Free Republic

Here's a great uplifting tune with a positive message from Christian pop group "Go Fish Guys". It's probably been posted before, but well worth a replay. Merry Christmas!

The Chemsford, Massachusetts schools have been in the news lately, especially on O'Reilly because of the "holiday" festival controversy. As you recall, the Chelmsford school system went out of their way to remove anything vaguely reminiscent of Christmas so as not to "offend" anyone. Well back in 1992 the Chelmsford school system was not so sensitive to people's feelings when they put on a lewd, pornographic sex ed production during school hours at the high school auditorium. Some parents ended up sueing the schools. Here are some court documents pertaining to the lawsuit. http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=95-1275.01A

Once again we are in the Christmas season, and the coal-in-your-stocking crowd is back at it. This year the American Humanist Association is putting up bus ads in selected cities that say, "No god? No problem! Be good for goodness sake." The picture accompanying the text shows a group of young people wearing Santa hats. Ho, ho, ho. A second front was launched by the virulently anti-God group "Freedom from Religion." It is celebrating Christmas in Las Vegas with ads that say, "Yes, Virginia, there is no God." Nice. The question is, why bother? Why spend money at Christmas time...

Perhaps the most anticipated popular fiction offering of the year for readers of this column is Heart of the Assassin, (Scribner, $25.95) Robert Ferrigno's final volume in his trilogy about a future America split by civil war and dominated by Islamic rule. http://frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=36278#disqus_thread

Sales of religious Christmas cards are soaring as shoppers rediscover the real meaning of the season. Church officials and retailers believe that the trend has been fuelled by the global economic downturn, which they say has encouraged people to rethink their values. And the pattern on the high street has been mirrored by an increase in the number of people attending church. More parents are also choosing to name their children after biblical figures, with Thomas, Daniel, Joshua and James all appearing in this year's top ten baby boys' names. Selfridges revealed that sales of traditional cards are up 30...

Participants in the COP15 climate summit should not be subject to Christmas symbols such as fir trees... Although the COP15 climate conference is set to take place during the Christmas season, the Foreign Ministry believes the holiday and all its symbols should be kept well clear of the summit. That point was bluntly illustrated when a sponsorship providing numerous Nordmann fir trees for the conference was rejected by the ministry... Christmas is a religious holiday that has no place at a United Nations function...

The city of Concord, California is holding its Christmas tree lighting ceremony this weekend.  And from the looks of the tree, it will barely be alive for its big moment. Instead of a beautiful freshly cut tree like in years past, Concord opted to use an existing tree in the town's square. The switch saved the city $20,000.  Not a bad idea in these tough economic times. The mean-spirited would  best describe the tree as pathetic. Those on the nicer side of life are likely reminded of the old classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The tree was scraggly to begin...

.... here's another one for the bulging files: Two Cambridge academics have voiced their dismay at the news that all references to Christmas have been dropped from the switching-on ceremony for Dundee’s festive lights. Instead of the traditional Christmas Lights switch-on, The Times newspaper reported that residents will be attending the 'Dundee Winter Light Night'. Council officials have also decided that rather than a retelling of the Nativity story there will be a disco, a contemporary circus, a continental market and a seven foot fairy on stilts.That's another reason to resist this stuff - not merely because it's an act...

It was Christmas, but it didn’t seem like Christmas to me. Traditional lights were glistening everywhere, and churches were abuzz with excitement, but I felt a coldness in my heart akin to the freezing rains that hit me as I trudged uphill to the hospital.

I’m taking my family on a trip this year: not across the country or even across town, but through the season of Advent. Advent, a season focused on both the joyful anticipation of Jesus’ birth and on his return, begins 4 Sundays prior to Christmas Day and ends on Christmas Eve. Celebrating Advent with my parents and church family is a cherished childhood memory. Each Sunday, we lit the candles on our Advent wreath, read scripture, and sang favorite carols. It kept me focused on the real meaning of Christmas, an antidote to the toy commercials and sugar-charged lures of...

