Free Republic

A young Kurdish refugee from Kobane, the Syrian town attacked by ISIS (CNS) More than 100 Muslim leaders — clerics and laypeople alike — have signed an open letter criticising terrorist group ISIS.In the 17-page letter, the leaders quote extensively from the Quran to rebuke ISIS’s tactics and actions.Since the letter was issued last month more than 125 Muslim leaders around the world have signed the letter. Twenty of them come from the United States, where the Council on American-Islamic Relations circulated the letter.More signatories hailed from Egypt than anywhere else, although signers also came from Jerusalem and Palestine, as...

A ‘Christian’ wedding chapel—a private business—in Idaho is suing for the right not to marry gay couples. There is no such right. Yet.The first thing you need to know is that most “wedding chapels” are not actually chapels. They are private businesses, sometimes run by ordained ministers who are thus licensed to perform marriage ceremonies, but just as often run by Elvis impersonators. Thus, the question of how marriage-equality laws apply to private wedding chapels is ostensibly a question of under what circumstances the government can lawfully step on a for-profit company’s blue suede shoes. Ground zero for this debate...

ON OCTOBER 7, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Idaho's ban on same-sex marriage. On Oct. 15, county clerks in the state for the first time issued marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Then, five days later came startling news out of the Idaho resort town of Coeur d'Alene: Two Christian ministers, owners of the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, had reportedly been told by local officials that they were now required to perform same-sex weddings, or risk fines of up to $1,000 and as much as six months in jail if they refused. Under the city's...

Dr. James Dobson, one of America’s best-known Christian leaders, founder of Family Talk Radio, a courtroom opponent of Obamacare and, just recently, the National Day of Prayer speaker who called Barack Obama the “abortion president,” warns American is heading toward “depravity.” In his October 2014 newsletter, a copy of which is available online, he wrote about the Old Testament account of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, “who chose to take his family into the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” “The men living there had become desperately depraved, burning with lust for each other. Jehovah told Abraham that their sin was so...

In light of new comments from Hillsong’s head pastor, Brian Houston, I wanted to add some additional thoughts to the critical comments I made on Friday. On Saturday, the Christian Post reported the following statement from Brian Houston: I encourage people not to assume a media headline accurately represents what I said at a recent press conference. Nowhere in my answer did I diminish biblical truth or suggest that I or Hillsong Church supported gay marriage. I challenge people to read what I actually said, rather than what was reported that I said. My personal view on the subject of...

A regulatory change in California has placed abortion in the category of ‘basic health services’ all insurance plans must cover. Even those churches buy.

There is a point where decision on contentious, difficult issues is unavoidable. With respect to homosexual conduct, the American Evangelical church has reached that point. There is no ignoring the determination of the gay and lesbian activists to insist upon complete social and legal normalization of homosexual conduct; from the adoption of children by same-sex couples to the judicial recognition of same-sex unions as marriages every bit as complete as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples. Thus, Christians cannot avoid the need to decide which side they are on. The Supreme Court's decision earlier this month to allow current judicial rulings...

In the wake of the blockbuster investigation that broke an Islamic plot to take over UK public schools wide open, nothing has been done to take back those schools from Muslim goons. Nothing. Sir Michael Wilshaw, Ofsted’s chief inspector, said schools at the center of the Islamic”Trojan Horse” affair were failed to improve. The schools held hostage by Islamic supremacists at the centre of the takeover plot are still promoting an “unbalanced curriculum” and promoting Islamic supremacism and Islamic misogyny. Instead, dhimmi British authorities have targeted — Christian schools. They know Christians will not fight. They know Christians school present...

America's wonderful men and women in uniform (Marines) participating in worship, lifting their voices to Almighty God as they sing "Days of Elijah." Love the energy and camaraderie as they praise the God of Psalm 91.

Dear FReepers, These are posts made to the PMI group wall asking for urgent prayer. Thank you so much for praying for these people: Part 1 > Prayer Request from Dan and Marilyn Wilson, Missionaries who are in the areas that are being attacked by ISIS are asking to be showered in prayer. ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But...

