Free Republic

Religion MLA-Style by: Bethany Stotts, January 07, 2009 When critiquing modern religion, two English professors prefer to characterize faith as a blight on society. Linda S. Kauffman, speaking at a panel titled “Religion Today,” interpreted John DeLillo’s Falling Man novel as reinforcing messages of religious tolerance and pluralism in the face of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Describing one fictional character’s reaction to her grandmother’s cancer, Kauffman said at the 2008 Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention that “The only resolution Lianne eventually comes to is to conclude that ‘there was religion, then there was God.’” “I take this to mean...

Atheists, humanists and others seeking to keep God and religion out of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony will get their day in court. A D.C. District Court judge announced late Monday afternoon that he will hold a hearing in a lawsuit that seeks to strip all religious elements from the Jan. 20 inaugural festivities. Last week, Michael Newdow, a California lawyer, physician and well-known atheist, led 29 other plaintiffs and 11 organizations in filing a lawsuit to remove the phrase “so help me God” from the presidential oath of office and eliminate the opening and closing prayers from the inaugural...

IsraelNN.com) In an unprecedented radio event, a chapter of Tehillim (Psalms) was read aloud during prime-time on IDF Army Radio, on behalf of the war effort. The broadcasters were Kobi Arieli and Avri Gilad, who represent the religious-nationalist and left-secular viewpoints, respectively, on the humourous/political "The Last Word" show. Arieli introduced the segment by saying that he had received countless SMS messages since last night asking him to recite Psalm 20 on behalf of the ground troops entering Gaza. Gilad then said that he, too, had received one this morning. They then agreed, tongue in cheek, that "in order to...

Psalms 143:7 Do not hide Your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Of all the biblical characters, David gives us a glimpse of a man who walked with God with great emotion in victory and in defeat. David never lost a battle throughout his many years of serving as king of Israel. In many of the Psalms, David often lamented about the difficult places where God had placed him. He talked of his enemies and the need for God to deliver Him. He talked of God's everlasting love for him. How...

While Catholics and Protestants both fall under the broad umbrella of Christianity, they practice their faith in different ways. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of regular churchgoers found that 25% of Evangelical Christians read the Bible on a daily basis along with 20% of other Protestants. Just seven percent (7%) of Catholics do the same. At the other extreme, 44% of Catholics rarely or never read the Bible along with only seven percent (7%) of Evangelical Christians and 13% of other Protestants. Consider the divergence among the faiths in other areas, too. (All the figures that follow are based...

President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation drew one kind of protest. Whether the evangelical pastor offers the prayer in the name of Jesus may draw another. At George W. Bush's 2001 swearing-in, the Revs. Franklin Graham and Kirbyjon Caldwell were criticized for invoking Christ. The distinctly Christian reference at a national civic event offended some, and even prompted a lawsuit. Warren did not answer directly when asked whether he would dedicate his prayer to Jesus. In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Warren would say only that, "I'm a Christian pastor so I...

In June, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a controversial survey in which 70 percent of Americans said that they believed religions other than theirs could lead to eternal life.

Check out the faith of every member of congress at the link, plus news of 250 Bush appointees at the Pentagon who will stay over into the Obama administration - and a historic day for Ted Nugent, perhaps. Oh, and some good LOW-fat potato chips too.

Antidisestablishmentarianism is on the march. Which is odd, considering there is only the faintest whiff of disestablishmentarianism to fight. The Archbishop of Canterbury set this hare running with his usual confused mumbling into his beard. To disestablish the church would be "by no means the end of the world", he said bravely. He hastened to add that he did not want the church sundered from the state right now. And he would oppose "secularists [boo, hiss] trying to push religion into the private sphere". This sent the Telegraph and Mail into a spin, claiming a devilish distestablishment plot on the...

Barack Obama may have an impossible burden of expectation on his shoulders, but one fervent wish of many US scientists should be easy enough to fulfil: simply lead the nation back into the "reality-based community".

God has had a lot of bad press recently. The four horsemen of atheism, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, have all published books sharply critical of belief in God: respectively, The God Delusion, Breaking the Spell, The End of Faith, and God Is Not Great. Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens pile on the greatest amount of scorn, while Dennett takes the role of good cop. But despite differences of tone and detail, they all agree that belief in God is a kind of superstition. As Harris puts it, religion “is the denial—at once full of hope and...

Here I want to correct the assumption made by Meacham and Miller that the case against same-sex “marriage” must be a Biblical one. Instead, both by faith and by reason one can see that genuine marriage must be heterosexual, that sexual acts outside of marriage are immoral, and that the state, therefore, should not declare any same-sex unions “marriages,” nor actively encourage sexual acts outside of marriage.

The majority of Britons do not believe the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus, a survey has suggested. Of 1,000 people questioned, 70% doubted the account, according to the British Market Research Bureau. Almost a quarter of people who described themselves as Christians shared their scepticism.

