Free Republic

Kurdistan has declared a safe-haven for Christian refugees, as Islamist militants extinguish the Christian presence in Iraq’s second city, Mosul. According to news reports, every Christian has finally been driven out of the city. Displaced Christians have expressed anger towards the international community for failing to protect them or offer asylum. One priest, who cannot be named, told religious liberty organisation, Release International, that he was furious that Britain ‘offered visas to terrorists’ but refused to grant them to Iraqi Christians. The priest was also dismayed that British jihadis were among the IS fighters. ‘There is no hope, no future....

Massachusetts demonstrated its abortion radicalism today as Governor Deval Patrick signed a new buffer-zone law under the guise of protecting public safety. In doing so, he makes the state less safe for the unborn and less free for the mother who feels pressure from the culture and due to her circumstances to abort her child. The state’s previous 35-foot buffer-zone law was struck down unanimously by the Supreme Court earlier this summer. In a statement, one of the legal counsels for the lead plaintiff, Eleanor McCullen, calls the new 25-foot buffer-zone law “a backdoor attempt to interfere with the constitutional...

The so-called "God Gap" between Republicans and Democrats continues to play an important role in partisan differences, according to a new Gallup poll.Among very religious Americans, about half, 49 percent, identify as Republican or are likely to vote Republican. Among nonreligious Americans, also about half, 52 percent, identify as Democrats or are likely to vote for Democrats. This God gap, sometimes called the "religious participation gap," has characterized party politics in the United States for at least the seven years that Gallup has been measuring it, Frank Newport, editor in chief for Gallup, pointed out in a blog post.Religiosity was...

In the Chronicle of Higher Education, a professor recently argued that Wheaton College’s accreditation, as well as that of several other religious colleges, should be revoked on the grounds that the schools’ required statements of faith violate academic freedom. I write not merely to defend Wheaton’s right to exist, but to express my gratitude that it does exist. Wheaton is an Evangelical Christian college in Illinois that houses the C. S. Lewis papers. I went there recently for a dialogue on C. S. Lewis and reading carefully, even reverently. While I am neither specifically Evangelical, like Wheaton, nor a...

A family at the Khazair checkpoint after fleeing from Mosul, Iraq on June 11, 2014. Credit: R. Nuri UNHCR-ACNUR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2014 / 04:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops have urged the U.S. government to assist Iraqi Christian victims of persecution, while France has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who have fled Mosul. “The Islamic State has taken control of large swaths of territory in northern Iraq, leaving a trail of destruction, burning and looting ancient churches and mosques, homes and businesses,� Bishop Richard E. Pates, the U.S. bishops’ chairman of International...

By the senior religious correspondent of Italian daily La Stampa, the startling news: those responsible for the intervention of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, after silencing their innocent victims inside the Church, now use the Police to intimidate journalists and bloggers -- and their family members ! -- in Italy. It is probably the most serious attempt by an ecclesial authority to make use of the police forces (and police that are members of the military forces) to limit the freedom of the press or public free speech by laymen in Italy in living memory -- the attempt is based...

How much do I love this video? Let me count the ways... 1. She's a mom who takes stereotypes and kicks 'em to the curb. 2. The story she tells is R-E-A-L, REAL. No apologies. She's serving up realness, people. 3. "I'm a conservative Southern Baptist from Alabama." 'Nuff said. 4. I just really love it.

Jessa Duggar is currently courting Ben Seewald, a very strong Christian with very strong views on things. His views on the Catholic faith, however, recently caused a social media scandal and Seewald deleted the comments he had posted to his Facebook page. "Where Catholics depart from Scripture, I will in no way support, but will call them out because I love them and desire that they be turned from their deadly errors," Seewald wrote. He also noted that he disagreed with the claim that Jesus' mother Mary was a "sinless being. I have nothing against individuals who are Catholic," he...

