Free Republic

IFI Media Watch Perhaps you missed it, after all, there was that story about Tiger being in the proverbial woods regarding a late night Thanksgiving crash. The story about this world famous golfer and his possible extramarital affairs have filled the airwaves to the point of absurdity. And then, of course, there were the reality show wannabes who participated in a crash of their own, except their incident didn't involve a car. The couple sashayed in to a state dinner at the White House without an invitation. This story has also received a ridiculous amount of coverage by the mainstream...

Several months ago a report from the UK was published stating that Muslims were calling for war from within their Sharia Courts. Apparently that is OK, but Christians making a truthful statement about Mohammad is not. This is just another example of Muslims trying to scare us silent on Islam. Christian couple in court over comments about Islam by Jenna Lyle December 8, 2009 Christian hotel owners Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang go on trial today for comments they made about Islam.

Denver, Colo., Dec 7, 2009 / 03:11 am (CNA).- In an exclusive interview with Catholic News Agency, Archbishop of Denver Charles J. Chaput has explained his reasons for signing the Manhattan Declaration. He said the Declaration should “galvanize” Christians and others in defense of pro-life issues, the nature of marriage and religious freedom. “I was glad to be invited to sign the declaration, and glad to sign because I believe in its content,” Archbishop Chaput told CNA.  He described it as a “straightforward” statement defending the sanctity of life, religious liberty and the definition of marriage as a union of husband...

Luke 1:26-32 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not,...

They came wanting to say their Islamic prayers, and ended up praying to Jesus for salvation!

Thornton, CO—In what was usually a scene of tranquility, has become a hot bed of controversy for a local department store. The once, peaceful Super Target at 1001 E. 120th Avenue in Thornton, Colorado, where shoppers bravely navigated the snow covered ground, has been turned into a store where Christian hating and bashing has become the order of the day. The retail outlet, which has been increasingly antagonistic towards Christians in general, ramped up their hostility this week when the less than benevolent 52-year old manager, Jack Cass, declared on Friday “that he would fire the next Christian that said...

A Vermont court ordered a Christian child taken away from her mother and given to a lesbian ex-partner, setting up, according to a lawyer for the Christian family, a dispute that the U.S. Supreme Court likely will have to resolve. Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, told WND the recent order from the Vermont judge that Lisa Miller turn over her young daughter, Isabella, to the lesbian ex-partner, Janet Jenkins, on New Year's Day is being appealed. In the interim, a separate court hearing on the dispute is scheduled to be heard in a Virginia court during this coming week....

NOTE the post's date and then realize that the persecution continues as I type; however, Muslims respond by stating all this is bogus. Some have to read Muslim prayers in order to survive. Others have to proclaim aloud that they have converted from Christianity to Islam in order not to be slain. Still others have to read from the Koran and say they agree with what they read.

Sisters Parvisha, 18, and Sanam, 14, were kidnapped by Islamic neighbor Muhammad Irfan. He enticed them into cosmetology training. They ended up his prize.

Senior Turkish military officers had made extensive plans to terrorize non-Muslims in Turkey. In the large Ergenekon[1] scandal recently a well-planned terrorist operation was revealed. The operation which is called "Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Planı", in English meaning "the execution of the cage - operation" was to eliminate the remaining small group of Christians living in Turkey today. The plan was revealed when police arrested Levent Bektas, a major in the Turkish army. The evidence seized reveals more than 27 officers and senior military officers involved in the conspiracy against Christians. In order to identify key persons among the Christians and...

Bartholomew I / Pope Benedict Vatican City, Nov 30, 2009 / 09:55 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI reached out to Bartholomew I and the Eastern Church Monday in his annual letter to the Patriarch celebrating the Feast of St. Andrew. The message encouraged continued ecumenical talks towards unification of the churches of the East and West and "openness to the Holy Spirit" to guide them in the process.   The letter was delivered to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Istanbul, Bartholomew I, by way of a Papal delegation led by the President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity Cardinal Walter...

JOIN CHRISTIANS THIS CHRISTMAS IN LETTING EVERYONE KNOW THAT WE ARE A CHRISTIAN NATION BASED ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES PUT CROSSES ON YOUR LAWN, IN YOUR WINDOWS IN YOUR EMAILS, WEAR THEM... OUR FOUNDERS WERE DEEPLY RELIGIOUS, DEEPLY CHRISTIAN LETS LET THE WORLD KNOW WHO WE ARE!

