Free Republic

CHICAGO, Illinois, June 27, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Facebook communities can fill the void left by decreasing religious participation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested last week. Zuckerberg wants groups formed on his social media platform to fill the role in people’s lives once held by churches and groups such as little league teams. People are in need of purpose and support, the millennial social media mogul said, and Facebook groups can provide that meaning. "It's so striking that for decades, membership in all kinds of groups has declined as much as one-quarter," Zuckerberg said. "That's a lot of people who now...

While there are many threats to religious liberty, few are more consequential over the long term than the state’s ever-expanding role in private life. If the government is able to vacuum up tax dollars, create programs large and small for public benefit, and then exclude religious individuals or institutions from those programs, it has functionally created two tiers of citizenship. Secular individuals and institutions enjoy full access to the government they fund, while religious individuals and institutions find themselves funding a government that overtly discriminates against them. That’s the issue the Supreme Court addressed today in Trinity Lutheran Church...

<p>WASHINGTON — A clear majority of Supreme Court justices seemed ready Wednesday to rule that the separation of church and state should not extend to swings and slides.</p> <p>In a case with implications for more than 30 states that have prohibitions against public funds going to religious institutions, the justices cast doubt on Missouri's refusal to include a Lutheran church in a grant program that reimburses non-profit groups for installing rubber playground surfaces.</p>

On Tuesday, June 27, it will be 50 years since the first automated cash dispenser – which came to be known as an automated teller machine (ATM) – was inaugurated in London. Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face. I belong to the generation who stood 45 minutes to an hour to deposit or cash checks in the pre-ATM era. I remember getting yelled at for taking my bicycle through the drive-up line at the National Bank of Detroit to avoid the much longer line inside. It did not take me very long to become an early...

In typical Hollywood fashion, a pro-choice actress has claimed her views on abortion and Christianity go hand in hand — suggesting the pro-life crowd has “stolen” the Christian identity. Actress Amy Brenneman, star of the HBO show “The Leftovers,” describes her church’s philosophy on the “moral agency of women” as a mother’s right to keep or kill her baby — or to “decide what’s right for her fetus,” in Brenneman’s words. "In my church, we are prayerfully pro-choice, which means that we believe in the moral agency of women," Brenneman, 52, said in a video created by the "Lives of...

Alliance Defending Freedom joined 47 other signatories to a letter delivered to congressional leaders this week that encourages them to make hearings and votes on the Free Speech Fairness Act a priority. The bill, introduced by Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., in February, would allow non-profit organizations to speak freely in the ordinary course of their business on all matters of life, including elections and candidates, if they choose to do so. ADF has been actively seeking to end enforcement of the Johnson Amendment against churches through its Pulpit Freedom Sunday effort since 2008. “Americans don’t need...

Question: "What is the church?" Answer: Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not a biblical understanding of the church. The word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of “church” is not that of a building, but of people. It is ironic that when you ask people what church they attend, they usually identify a building. Romans 16:5 says “… greet the church that is in their house.” Paul refers to the church in their house—not a church building, but a body of...

There’s a bizarre argument I’m hearing these days which basically goes like this. “Look at how many churches are embracing homosexual practice. This proves we’re getting closer to the truth.” To the contrary, all it proves is that more and more churches are apostatizing. The logic behind this argument is as wrongheaded as it is unbiblical. First, to argue that greater acceptance of homosexuality by churches is proof of spiritual growth is like arguing that greater acceptance of obesity by doctors is a proof of medical progress. The reverse is actually true. Second, the Bible often warns us against compromise...

A new research shows that far more young people in Britain are Christian than previously thought, and that thousands of them are converting after visiting a church building.(PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/HANS MUSIL)The Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England and religious leader of the Church of England.More than 20 percent of people between the ages of 11 and 18 describe themselves as active followers of Jesus, and 13 percent say they are practicing Christians who attend church, according to a study commissioned by Christian youth organization Hope Revolution Partnership...

In the basement of an decimated church in eastern Mosul, rubble and debris tell a gut-wrenching story of ISIS' depravity towards Yazidi women and girls. On the floor of the iconic house of worship lie tiny pieces of pink and yellow underwear and flower headbands belonging to the very young Yazidi sex slaves the barbaric terrorist group took captive. Iraqi officials tell Fox News that at least 200 Yazidi girls and women were imprisoned in the historic Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Ephraim, one of the region’s largest Christian sites, which was freed by Iraqi forces several months ago. “We...

