Free Republic

Ralph Reed’s now annual Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington last week drew a surprisingly small audience of mostly Protestant evangelical political activists — but still attracted a bevy of Republican political stars. The audience of fewer than 400 was a fraction of the thousands who once thronged Pat Robertson’s annual Christian Coalition “Road to the White House” when it reigned as the premier event for rallying religious conservatives in the late 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Reed is a political consultant, one-time candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia and born-again Christian. Mr. Robertson, who was honored at an FFC...

Muslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2013. Sweden to send Iranian Christian asylum seekers back to Iran to be tortured and possibly executed for the crime of leaving Islam. Also, the Nigerian government recently did go on the offensive to try to contain the jihadis [of Boko Haram], only to be chastised by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, saying he was "concerned by credible allegations that the Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations" against the jihadi mass murderers. The Islamic jihad against Christians in Nigeria is proving to be the most barbaric ... Indonesia: Authorities demolished a...

The Obama Internal Revenue Service targeted several Christian groups including a 180 year-old Baptist paper. The Obama IRS targeted Christian groups including Franklin Graham and the 180 year-old Biblical Recorder. The Obama IRS implemented a program to infiltrate and target conservative, evangelical Christian churches. ... The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization, were both targeted by the Obama IRS.

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s … Jesus? When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created their iconic comic book hero Superman in 1938, their character wasn’t just a representation of “Truth, Justice and the American Way,” but for many, a metaphor for Jewish immigrants in 1930s America. Created by two young Jewish men, Superman was an allusion to the Jewish faith and history, from his baby Moses-like origins to his golem-esque invincibility, to his outcast status and his ultimate struggle to assimilate in a new land. But somewhere along his journey since 1938, Kal-El converted to Christianity, which...

Even when we’ve tried through good intentions to make the world a better place our actions have often backfired. During the Iraq War, over a quarter-million Iraqi Christians fled Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but his government was secular and therefore relatively safe for Christians. Christians, however, feared the Shiite government that we helped put in place after Saddam, and they fled in droves. Where did these Christians go? They headed mostly for Syria, joining the over one million Syrians who have lived as Christians since the time of Christ. Now, the senate is attempting to arm the...

Earlier this year the Obama Administration warned military personnel that Christian Evangelicals were a number one threat to America. The Obama Administration included Christians in their list of religious extremists. The above slide came from a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief titled “Extremism and Extremist Organizations.” The Obama Administration included Evangelical Christians with Al-Qaeda and the Ku Klux Klan. Now this… The Obama Administration “strongly objects” to a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have protected the religious rights of soldiers – including evangelical Christian service members who are facing growing hostility towards their...

BOSTON (CBS) — Tim Tebow is a New England Patriot. ESPN’s Ed Werder broke the shocking news via Twitter late Monday afternoon.

There’s a predictable silence in the mainstream media about the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s three-day Road to Majority conference, which begins Thursday at a bustling hotel two blocks from the White House. The event boasts a veritable who’s who list of conservatives and Republicans ready, willing and able to rumble. Among the speakers: Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson and Jeff Sessions; Reps. Paul Ryan, Michele Bachmann, J. Randy Forbes and Louie Gohmert; Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, Jeb Bush, Allen B. West, Rick Santorum, John Bolton, Michael Medved, Pat Robertson, Herman Cain and...

DENVER — A gay couple is pursuing a discrimination complaint against a Colorado bakery, saying the business refused them a wedding cake to honor their Massachusetts ceremony, and alleging that the owners have a history of turning away same-sex couples. As more states move to legalize same-sex marriage and civil unions, the case highlights a growing tension between gay rights advocates and supporters of religious freedom. “Religious freedom is a fundamental right in America and it’s something that we champion at the ACLU,” said Mark Silverstein, the legal director of the group in .....

Top Sunni Muslim cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, says the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization is the “Party of Satan.” In an interview with Al Arabiya aired on Sunday, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, slammed Lebanese Hezbollah group as “party of Satsan” that seeks to “sow discord” among Muslims.