NEW HAVEN — Reinhold Niebuhr, the famed Protestant theologian, will be credited with writing the Serenity Prayer in the next edition of the Yale Book of Quotations. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference,” is the prayer that is ubiquitous with Alcoholics Anonymous, which uses it as part of its 12-step recovery program. Fred Shapiro, an associate librarian and lecturer at Yale Law School and editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, last year questioned the authorship of the prayer, based on...

Photos included. # SNIPPET: "Cairo (AINA) -- In an effort to cover up the Muslim mob violence against the Copts which broke out last week in the town of Farshoot and neighboring villages (AINA 11-22-2009, 11-23-2009), and in view of the complete news blackout imposed by the Egyptian government, Egyptian State Security has intensified its pressure on the Coptic Church in Nag Hammadi and the victims of the violence into accepting extrajudicial reconciliation with the perpetrators, and opening their businesses without any compensation. Similar State Security scenarios have been experienced by Copts in all sectarian incidents in the past, in...

NEW YORK — Members of one of America's oldest Protestant churches officially apologized Friday — for the first time — for massacring and displacing Native Americans 400 years ago. "We consumed your resources, dehumanized your people and disregarded your culture, along with your dreams, hopes and great love for this land," the Rev. Robert Chase told descendants from both sides. "With pain, we the Collegiate Church, remember our part in these events." The minister spoke on Native American Heritage Day at a reconciliation ceremony of the Lenape tribe with the Collegiate Church, started in 1628 in then-New Amsterdam as the...

EDITORIAL Christian Leaders' Stance On Civil Disobedience Is Dangerous Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox leaders are going too far when they declare they will break laws on abortion and same-sex marriage. November 28, 2009 Philosophers have argued for centuries over whether it is ever justifiable to break the law in the service of a higher cause. The question acquired a new complexity with the advent of societies such as the United States, in which laws were enacted by elected representatives and not decreed by a monarch or dictator. Few today would criticize civil rights activists, including the Rev. Martin Luther King...

Top Stories for Thursday, December 3rd, 2009:     Photo by Gene Slaske St. Joseph’s Church, Mason City, Iowa Orthodox “Manhattan Declaration” Catches Fire By DEXTER DUGGANHere’s a break with the past that Barack Obama should have made, but instead as president he chose to continue the culture war that radical leftists ignited beginning in the 1960s.For all his reputation as an appeaser of foreign terrorists and dictatorial socialists, the battle strategy of Obama against U. S. social stability keeps orthodox believers wide awake and on guard.Believers know they’re in a deadly fight, not only for moral values as Obama...

The Court's conduct throughout the trial clearly indicated the government had decided upon the verdict and prepared it in advance. There were only two 20 minutes breaks for recess, and only four family members of the convicted prisoners were allowed to be present during the trial. Government prosecutors showed over 1000 pages of so-called "evidence materials" related to this case, but the defense lawyers were only allowed to review about 50 pages before the trial to prepare their defense. The six Christian rights defense lawyers, including reknowned Attorneys Li Fangping (Simon) and Zhang Kai (Kevin), presented a very clear and...

Iran has effectively admitted that what it calls Islam is a fraud and a self-serving lie whose sole purpose is to enable its rulers, and that Christianity is the superior belief framework. We reported previously that Iran imprisoned, tortured, and threatened to execute two women who converted to Christianity. Iran also hanged Hossein Soodmand for becoming a Christian. This proves that what Iran calls Islam is a lie and a fraud while Christianity, if not a scientifically proven truth, is still the superior belief system. The reason is obvious: mullahs and ayatollahs who spent decades studying the Koran were unable...

At long last, Christian leaders have faced up to their persecutors in the secularist, socialist, One-World, PC, UN-promoted axis of evil and said: No more. In the popular metaphor, they have drawn a line in the sand. For harassed, demoralised faithful in the pews it will come as the long-awaited call to resistance and an earnest that their leaders are no longer willing to lie down supinely to be run over by the anti-Christian juggernaut. This statement of principle and intent is called The Manhattan Declaration, published last Friday in Washington DC. It is difficult to believe that so firm...