Concerned Women for America (CWA) was founded in 1979 by Beverly LaHaye, wife of conservative activist—and later Left Behind co-author—Tim LaHaye. Irritated by the ascendance of Betty Friedan’s National Organization for Women (NOW), LaHaye founded CWA to represent traditionalist women who balked at feminist “liberation.” Since its inception, the group has worked to bring “biblical values” to bear on the American political process, with special attention to issues of sex and gender. Over the past three decades, CWA has become a powerful political force, claiming over half a million members. Leslie Dorrough Smith is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at...

I n the United States, conventional wisdom holds that you should raise your child to be religious. Taking the kids to church is the default; leaving them home requires justification. Push parents to explain why they should pass on their religion—apart from a principled urge to keep the faith—and they’re likely to tell you studies prove that kids do better with religion than without it. Mark Joseph Stern Mark Joseph Stern Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers science, the law, and LGBTQ issues. But is religion really good for kids? That might depend on what kind...

Children of same-sex parents enjoy better levels of health and wellbeing than their peers from traditional family units, new Australian research suggests. In what they described as the largest study of its type in the world, University of Melbourne researchers surveyed 315 same-sex parents and 500 children about their physical health and social wellbeing. Lead researcher Doctor Simon Crouch said children raised by same-sex partners scored an average of 6 per cent higher than the general population on measures of general health and family cohesion. . . . Ms Phillips also questioned the the objectivity of the study's lead researcher....

LUBBOCK, Texas – Homosexual advocates are outraged that a Christian children’s ministry in Texas fired an employee after he introduced his boyfriend to a group of children under his care. Children’s Home of Lubbock is a non-profit west Texas ministry founded in 1954 and sponsored by Broadway Church of Christ in Lubbock. According to the church’s website, the children’s home is committed to bringing “hope, healing, a sense of worth and value to the lives of fatherless, abused, and neglected children.” “In spite of the negative behavioral responses, every child, and family of origin will be treated with dignity and...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Students in an Ohio State University psychology class are being taught that atheists have higher IQs than Christians, according to a report from a college watchdog organization. Campus Reform notes that a question from a recent online psychology quiz from the university implied that religious beliefs were directly related to IQ levels. “Theo has an IQ of 100 and Aine has an IQ of 125,” the quiz stated. “Which of the following statements would you expect to be true?” Students were then asked to select an answer from the following four options: 1.Aine is an atheist, while...

Bill Donohue comments on President Obama’s remarks last night at the White House honoring Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan: Last night the president said that Eid “reminds us of the many achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy.” He would have done us a service had he enumerated them. “That is why we stand with people of all faiths,” he continued, “here at home and around the world, to protect and advance their rights to prosper, and we welcome their commitment to giving back to...

Sandro Magister reports here on Pope Francis’ outreach to Evangelical Christians. Francis clearly understands that there are real points of contact with Evangelical Christians and Catholics and what interests me in his ecumenical outreach is how he builds relationships with individuals who are not necessarily “big players” in the Protestant world. He has diplomatic meetings and the obligatory photocalls with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leaders of other mainstream Protestant denominations, but he usually looks glum when he is doing so. On the other hand, the pope seems to have very warm and friendly relations with Protestants who are...

G-d's word is amazing. 3500 years ago He shows his sense of humor by giving the ancient Hebrews a word for "violence"....."HAMAS"! Ancient Hebrew word for violence

BEIJING (AP) -- Hundreds of police took down a church's cross Monday in a city known as "China's Jerusalem" for its many houses of worship amid a crackdown on church buildings in a coastal region where thousands of people are embracing Christianity. Evangelist Qu Linuo said he and about 200 others had rushed to the Longgang Huai En Church in the eastern city of Wenzhou to protect the building but peacefully made way for the police, who used a crane to remove the 3-meter-tall (10-foot-tall) red cross from its steeple. Authorities told the church the cross violated building height limits,...