U.S. President Barack Obama (R), First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha (2nd L) and Maila (R) take their seats for the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse in Washington December 3, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES POLITICS)

Washington D.C., Nov 29, 2009 / 08:55 pm (CNA).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has created an Advent and Christmas website with suggestions for daily prayers, readings, reflection and action. A collection of Lessons and Carols is also provided for live listening or download. Printable calendars in English and Spanish are one new feature of the site, a USCCB press release says. They suggest a family activity for each day of Advent, which begins on Nov. 29, and for each day of the Christmas Season.Many of the calendar’s reflections are taken from four of the collections from...

My husband and I have decided this year not to give each other extravagant Christmas gifts, and are not going to be able to purchase large presents for his or my extended family either. We will only be able to give simple, useful, needed items for close family and friends. Instead, we would like to do something for a needy, struggling family. We'd prefer to do it anonymously and be able to provide them with a nice holiday. We just don't need "things" this year, and I'd much rather help out someone who does. We both feel that the true...

NORTH ANDOVER (MA)— Town leaders learned the hard way this week: Don't mess with Christmas. Five days after the town ordered firefighters to take down their decades-old Merry Christmas sign from the fire station, they got the OK to hang it back up yesterday afternoon. "It seems like a happy ending," North Andover fire Chief William Martineau said, smiling as people drove by slowly, beeping and yelling out Merry Christmas. "It put a little joy back in the holidays." The controversy had people across the country talking about North Andover. Town Hall was flooded with angry phone calls this week....

MORROW, Ga. -- A bad elf is going to be on Santa's naughty list. Morrow police and mall security cleared out Southlake Mall after they said a man dressed like an elf told Santa he had a bomb. Police say 45-year-old William C. Caldwell III got in line at Southlake Mall Wednesday evening to have his picture taken with Santa. "He (Caldwell) stood in line with kids and told Santa he wanted like a picture taken with him, at that point he told Santa he had dynamite in his bag," said Morrow police Capt. James Callaway.

A controversial Merry Christmas sign has returned to its traditional spot outside the Main Street fire station, after the town reversed an earlier decision to take it down. The decision to put the homemade sign back on display was made this afternoon, after residents protested its removal this morning outside Town Hall. "The townspeople have spoken," Selectman Richard Nardella said. Firefighters put the sign back up around 4 p.m.

The Obamas are living large while thay have a chance to on our dime. After 2013 they will be on their own.

Italy's influential Northern League Party has stood out over the past decade for its particular knack in finding new (and not-so-new) ways of offending people based on country of origin and color of skin. In 2003, Umberto Bossi, founder of the party, which once espoused separatism, told an interviewer that police should open fire on the boatloads of undocumented Africans arriving on Italian shores, calling the would-be immigrants "bingo-bongos." Other Northern League pols have proposed everything from separate trains for immigrants to banning the building of new mosques and even prohibiting the serving of kebabs and other non-Italian food in...

Inspiration for the Obamas' first Christmas in the White House came from the house itself. First lady Michelle Obama chose traditional decorations to reflect the scale, architecture and color palet... **video**

Dr. Laurie Roth to interview Dan Zanoza regarding Springfield, Illinois Nativity Scene and attacks on the free expression of religious liberty in the public square. RFFM.org's Executive Director, Dan Zanoza, will be a guest on ...

“Luke’s Lead-up to Christmas: The Annunciation of St. John the Baptist” (Luke 1:1-25)In a few weeks we’ll be hearing one of the most familiar and well-loved passages in the Bible once again, and that is the Christmas Gospel, from Luke chapter two. But the fact that there’s a chapter two must means that there’s a chapter one before it. There is. And Luke chapter one is Luke’s lead-up to Christmas, his account of the events leading up to the birth of Christ. That’s going to be our theme for this series of midweek services, as well as for the last...