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. – A high school valedictorian from South Carolina ripped up his approved speech on stage this past weekend, and minutes later, delivered the Lord’s Prayer in defiance of the school district’s decision to no longer include prayer at graduation ceremonies. Roy Costner IV drew loud applause and cheers when he surprised attendees of the Liberty High School graduation at Clemson’s Littlejohn Colliseum on Saturday. “From the ACLU sending FOIA requests to every district in the state this year after the Chesterfield County case, then the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent us a complaint about religion at...

How is the radical Council on American-Islamic Relations bending public school policy to its will? Two stories from Michigan tell the tale. From a CAIR press release: The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) said today that a Detroit-area school district has apologized for handing out permission slips for Bible study classes to elementary school students. CAIR-MI sent a letter to Roseville Public Schools after receiving a complaint from two parents of children who attend Huron Park Elementary School about distribution by teachers of permission slips for the Bible classes at a local Baptist church. CAIR Executive...

It’s never too early for Washington, D.C., politicians to dampen the holiday spirit. The House Agriculture Committee approved an amendment to its farm bill that would lift the stay blocking implementation of Obama’s Christmas tree tax. We should be thankful the Agriculture Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction over toys. The Christmas Tree Tax Some in the Christmas tree industry sought to develop a promotional program to assist its industry. After three failed attempts to set up a voluntary system, they turned to the federal government to do what it couldn’t: Force Christmas tree producers and importers to pay for a Christmas...

So a school district, that has already lost in a lower court, attempting to ban both religious belief and free expression thereof, now wants to spend tax-payer money to attempt to thwart those same rights of religious belief, and free expression. Welcome to all that is the fascist thinking of the leadership of the Kountze Independent School District, located just outside Beaumont, Texas. Similar to the scandals occupying Washington DC right now there is a "big picture" lesson in the story of the Kountze High School cheerleaders: "If the atheist left of America have enough tax-payer money at hand, they...

We are witnesses to murder,and our governments are accomplices. The relentless destruction of the last remnants of the Middle East’s Judeo-Christian civilization is well under way. And we are silent. Captives of political correctness,our governments cater to radical immigrant tantrums as our leaders contort the truth to deny the existence of Islamist terrorism. Meanwhile,our Middle Eastern “allies” and foes alike eradicate thousands of years of Jewish and Christian heritage. Our diplomats treat the persecution as a minor embarrassment,best ignored. The banishments and butchery aren’t new, but the breakdown of the last rotting order in the wake of the “Arab Spring”...

The NFL might have seen its last bit of Tebowing. A new report claims that some of those closest to Tim Tebow have suggested that the unemployed quarterback’s NFL career is likely done. ESPN’s David Fleming reports that members of Tebow’s own camp privately told him that his days in the league are “probably over.”

With the Christian homeschool movement beginning in the 1970s, a generation of homeschooled Christians are now adults and have gained notoriety for their work. Here are five homeschooled Christians who are making a difference.Tim TebowTim Tebow became the only college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy when he was the starting quarterback for the University of Florida Gators in 2007. The next year he would lead the Gators to a national championship and take home the game's MVP award. He was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos and also played for the New York Jets.Tebow's parents were...

Since the IRS scam has become the most momentous topic of the day, we now know, thanks to my father, that Obama’s brother, Malik Obama, is deeply associated with Omar al-Bashir, the one who was behind the attack on the US embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, which occurred at around the same time as the Benghazi attack ... Malik is the Executive Secretary for the Islamic Da’wa Organization (IDO), which is stationed in Khartoum, Sudan, and which has its primary focus in expanding Wahhabist Islam in the African subcontinent. It was also in Khartoum, as I have written on before, where...

Michael Adebolajo, who was arrested for hacking a soldier to death in Woolwich, was brought up a devout Christian but rebelled against his parents and turned to Islam, friends and neighbours say. Mr Adebolajo was born in Lambeth in December 1984, and brought up with his siblings in Romford by staunchly church-going parents who both worked for the NHS. He attended Marshall Park School in Romford, and Havering Sixth Form College. Yesterday the 28-year-old was captured on film with his hands red with blood and a soldier slumped dead on the road behind him, telling passers-by: “The only reason we...

