Free Republic

At a time of year when faith is celebrated by most Americans, it may surprise some to learn that many students of faith and history believe we are living in a post-Christian age. It is not apparent at the local malls now so festively decorated, but it can be seen in some telltale cultural indicators. One of those is the number of attacks on people of faith, particularly Jews. Throughout much of the world today, where Christianity is in decline attacks on Jews are on the rise. In post-Christian Europe, Jews are often victims of a deeply entrenched anti-Semitism. Synagogues...

From Rush Limbaugh to President Obama, Ayn Rand and her book 'Atlas Shrugged' are recalibrating America.From Fox News to the passenger sitting next to you reading “Atlas Shrugged” on your commute to work, Ayn Rand seems to be everywhere. Since the economic collapse of 2008, the controversial novelist and philosopher has emerged as a leading intellectual on the right – and she’s been dead for nearly 30 years. Rush Limbaugh touts Rand as a prophet of sorts. “Ayn Rand, she wrote ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ ” he told his listeners. “The sequel, ‘Atlas Puked,’ we’re in the middle of it.” At the...

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...

Marriage is one of society’s foremost incubators of virtue — those attitudes and habits of behavior that promote health and well-being in the individual and all those with whom he or she interacts. Despite all the derogatory jokes about the oppressive, irksome nature of marriage, the data clearly show that married couples are healthier, happier, and live longer than those who remain unmarried. Social scientists try to parse out whether this association is the result of happy, healthy, positive people tending to marry with higher frequency or whether being married tends to make people happier, healthier, and more positive in...

A while back in (December, 1906) prominent members of New York's Jewish community organized a strike against Christmas exercises in the city's public schools. In light of state laws prohibiting the teaching of "religious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect," they asked the Board of Education to bar school-based festivities that had in the past included such elements as religious hymns, pictures of the Madonna, holly, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. (They also maintained that any "symbols of Judaism, Mohammedanism, or infidelism" should be banned as well.) When the Board of Education failed to respond to...

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...

Could same-sex "marriage" spell the end of religious liberty as we know it? Here is the chilling answer. As more states-like Iowa-approve same-sex “marriage,” conservatives are claiming that freedom of religion is in peril. Same-sex “marriage” supporters accuse them of engaging in hysterical gay-bating. Who’s telling the truth? Let me share some stories with you from an excellent news broadcast produced by National Public Radio. Then you decide. Two women decided to hold their civil union ceremony at a New Jersey pavilion owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association. This Methodist group told the women they could not “marry”...

Adam Lambert Furor Spreads to Gay Community REUTERS November 25, 2009 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert on Wednesday admitted he got carried away during his racy American Music Awards performance, as furor over his singing and dancing stoked a wider controversy in the U.S. gay community. More than 14 million people watched the gay, glam rocker close the live AMA telecast on Sunday with a performance that included Lambert kissing a male keyboard player and pushing the head of another performer into his crotch. Complaints poured in to the ABC TV network that aired the show,...

Julia Roberts is getting $15 million to make Eat, Pray, Love, but Scarlett Johansson was only offered $250,000 for Iron Man 2. Kim Masters on the tactics Hollywood is using to slash salaries. You’re Scarlett Johansson. You’re pretty and you’re pretty famous, too. And you’ve just been offered the part of the Black Widow in Iron Man 2! That’s got to be some payday, right? How about $250,000, which is what Marvel Studios offered Johansson and Mickey Rourke to be in the film? The stars negotiated the number up to something over $400,000. Still, it’s not hard to imagine that...

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.

Moral degeneration refers to the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of morality. The condition of moral degeneration is seen as concomitant with the decline of the quality of life, and the decline of nations. In the words of Judge Devlin, "an established morality is as necessary as good government to the welfare of society. Societies disintegrate from within more frequently than they are broken up by external pressures." The United States America is seen to be somewhat unique in the degree of moral foundation which was it founded upon, with a strong Biblically based influence,...

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...

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.

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...

