Free Republic

'The decision permits courts to interfere in the internal affairs of religious schools, hospitals, and other charitable organizations.' Yeshiva University argued.NEW YORK (LifeSiteNews) – The New York County Supreme Court ruled that Yeshiva University must formally recognize an LGBT student group on the grounds that the Jewish school is not a “religious corporation.” Yeshiva University declares on its website that “our five core Torah values comprise our moral compass and guide us toward a better future,” and that the school is “[r]ooted in Jewish thought and tradition,” with one of its “foundations” being “the importance of enriching and enhancing Jewish...

On Friday, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone penned a notice telling Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that, because of her pro-choice stance, she will not be permitted to take receive Holy Communion. Well, this absolutely triggered the pro-baby killing coven on ABC’s The View. And during their Monday show, they accused the Archbishop of somehow violating the separation of church and state by carrying out punishment against a member of the church for violating their beliefs. During the opening tease of the show, the announcer accused Cordileone of practicing “bad faith” with his decision. “Did the San Francisco Archbishop cross...

ROME — U.S. climate czar John Kerry met with Pope Francis in the Vatican this weekend in preparation for the upcoming U.N. climate conference in Glasgow. The pope “is one of the great voices of reason and compelling moral authority on the subject of the climate crisis,” Kerry told Vatican News. “He’s been ahead of the curve. He’s been a leader. His encyclical Laudato Si is really a very, very powerful document, eloquent and morally very persuasive.”

Senior Biden Administration Officials Participating in High-Level Vatican Conference on FridayTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry will take part in the conference, entitled ‘Dreaming of a Better Restart.’VATICAN CITY — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, President Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry, and the heads of the IMF, World Bank, and African Union will be taking part in a high-level Vatican conference on Friday on the theme “Dreaming of a Better Restart.” Hosted by the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, the one-day meeting, which includes the participation of finance ministers from the US, France, Spain,...

Impossible Foods has secured Child Nutrition Labels for its Impossible Burger products, which means they can now be part of school nutrition programs in the US. To obtain the CN Labels, USDA's Food and Nutrition Services had to evaluate the plant-based meat's product formulation, as well as the company's quality control procedures and manufacturing processes. Now that it has acquired CN Labels for its products, the company is launching K-12 pilot programs this month in partnership with several school districts. The Palo Alto Unified School District in California, the Aberdeen School District in Washington, the Deer Creek Public Schools in...

Congressman Clyburn says if passed, the national hymn would have a special place alongside the existing US anthem, ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. United States congressman James Clyburn has filed a bill to make ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ the country’s new national hymn in a move the Democrat says, “would be an act of bringing the country together”. ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, popularly known as the Black national anthem, has had a place of honour in the Black musical canon for more than a century. Clyburn, the House majority whip, put forward the proposal on 13 January, calling for the...

The 5,593-page government funding bill that includes the COVID-19 stimulus legislation also includes a section outlining the reincarnation and succession of the Dalai Lama. The legislation includes some notable sections that are not directly related to government funding or the pandemic.Section 342 of the bill outlines a "statement of policy regarding the succession or reincarnation of the Dalai Lama." Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, currently resides in exile in India after escaping from Tibet in 1959 amid a revolt against Chinese governance. Tibet was occupied by China in 1951 and incorporated as part of the East Asian nation.

President-Elect Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, concerns religious conservatives fighting to protect their First Amendment free speech and religious liberty rights. They are wary of Becerra because he defended the anti-free speech California law (AB 775), struck down by the Supreme Court, that forced pro-life care centers to promote state-sponsored abortions. They are also alarmed over comments he made before the state Assembly three years ago when he said religious liberty is only for “individuals” not “institutions.” California Family Council President Jonathan Keller had this to say about the...

On Nov. 10, in Spell v. Edwards, a Louisiana federal district court dismissed a suit by megachurch pastor Tony Spell challenging the state's COVID-19 limits on worship services. Plaintiff filed an Emergency Application for an Injunction Pending Appeal with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, contending: This case presents a threshold question that other applicants did not present to this Court in prior religious liberty challenges: Whether the First Amendment places the decision of whether to assemble solely within the jurisdiction of the Church and not the State.

A pastor of a Georgia megachurch who also is running for U.S. Senate said last week he believes legalized abortion is “consistent with” Christianity and he would “fight” to ensure it remains legal. Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, and a Democratic candidate trying to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in November’s election, made the comments to WGAU’s Tim Bryant. Bryant asked Warnock how the pro-choice views of the Democrat Party “square with” his “role as a minister, a leader of a church, a man of God.” “I believe that healthcare is a human right,”...

