Free Republic

The Fighting Irish have a bone to pick with Christopher Columbus. Notre Dame students are calling for the removal of 12 iconic murals, which honor the famous explorer and have been on campus since 1884. The students have reportedly teamed up with alumni, faculty and staff in an effort to get rid of the 19th Century paintings. “In this era of political divisiveness and a renewed rise of dangerous nationalism, it is time for Notre Dame to remove its own version of a Confederate monument,” the group wrote in an open letter last week that was published in the school...

BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 5, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – The European Court of Justice will decide if the "marriage" of two homosexuals will be recognized throughout all EU member states, regardless of nations that still maintain that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. The case before the court hinges on the definition of the word “spouse.” Homosexuals Adrian Coman and Clai Hamilton were “wed” in Belgium in 2010 and now live in the United States. But now Coman wants his home country of Romania to recognize his same-sex “marriage” so that he and his partner can immigrate there and...

Proverb 6 (NKJV) Dangerous Promises Seven Deadly Sins 01 My son, if you become surety for your friend, 00 If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 02 You are snared by the words of your mouth; 00 You are taken by the words of your mouth. 03 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; 00 For you have come into the hand of your friend: 00 Go and humble yourself; 00 Plead with your friend. 04 Give no sleep to your eyes, 00 Nor slumber to your eyelids. 05 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from...

Novo-Ogaryovo, December 5, Interfax - Russia will try to help not only Christian but also Muslim and Jewish refugees return to Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "We will also be helping members of other denominations, including those professing Islam, who, as we know very well, have also suffered very seriously at the hands of thugs, terrorists, and radicals. We will also be helping Jews, and some Jewish organizations have already asked us to help restore Jewish shrines," Putin said at a meeting with the heads of delegations of local Orthodox Churches. Russia is maintaining "contact with members of the...

The Red Cross in the Liege province of Belgium, near the border with the Netherlands and Germany, has ordered all 28 of its facilities to remove all Christian crosses and crucifixes on its walls in order to appear religiously neutral, according to the Belgian news outlet 7Sur7, and which was also covered and translated by Breitbart News in London. Andre Rouffart, president of the Red Cross house in Verviers, in the Liege province, said an email was sent to the 28 Red Cross houses in Liege instructing the facilities "to respect the principles of the Red Cross, which is to...

Jim Palmer, a former evangelical pastor who once served in ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago and went on to preach the power of faith to hundreds as lead pastor of his own church in Brentwood, Tennessee, is now the vice president of the Nashville Humanist Association, which promotes humanism and a secular state.Palmer, 53, told The Tennessean that his journey away from faith in God was triggered about 20 years ago by two devastating events. He said his faith was shaken when he learned that a church staff member was beating their spouse. It then suffered another blow when...

Proverb 5 (NKJV) The Peril of Adultery Warning Against Immorality 01 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; 00 Lend your ear to my understanding, 02 That you may preserve discretion, 00 And your lips may keep knowledge. 03 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, 00 And her mouth is smoother than oil; 04 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, 00 Sharp as a two-edged sword. 05 Her feet go down to death, 00 Her steps lay hold of hell. 06 Lest you ponder her path of life-- 00 Her ways are unstable;...

The Cold War-era policy of nuclear deterrence is no longer viable and that the mere possession of nuclear weapons is now "irrational", Pope Francis has said. "We're at the limit of licitly having and using nuclear arms. Why? Because today, such sophisticated nuclear arsenals risk destroying humanity or at least a great part of it," he said en route home following his trip to Bangladesh. Amid increasingly heated rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea, the Pope s told a nuclear disarmament conference last month that mere possession of nuclear weapons was to be condemned, given the risks, and that...

Istanbul (Agenzia Fides) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boïko Borisov will both be present at the re-opening of St. Stephen's Church in Istanbul on January 7th. According to reports from the Turkish media, the two leaders agreed to participate together in the inauguration ceremony during a telephone conversation dedicated to bilateral relations between the two Countries. Located on the bank of the Golden Horn, not far from the headquarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Bulgarian church of Sveti Stefan is also known as the "iron church", referring to the material used to build...