A who's who of Christian right leaders, including Chuck Colson and Tony Perkins, have partnered with a handful of more moderate religious voices, including National Association of Evangelicals President Leith Anderson and New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, to release a document that reasserts the primacy of three culture war issues for Christians in the public square: abortion, marriage, and religious liberties. A handful of those who signed the document, called "The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience," gathered today at the National Press Club for the launch event. The declaration reads like a throwback to the culture wars of...

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...

WASHINGTON – Nicole Kidman conceded Wednesday that Hollywood has probably contributed to violence against women by portraying them as weak sex objects. The Oscar-winning actress said she is not interested in those kinds of demeaning roles, adding that the movie industry also has made an effort to contribute to solutions for ending the violence. Kidman testified before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that is considering legislation to address violence against women overseas through humanitarian relief efforts and grants to local organizations working on the problem. Asked by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., if the movie industry has "played a bad role,"...

I have some confessions to make, not because any of you readers are particularly interested in my views; but rather because I think some of you are in the same boat: Have you stopped reading, listening, watching, and paying attention to most of what now passes for establishment public or popular culture? I am not particularly proud of this quietism (many Athenians did it in the early 4th century BC and Romans by the late 3rd AD), but not really ashamed of it either. Shut up and see a movie? Take Hollywood protocol—make a big movie, hype it, show it...

Three times in the past several weeks, fortune has seemed to beam on conservatives, in unexpected and unprompted ways. Not that they've won much, but their tormentors keep losing. Three days in fall 2009 damaged or neutralized three liberal institutions, whose powers have now been curtailed. Break number one came on September 26, when Roman Polanski, on his way to collect a lifetime achievement award from the Zurich Film Festival, was intercepted by Swiss police and tossed into prison, pending extradition to the United States, which he had fled 30 years earlier to avoid a jail sentence for drugging and...

Today's enlightened liberals are not so much into deconstructing rival iconic figures as they use to be. It may be because they are too busy fashioning alternative narratives, and sometimes even deliberately forgetting the lugubrious past history of some of their own cultural icons. Of course, there are grave errors inherent to this obscurantist approach, chief among which are the squandering of vitally important lessons for posterity, and a scoffing at wisdom that may otherwise be retained as a legacy they can proudly call their own. The indignant bickering from the Hollywood glitterati at the belated arrest of acclaimed Film...

"Formal theological discussions about Vatican II will begin later this month, it was announced today. Why is Benedict XVI allowing this new debate on the most vexed questions of the Second Vatican Council?"

10 Reasons Why Pastors Avoid the Culture War Posted By Doug Giles On October 13, 2009 @ 5:05 am In Culture, Entertainment, Featured Story, Religion | 45 Comments As far as I’m concerned, a silent or waffling pastor in today’s paranormal climate is unnecessary. I don’t care how much the minister likes kitty cats, candy canes, and if he cries at Celine Dion concerts. Look, Voiceless Vicar, if you’re not currently in the middle of this crucial cultural squabble, pointing out what’s putrid and cheering on what’s proper, then you’re Dr. Evil in my book. Given that the culture-dividing issues,...

Trick-or-treating -- or turning tricks? Trashy Halloween kiddie costumes -- from a slutty thigh- and chest- baring "French maid" number to a skin- tight, mid- thigh "Major Trouble" skirt-and- shirt fatigues set -- have parents fuming. "If girls get used to dressing like this, they might want to become a whore after Halloween," howled Harlem mom Malinda Martinez, 33, who has a 6-year-old girl. "They're far too grown up for kids." The marketing message is even more blatantly sexual. "The Navy ships won't want to leave the dock unless this cute sailor girl is on board," reads one catalog entry...

Can't post Bloomberg content but looks like Coppola thinks Hollywood is in big trouble. Awww. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajbmamDBit14

a friend has been sending me ecstatic emails about the speech. I just watched it—the speech is every bit as good as the ones candidate Obama gave, as the performance candidate Obama delivered at the HRC/Logo Democratic Primary Debate, as the open letter to the LGBT community that candidate Obama released before last November's election. Imagine all the wonderful things this guy is going to accomplish if he ever actually gets elected president. In other words: sorry, folks, nothing new to see here. Pledges, promises, excuses. Lip service. Other reactions...