What would they do to JESUS?Militant "Muslims" seek to appeal to Christians by invoking the ancient blood libel of Jews as Christ-killers. It is not Jews, however, but militant "Muslims" who persecute and even kill Christians in the 21st century, and it is pretty easy to imagine what they would do to Jesus. ...Two young Iranian women, Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, suffered physical abuse and torture in Iran's notorious Evin Prison because they converted to Christianity. Iran had in fact threatened to put them to death, much as the depraved Roman Emperor Nero fed Christians to lions to...

“Why aren’t priests in this country doing more to help Arab Christian Palestinians?” As we sat down for dinner at the 2009 awards banquet sponsored by the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, the question caught me by surprise. I had been invited by chance, but in all honesty I knew very little about the organization. Thanks to that question, however, I now know much more about why all Christians should be deeply concerned about today’s Christian Palestinians. There should always be a solidarity among Christians, regardless of where we live. As such, when one of us suffers, we all suffer....

Sarah Palin met with Franklin and Billy Graham yesterday for a 2 1/2 hour visit at his North Carolina home, Franklin talked to the Charlotte Observer and said, his dad said God using Palin to "wake up America"

Homosexual behavior has been successfully marketed as a "rights" issue. For instance, if you dare to oppose homosexual marriage, even though the vast majority of Americans do and have demonstrated in referendum after referendum, those in the public eye run the risk of vilification and ostracism for articulating such positions. On Friday, more than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration reaffirming their opposition to homosexual marriage on the basis of protecting religious freedom. While I agree that government's granting of special "rights" based on aberrant sexual behavior is a religious...

The Manhattan Declaration is a 4,732-word statement signed by a movement of Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical Christian leaders who are collaborating around moral issues of great concern. Its 125+ signers affirm the sanctity of human life, marriage as defined by the union of one man and one woman, and religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The Manhattan Declaration endorses civil disobedience under certain circumstances. The Manhattan Declaration will be publicly released at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009.

Conservative Christian leaders unveiled a declaration Friday calling on Christians not to comply with rules and laws forcing them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideals that go against their religious doctrines. The declaration urges Christians to practice civil disobedience to defend their convictions, even though some signers of the document backed away from the strong language. The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl, was among the first signers of the Manhattan Declaration. He appeared at a news conference in the District on Friday to announce it, even as the Church was considering a city-proposed compromise on its...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Unprecedented coalition of religious leaders call Americans to stand for sanctity of life, marriage, and religious freedom Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2009 / 06:21 am (CNA).- An unprecedented coalition of prominent Christian clergy, ministry leaders, and scholars has crafted a 4,700-word declaration addressing the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty. The declaration issues “a clarion call” to Christians to adhere to their convictions and informs civil authorities that the signers will not “under any circumstance” abandon their Christian consciences. The statement,  called “the Manhattan Declaration,” has been signed by more than 125 Catholic, Evangelical Christian, and Orthodox...

An Illinois woman is charged with a hate crime for berating a Muslim woman about the Fort Hood shooting and then pulling at her headscarf. The charge could lead to three years in prison: justice or prosecutorial overkill? In the days after the Ft. Hood shooting, mosques around the country bolstered their security in anticipation of a backlash from Americans angry about a Muslim man alleged to have killed American soldiers on their own turf. Since then, only one alleged hate crime against Muslims has been directly tied to the Fort Hood rampage. Two days after the rampage by an...

More than 150 leaders across a spectrum of conservative Christianity on Friday released a 4,700-word document vowing civil disobedience if they are forced to take part in "anti-life acts" or bless gay marriages. Called the "Manhattan Declaration," the six-page, single-spaced document was drafted by Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson, an evangelical, and Princeton University professor Robert P. George, a Roman Catholic, and included a bevy of Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox bishops, archbishops and cardinals as signatories along with dozens of clergy and laity. Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl is one of the signatories. "Throughout the centuries, Christianity has taught...

The New York Times: “I don’t exclude that the murder is connected to the fact that he preached among and baptized those who belong to Muslim culture.”