On June 4, the rite of consecration of the Holy Trinity Church for the Ukrainian community was held in the Brazilian municipality of Sao Jose dos Pinhais (Parana), Marcelino settlement. Local Ukrainians have been striving to do this for almost a century. Built next to the old church, the Church of the Holy Trinity represents a traditional Ukrainian architecture of temples. This building, according to SvitUA which cites Gazeta DO Povo, is one of the largest churches in Brazil. The area of the temple is about 740 square meters, its height is 32 meters. The premises of the temple can...

George Nathaniel Stang, 26, stands accused of a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief, after confessing that it was he who spray painted homophobic, pro-Nazi and pro-Trump graffiti last November, including a swastika, on the church where he was the organist. When confronted by police, Stang — who is gay — reportedly admitted to staging the vandalism and wrote in a handwritten statement to police that he did it to “mobilize a movement” ....

Villagers say they’ll boycott St David’s Church, in Blaenporth, Ceredigion, Wales, in protest. Church bosses say pilates is OK, but not yoga, which ‘might be seen to be in conflict with Christian values and belief’.

FULL TITLE: Peace be with you: Mass brawl breaks out at Georgia church during vote over whether controversial pastor should be fired A massive brawl broke out during a meeting at a Georgia baptist church during a vote on whether its controversial pastor should be fired. Punches were thrown, church goers were shoved to the ground, and chairs were launched across the room after a fight erupted at Greater Bellevue Baptist Church in Macon on Monday. Local county deputies were forced to call for back up after the two cops were overwhelmed by the brawl. Scroll down for video

Electing Lesbian Bishop Violates Church Law, United Methodist High Court Rules The United Methodist Church's highest court has ruled that a regional body violated the denomination's rules when they elected an openly lesbian clergywoman as bishop and she can be removed from her position. In a 6–3 decision released Friday, the United Methodist Judicial Council decided that the Western Jurisdiction's election of Karen Oliveto to the position of bishop violated church law. "It is not lawful for the college of bishops of any jurisdictional or central conference to consecrate a self-avowed practicing homosexual bishop," read the decision, as reported by...

FULL TITLE: 'We don't want to make a man uncomfortable in church': Mother says she was told to leave a CHURCH for breastfeeding A breastfeeding mother claims she was escorted out of a church service in Virginia and was told: 'We don't want to make a man uncomfortable in church.' Annie Peguero has posted a video on Facebook about her treatment on Sunday at the Summit Church in Springfield and said she would never go back there. Peguero, a personal trainer and military wife, said a church official told her: 'We don't want to make a man uncomfortable in church,...

In this excellent piece, George Neumayr refers to the rupture of relations between the Vatican and al-Azhar that took place during the time of Pope Benedict. As I explained here, that rupture took place because Pope Benedict dared to speak out about the Muslim persecution of Christians. By contrast, Francis energetically defends Islam, and leaves the persecuted Christians twisting in the wind, so he is acceptable to al-Azhar. The worst part about this is the fact that because this man is Pope, all too many Catholics, including some in positions of high authority, treat him as if he were a...

For the International Church of Cannabis in Denver, there were three reasons to celebrate on Thursday. First, it was opening day. The church, a more than century-old building recently adorned with brightly colored paintings by the artists Kenny Scharf and Okuda San Miguel, welcomed the public early in the afternoon, at which time no cannabis consumption was allowed inside. “It seemed to be a nice steady flow of people,” said Lee Molloy, a founder of the church and a member, who estimated that a couple of hundred people had come by.

If you have a ministry and a church you are automatically tax exempt. This book shows you how to cut through the road blocks and simply claim it The Communist-George Soros Democrats running the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have managed to bully churches into becoming partners with them by the creation of the 501c3 (Not-for-Profit) status. This action pushed churches to incorporate themselves as franchises of the United States in order to avoid taxes they never owed in the first place. Don’t forget that last sentence. According to an informative book; Things You Need to Know about Non-profits-Making Sense of...

FULL TITLE: Baby and three teenagers are shot at an Alabama church's Easter carnival after fight breaks out in crowd of 900 Four young people - including a baby under the age of one - were shot at a church's Easter carnival in Alabama on Saturday night. The toddler and three teenagers were not critically injured after gunfire erupted at the Cathedral of the Cross A.O.H. Church of God on the border of Birmingham and Center Point,AL.com reported. They were all taken to hospital, as was a pregnant woman knocked to the ground in the chaos that followed the gunfire.