CHRISTMAS IN JAPAN can be a little lonely and isolated for the Westerner here. What with the distance from “home” and cultural differences. Little things, here and there. Missing some of the usual things from back home, especially for people like one particular 'American in Tokyo'. This year 2009 is again no different. However, in many respects I must say there is nevertheless one little thing that is so refreshing about being stuck in Japan during Christmas—after a few years—and for the occasions one cannot make it back "home". It is almost like the clock has been refreshingly and...

In a perverse advertisement currently on the its Web site, CBS is trying to cross market the crass television show "How I Met Your Mother" with the children's holiday classics "Frosty the Snowman" and "Frosty Returns." The disgusting result was the video "Frosty the Inappropriate Snowman," in which Neil Patrick Harris's voice (in character from the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother") was dubbed over Frosty footage. Harris' Frosty said things like, "We've got to have a bros' night at a strip club" because it's "healthy" and "harmless." He also discussed his "porn collection" and "the Dominator 8000 - the...

First lady Michelle Obama speaks during the holiday press preview of the White House in Washington December 2, 2009. This year's holiday theme is "Reflect, Rejoice and Renew. "

Every Christmas season, which in our home begins around the second week of November, I am on a mission. My goal: find one new CD and one new Christmas movie to add to our growing collection. The movie gets rotated in with about a dozen or so other favorites while the CD takes front and center stage. Whatever this CD is, it is played so constantly throughout the next 6 weeks that it must, by nature of its place in our routine, be extraordinary. I don’t give this spot to just any artist; but, rather, I spend time searching...

NORTH ANDOVER — First it was the menorah on the town common. Now it's the Merry Christmas sign on the fire station. The town has put an end to a longtime holiday tradition ordering firefighters to take down their homemade Merry Christmas sign from outside the fire station after people complained. The sign had been up for a week before it was taken down Friday. Fire Chief William Martineau said the sign was made by firefighters some 50 years ago and was never an issue before. "I think Christmas is officially a religious holiday. But to all of us, it...

This is supposed to be the kickoff to the Christmas season, a season of which I am especially fond. With the last name of Christmas, how could I not be? But, this Christmas feels different to me. Too much has recently happened to our nation, to make me want to jump into a celebratory mode. I want to take a pause to dissect a new breed of “men,” who have turned out to be a “pox on our house.” They are threatening us once again. This time the threat is self-inflicted, or more accurately “politician-inflicted.” Suddenly, we are left to...

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!

President Barack Obama ... ... is slated to deliver a prime-time address on Tuesday night in which he'll lay out his plans for the American war in Afghanistan. The address before the United States Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday night will not only be used to announce the immediate order to deploy roughly 30,000 more troops, but the administration will also use the occasion to convey how it intends to turn the fight over to the Kabul government, the New York Times reported. But the administration may also face an unforeseen enemy as it lays out its long-awaited...

A New Holiday Tradition December 1st, 2009 by Christine Hebert Most of the world will celebrate the New Year on January first. As Catholics, however, we began the new liturgical year this past weekend with the first Sunday of Advent. My family is celebrating this time of preparation and penance with a Jess tree for the first time this year. I had heard of Jesse trees a few years ago, but not until about half way through Advent last year did, I understand the Jesse tree. The Jesse tree provides as series of lessons on Salvation History from creation until...

Pedal-powered Christmas tree lights CopenhagenBy Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com Tuesday, December 01, 2009 01:00 PM When you're the host city for international climate change negotiations, using energy-efficient LED lights on the Christmas tree apparently isn't enough. The traditional Christmas tree in Copenhagen's City Hall Square will be powered by people, rather than a distant power plant. The square has been equipped with 15 bicycles which, when pedaled, light up the 700 LED bulbs on the tree. The 17-meter-high tree went up last week during an opening ceremony in which Saint Nicholas climbed a fire truck ladder to the top of...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue opines as follows:· The menorah in Nashville’s Riverfront Park is okay by the ACLU, but the crèche in Clarksville, Tennessee is not. Why? The City of Clarksville paid $200 for the animals used in the nativity scene. · A woman from Manchester, Massachusetts was told she cannot have a live nativity scene outside her First Parish Church. Why? The church sits on the town common. · A life-sized crèche has adorned the Chambersburg public square in Pennsylvania for about a half-century, but there won’t be one this year: the decision to censor it was made...