PARIS: France said Monday that it was ready to welcome Christians from northern Iraq who have been told by the Al-Qaeda offshoot group now ruling the region to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death. Islamic State insurgents seized large swaths of northern Iraq last month, prompting hundreds of Christian families in Mosul to flee a city that has hosted the faith since its earliest years. "We are providing aid to displaced people fleeing from the threats of Islamic State and who have sought refuge in Kurdistan. We are ready, if they wish, to facilitate their...

Spare us the pieties and righteous indignation of Europe. The final solution turned out to be Israel and they can't handle it. Europe is in an uproar. Frankfurt, Germany is rioting, along with France, the UK and in other places where it’s Springtime for Hitler all over again. But even over here in America the streets are filling up with hateful marches and (slogans) against the Jewish State. Much of this is triggered by Muslims who arrive here with a grudge and stay with a grudge. But also…television termite Jon Stewart sleeps comfortably in his own bed but can find...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis returned to the southern Italian city of Caserta on Monday for a private visit to the Pentecostal community known as the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation. The Pope first met the founder of the community, Pastor Giovanni Traettino, during his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and over the past year he has met and received groups of Pentecostals at his Santa Marta residence here in the Vatican.

That Jesus commanded His disciples—of which I am one—to love “the poor” is beyond dispute. Equally beyond dispute, however, is that, regardless of what growing legions of left-leaning clerics would have us believe, Jesus never—never ever—addressed the issue of “inequality.” The head of my church and the most visible religious leader on the world stage today, Pope Francis, is as guilty a culprit as is anyone on this score. The Pope made headlines on more than a few occasions since his tenure began when His Holiness condemned “inequality” generally, and the traditional American economic system in particular, with a bluntness...

Polling consistently shows overwhelmingly support for Israel among American evangelicals, one of the factors that explain why the modern Republican Party has become so supportive of Israel. Critics have attempted to dismiss this support, however, by insinuating that it’s actually rooted in end times prophecies. David Brog, director of the 1.75 million strong Christians United for Israel, said that this couldn’t be further from the truth. “Any one who says that evangelical support for Israel is all about somehow speeding the end times, bringing Jesus back, [and killing or converting Jews] ... any one who does that is showing their...

Fr Amado Baranquel, pastor at Tripoli's Church of Mary Immaculate, appeals to his government after Islamists killed a 50-year-old Filipino "for not being a Muslim." The cities of "Benghazi and Tripoli are under the control of militias," with "tanks, the gunshots, and explosions."Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) - As Libya's political crisis plunges the country into ever greater chaos, a Filipino priest in Tripoli urges his government to ensure the safety of some 13,000 Filipinos trapped in the country. Fr Amado Baranquel, pastor of the Church of Mary Immaculate in the Libyan capital, issued his appeal after radical Islamists killed a Filipino in...

NINGBO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A fire destroyed one of China's oldest cathedrals in the early hours of Monday in the east China city of Ningbo, with no casualties reported, local firefighting authorities said. The fire broke out at 12:50 a.m. in the gothic-style Jiangbei Cathedral. The cathedral was built in the Jiangbei District of Ningbo,Zhejiang Province by a French bishop in 1872. More than 50 firefighters spent two hours putting out the fire, but only the frame of the main building survived, according to the firefighting division under the city's public security department. "The inside of the building is...

Hundreds have found shelter in areas between Mosul and Irbil that are controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga fightersIraqi Christians who were forced to flee the northern city of Mosul under threat of forced conversion or execution by jihadists have spoken of their terror as churches were turned into mosques and their homes and property confiscated. The expulsion of one of the world's oldest Christian communities provoked condemnation and anguish from figures as diverse as the pope and Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who lambasted the Islamic State (Isis) for its "criminality and terrorism". Last weekend Isis gave the city's Christians a...

The three most radical proposals are: 1) A new “pastoral solution” to allow divorce and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion; 2) A new “pastoral approach” that permits the baptism of children from same-sex couples, thus indirectly legitimizing these unions; 3) A recasting of natural law in “new language”, which threatens to undermine our entire ethical foundation of true morality. Indeed the Synod’s Working Document further displays the triumph of the New Theology over today’s Vatican; the same new theology that wrought havoc at Vatican II and continues its destructive path to this day.