In the wake of mass destruction and unthinkable tragedy Christians from all over the nation are uniting to help in anyway they can. Journey Church of Norman Oklahoma is working tirelessly to help everyone they can. From victims of this tragedy, to the volunteers that are working in a united effort to help in the massive search and rescue operation, to the clean up of debris. They are offering temporary shelter and food for both victims and volunteers. According to Trisha Tramel of Journey Church, these are the following things we can do to help. Supplies needed: Water, Gatorade, Lunch...

Twice they say is a pattern. Or a charm. And there isn’t much charm in using government agencies to conduct an illegal war against the opposition. Perhaps no other IRS official is more intimately associated with the tax agency’s growing scandal than Lois Lerner, director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division. Since admitting the IRS harassed hundreds of conservative and Tea Party groups for over two years, Lerner has been criticized for a number of untruths—including the revelation that she apparently lied about planting a question at an American Bar Association conference where she first publicly acknowledged IRS misconduct. Prior...

At the Senate committee hearing today on the IRS targeting scandal Senator Mike Enzi said the IRS is even targeting Christian churches in Wyoming. Acting Commissioner Steven Miller, former Administrator Doug Shulman, and Inspector J. Russell George testified today in front of a senate committee. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)

Our friends at Breitbart have been doing an outstanding job focusing attention on some of the grievous abuses of power we see coming from this administration. Here’s yet another example: Dr. James Dobson was a guest on the Hannity show Friday night to talk about the treatment his Christian, pro-family, group, Family Talk Action got from the IRS when they applied for a 501(c)(4), a process he said “went on and on and on” for 19 months. When his lawyer called the IRS to find out what the problem was, an IRS rep named Medley told him, “we don’t think...

The finances of Christians who tithe are generally healthier than the finances of those who do not, according to a new report that takes a close look at the financial, spiritual and giving practices of people who give 10 percent or more of their income away to churches and charities each year. Researchers compared tithers to non-tithers using nine financial health indicators, and found that tithers were better off in every category. Among tithers, for example, 80 percent have no unpaid credit card bills, 74 percent don't owe anything on their cars, 48 percent own their home and 28 percent...

New allegations claim the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) not only delayed the applications of new conservative groups, but also targeted a Christian group, Family Talk Action, and a well-established group, the Leadership Institute. In September 2011, well-known family advocate Dr. James Dobson's newest Christian ministry, Family Talk Action Corporation, filed a Form 1024 with the IRS requesting 501(c)(4) status. The attorney in charge had 26 years experience of filing these forms. "The Family Talk application was every bit as compliant as the ones he'd filled out in the past," said Alex McFarland, the group's Director of Apologetics. McFarland told The...

Former acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller had originally said that a couple of lower level employees went “rogue” and “off the reservation” by targeting conservative organizations for extra scrutiny. With that in mind, there’s this from FOX19 in Cincinnati: One of FOX19′s two sources went on say that these four IRS workers claim “they simply did what their bosses ordered.” FOX19 reported on Tuesday that the report by the Office of Inspector General states that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011. In fact, according to that report, Lois Lerner, who heads the...

The Inspector General released a report this week and found that 63% of scrutinized IRS applications were withdrawn or were still unresolved. Conservative, Tea Party, pro-Israel and Christian groups were targeted by the IRS. (GRAPHIC-AT-LINK) The Obama IRS refused to grant tax exempt status to Christian and pro-life groups on behalf of the abortion group Planned Parenthood. “In one case, the IRS withheld approval of an application for tax exempt status for Coalition for Life of Iowa. In a phone call to Coalition for Life of Iowa leaders on June 6, 2009, the IRS agent ‘Ms. Richards’ told the group...

UNITED NATIONS -- Somalia's U.N. Mission said Friday that pirates hijacked a yacht carrying four U.S. citizens in the Indian Ocean off the Somali coast.

Several well-known religious organizations say they were targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, including the ministry founded by famed evangelist Billy Graham and a 180-year-old Baptist newspaper, Fox News has learned.

