Free Republic

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage, which effectively codifies Bible believers as bigots, the attack on conservative Christian values has reached fever pitch. This is not the slightest surprise, as I and many others have been warning for some time now, but the ferocity and ugliness of it is still shocking, and it is something we must be prepared for. The other day I posted on Twitter, “Much has changed since the SCOTUS decision, but more has not changed. Jesus is still Lord, the world is still fallen, Satan is still raging.” An “equality” advocate responded...

As I scan the societal landscape I see that acceptance of homosexual identity and behavior, and same-sex marriage has grown. I now find my biblical point of view is the minority perspective. If a well-known Christian says that homosexual lust and sexual activity is a sin, even if that person urges kindness and respect for all, words like "hater" and "bigot" are tossed around rather freely. And then, in the midst of all this, Jesus calls me to love my neighbor, which includes those who identify as homosexuals. I can offhandedly note to myself and others that God's accepting, forgiving...

On July 2, Brad Avakian, commissioner of Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to pay $135,000 in damages for “emotional, mental and physical suffering” to a lesbian couple after the Kleins — owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa — declined to bake a cake celebrating their same-sex wedding. Avakian also ordered the Kleins to “cease and desist” from “publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published . . . any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations . . . will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or...

DENVER, July 7 (UPI) -- A Colorado appeals court is scheduled Tuesday to hear the case of Jack Phillips, a baker who refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding. Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is appealing an order he received to cease his anti-gay policy or face fines instead. The dispute began in 2012, when gay newlyweds Charlie Craig and David Mullins visited the bakery in Denver after being married in Massachussetts.

Sigh ... this is a thing now, people. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was part of a recent public Q&A session at The Rock Church with pastor Miles McPherson, a man who spent four seasons as a defensive back for the Chargers. The topic of Wilson's personal life came up — specifically, his girlfriend Ciara, who happens to be a critically acclaimed recording artist. Wilson, a man of strong faith, told McPherson a story about telling a friend that Ciara was the girl he wanted to be with before he ever met her. The discussion about his personal life continued with...

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan anti-gay protesters marched in Nairobi Monday warning US President Barack Obama not to speak about gay rights when he visits the country of his ancestors later this month. "We do not want Obama and Obama, we do not want Michelle and Michelle," they chanted. "We want Obama and Michelle and we want a child!" "It is important for us as Kenyans to know that the US is not God, and thus we cannot follow them blindly," said protest organiser and evangelical Christian pastor Bishop Mark Kariuki. Kariuki said Obama was welcome to visit "his father's home"...

While American evangelists such as Franklin Graham and Rick Warren are not afraid of speaking on sensitive topics such as same-sex marriage, abortion, or political strife, Joel Osteen prefers not to discuss those while at the pulpit, saying those topics often "turn people off." During a recent interview with WBUR's "Here & Now" radio program, Osteen said everybody has his or her own calling, but tackling politically controversial issues is not something that he has been called out to do. "I have friends who are very political. They're pastors and that's what their thing is. But I think sometimes, in...

NBC has canceled A.D. The Bible Continues after just one season, Deadline reports. The miniseries, created by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, was a follow-up to their record-breaking miniseries The Bible, and chronicled the early days of modern Christianity. A.D., which premiered on Easter, was positioned as an event series at NBC, but Downey, Burnett and the network had indicated that subsequent seasons were part of the plan. It's possible that the show will continue on another platform

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized marriage equality in America, some conservative Christians have been downright apoplectic. In a ridiculously offensive analogy, right wing anti-equality zealot Bryan Fischer tweeted: From a moral standpoint, 6/26 is now our 9/11.— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) June 26, 2015 Channeling a similar anger, though in a more commonly heard form, Fox News commentator Todd Starnes tweeted: If you thought the cultural purge over the Confederate flag was breathtaking -- wait until you see what LGBT activists do with Christians.— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 26, 2015 Meanwhile, Rod Dreher of the American...

"If your theology is not your biography, then your theology is worthless.” That’s a lesson David and Jason Benham learned from their dad growing up. In this special (video) message, the brothers describe what it took to live out this principle under intense media pressure brought on by their faith.