In Polanski Case, ’70s Culture Collides With Today By MICHAEL CIEPLY October 10, 2009 LOS ANGELES — At the end of “Manhattan,” the celebrated movie romance from 1979, a teenager played by Mariel Hemingway delivers some good news to the 42-year-old television writer, portrayed by Woody Allen, with whom she has had a long-running sexual affair. “Guess what, I turned 18 the other day,” said Ms. Hemingway, in what was framed as a poignant encounter. “I’m legal, but I’m still a kid.” That was then. Roman Polanski’s arrest on Sept. 26 to face a decades-old charge of having sex with...

In today’s New York Times arts section, film industry correspondent Brooks Barnes analyzes Hollywood’s attitude to fugitive sex predator/Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski. Most prominent artists have lined up behind the push to let the famed director off the hook for having drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl over 30 years ago. Polanski fled the country to avoid sentencing after he plead guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor and has since lived in a cushy exile in Europe. After his recent arrest, Polanski is currently sitting in a Swiss jail awaiting possible extradition to the United...

First, there is the God issue. Dr. Collins believes in him. (sic) Passionately. And he preaches about his belief in churches and a best-selling book. For some presidential appointees, that might not be a problem, but many scientists view such outspoken religious commitment as a sign of mild dementia.

PRESCHOOLERS turning themselves into sexualised "mini-adults" by wearing bras, nail polish and lipstick are requiring psychological help in increasing numbers. Child development experts said young girls were now entering their "tween" years between being a child and a teenager at the tender age of six - five years earlier than previously. Experts said that by age six, girls needed branded clothes, at seven they wanted styled hair, by eight they were beginning diets, at nine they were styling their hair and by early teens were engaging in sex or sending sexually explicit text messages. The Daily Telegraph yesterday found crop-top...

Reactions to the extradition of the fugitive filmmaker show a sharp divide. From Michael Moore's politics to on-screen sex and violence, the movie business is constantly being assailed for not sharing the country's values. Rarely has the morality argument been as rancorous as with the Roman Polanski case. Hollywood is rallying behind the fugitive filmmaker. Top filmmakers are signing a pro-Polanski petition, Whoopi Goldberg says the director didn't really commit rape, and Debra Winger complains "the whole art world suffers" in such arrests. The rest of the nation seems to hold a dramatically different perspective on Polanski's weekend capture. Even...

Ya gotta hand it to the Left. After 40 years of all-sex-is-rape, all-men-suck feminism, we now know when drugging a 13-year-old girl and sodomizing her in a hot tub against her will is A-OK: When the rapist is a Hollywood bigwig. Which leads John at Verum Serum to ask a provacative question: What if Roman Polanski had drugged and sodomized Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?The far left seems to have a lot more sympathy for the convicted rapist than it does for the actual victim. This is the same crowd that believed Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes and members of...

Adultery did not fare well during a September 25 “Nightline” broadcast about the issue, but that didn’t keep ABC’s Cynthia McFadden from asking an evangelical pastor if he felt “a little intolerant” for his conservative views on the subject. McFadden moderated a debate that tried to answer the question, “Are we born to cheat?” but appeared to mock Pastor Ed Young’s responses whenever she could. The proponents of adultery who appeared on the panel included Jenny Block, an author and participant in an open marriage, and Noel Biderman, the president and CEO of Ashley Madison, a Web site designed to...

SHOCKING sex assault allegations against year 1 and 2 boys have caused worried parents to pull children out of a Brisbane primary school. At least three year 1 and 2 boys are alleged to have sexually assaulted their classmates in separate incidents at the school on the city's northern outskirts since June. One girl was pulled out of the school after she was allegedly assaulted, with another year 1 student, by two boys in the school toilets on June 16. The girls' underwear was removed by the year 1 boys, who then allegedly performed sex acts on the girls. Police...