FULL TITLE - "An Appeal for the Christians of the Middle East" French elected officials lead the way: will those elsewhere follow suit, or remain silent? As in Turkey in 1915, a Christian Genocide is happening once again. One week after the terrorists of the so-called "Islamic State" expelled all Christians from Mosul, no statement on the matter has been made by the heads of state or government of any major nation -- no permament member of the Security Council, no major world power... The only relevant exception was Prime-Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, for which he is to be thanked...

MONTREAL — Weight machines fill the space where once there were pews, and visitors sip nutritional green smoothies, not communion wine. But despite its dramatic transformation into a private gym and spa, the onetime Dominican St. Jude’s Shrine on Montreal’s St. Denis Street remains a temple of sorts. “It becomes almost a religion for some people,” Sonya Audrey Bonin, general manager of the Saint-Jude Espace Tonus gym, said this week. “I see it with yoga, with taking care of yourself, being careful about what you eat, having a healthy lifestyle.” And in a secular age when people are more likely...

With the last Christian being driven out of Mosul, Afghanistan, by the vengeful ISIS sect this week, and innumerable other incidents of discrimination against Christians in Africa, Asia and even the Americas plaguing the planet, one wonders if being a Christian is worthwhile? Wouldn’t it be better to be nothing than to be tracked down and slaughtered as has happened to Christians recently in Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan, India and Pakistan? The answer is a decided, NO! While respect for Christianity has diminished in large measure due to pedofile clergy, immoral televangelists and other scoundrels occupying some prominent pulpits, the Gospel...

The highest human rights court in Europe shattered hopes that it would judicially impose same-sex marriage when it told a male to female transsexual and his wife that a civil union should be good enough for them. European human rights law does not require countries to “grant access to marriage to same-sex couples,” according to a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in a case that tests the remote boundaries of possibility in law and fact. The parties to the litigation and supporters of same-sex marriage acknowledge the result was predictable. Nevertheless the judgment has a devastating effect...

ROME — Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian who was flown to Rome after her death sentence was overturned, is now dreaming of building a future in the U.S. “We will begin a new life,” Ibrahim told Antonella Napoli, head of Italians for Darfur, according to the daily La Repubblica. “My husband, a chemist, lost his job because of my event. Now we will go to New Hampshire where my brother-in-law Gabriel lives. They will help us. We will be all together as a true family.” Ibrahim, 27, was spared a death sentence for apostasy and then barred from leaving Sudan....

DES MOINES, Iowa – A newspaper editor who was fired earlier this year for opining on his personal blog that the Queen James Bible is an attempt by homosexuals “to make their sinful nature ‘right with God’” has filed a complaint with the federal government. As previously reported, Bob Eschliman has worked as the editor of the Newton Daily News since 2012, and has served as the publisher of the Clarinda Herald-Journal. But he found himself out of a job this past May when he spoke his mind about the Queen James Bible on his personal blog. “It’s pretty easy...

LOS ANGELES – A legal defense organization filed a lawsuit this week against California State University, alleging that the school fired a biologist for discovering scientific evidence that contradicted evolutionary theory. Mark Armitage was a scientist at California State University—Northridge (CSUN), where he worked as a researcher and supervised the school’s electron microscope laboratory. He was also a member of several scientific organizations, including the Microscopy Society of America, the American Society of Parasitologists, and the Southern California Academy of Sciences. However, CSUN suddenly terminated Armitage’s employment two years ago after he discovered soft tissue on a Triceratops fossil. Evolutionists...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A prominent atheist organization has convinced an Indiana school district to end teacher-led prayer at area public schools following a complaint from an anonymous parent. The Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) contacted the Vigo County School Corporation in Terre Haute last May after receiving a complaint from a parent after teacher Jeffrey Burress at Sarah Scott Middle School allegedly led prayer at an awards banquet. “Any prayers led by teachers at school-sponsored events must be stopped immediately,” the letter, addressed to Superintendent Daniel Tanoos, read.