Evangelist Offends Islam bythelastcrusade.org Pat Robertson, Chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network and former GOP presidential candidate, has raised the ire of Islamists and the wrath of CAIR (Council for American Islamic Relations).In a broadcast of the 700 Club Monday night, the Virginia Beach pastor said that the massacre at Fort Hood was caused by a politically-correct refusal to recognize the violent nature of the Muslim religion."Islam is a violent--I was going to say religion--but it's not a religion. It's a political system. It's a violent political system bent on the overthrow of governments of the world and world...

Citing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to civil disobedience, 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders have signed a declaration saying they will not cooperate with laws that they say could be used to compel their institutions to participate in abortions, or to bless or in any way recognize same-sex couples. “We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence,” it says. The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an...

Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, two Christian converts from Islam, were released from Evin Prison in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran (MNN) ― It is with great joy that Open Doors confirms the release of Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, today. For around nine months, the two Iranian Christian women have been held in the notorious...

President Opts To Ignore Persecution Christians Face Death thelastcrusade.org 15-year-old Egyptian girl Dina el-Gowhary, who converted from Islam to Christianity, has sent a plea to President Obama, complaining of mistreatment by the Egyptian Government and asking for his mediation. “Mr. President Obama,” she writes, “we are a minority in Egypt. We are treated very badly. You said that the Muslim minority in America are treated very well, so why are we not treated here likewise? We are imprisoned in our own home because Muslim clerics called for the murder of my father, and now the Government has set for...

Monday, November 16, 2009 Islamic Extremists Kill Somali Church Leader Thirteenth Christian Assassinated This Year By Jeremy Reynalds Correspondent for ASSIST News Service WASHINGTON, D.C. (ANS) -- A human rights group has learned that members of al-Shabab (a Somali Islamic extremist group) have killed yet another leader of an underground church in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu. Washington-based International Christian Concern (ICC), reported that on Oct. 10, Pastor Ali Hussein Weheliye was returning home from a worship service when two masked members of al-Shabab ambushed and shot him. He was later taken to Darful Shifa Hospital where he died of...

Inevitably, some extraordinary security measures were taken in Kosovo's capital in connection with William Jefferson Clinton's recent visit. The former president of the United States undertook a long journey to the middle of the Balkans in order to take a look at his own figure standing twelve feet above the rest of humanity. There could be little doubt that those extraordinary measures added additional tension in the life of the current and former residents of the area. Let's clear up a possible confusion: many of the current Albanian residents of Pristina live in the houses of the former Serbian owners...

On October 15, the State Security Court of Jordan imposed jail sentences of 15 to 20 years on 12 alleged Jordanian members of al-Qaeda accused of attacks against a church in the Kingdom last year (Al-Ghad [Amman], October 16; Al-Rai [Amman], October 16). In a reaction similar to those seen in trials of Salafi-Jihadis, plot leader Shaker al-Khatib and the rest of the convicted group prostrated themselves, thanking Allah as a sign of defiance against the court (al-Jazeera, October 15). Al-Khatib and four others in the group, aged between 19 and 28, received the death penalty, but the court commuted...

Thursday November 12, 2009 Interview: Former Gay Youth Leader Re-Emerges to Tell His Dramatic Conversion Story By Patrick B. CraineNovember 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Two years ago Michael Glatze sent shockwaves through the homosexualist establishment when he declared publicly that he had left his life as a prominent homosexual activist, become Christian, and embraced "normal human sexuality."However, after being subjected to intense criticism and ridicule following his conversion, Glatze decided to "go inside," "be silent," and "process" for a time, but now says he feels compelled to share his story anew. In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), Glatze said that, far...

Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix from a person's neck and scared others at Stoneridge Shopping Center. Hamid, an employee at a mall kiosk near Starbucks, has been charged with battery, terrorist threats and grand theft. According to reports, Hamid was yelling "Allah is power" and "Islam is great" while holding a pen in a fist over his head. Witnesses said he shouted anti-Christian comments, said police. Lt. Mike Elerick of the Pleasanton Police Department said the man was not provoked and didn't threaten violence,...

US Judge Bans Christian Car Number Plate [Pic in URL] A US judge has ordered South Carolina not to issue car number plates that feature a Christian cross in front of a stained glass window along with the slogan "I Believe". 10 Nov 2009 Cameron Currie, the district judge, said the plate, similar to the one pictured, was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment. Photo: AP The southern state's legislature had already approved the licence plate, but Cameron Currie, the district judge, said the plate was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment, which requires the separation of church...