NPR commentator Frank James has chosen to excuse the the ACORN personnel who are willing to help an assumed pimp and prostitute to set up a brothel, import under-age Central American children to become sex slaves, avoid taxes and scam the banks. He attributes this to the culture of the black underclass. It's also important to keep in mind that ACORN's workers are coming from the same low-income neighborhoods the organization serves, with all that entails -- poor schools, high crime and the sorts of social problems that have been documented for decades. NPR has been accused of racism by...

I'm writing this in regards to the increasing sexualization of royalty. Ever since Diana the young royals of Europe have been increasingly subjected to the standards usually held by celebrities. Royalty, like celebrity, is expected to be 'hot, young, sexy," and instead of dignified and doing their duty, they are supposed to have excellent PR. They are now supposed to socialize with celebrities, be on their good side, and prove their 'relevance' in the same manner as celebrities do.

Here is video of television and movie star Chuck Norris delivering a 9/12 message on the occasion of the massive 9/12 "March on Washington" today. Norris said he was speaking as a "concerned citizen." He said he is concerned about the astronomical Federal Debt, that could grow to as large as "20 trillion dollars." He also spoke out against the "reinterpretation of America's religious history" - the attempt to "secularize our society." Norris praised Glenn Beck, saying "we stand behind you Glenn." Norris said we, like a martial arts fighter, must "visualize victory" in order to "win this cultural war."...

Virginia’s got a $100 billion backlog of highway construction projects and a decades-high 7.3 percent (and rising) unemployment rate, but what are its two gubernatorial candidates sparring over less than two months before Election Day? Abortion, the role of women in society and the nature of sin, of course. Trailing in the polls, Democratic state Sen. Creigh Deeds has spent the past month sniping at his Republican opponent, former Attorney General Bob McDonnell. First it was about abortion. Deeds has conducted a series of public events to highlight his contention that McDonnell’s anti-abortion views are outside the Virginia mainstream. Now...

SHE’S 87, STILL KICKING, and almost certainly still dieting, and the old bird has earned herself a scholarly biography the hard way; if Helen Gurley Brown’s journey from the outhouses and tent revivals of the Ozarks into the cocktail parties and four-color closings of the Hearst Corporation can’t make a corker of a story, nothing can. Bad Girls Go Everywhere, by Jennifer Scanlon, a gender and women’s-studies professor at Bowdoin, is a comprehensive report on HGB theory, which is in a revisionist phase. It rejects the earlier view, long held by giants of the women’s movement such as Gloria Steinem,...

...Huge mistakes of political self-control occurred and the media that is most sympathetic to the political class joined in the condemnation of these “barbarians.” Frankly, my sympathies were with the “barbarians.” Reminded me of other tea parties and arguments over government in the past. Hope to have more of it...

Students Get New Assignment: Pick Books You Like David Walter Banks Lorrie McNeill gives her middle school students a wide choice of reading in Jonesboro, Ga. More Photos MOTOKO RICH Published: August 29, 2009 JONESBORO, Ga. — For years Lorrie McNeill loved teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the Harper Lee classic that many Americans regard as a literary rite of passage. But last fall, for the first time in 15 years, Ms. McNeill, 42, did not assign “Mockingbird” — or any novel. Instead she turned over all the decisions about which books to read to the students in her seventh-...

As our society abandons the conservative values that make women into ladies, women with grace and dignity have become an endangered species—especially on today’s college campuses. The kind of woman who inspired Tom Jones’ song “She’s a Lady” has become an antiquated figure from America’s past. Most popular songs about women today are more like “Youse a Ho” by Ludacris. I am often surprised by the social behavior of certain young women who call themselves conservative. Conservatism is not just an ideology; it is a lifestyle. On college campuses telling the difference between liberal and conservative women is nearly...