WASHINGTON -- How much skin can a girl show before it's a sin? Modesty can be a sticky subject, even among Christians. But experts say being modest doesn't mean a woman can't let her beauty shine. In fact, that's the point. If you look around, it's easy to think modesty is dead. Everywhere we look images tell us less is more, and the pressure for young girls to look sexy has never been more potent. . . . "It all has to do with beauty, but beauty should really come from the inside out," explained Jaime Jamgochian, a worship leader...

There's no question that Emmy-winning sitcom "Modern Family" is influencing American cultural opinions on same-sex relationships through its characters Mitch and Cam, and that influence goes all the way up to the most powerful people on the planet. . . . "President Obama mentioned in an interview like three weeks ago, just casually, that Michelle and the kids watch Mitch and Cam and they're in tears," Stonestreet said. "To hear the leader of the free world, the president of the United States, say that and to know we have that sort of reach with people and that the people in...

Pope Francis blesses Meriam Ibrahim yesterday (via @bettapique) Yesterday Pope Francis received Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman who is condemned to death, while pregnant, for alleged “apostasy�. The touching encounter gained worldwide media attention and, in the words of writer Fr Dwight Longenecker, enabled millions to “put a face to the thousands of persecuted Christians around the world“.The meeting also drew attention to the Pope’s role in raising awareness of Christian suffering. But what exactly is Francis doing and how effective is it?Why does the problem warrant the Pope’s attention?Even those who follow current affairs closely sometimes fail to...

Phil Lawler at CatholicCulture.org voices what should be obvious: that by taking federal money and grants, the Catholic Church has put herself in a very awkward place. Money from the government always comes with strings attached, and those strings have tied the hands of too many  Catholics.Earlier this week, President Obama handed down an executive order that requires the cutting off of government funds from “any organizations that discriminate against homosexual or ‘transgendered’ persons. This executive order is not aimed solely at the Catholic Church; many others will lose federal contracts.” The U.S. Catholic bishops have opposed this move, but...

Our Lord Jesus Christ: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." St. Matthew 12:39 And He repeats: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign: and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet." St. Matthew 16:4 The Tomb of Saint Jonah the Prophet in Nineveh (Mosul) VIDEOOnce an Assyrian Church, converted into a mosque after the Muslim invasions, the tomb of the famous Old Testament Prophet who made the Ninevites do penance and recognize the...

Meriam Ibrahim arrives safely in Italy, meets Pope Francis July 24, 2014 08:17 ESTBy Catherine HarmonMeriam Ibrahim and her family meet with Pope Francis at the Casa Santa Marta July 24 (photo via Vatican Radio).The Sudanese Christian woman who was imprisoned and sentenced to death for apostasy arrived safely in Italy today with her husband and two young children, and met with Pope Francis at his Casa Santa Marta residence, Vatican Radio reports. Ibrahim was sentenced to death in May for converting from Islam and marrying a Christian. She gave birth to her second child while imprisoned and, while her...

A born-again Christian who was fired from South Tipperary County Council has been awarded €70,000 compensation after the Equality Tribunal found he was discriminated against over his religion. According to the council, John McAteer was dismissed after repeatedly failing to comply with senior staff members who told him to stop speaking about his faith to workers and members of the public during office hours. Mr McAteer said the tenets of his religion require him to speak to people about Jesus and share the Gospel with them. The complainant had been working as a civil engineer in the Clonmel Borough Council...

(Vatican Radio) The Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq has written to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking him to put pressure on international community to step up assistance to Iraq’s Christians and minorities targeted by Islamic militants. Below the text of the Patriarch’s letter His Excellency, I am writing to you about the current situation in Iraq and the Middle East, which is of big concern to me and I know it is for you and the United Nations. Let me also take this opportunity to thank you and the United Nations Security Council on...