Three Of Nation's Highest-Ranking Catholic Leaders Warned Congress Hundreds More Closures Likely Without Federal SupportNEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – As the new academic year arrives, school systems across the United States are struggling to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Roman Catholic educators have an extra challenge — trying to forestall a relentless wave of closures of their schools that has no end in sight. Already this year, financial and enrollment problems aggravated by the pandemic have forced the permanent closure of more than 140 Catholic schools nationwide, according to officials who oversee Catholic education in the country. Three of the nation’s...

As part of the wave of tearing down symbols of historic racism., Mississippi State Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, signed legislation last month ordering the “prompt, dignified, and respectful” removal of the state flag bearing the rebel symbol from all state property. Mississippi was the only state whose flag contained the Confederate battle flag, adopting it in 1894, nearly three decades after the Civil War. 64% of voters reaffirmed the flag in a 2001 referendum. In the wake of the race riots sweeping across the country, Reeves decided to introduce the new legislation calling to redesign the flag. “I know...

Dana Bryant CROSSING THE JORDAN HAS FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST GOVERNOR NEWSOM, HEALTH OFFICER DR. SUNDARI MASE, SONOMA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, SANTA ROSA CITY & LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT. SHARE. SHARE. SHARE. HELP US STOP THIS MADNESS! This is not what our nonprofit wanted to do. We have made every effort to avoid this. Our residential program is deemed "essential" but our only funding sources are not. Our residents are not eligible for unemployment, our program does not rely on your tax paying dollars & without us opening our stores, safely, we would be forced to close our program. We...

Beto to Obama: Hold my beer. Barack Obama's IRS may have targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny, but Obama never pledged to strip tax-exempt status from organizations that disagreed with his position on an issue. Yet on Thursday, former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) said he would strip tax-exempt status from any religious organization that supports traditional marriage as defined by one man and one woman. In fact, his position essentially amounts to a government preference for pro-gay marriage religious bodies that likely violates the Establishment Clause. CNN's Don Lemon quoted O'Rourke's policy on LGBT issues, which states: "Freedom of religion...

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg blasted Vice President Mike Pence and other Christian politicians this week for adopting what he charged were un-Christian political stances. Asked by Religion News whether he would call “sinful” those Christian politicians who supported the Trump administration’s since-scrapped policy of separating families arrested after crossing the southern border illegally, Buttigieg declined to go that far. “I’ll be careful to use that word to kind of point out a speck in my brother’s eye,” the South Bend, Ind. mayor replied. “What I would say is that it’s clear that some naked sins are being at best...

The modification of what is known as ‘separation of State and Church law’ (1905) is expected to renew the legal regime of the religious associations, on which churches, denominations and social projects depend. President Emmanuel Macron aims to force some Islamic religious groups to become registered associations. The government intentions are to “reinforce the laïcité and guarantee freedom of worship”. As plans for the modification of the law were made public, the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF) has engaged in a “constructive exchange” with representatives of the Ministry of Justice during the last months. MORE CONTROL AND TRANSPARENCY...

We cannot separate the influence of the church from the foundation of the state no matter how many times atheists and their corrupt lawyers sue. People in general do not seem to agree on much these days, split between their own confused ideas and the latest narrative promoted by the deceitful main stream media, beholden to the globalist ideology of Democrat Socialism and Cultural Marxism. Often the thought processes of the voting masses are incoherent because their knowledge, the reality, and their basic instincts of survival and safety are perverted by the globalist agenda but they are too ignorant to...

The authoritarianism and tyranny of the Left, along with its disdain for Western religion, is on display again, this time in Minnesota where a pair of Christian filmmakers are being threatened by state officials with incarceration if they refuse to make films featuring gays and lesbians. As reported by CBN News, Carl and Angel Larson, owners of Telescope Media Group, appeared before the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minn., last week to challenge a state law they say unconstitutionally forces them to produce content that contradicts their core religious beliefs. The couple, which is being represented...

A local theater group is putting on a play, "Church and State," "A topical look at gun violence, religion and politics that is simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting." "In the wake of a school shooting in his hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina, a Republican U.S. Senator running for re-election candidly questions his belief in God to a blogger, perhaps crushing his re-election hopes. There are no easy answers in this topical look at gun violence that is simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and uplifting. Interested in the in-depth Backstory? Read it here. We'll also have copies at the theater." I'd go and...

A New Jersey animal shelter’s annual pet blessings has prompted a federal lawsuit by a group called American Atheists Inc. of Cranford. The Bergen County Animal Shelter is accused of violating the First and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution over two events held in 2016 and 2017. Each event featured a member of the Franciscan Order of the Divine Mercy in North Arlington. Plaintiffs say that animal blessings at the facility are tantamount to an endorsement of religion. They seek an injunction to stop the annual event, and legal fees.