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A "miracle" at one local hospital has a lot of people talking. This picture was taken in the hallway leading into Presbyterian's Pediatric Cancer center. A little girl there was taken off life support, her mother in her room praying. At the same time, a nurse noticed a man standing in the hallway. When she pushed the security button to let him in, no one was there. According to a nurse, this happened several times -- seeing him behind the doors, then he would vanish. Someone thought he had wings, so they took the picture (on...

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Philemon 6 We don’t talk about this verse often but perhaps we should. I was reluctant to pull it out because I know that as a writer and a teacher, I must also be a doer. Unless you’re outspoken and naturally bold, this verse will be one of the hardest things to do. Please notice, however, that the verse does not say that you need to go on a street corner or in...

When a federal court decided that South Carolina could not issue Christian-themed license plates, it denied a long, historic and all-American tradition of cultural expression.

The most detailed and fascinating explication of Barack Obama's faith came in a 2004 interview he gave Chicago Sun Times columnist Cathleen Falsani when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois. The column she wrote about the interview has been quoted and misquoted many times over, but she'd never before published the full transcript in a major publication. (IF add with mouse pops up..click skip this add..)

If a Martian were to look at a map of the Earth’s religions, what he might find most surprising is the fact that such a map can be drawn at all. How strange--he might say to himself--that so many of the world’s Hindus are to be found in one place, namely India. And how odd that Muslims are so very numerous in the Middle East. With the disconcerting curiosity that is so typical of Martians, he might wonder what explains this geographical clustering. Do people move countries in order to be close to others of the same faith? Or do...

My wife, Mary, and I recently visited her parents who live in the hills of West Virginia. After a lovely few days with her folks, we prepared to fly home to Florida. Mary's mom's computer was broken so we could not download our boarding passes. We were forced to drive10 miles to Mary's sister's office to use a computer. To get there, Mary's mom instructed, “Take Grassy Lick Road”. As Mary drove the extremely hilly and winding road, we keep loosing the radio signal. So, we turned the radio off. We didn't see a single soul; only small farms, horses...

Congress Flunks History by: Bethany Stotts, December 12, 2008 According to the Institute for Intercollegiate Studies (ISI) 2008 Report on Civic Literacy, the average American gets a failing grade (49%) when asked sixty multiple-choice questions about American government, economics and history. “Fewer than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government, a minimal requirement for understanding America’s constitutional system,” write the ISI authors. The new Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) Exhibition Hall does educate visitors about how a bill is passed, methods of debate in Congress, and key issues that Congress has addressed in the past—but on the...

A federal judge says South Carolina must stop marketing and making license plates that feature the image of a cross and the words "I Believe." A federal judge issued a temporary injunction during a court hearing Thursday after opponents said the plates violate the separation of church and state. U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie said the case needs to be heard in court. In the meantime, the judge said the Department of Motor Vehicles cannot take any more orders for the plates.

Perhaps it is a no-win proposition for the president of the United States to give interviews on the subject of faith and religion. But it’s never been the style of George W. Bush to shrink from a challenge, and he decided a few days ago to sit down with ABC’s Cynthia McFadden to discuss the role of his Christian faith in his life and his presidency. For a guy who is not supposed to be eloquent, Bush displays a remarkably sound understanding of how God operates from a Christian perspective. He seemed to anticipate all the usual questions coming from...

President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with scientific proof of evolution. In an interview with ABC's "Nightline" on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son. About creation and evolution, Bush said: "I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God...

Introductory note from church friend telling others of Suzie's upcoming trip Please be praying for Suzie as she makes the monumental trip back to the land of her birth to share the Story with her family. If you haven't met Suzie, you sure need to make a point to seek her out. She is an amazing young woman with tremendous resiliency and a true testament to the power of God over you even when you don't know who He is quite yet. Suzie came to the US speaking very little English....became a US citizen and a college grad. She is...

California voters are worried sick about the state's economy, but they don't believe Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature can work together to solve California's fiscal problems, according to a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. More than 70 percent of those surveyed listed the economy and the state budget as the top problems facing California, but two-thirds were unhappy with the way the state's leaders have faced the state's policy woes, including an $11.2 billion budget deficit for the current year. "With 3 out of 4 voters putting the economy and the budget on top of...

...Religion is such a huge part of life for many people that it cannot be ignored even while they are at work. "What motivates a lot of people is closely related to their faith," says Joe Lewis, secretary of the Ford Interfaith Network (FIN) at Ford Motor Co. "It gives them a lot of energy and inspiration, and for some people, it's already the foundation of their moral activity, and you certainly want people to act morally in the workplace. So to keep it out means that instead of bringing the whole of the employee and the best of the...