It’s an Obama world… The IRS told a pro-life group that it had to promote abortion or they wouldn’t qualify for nonprofit status. World Net Daily reported: The Internal Revenue Service already has confessed to targeting and trying to injure tea party, Constitution and patriot organizations, by demanding answers to arbitrary questions and delaying their applications for a tax status so they could operate. Now WND has learned that the IRS also put an organization in its bull’s-eye that wanted to do nothing more than share its pro-life message with churches. Cherish Life Ministries was created to be a non-profit...

Barack Obama's administration has just released a statement stating that any American soldier who openly professes his Christianity can now be subject of a court-martial and may even face imprisonment and a dishonorable discharge. That apparently also applies to military chaplains in in the military. That statement was released to Fox News on the 6th of May: Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense... Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis. Clearly, all this either stands or falls or what exactly is meant by "proselytization." The Obama government realizes this. There has been...

Raymond Ibrahim’s fundamental new book Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (Amazon USA), (Amazon UK ), has been widely reported, covered and praised and does not require an introduction, but it prompts a reflection. The problem of Christian discrimination and persecution by Muslims is in fact two problems. Like unpunished crimes’ victims who suffer twice, for the crime and for the injustice of the criminal’s going scot-free, while the atrocities committed against Christians are unbearable enough on their own, the total indifference of the rest of the world adds to the pain. Floods, earthquakes, natural calamities and...

Has Tim Tebow been unofficially blackballed from the NFL? That's what Yahoo Sports writer Michael Silver is suggesting. After one season, the New York Jets released the third-string quarterback on April 29. And in the ensuing three weeks, no serious offers have been made. "No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either," writes Silver. And Silver blames "Tebowmania." Yes, Tim Tebow draws a media crowd – everywhere he goes. As a backup, backup quarterback, one could easily argue...

In Tanzania, as in many other African countries, Muslims discriminate against, persecute and attack Christians, with the complicity of the authorities. For years officials have been colluding with Muslims to stop churches from being built and to erect mosques, Christians have been arrested for "illegal preaching", churches have been destroyed and torched, Christian university students have been prohibited from worshipping, Christian leaders have been jailed, Muslims have seized Christian burial sites, and especially in the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, where Muslims represent 97 per cent of the inhabitants, Christians live in fear of being killed. A young man who...

Reader's Digest magazine has revealed its survey results for "The 100 Most Trusted People in America," which features actor Tom Hanks at the top of the list. Also included among those whom Americans find most trustworthy are the Rev. Billy Graham, former President Jimmy Carter and NFL player Tim Tebow. "To understand how our trust instinct shapes our culture, we compiled a list of over 200 American opinion shapers and headline makers from 15 highly influential professions. Then we polled a nationally representative sample of over 1,000 American adults, asking them to rank each person based on trustworthiness," explains the...

The evangelical "Pray for Reform: 92 Days of Prayer and Action to Pass Immigration Reform" campaign called on Congress in a press call on Wednesday to pass meaningful legislation in the next 92 days, throwing further support behind the current momentum in Congress to finally pass a immigration reform bill. The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, explained in the press call that the number 92 is significant for evangelicals because the Hebrew word for immigration is mentioned 92 times in the Old Testament. "This number represents the biblical call to welcome the stranger. I'm...

Nine days after Tebow was released by the New York Jets, it has become increasingly clear that the ultra-popular quarterback who has hijacked many a news cycle has no viable landing spot. No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either. Now, here's the interesting part: Tebowmania is at least partly to blame.

Dear Comrades, The Vanguard of the Socialist Democratic Party of the USSA, better known as Militant Atheists, are courageously fighting for the rights of workers and peasants in the American military to be liberated from the oppressive presence of religion in the Armed Services. Under direction from the White Fortress, officers are learning the Socialist principle of eliminating all public religious expression in keeping with the doctrines of Marxist-Obamism. Officers in the military know that their chances of advancement hinge on their ability to suppress religious expression, especially the worst kind: proselytizing and openly discussing religion as a believer. To...

According to an article published at Breitbart.com., entitled "Pentagon May Court Martial Soldiers Who Share Christian Faith, Christians in the military, including chaplains, could be court martialed and charged with treason for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't pretend to be an expert on constitutional law, but I would think that this would be unconstitutional for many reasons. Of course, I felt that way about Obama Care until Chief Justice John Roberts weighed in, much to my utter surprise and disappointment. (I may never get over that) But if I can be allowed to reason in my common...