© Allen Kakony If anyone imagined that the militia of the self-proclaimed Islamic Caliphate would be satisfied when it pushed all the Christians and Shiites from the city of Mosul, think again. According to the Fides news agency, Islamic State militants launched a mortar attack against the village of Tilkif in an attempt to break into one of the towns in the Nineveh Plain, where Mosul families found refuge. "The attack started from a village controlled by jihadists,” Father Paul Thabit Mekko, a Chaldean priest, told Fides, “but was rejected by the Kurdish Peshmerga troops. In the night, panic...

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has removed the crosses from all 30 churches and monasteries in Mosul and converted the Syriac Orthodox cathedral into a mosque, according to the Assyrian International News Agency. ISIL, also known as Islamic State and ISIS, took over Iraq’s 2nd-largest city in June and later ordered all Christians to leave, pay an unspecified tax, or convert to Islam. The jihadist group now controls 40% of Iraq and 30% of Syria.

Archpriest Chaplin invites those responsible and aware of the facts to "get rid of the burden of this guilt." The bodies of the victims traveling to the Netherlands. Patriarch Kirill calls for prayers to avoid a "great war".Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Russian Orthodox Church has launched an appeal to the people involved in the crash on July 17, in eastern Ukraine, to tell "the whole truth before God and the people". Meanwhile the tragic odyssey of recovery of bodies seems to have come to an end: 82 of the 298 victims are still missing, as reported by Dutch experts. The...

For over 10 years I lived the homosexual lifestyle, and for 34 years I have not. And there are very good reasons for that difference. To those who suggest that I never was homosexual, my response is, "Does sleeping with over 1,000 men count?" Oh yes. I was homosexual, though like most, I never wanted to have such attractions. I saw the narcissism and arrested emotional development all around me, and in me. Guys flitting around like Peter Pan were sometimes cute and funny, and certainly nonthreatening, but I wanted to be a grown up. I wanted to be a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Tom Petty says that no one has interpreted Jesus Christ’s teaching more incorrectly than Christians, as he was asked to explain the history behind his new song “Playing Dumb.” In an interview with Billboard, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer explained his inspiration behind the song, which will be featured as a bonus cut on the accompanying vinyl release of “Hypnotic Eye.” “Catholics, don’t write me,” Mr. Petty said. “I’m fine with whatever religion you want to have, but it can’t tell anybody it’s OK to kill people, and it can’t abuse children systematically for God knows how many...

He is not Catholic, but Pentecostal, a part of those Christian communities which are in breathtaking expansion all over the world. Little by little the pope is meeting with their leaders. From rivals he wants to become friends, to the point of asking their forgivenessROME, July 23, 2014 – When the news got out, and was confirmed by Fr. Federico Lombardi, that Pope Francis intended to make a private visit to Caserta to meet with a friend, the pastor of a local Evangelical community, the city's bishop, Giovanni D'Alise, was thunderstruck. He hadn't been told a thing. Moreover, the pope...

FULL TITLE: Chaldean Patriarch to Christians of Mosul:"We your shepherds will stay with you to the end." "Our suffering will be salvation to us and others." I’ll start my speech by the Word of Christ, as His Word is the source of strength and salvation of us, the poor of this lost world: "There is no need to be afraid, little flock" (Luke 12:32). Our present pain is associated with our Christianity and with the mystery of our Passover (i.e., Easter). Our suffering, if joined to the suffering of our Savior Jesus, "Man of Sorrows", will turn out to be...

It is normally Yorkshire which likes to refer to itself as God's Own County. But by the look of this stunning picture, Norfolk can now lay claim to the title. Amateur photographer Jeremy Fletcher took this extraordinary photograph which appears to show a God-like bearded man in the clouds. The 56-year-old took the image during recent turbulent weather conditions and says the clouds momentarily parted at sunset to reveal the image. Mr Fletcher, of Bray, Berkshire, was in Norfolk for a three-month work attachment took the photograph on an evening stroll along the beach at Snettisham . "I realised the...