a unanimous decision released Wednesday, the appeal judges upheld a divisional court’s January 2018 ruling that quashed a Charter challenge by Christian doctors to a College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPSO) policy. The CPSO policy requires doctors who object to abortion, euthanasia, and...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered a preview of his meeting with President Donald Trump as the two sat together at the White House Monday, including the protection of Christians around the world. “We are proud that so many Hungarians contributed to the tremendous progress of United States,” said Orban, who expressed that he was very happy to be back at the White House. He said he was there for the first time 20 years ago. Orban added that he had some expectations for meetings with President Trump over the course of the afternoon: First of all to strengthen our...

Males identifying as females and using women's locker rooms. Faith-based adoption and foster agencies required to place children with same-sex couples. Florists and bakers forced to fill orders for same-sex weddings. Critics say these are just a few of the potential results if The Equality Act becomes law. "Every American should be treated with dignity and respect, but our laws need to protect the Constitutionally guaranteed rights that we have," says Greg Baylor from Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian organization which advocates for religious freedom. ADF is currently handling cases in numerous states where laws like The Equality Act already...

A local government communications agency in China recently held a seminar to discuss with Communist Party members the "enormous harm" Christianity is to the atheist nation and identify ways to stunt its growth. According to Chinese Christian persecution watchdog China Aid, the event, titled "Christianity's Enormous Harm on China's Security," was held on April 22 in the city of Hebi in China's Henan province. According to the NGO, the seminar encouraged party members to avoid being persuaded by Christian ideology and to sustain "correct views" when it comes to religion. "The Chinese government often views religions, including Christianity, as foreign...

"I Don't Know Why They Attacked Our Village": Persecution of Christians, February 2019 by During just the first two weeks of February, "[a]t least 10 incidents of vandalism and desecration of Catholic churches have been reported in France." — Catholicherald.co.uk, February 15, 2019; France. "The attack was so terrible that Haroon's kidney was cut into two pieces" from the stabbings....After he was rushed to hospital, "doctors were forced to remove his kidney." As is common in such cases, police and local authorities tried to pressure the family not to press charges against the Muslim youths.... — Persecution.org; International Christian Concern;...

It’s not just high-profile anti-leftist political commentators such as Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson and Laura Loomer who are being banned from Facebook and de-platformed elsewhere. Facebook has forced a well-known Christian apologist off their platform for things he posted years earlier — such as death and rape threats he received and even a famous anti-Nazi picture — after repeatedly being reported by online by Muslim activist group targeting Christians. Apologist Dr. David Wood finally gave up Facebook because every time a suspension finished he was suspended again almost immediately, within hours, for older and older posts and for longer...

Approximately four of five people persecuted for their religious beliefs are Christians, according to an interim report prepared for the British government.The Rt. Rev. Philip Mounstephen, Anglican bishop of Truro, which is located in the United Kingdom, prepared an interim report focused on persecuted Christians, delivering it to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office last Friday.According to the lengthy interim report, 80 percent of persecuted believers around the world are Christians, with Bishop Mounstephen labeling it “an inconvenient truth.”In footnote number 344, Mounstephen explained that while the statistic derives from 10-year-old research by the International Society for Human Rights, it remains...

Gunmen have opened fire on a church in northern Burkina Faso, killing at least six people, officials say. The attackers reportedly arrived on seven motorbikes at the end of Sunday's service and killed the pastor, two of his sons and three other worshippers. It is the first attack on a church since jihadist violence erupted in the West African country in 2016. Fighters affiliated to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group as well as the local Ansarul Islam have been active.

Arson investigators in Pennsylvania are searching for clues after two fires broke out at one church. The first fire at the Pentecostal Church of Bethlehem was reported shortly after midnight on Tuesday, while the second fire was called in just before 2 a.m. on Thursday, said the Bethlehem Police Department. No injuries were reported. The Thursday morning fire, which was contained to the roof, was quickly extinguished, police said. In the first fire, thick black smoke was seen billowing from the building, but the fire had already burned itself out when first responders arrived, according to police. The blaze left...

The Islamic State (ISIS) has now taken credit for the Muslim massacre of Christians in Sri Lana. On average over 300 Christians a month are killed for their faith globally. This is the end result of a campaign of disrespect and hate towards Christians that have become a significant theme of American politics as well. Is it merely coincidental that the most rapidly rising candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Pete Buttigieg launched his campaign with an unfounded and unprovoked attack on America’s vice president because he is a Christian? In fact, as Buttigieg’s governor in Indiana, Pence had been...

Imagine taking your family to Easter Sunday services to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus when -- bam! -- a psychopathic suicide bomber blows the church to pieces. This happened in Sri Lanka at two Catholic churches -- St. Anthony's Shrine in the capital city of Colombo and St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo -- as well as an evangelical church in Batticaloa. Hundreds died. The size of the death toll and the holy-day church bombings were dramatic enough for the news media in America. Politicians began tweeting their thoughts and prayers, which normally draws abuse from some of the more radical...

The Easter bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka remind us that it is dangerous to be a practicing Christian today in many parts of the world.The Wall Street Journal reports, “There were at least eight explosions, most blamed on suicide bombers. Six of the attacks were coordinated and were carried out by seven suicide bombers, according to a preliminary examination of scattered body parts by the country’s official experts.”The bombs, of course, went off on the high Christian holiday of Easter, killing more than 300 people.And the Journal adds, “Authorities took 24 people into custody in connection with the...

The bombings in Sri Lanka have once again put a spotlight on the rising tide of violence against Christians all over the world. According to Open Doors USA, an average of 105 churches and/or Christian buildings are burned or attacked every month. That is more than three per day, and almost all of those attacks get ignored by the mainstream media in the western world. In addition, an average of 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons every single month. Of course these numbers will soon be out of date, because violence against Christians continues to escalate all over the...