On Friday night in France, a handful of young men disrupted an ecumenical service inside a Catholic church by praying the Rosary. It's the fourth such incident in the past three months. The recent incident occurred at St. Irénée Church in Lyon, France. (Irénée is French for Irenaeus; Saint Irenaeus of Lyon was a second-century bishop who helped bring the Faith to the Gauls.)  In a brief video, the young people can be heard chanting the "Hail Mary" in French. The footage shows armed police officers arriving at the church and getting ready to remove the Catholic protesters.    The local archbishop Cdl. Philippe Barbarin was present...

Proverb 4 (NKJV) Security in Wisdom 01 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, 00 And give attention to know understanding; 02 For I give you good doctrine: 00 Do not forsake my law. 03 When I was my father's son, 00 Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, 04 He also taught me, and said to me: 00 "Let your heart retain my words; 00 Keep my commands, and live. 05 Get wisdom! Get understanding! 00 Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. 06 Do not forsake her,...

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Pray for our American Heroes" Prayer Thread have Combined to Form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL Prayer Thread! Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'And this is the Confidence that we have in Him, that, if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Heareth us.' 1 John 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Psalm 86:11,12 Teach me Thy Way, O LORD; I will Walk in Thy Truth:...

Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith a huge successDETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) - Thirty-thousand faithful Catholics gathered in Ireland Sunday afternoon to pray the Rosary. Their intentions were for the preservation of the Faith and for the defense of the right to life. The Rosary on the Coast for Life and Faith took place this past Sunday, the Feast of Christ the King (in the Ordinary Form calendar). Organizers say over 30,000 people showed up at 295 registered locations, with an unknown number joining the initiative at their homes and around the world. As the event's name indicates, most registered...

Arameans, an ancient people with a distinct culture, have been severely persecuted throughout Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria for more than 1,400 years.Faded-green plants grow alongside dusty roads in the Aramaic-Maronite village of Jish. Pink and red potted flowers decorate the doorsteps of most homes, and the intensity of the midday sun enhances their color. It’s been several months since I returned from a trip I took to Israel with an organization called Passages. During the trip, my group visited this particular village in the Galilee region to meet with a community of Arameans, an ancient people with a distinct...

Two graduates from Harvard Divinity School (where else?) began a podcast called ‘Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.’ Some people are taking it way too seriously, Since time immemorial, people have found certain things profoundly fulfilling. Things like faith and family have helped us to look outside ourselves and to a higher power, making us feel whole. As young people today turn away from these things, it is no wonder that they are feeling empty and end up searching for meaning in fruitless and increasingly strange pursuits. One of the unlikely places to which they are turning to fill that...

Proverb 3 (NKJV) Guidance for the Young 01 My son, do not forget my law, 00 But let your heart keep my commands; 02 For length of days and long life 00 And peace they will add to you. 03 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; 00 Bind them around your neck, 00 Write them on the tablet of your heart, 04 And so find favor and high esteem 00 In the sight of God and man. 05 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, 00 And lean not on your own understanding; 06 In all your...

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The proportion of people who say they trust priests to tell the truth has reached an all-time low in Britain, while the number of those trusting politicians and police has risen, according to an Ipsos MORI survey.Only 65 percent of respondents said they trusted priests to tell the truth, according to the survey, conducted among 988 adults last month, The Times reports. Last year, 69 percent had said they could trust clergy, and in 1983, when the annual poll was first conducted, the percentage was as high as about 85 percent.The proportion of those who say they can trust politicians rose...

Proverb 2 (NKJV) The Value of Wisdom 01 My son, if you receive my words, 00 And treasure my commands within you, 02 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, 00 And apply your heart to understanding; 03 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, 00 And lift up your voice for understanding, 04 If you seek her as silver, 00 And search for her as for hidden treasures; 05 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, 00 And find the knowledge of God. 06 For the LORD gives wisdom; 00 From His mouth come knowledge...

The American public is sharply divided along religious lines over whether it is possible for someone to be a gender different from their sex at birth, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. Most Christians in the United States (63%) say that whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by their sex at birth. Among religious “nones” – those who identify religiously as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” – about six-in-ten (62%) say they think a person’s gender is not necessarily determined by the sex they are assigned at birth. The new analysis is drawn...