Washington D.C., May 7, 2013 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- An Illinois-based Bible publisher has secured temporary relief from the federal contraception mandate after the Obama administration asked an appellate court to dismiss its challenge to a preliminary injunction. Matthew Bowman, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending the publisher, told CNA that the move indicates “that the government knows it is taking an extremist view against religious freedom, and it is afraid to defend that in court.” As a result of the court order, the Bible publisher will remain protected by a temporary injunction, and will therefore...

Washington D.C., May 8, 2013 / 12:08 am (CNA).- Uncertainty over what constitutes coercive “proselytism,” which is barred by military policy, has led to concern and criticism of recent statements by the U.S. Department of Defense. “Service members can share their faith (evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs (proselytization),” Defense Department spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen said May 2. Military commanders take action on complaints of religious harassment “based on the gravity of occurrence on a case by case basis,” he said in a statement. Christensen...

A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: “The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it’s increasing year by year.” In our lifetime alone “Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.” Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion: Iraq was...

Vice President Joe Biden has a commandment for pastors, rabbis and nuns: He wants them to tell their flocks that enacting gun control is the moral thing to do. But another vote may have to wait until Congress wraps up work on an immigration overhaul. Biden met for two-and-a-half hours Monday with more than a dozen leaders from various faith communities – Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh, to name a few. Both Biden and the faith leaders encouraged each other not to give up on what has been an arduous and thus far fruitless effort by Biden and President Barack...

The “Tebowmania” days in Denver are only 15 months old, but it seems like 15 years. And yet, when Americans are asked which pro athletes they believe carry the most influence with the public, Tebow’s name tops the list. A unique set of QB strengths and weaknesses and an affinity for wearing his Christian faith on his sleeve combine to make Tebow a compelling public figure, even as an NFL backup. Whether or not he’s able to remain deeply ingrained in the public consciousness without eventually getting more time on the field remains to be seen. But for now, Tebow,...

<p>On Wednesday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said President Barack Obama needed to clear up and "renounce" the "un-American" and "amoral" reports from the Pentagon that U.S. soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their Christian faith. She called on Obama to do so "today, right now."</p>

Following an uproar over a Defense Department statement saying that military personnel could be court-martialed for sharing their faith, the Pentagon has backed down on that position and now says soldiers are free to proselytize, as long as they don't harass others. “Service members can share their faith,” clarified Navy Lieutenant Commander Nate Christensen in a statement, “but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs.” The Defense Department had released an alarming statement saying: “Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense.... Court martials and non-judicial punishments...

A high-ranking Coast Guard official said at a National Day of Prayer event that religious liberty in the U.S. military is being threatened and that service members are being told to hide their faith in Christ, according to a taped remarks obtained by Fox News. “As one general so aptly put it – they expect us to check our religion in at the door – don’t bring that here,” Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. “Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers...

An Air Force spokesperson said personnel are not allowed to proselytize but are free to express their personal religious beliefs so long as it “does not make others uncomfortable.” But a critic pointed out an Air Force officer was told to remove a Bible that was on his desk. “When on duty or in an official capacity, Air Force members are free to express their personal religious beliefs as long as it does not make others uncomfortable,” Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley said in a statement to Fox News. “Proselytizing (inducing someone to convert to one’s faith) goes over that line.”...

PC Amok: A congressman asks why emails describe supporters of traditional marriage as members of hate groups while the Pentagon vets a religious tolerance guide with a group that compares Christian evangelism to "rape." When Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recently appeared before Congress, he was grilled by Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., about an email sent by an officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., to three dozen subordinates, warning them to be on the lookout for soldiers connected with "domestic hate groups." Among the groups listed in the 14-page email by Lt. Col. Frank Rich, the Second Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment Commander...

Religious liberty groups have grave concerns after they learned the Pentagon is vetting its guide on religious tolerance with a group that compared Christian evangelism to “rape” and advocated that military personnel who proselytize should be court martialed. Pentagon officials met to discuss a policy called “Air Force Culture, Air Force Standards,” published on Aug. 7, 2012. Section 2.11 requires “government neutrality regarding religion.”