Converted Muslim Tells Story Behind Papal Baptism Italian Journalist Recounts Journey to Catholicism By Luca Marcolivio ROME, DEC. 1, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The high-profile baptism of Magdi Cristiano Allam at the Easter Vigil ceremony presided over last year by Benedict XVI has a story behind it. According to Allam himself, his conversion journey was possible because of great Christian witnesses. One of the directors of the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, he spoke about his conversion and the experiences that led to it when he met with university students of Rome last week to tell the story of his path to...

A memorial ceremony for Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg took place Tuesday afternoon in Kfar Chabad, Israel. (Photo: Tamar Runyan) Thousands of people are reciting Psalms in Kfar Chabad, Israel, where the memorial service has just begun for Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg, the directors of the Chabad-Lubavitch center in Mumbai, Israel, attacked by terrorists last week. Their burial will take place afterwards at Jerusalem's Mount of Olives cemetery. A delegation of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries from around the world flew in for the ceremony. Rabbi Naftali Lipskar, from the Chabad-Lubavitch Youth Organization, mourned the victims as members of the extended...

It was obvious to observers around the world that one of the designated targets of the Pakistani Islamist terrorists was the Mumbai Chabad House, the one Jewish center in Mumbai. The 10 Islamic terrorists who came from Pakistan to India chose their targets with great care. If one assumes that the terrorists primary goals were to destabilize India, weaken growing Indian-Pakistani cooperation in fighting terrorism, and greatly increase Indian-Pakistani tension, hopefully to the point of military war between the two countries, every one of the targets made strategic sense. Slaughtering as many people as possible in Indias major economic center,...

After days of prayer and fear among Jews and good people everywhere, the horrible reality of the Islamic terrorist rampage in Mumbai was revealed in all its obscene and mindless savagery when members of Zaka entered the Chabad compound. Perhaps it is impossible for the average human being to understand the depth of evil represented by Muslim extremists. As an eyewitness told Ynet, the sight was unbearable even to the practiced eyes of those whose job it is to deal with the aftermath of murderous terror attacks: "The place was totally destroyed. Live grenades were all over the floor. Torah...

All terrorism is monstrous, but the murder of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg by "religious Islamic extremists" stands out for its unspeakable infamy. The deliberate targeting of a small Jewish center and its married young directors, whose only purpose it was to provide for the religious needs of a community and feed travelers, proves that those who perpetrated this crime are bereft not only of even a hint of humanity, but every shred of faith as well. The world's most aggressive atheists are more religious than these spiritual charlatans and pious frauds. When Osama bin Laden, whose beard masks the...

“Same Sex Marriage” and Its Threat to Religious Liberty November 29th, 2008 by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse Tactics used by gay marriage campaigners confirm believers’ worst fears. As wildfires blazed in California last week, anger at the outcome of the state’s referendum on marriage blazed across the country. After a hard-fought campaign over Proposition 8, which defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, a clear majority of California voters endorsed it, and the gay marriage lobby was enraged. Now, as same sex marriage campaigners take the issue back to the courts, it is unclear what the...

Dr Justin Barrett, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, claims that young people have a predisposition to believe in a supreme being because they assume that everything in the world was created with a purpose. He says that young children have faith even when they have not been taught about it by family or at school, and argues that even those raised alone on a desert island would come to believe in God. "The preponderance of scientific evidence for the past 10 years or so has shown that a lot more seems to...

We're all in pain. We're all stunned. But you are asking questions you know you cannot answer. Why? How will that help anyone? What we need now is strength and courage. What we need now is to regather our forces and to rebuild. We knew beforehand that we are at war with an enemy. We knew that the world needs to be healed, that it oozes with a venomous darkness, and that darkness will not sit passively as we steal away its dominion. We knew that the more we fight this darkness, the harder it will fight back. We didn't...

Dr Justin Barrett, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Centre for Anthropology and Mind, claims that young people have a predisposition to believe in a supreme being because they assume that everything in the world was created with a purpose. He says that young children have faith even when they have not been taught about it by family or at school, and argues that even those raised alone on a desert island would come to believe in God. "The preponderance of scientific evidence for the past 10 years or so has shown that a lot more seems to...

When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin promised to lead the nation with a "servant's heart," evangelical Christians immediately recognized her as one of their own. Whether before an audience of ministry students or on a national stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, the 44-year-old Palin speaks fluently about her faith, striking chords with phrases that evoke Christian virtue. Palin has called on people to pray for the cooperation necessary to build a natural gas pipeline across Alaska, labeled the U.S. mission in Iraq a "task that is from God" and argued that students should be taught the creation account...