by Chuck NessAs we approach Christmas, you will no doubt be confronted by those who would like to remove the name Christ and any reference to Him from the Holiday season. That is because the world we live in has been judged by Him and it's end is near. Thus, those who hold onto this world will do all they can to keep the lost from finding the Messiah, Christ Jesus. Many do not even want to use the word "Christmas" to describe this holiday season. There are disputes across this country in community after community where public officials are...

It happens every year at this time: the battles of political correctness. When community puts up a Christmas tree, one of two things happens. Either there is a battle to take it down totally or someone fights to get a Chanukia (that's the real name not Menorah), Kwanza Candles or a symbol of some other religion's holiday placed right next to it. Then, Fox news follows by running stories about the latest battle in the "war against Christmas," and the ACLU starts suing any town who's Mayor ever went to a Church, Mosque and/or Synagogue. Hey ACLU give it up...

MAUMEE, OHIO (WTOL) - Maumee police are searching for a real-life 'Grinch' after a man robbed a Salvation Army bell ringer of her donation kettle. It happened outside the Anderson's General Store in Maumee around 6:30 p.m. yesterday. Just before the man grabbed the kettle, police said he shouted that he hated the bell ringers and hated Christmas. The volunteer worker struggled with the man over the kettle, but he got away with the donations after pushing the worker. The man then placed the kettle and tripod base into a 1999 black Ford pick-up truck, which was reported stolen the...

US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF US, RETAIL, ECONOMY, SHOPPERS, SHOPPING, BLACK FRIDAY, TARGET, WAL-MART, GAP, SAKS Reuters | 29 Nov 2009 | 03:41 PM ET American consumers shopped more for bargains at the start of the U.S. holiday season and spent significantly less than a year ago, according to early data released on Sunday. Consumers said they will have spent nearly 8 percent less on average, or about $343 per person, over the weekend that includes U.S. Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and runs through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation. While traffic to stores and retail...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - American consumers shopped more for bargains at the start of the U.S. holiday season and spent significantly less than a year ago, according to early data released on Sunday. Consumers said they will have spent nearly 8 percent less on average, or about $343 per person, over the weekend that includes Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and runs through Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation. While traffic to stores and retail websites rose to 195 million people from 172 million in 2008, the early data this weekend represents a worrisome sign for retailers, who had braced...

Wishing Happy Christmas 'Could Be An Obscenity' Warns Bishop Wishing people a Happy Christmas could be seen as an "insult" or even an "obscenity" as not everyone is in a position to celebrate, a bishop has warned. By Stephen Adams 27 Nov 2009 Many can't share the manufactured bonhomie of Christmas, say bishop Y The Right Reverend Humphrey Southern, the Bishop of Repton, said it was a "hollow" greeting to make to those who were suffering. People should not "simply make a cocoon of happiness for ourselves and our loved ones" at Christmas, he said. Writing in the monthly Derby...

AFA list of retailers Christmas friendly and not so friendly in their newspaper advertising, radio and television ads and Christmas related items in store...List

'Inaccurate' Christmas Carols Have Turned Birth of Jesus Into A Pantomime Story, Claims Bishop ARTHUR MARTIN 29th November 2009 Crusading: Right Reverend Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon, believes carols make the story of Christ seem fictitious [Pic in URL] Popular Christmas carols are 'nonsense' and have turned the birth of Jesus Christ into a fairy story, according to a respected bishop. In a new book on the festive period, The Right Reverend Nick Baines, the Bishop of Croydon, claims some of the nation's favourite carols are 'embarrassing' and 'inaccurate'. He says the songs encourage people to believe that the...

