Free Republic

ANALYSIS/OPINION: Resistance and opposition to same-sex marriage has been crumbling among Americans — save for one specific segment of society that’s proving the last wall to even wider acceptance: Evangelicals. This is not entirely unexpected. But it is uncomfortable. It puts those of most serious faith in a heated spotlight that can be used by the left to showcase the evangelical Christian crowd as discriminatory, as hate-filled, as antithetical to the core values of America. Standing strong on this point is not only going to prove lonely. It’s also going to prove a real test of faith — and conversely,...

Mark Zuckerberg recently stated his desire to have Facebook act as a community for it’s users, replacing “churches” and “community support groups.” Speaking at Facebook’s first Communities Summit in Chicago last week, Mark Zuckerberg discussed a number of topics, including Facebook’s new mission statement which was changed from “connecting the world” to a new goal, to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” ... CNBC reports that later at the rally, the Facebook CEO discussed the use of Facebook as a community tool to bring it’s users closer together, “It’s so striking that for...

In Aleppo, up to two-thirds of the Christian population has left the city, about half has left the rest of the country. Jobs must be provided for those who remain, education to their children, and "spiritual support" so that they can continue the mission of "bearing witnesses to Christ" in a Muslim-majority country. Next week, the cardinal will meet with the pope.Rome (AsiaNews) - In recent weeks, "violence seems to have dropped" in Damascus and other areas of Syria, but not in “Raqqa and other parts of that province" where "heavy fighting" continues. Another critical area is "in the south,...

During its takeover of the city, ISIS took Christians hostage and later executed them. The organization reported on the execution of these "belligerent Christians" in Issue 10 of its English-language magazine Rumiyah, released June 7. On June 12 it also published a video allegedly showing the execution of Christians from Marawi.[2] Another ISIS video showed its fighters destroying a Catholic church in the city. ISIS fighters are shown destroying icons, statues and crucifixes and tearing up pictures of the Pope before setting fire to the church. To see a MEMRI TV Clip of excerpts from the video, click on the...

In recent days we've seen a massive upsurge in leftwing violence. The most devastating was the attempted assassination of Republican congressmen at baseball practice. Even before the election, liberal activists have been attacking supporters of Donald Trump -- leaving behind a trail of bloodied and beaten men and women. Their only crime -- loving America. And the hate and vitriol has only gotten worse since President Trump was sworn into office. But beyond the violence, we are seeing conservatives silenced on public school campuses. Christians are being thrown out of the public marketplace. And any speech the Left opposes is...

IT started as a face-saving exercise by Hillary Clinton to try to explain away her election loss to a vulgarian real estate billionaire from Queens. But the absurd Russia conspiracy has somehow snowballed into a crisis that threatens to bring down Donald Trump, has all but paralysed his administration, and unleashed the most unhinged attacks on a US president in living memory. Inevitably, last week the violent language and “Assassinate Trump” memes erupted in a burst of deadly gunfire at an early morning baseball practice for Republican congressmen near Washington, DC. The gunman was 66-year-old James Hodgkinson, a left-wing Bernie...

Christian soccer player Jaelene Hinkle has withdrawn herself from the U.S. soccer team after it was announced that the squad would be wearing rainbow colored 'gay pride' jerseys in their upcoming game. She cited "personal reasons" for her refusal to play, according to The Christian Post. The star proudly declares Colossians 3:23 on her Twitter which says: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." "If you live for people's acceptance, you'll die from their rejection," the tagline also notes on her profile.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 15, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) -- For Gay Pride month, McDonald’s franchises in San Francisco and in the nation’s capital are issuing “Pride Fries” in rainbow-colored containers. “The rainbow fry boxes are a fun way to show our support of the LGBTQ community, using one of McDonald’s most iconic and recognizable items,” Cathy Martin of the restaurant corporation’s “Pride Network” stated in a press release. She added that McDonald’s is “proud to honor and celebrate the LGBTQ community, including our employees, customers and beyond – each and every day.” McDonald's is acknowledged as a corporate leader in homosexual affirming...

Because it includes Lance Berkman, who believes Christian things. I've told you this all along. Gay activism isn't really about homosexuals and their "rights." It never has been. They're just useful props. It is, and always has been, about marginalizing biblical Christianity. And it's working beautifully. Here's the gameplan: 1. Establish homosexuals as an oppressed minority grievance group. Check. 2. Establish the idea of "pride" for being gay. Check. 3. Pressure major corporations and other societal institutions to join in the celebration of "pride" on threat of boycotts, demonstrations and negative press if they don't. Check. 4. Get in the...