Prominent leaders of major Jewish and Christian global organizations announced a "historic" joint initiative on Monday, calling on world leaders to take urgent, determined actions to halt the brutal persecution of Christians in the Middle East in a Jerusalem press conference. Video The joint initiative was unveiled at the Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) celebration sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, with some 4,500 Christians from 80 nations in attendance. The alarming situation for Christian minorities across the Middle East continues to worsen even while world leaders have largely ignored this on-going human rights tragedy, laments a letter recently sent...

The deplorable state of religious freedom in the Islamic world came to the fore in May when news of the arrest, imprisonment, and death sentencing of a pregnant Christian wife and mother on the accusation that she had left Islam for Christianity reached the world. On May 15, Meriam Ibrahim of Sudan was sentenced to flogging followed by hanging for apostasy after she repeatedly refused to convert to Islam.

The Christian community has rallied around Carrie Underwood in support of her new single, “Something in the Water,” which has earned her criticism from far left atheists. However, she is about to be in hot water with her Christian fan base, as recently surfaced interview transcript has revealed that the songstress supports gay marriage. After wedding NHL player Mike Fisher in July of 2010, Underwood stated, “As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry. I can’t imagine how that must feel. I definitely think...

Fr. Hanna Jallouf, O.F.M., who was abducted Oct. 5 along with some 20 villagers from Qunaya, Syria. Photo courtesy of Custodia Terrae Sanctae. Aleppo, Syria, Oct 7, 2014 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Militants linked to al-Nusra Front kidnapped a Catholic parish priest and as many as 20 people from a Christian village in Syria on Sunday night. The priest has been identified as 62-year-old Father Hanna Jallouf, O.F.M. “Let us pray for him and for the other victims of this tragic and senseless war,” the Custody of the Holy Land said on its website. The Custody of the Holy...

Divisions among Christians “hurt the Church and they wound Christ,” Pope Francis said to tens of thousands of visitors gathered in Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday morning. During her journey through history, “the Church is tempted by the devil who tries to divide it,” the Pope said, and unfortunately, “she has been marred by serious and painful divisions.”

Educators at Ward Melville High School are either woefully ignorant of the U.S. Constitution or they really don’t like Christian teenagers.For the second year in a row, the Long Island, New York high school has denied students the right to form a Christian club.“I feel like they have something against me and my faith,” 17-year-old John Raney told me. “I feel marginalized.”John is the founder of Students United in Faith, a service-oriented Christian club. Nearly 20 young people wanted to join the club – but the school said no.“I wanted to start the club because I thought it would provide...

“Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” ~ St. Paul to the ThessaloniansA former student of mine is thinking of becoming a Catholic, and she had a question for me. “I don’t understand the deuterocanonical books,” she ventured. “If the Catholic faith is supposed to be a fulfillment of the Jewish faith, why do Catholics accept those books and the Jews don’t?” She’d done her homework, and was troubled that the seven books and other writings of the deuterocanon had been preserved only...

Poor and middle-income Americans are reaching deeper into their pockets when donating to charity, while the nation’s wealthiest are giving less, according to a report by Chronicle of Philanthropy that analyzed taxpayers’ IRS data. On average, Americans give about 3 percent of their income to charity each year, according to the report released Monday. But the giving gap between the rich and poor is significant, especially in view of the widening income gap. The report shows those who earned $200,000 or more donated 4.6 percent less of their income between 2006 and 2012; those who earned less than $100,000 gave...

PORTLAND – The Christian owners of a bakery in Oregon state that they will be forced into bankruptcy if the government stands by its imposition of a fine in excess of $150,000 after the couple declined to make a “wedding” cake for a lesbian because they viewed it as a form of personal participation in the event. As previously reported, Aaron and Melissa Klein operate Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, which is now operated from the couple’s home after the Kleins’ shut their doors due to harassment. In January 2013, Aaron was approached by a mother and her daughter...

Christians in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley have begun arming themselves in preparation for an Isis (now known as the Islamic State) offensive as it seeks to expand its territorial control outside of Syria. Up to 3,000 militants from the Islamic State and other jihadists occupy the mountain range between Lebanon and Syria near the Sunni town of Arsal. As IS seek to grab land outside of the mountain caves and farms they currently control, Christian volunteers have now created village defence forces to protect against the Sunni militants who have taken up to 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage. "We are...