Just got back from the local Home Depot (the one that Joe biden has never set foot in). Bought my Christmas tree, among other things for the yard. Lady at the checkout noticed my USMC hat and jacket and gave me 10% off. Anybody else see this in their part of the country? Oh, and welcomed the Merry Christmas greeting. Semper fi

The Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC) will again erect a Nativity Scene that will stand in Illinois’ state Capitol Rotunda Building. Opening day ceremonies regarding the Springfield Nativity Scene (SNS) will take place between 12 Noon and 1 P.M. on December 1st in the state Capitol Rotunda located at South 2nd Street & East Capitol Avenue in Springfield, Illinois. The public is invited to attend the event. The Springfield Nativity Scene--which was originally underwritten by the Chicago-based Thomas More Society--is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This year the display is co-sponsored by Isringhausen Imports of Springfield and...

INDIANA, Pa. – Turn the corner onto Philadelphia Street in this small Western Pennsylvania town, and you might be on the main street of Bedford Falls, the mythical town in Frank Capra’s Christmas classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life. “This is a town where you hear people tell each other ‘Merry Christmas’ without ever considering if it is politically correct,” said Chris Carter of Dayton, Ohio, here for the day on business. Earlier Carter, 30, posed for a picture with the statue of Jimmy Stewart, Indiana’s hometown everyman. Carter thinks places like Indiana or his hometown of Dayton are overlooked...

I know why they don’t want to call it a Christmas Tree anymore!I know why they want to banish it from the public square! An evergreen is a symbol of eternal life; yet, it is cut down and nailed to two wooden members— reminding men of the Eternal Son of God Who was nailed to the Cross. It is topped with a star reminding men of the Bright and Morning Star or the Star of Bethlehem; or, it’s topped with an angel who announced and attended His birth; or, the bow— a love-knot binding the two: man and God together...

I’d like to specifically request that retailers all over the U.S. stop saying “Merry Christmas” altogether. In fact, I want retailers to remove the word “Christmas” from all of their print ads, radio spots, TV spots, billboards, and in-store displays and decorations. I think it’s the least we can do for our Savior.

Here it comes: Best Buy ran a national Black Friday ad inviting the world to celebrate Thanksgiving and Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice. Fair enough, right? Happy Eid!

Allah forbid a major big box retailer send holiday wishes to members of one of the world’s largest religions. But that’s what Best Buy did, including a small message wishing Muslims a “Happy Eid al-Adha” in a circular. And now the Twin Cities-based retailer is facing a boycott by commenters at the rightwing Free Republic forum. Best Buy, as we reporter earlier, was the target of a rightwing “War on Christmas” campaign in 2006 for not using the word “Christmas” in its holiday marketing, but this year, it’s been upgraded on the American Family Association’s list from anti-Christmas to merely...

RICHFIELD, Minn. - A scanned version of the Best Buy Black Friday ad on BestBuy.com wishes Muslims a happy Eid al-Adha, which falls on the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Since the ad was posted, a message board on BestBuy.com has filled up with plenty of responses. Tuesday morning, a discussion of the ad on BestBuy.com had more than 100 responses. Some of those comments were supportive of the greeting and some called for a boycott of the retailer, including boldly racist remarks. Here's a look at some of the posts on the BestBuy.com message board : I worked part time at...

Crescent Project says Eid Al-Adha is a great time to witness to Muslims. USA (MNN) ― An advertisement in the United States has been greeted with praise and condemnation. This week, a major electronics retailer got flack for including with its circular advertising Thanksgiving Day sales a note saying "Happy Eid Al-Adha," a Muslim holiday, which begins this week. According to the founder and president of Crescent Project Fouad Masri, Eid Al-Adha is a holiday created by Mohammed as he attempted to trace his roots back to Abraham. "He made the celebration to remember that Abraham took his son to...

A black Friday Best Buy ad is getting blasted this Thanksgiving. It includes a nod to the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated this weekend. That has angered some customers, who point out that Best Buy stopped using "Merry Christmas" in its ads in 2006 and replaced it with "Happy Holidays." Best Buy is trying to curb any controversy saying that this year’s ads will feature several different holidays, including Christmas.