The religious left feels left out. According to an article in The New York Times, liberal clergy feel excluded from the political arena and blame the religious right for occupying what they once believed was their exclusive territory. They are, according to the story’s headline, “seeking to break right’s grip on nation’s moral agenda.” I wasn’t aware the nation had a moral agenda. An immoral one, perhaps. The religious left’s agenda is little different from that of secular progressives — from gay rights, to sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, bigger government and tax increases, abortion. Some on the religious left...

The point of origin of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ. This page reviews the transmission of the Christian faith from Jesus Christ and the Apostles through the Traditions of the early Christian Church and the formation of the Canon of the New Testament of the Bible. God has revealed himself to man through Divine Revelation, by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. God chose to reveal himself to us so that we may become partakers of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). God first made himself known by creating our first parents,...

Leaders of the Syriac Military Council, a Christian force that is part of the US- backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighting ISIS (Photo: Courtesy)The battle for Raqqa, the Syrian city serving as the “capital” of ISIS’ caliphate, has begun. You’d never know it from the media coverage, but a Christian force is taking part and is asking for U.S. support and prayers.The Syriac Military Council (SMC) and its female wing, the Bethnahrin Women Protection Forces (HSNB), have issued a press release announcing their participation in the offensive on Raqqa. The SMC is a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed,...

Bernie Sanders Don’t Think Christians Should Be In Public Office

What does a man’s theology have to do with the U.S. economy? A lot, if you’re Russell Vought. The respected economist, President Trump’s pick for deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget, thought he’d have to answer some tough questions at his Senate hearing last week. But like most of us, he thought they’d be about finances — not faith. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) flipped that script, launching into an aggressive and bizarre attack on Vought’s Christianity (which Sanders called “hateful,” “indefensible,” and “insult[ing]”). Shouting until he was red in the face (see the video below), he accused...

People love Chick-fil-A, the poultry-centric fast-food chain whose corporate purpose is to “glorify God,” and whose strict Sunday closure means that every employee gets at least one day of rest. People love the carnival-like waffle fries, the neonatal ward-like hospitality, the cleanliness on par with a Silicon Valley chip manufacturer, the fresh-squeezed lemonade spiked with soft-serve ice cream, the aromatic peach shakes, the admirably bare-bones fried-chicken sandwich, the viral fan song set to the tune of the Beatles’s “Yesterday,” and the famous Polynesian sauce, an agrodolce condiment that looks like what would happen if a stop sign were melted down...

ATLANTA — Hours before a 17-year-old Alabama girl was killed in a bus crash, she wrote a final journal entry about her mission trip to Africa: "God has called me here and he's done so for a reason."Sarah Harmening of Huntsville jotted her thoughts about the trip to Botswana in a spiral-bound notebook, starting with her feelings of sadness and apprehension. She wrote that she turned to the Bible for comfort and by the end of the journal entry, it was clear she found trust in the Lord."We get to participate in his divine nature! How awesome is that?"...

A “public charity” that purports to be “neutral” and provide online “nonprofit information to a broad audience at no cost to those users” has begun slamming Christian and other conservative organizations based on the recommendation of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which itself has been linked to domestic terror and once put Ben Carson on its list of “haters.”

CHINESE police destroyed a church after dragging worshippers out of the building and beating them in the street. Violence broke out in Shanggiu in Henan province after 300 police officers and officials demolished the Shuangmiao Christian Church—which was under construction. Officers dragged out around 40 Christians with one worshipper comparing the brutal scenes to the Japanese invasion of China during the Second World War, according to charity China Aid. Eight Christians remain in custody following the incident amid a crackdown on churches by the communist regime.

Christians are fighting among Kurdish-led forces to free the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have begun an offensive to capture the northern city. Johannes de Jong works closely with Syriac-Assyrian Christians involved in the campaign. He gave Premier News Hour a description of the resistance Christian fighters face from ISIS. He said:"The very clear picture they're giving me is that there's a wall around Raqqa, they put it full of mines. "You have to imagine a situation where they have to fight for every street and every house. "It will be bad. There are still...

The number of Christians in Iraq has decreased from 1.5 million 15 years ago to a couple of hundred thousand today. As the battle of Mosul comes to an end and Islamic State (ISIS) about to be defeated in Iraq, rapid action from the international community needs to be taken to safeguard the existence of Christians in the country. This is their last stand. The battle of Mosul, Iraq’s second city, is in its final stages. Predictions are that the city might be fully liberated before the end of Ramadan. While, due to a decade of persecution of “infidels” in...