Mothers blame 'cheap booze' culture as double rapist gets 14 years The mothers of two 13-year-olds who were raped by a stranger after getting drunk during an X Factor sleepover have condemned Britain’s culture of “cheap booze”. By Nigel Bunyan 28 Aug 2009 Both victims initially kept their ordeal a secret, but one of them eventually broke down in front of her mother 48 hours later. The girls smuggled wine and beer into a bedroom while watching the ITV1 talent show, and later went out to meet school friends on a Saturday night. But on their way they were lured...

Paganism and Witchcraft in Youth Culture Written by Crusade    Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Mrs. Linda Harvey Mrs. Linda Harvey is the founder of Mission: America, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to help in dealing with cultural issues such as feminism, homosexuality, education and New Age influences. She is the author of Not My Child—Contemporary Paganism and New Spirituality and her articles have appeared in USA Today and Whistleblower. Mrs. Harvey is a frequent guest on radio talk shows and has testified on legislation before the Ohio General Assembly on numerous occasions. Crusade: How would you define witchcraft?...

Ah, the ‘60s, the hippie-drenched era recently dredged up as part of the Woodstock 40th anniversary news coverage. What a shame that so much of what the public knows of the turbulent decade is either an exaggeration or outright falsehood. Enter The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Sixties by Jonathan Leaf. The author debunks much of the conventional wisdom regarding the decade, from the culture at play to the Vietnam War. It’s easy to blame psychedelics abuse for the mass hypnosis regarding such an important chapter in American history. But Leaf calmly shares some cold, hard facts concerning the era....

Montclair might be one of New Jersey's more progressive communities, but even in a town known for its tolerance, a working fetish "dungeon" -- complete with a spanking bench, "interrogation cell" and stocks -- doesn't belong on the busy downtown strip. So says the township attorney in a decision that has bitterly disappointed Ed and Karen Dougherty, aka "Master Ed" and "slave Duchess," the owners of Dressing for Pleasure, a Bloomfield Avenue shop that sells fetish clothing and tools of the bondage-and-discipline trade, from flogs and paddles to masks and spiked collars. For years, the couple hosted discreet "play parties"...

The baby boomers are trotting out the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the "Summer of Love," complete with all that soggy and groggy Woodstock nostalgia. Perhaps the singular statement of that summer was the music and the open celebration of "free love." All of which, believe it or not, is preferable to what is on the air this summer. Start with the big hit "Birthday Sex," which brought quick fame (which is to say, infamy) to a singer named Jeremih. (Why must these people always celebrate illiteracy?) His basic lyric is "Don't need candles and cake / Just need...

A Hollywood conservative has headed East. It's "Freedom Concert" time for Jon Voight. The Academy Award winner will join Sean Hannity in Cincinnati and Atlanta this weekend to honor fallen soldiers and present college scholarships to surviving children. Mr. Voight -- a warrior himself in many ways -- has been cogitating about the state of America, meanwhile. "There's a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil war in our own country?" Mr. Voight tells Inside the Beltway. "We are witnessing a slow, steady takeover of our true freedoms. We are becoming a socialist nation, and whoever...

It is a chilling question and one that has been troubling me for about two weeks. I read the “low grade civil war” phrase as a declarative statement from a commenter on a news story about the Congressional Town Hall meetings and it has been rattling in my brain ever since. I’ve been wanting to post about this question and today seemed like the right time since now I’m not the only one worried about this question. In today’s Washington Times, actor/activist Jon Voight makes this statement: “There’s a real question at stake now. Is President Obama creating a civil...

(WASHINGTON, DC – C-FAM) Patrick Fagan, family scholar at the Family Research Council, told the World Congress of Families last week in Amsterdam that there are two competing cultures of sexual morality and that both have a profound effect on culture and public policy. Fagan called one culture “monogamous” and the other “polymorphous” and he warned that one is “snatching” children from the other. Fagan told the audience that “the culture of the traditional family is now in intense competition with a very different culture. The defining difference between the two is the sexual ideal embraced [by each].” He described...