Italians reacted with outrage on Tuesday after a European court ruled that displaying crucifixes in the country's schools violated the principle of secular education. Italy's education minister condemned the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights, saying that the Christian cross was a symbol of the country's Roman Catholic religion and cultural identity. Mariastella Gelmini, a member of the conservative government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, argued that "no one, and certainly not an ideological European court, will succeed in erasing our identity," Other ministers said they were appalled by the ruling, calling it "absurd," "shameful" and "offensive." Generations...

Egypt (AINA) -- On October 24, 2009 Egyptian State Security arrested a Christian Copt in the village of Deir Samalout, Samalout, Minia province, for praying "without a license." He was held in prison for two days before being released on "compassionate grounds." Maurice Salama Sharkawy, 37 years old, had invited Pastor Elia Shafik, to conduct the sacrament of the 'Anointing of the Sick' for his sick father, who had suffered a stroke. State Security broke into his house while the prayers were ongoing, handcuffed Maurice, put him into a police car and took him to a police station for interrogation....

Christians gathering in snow after forced out On Sunday, Novermber 1, Beijing Christians gathered in heavy snow after they were banned from an indoor place.

Egypt (AINA) -- Egyptian security forces have intensified their presence in the Upper Egyptian town of Dairout, in anticipation of a recurrence of Muslim violence against Christians. Copts expressed their fear over leaflets entitled "These have to Die!" which are being distributed to all Muslims in Dairout and neighborhoods, enticing them to "burn, vandalize and clean the country of these evil immoral infidels." Reports from Dairout, 313 km south of Cairo, confirm that Christian Copts are afraid to leave their homes and have stayed indoors since violence against them erupted on October 24, 2009. This collective punishment of Copts was...

In spite of the cover up, this is perhaps the first time in the history of Islam that Muslims finally have access to the truth about their own religion, thanks to the Internet and satellite dishes (invented by infidels). There are daily news reports of heart-broken Muslims who say they cannot believe what is written in Muslim scriptures and say that Muslims have been living under the greatest lie in human history. Others simply deny and say that it can't be so. While Saudi Arabia is spending billions to Islamize the West, many Muslim prisoners of Islamic submission are dying...

As a Christian I don’t “hate,” many things, but each year I can’t wait until Halloween is over. This day typically causes discord in our household as cultural pressure to participate finds it s way into our home. My stepchildren’s father sees nothing wrong with the day, while my wife and I have great difficulty with its basic foundation. Halloween is hard to avoid as its influences are everywhere. The other day I was teaching at an area community college and was disturbed most of my teaching time by staff dressed in horrific costumes. I really do hate Halloween. The...

According to the actions of Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich, and the Franklin County Children's Services, there isn't. At least not in their treatment of Rifqa Bary.After Rifqa Bary was returned to Ohio per a Florida Judge's order, Mary Goodrich acted on a request from the Franklin County Children's Services to restrict and supervise Rifqa's use of her cell phone and internet.This amounts to trampling on her Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, and Expression. Constitutional rights that even "illegal aliens" are acknowledged to have.Their reasons for doing so are based on a false narrative that Jim Zorn, a spokesman for the Franklin...

SNIPPET: ""Moreover, freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion. That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That's why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it." -- Barack Obama, Cairo, June 4, 2009 But what about the rights of women like this one -- the right not to wear the hijab? Who is standing up for them? "BREAKING NEWS: Somalia Militants Kill...

The "hate crimes" bill approved recently by Congress could be a problem for broadcasters -- most importantly, Christian broadcasters -- now that it has been signed into law. President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure that adds to the list of federal hate crimes attacks on people based on their sexual orientation. Congress approved the legislation last week as part of the $680-billion FY 2010 Defense Authorization bill. Appended to the hate crimes amendment was a statement ensuring that a religious leader or any other person cannot be prosecuted on the bases if his or her speech, beliefs,...

Larry David would think heaven itself had fallen on him if he had used a picture of the prophet Muhammad instead of Jesus to urinate on.. Larry David is either a coward or afraid his head would be separated from his neck if he had done so.