Back in the early 1990s when the kind old 17th Duke of Norfolk was special guest at prize-giving night at our school he remarked that in Islam one was allowed up to four wives. ‘What a nightmare,’ he quipped, ‘imagine having four mothers-in-law’ (or something to that effect). I think back at the joke as indicative of a more innocent age; if he had said that now, some little Pavlik Morozov in the assembly would have tweeted his outrage and by the time the Duke left the building he would have been trending on Twitter, forced to step down as...

Fighting between the government of Bashar al-Assad and various opposition forces continues to intensify in Daraa province, in southern Syria. For religious minorities, the rising conflict means living in fear of persecution. By either side. “In my village, Namir, there is no difference between Christians and Muslims,” Nour, 28, who studied English literature and fled with her parents during a regime assault, told Syria Deeply. “We all had to leave.” Since the emergence of hard-line armed groups such as the Islamic State and the Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), several minority groups – among them Christians, Alawites, Shiites, Druze and others...

The last we had heard from Aaron and Melissa Klein, the former owners of Sweet Cakes in Oregon that lost their bakery business after refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, the site GoFundMe had shut down their crowdfunding operation. That was in April, but the drama was not over for the Kleins, who faced a stiff fine for their allegedly discriminatory conduct. Aaron and Melissa defended themselves in media interviews in an attempt to prevent the state of Oregon from further penalizing them, but Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian went even further than anyone might...

Aaron and Melissa Klein ordered not to talk publicly about their faith. I don’t know if you’ve followed the case of Sweet Cakes by Melissa. This is the now-closed bakery in Oregon that has become a target of state officials because its Christian owners declined to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding. Not only has the business been forced to close, the state has fined the Kleins $135,000. But it gets worse. Much worse. Now that state has responded to a radio interview the Kleins gave by ordering them to no longer talk publicly about why their faith compels...

Once again, this time by the New York Times, it has been proven that the only group that it is politically correct to bash or offend is Christians. They turn the other cheek and forgive those who trespass, rather than behead and bomb, or storm newspaper offices to murder and maim. That much was admitted by New York Times editor for standards Phil Corbett in defending the newspaper’s decision to publish Monday a picture of Pope Benedict XVI fashioned out of condoms, after being among those that refused to publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Mohammed that prompted a...

Donnie McClurkin, the pastor and gospel music singer who said God delivered him from "the curse" of homosexuality, is now under fire from critics after speaking out against last Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide. McClurkin, 55, received some harsh criticism after he shared his interpretation of the Bible's position on homosexuality on Facebook last Friday. We've just received the answer from man's Supreme Court ... we already received the answer from GOD," the pastor of Perfecting Faith Church in New York wrote. "With NO REGARD to what the Supreme Court of MAN decrees ......

Two street preachers were brutally beaten—punched and kicked—by a crowd at a gay pride festival in Seattle and the entire melee was captured on video. The preachers were holding signs reading "Repent or Else" and "Jesus Saves From Sin." The video shows a group of people initially screaming and threatening the men during Pridefest at the Seattle Space Needle. Television station KOMO reported that some of the attackers belonged to a group called NOH8.

God is not silent, but His pulpits are! An article addressing gay marriage and transgender issues came across my newsfeed. It stood out because the reporter quoted a response from, "a megachurch pastor, who asked not to be named."1 The pastor of this megachurch did a fantastic job of clearly stating what the Bible had to say concerning marriage and gender. However he apparently felt it necessary to do so behind the cloak of anonymity. Why? Is this where we are in the church in America? Are we so afraid of the controversy and backlash of the political correctness police...

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance: the five stages of grief.  As a Christian, I’ve gone through these over the last few years, and now I’ve arrived at acceptance. I denied that God could remove His hand from our blessed country, America; that divorce among Christians was just as prevalent as the non-religious.  I denied that our youth were ever more questioning Christian teaching and doctrine, and were leaving the faith of their parents in droves.  I denied that the country was becoming more and more deaf to our 24/7 obsession with preaching the Gospel.  I denied that the church was...

For evangelicals who lament last Friday’s Supreme Court decision, it’s been a hard few days. We aren’t asking for emotional pity, nor do I suspect many people are eager to give us any. Our pain is not sacred. Making legal and theological decisions based on what makes people feel better is part of what got us into this mess in the first place. Nevertheless, it still hurts. There are many reasons for our lamentation, from fear that religious liberties will be taken away to worries about social ostracism and cultural marginalization. But of all the things that grieve us, perhaps...