The writer Andrew Sullivan sits across the table from you on Chris Matthews' Hardball praising gay-marriage as a symbol of the homosexual community's desire to join the mainstream. He is a Catholic, conservative in many things, and a highly articulate spokesman for his point-of-view. What do you say? The requisite conservative on pundit panels usually falls back on citing heterosexual marriage's 5,000 year history as society's basic building block. Marriage has always been between a man and a woman. 65% of the American people are against homosexual unions. Etc. That's not going to get it. It's a way of brushing...

More than 3,000 people, including longtime Mormon critic James Dobson of Focus on the Family, have signed an online petition thanking the LDS Church for its efforts on behalf of California's traditional marriage initiative known as Proposition 8. "Anyone who participated in this process has come to admire the competence, diligence and moral courage that so many members of your faith community displayed as part of this coalition effort -- as Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons and people of other faith communities all came together to fight this great battle for marriage," says the petition, which is addressed to LDS President Thomas...

I was interested to see that in the recent election exercise in the USA, although the Democratic Party won the presidency, and increased its majority in the Senate and the Congress, it lost ballots in three States which would have redefined the institution of marriage to include same-sex unions. In Arizona, Proposition 102 won by 56 per cent to 44 per cent; in Florida, Amendment 2 passed by 62.4 per cent to 37.6 per cent and in California, Proposition 8 passed by 52.2 per cent to 47.8 per cent in a hard-fought contest. In California, campaigns for and against Proposition...

Daily bombardments from the world seek to rattle and destroy the faith of the men and women of God. It is sad to say that many are now shipwrecked on the rocks of unbelief and self-pity. Satan in his attempt to over rule truth (reality), absolutes and the Eternal Person of God seeks to destroy the love and dedication of God's children. The Bible states: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), and: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,...

Saying thanks, it turns out, isn't just pious or polite. It's good for you ... But there's a catch: You have to do it even when the calendar does not say "Thanksgiving." "It doesn't really work if you do it only once a year," says Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2008-11-23-your-health_N.htm

Congratulations, Alamo-Girl, on the Release of Your New Book! There Is Only One Great Commandment Lulu Press, 2008 It is my honor and distinct pleasure to announce the publication of Alamo-Girl’s new book, There Is Only One Great Commandment, a prayerful work of Christian witness and devotion that speaks to how one centers one’s life in God. A non-denominational, non-sectarian work, it focuses on Christian living — on the growth of the Image of Christ in our souls, in our everyday lives. In There Is Only One Great Commandment, Alamo-Girl offers to conduct you on a spiritual walk through the...

CNN's Rick Sanchez asks a Kansas minister to explain his church sign declaring "Barack Obama Is A Muslim."

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit. Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. I'm bathing in holy water as I type. To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh. Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among...

Values Voters Betrayed? by: Jesse Masai, November 14, 2008 Is God a Republican or Democrat? Which party do those of faith favour? These were just some of the questions emerging at a recent event organized by Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly at the National Press Club. Moderating, PBS’ Kim Lawton asked for clarity on the role faith and religion had played in the quest for the White House, what impact it had on voters and what the results may mean for the future of the role of faith in American politics. Julian Zelizer, Professor...

Congratulations to President-elect Barack Hussein Obama for his symbolic victory. However ill gotten the gains, a black man was elected President of the United States of America. There is no racial barrier to the most powerful position in the world. That’s good news for anyone who imagined there was such a barrier in 2008. It may be catharsis for some Americans who suffer from white guilt. But, it won’t satisfy Liberals who see the world in their trinity of race, class and gender(s) identity politics. It won’t be enough for the Liberal human secularists who seek socialism, multi-culturalism, national subservience...

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 11 -- Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich Islamic kingdom that forbids the public practice of other religious faiths, will preside Wednesday over a two-day U.N. conference on religious tolerance that will draw more than a dozen world leaders, including President Bush, Israeli President Shimon Peres and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The event is part of a personal initiative by Saudi King Abdullah to promote an interfaith dialogue among the world's major religions. The Saudi leader agreed for the first time to dine in the same room with the Israeli president at a private, pre-conference banquet Tuesday hosted...

< snip > Evangelicals are a small proportion of the national population - just 7% of all adults. But they tend to capture the imagination and attention of the national media and political pundits. The survey data consistently show that evangelical Christians have among the highest rates of voting turnout. . . and are strikingly different from the rest of the population - even from other born again Christians who are not evangelical. As was true in the past two presidential elections, two-thirds of all evangelicals who were registered to vote (65%) were aligned with the Republican Party. One out...

A groundbreaking survey of Catholic college students published by The Cardinal Newman Society’s (CNS) Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education finds that most students on Catholic campuses reject key Catholic moral values and tenets of the faith, and significant numbers engage in pre-marital sexuality activity and the viewing of pornography. The study was released in the wake of Tuesday’s presidential election, just as many commentators are looking for reasons why the Catholic vote broke the way it did in such large numbers for a pro-abortion candidate. It is the only known nationally representative survey of students at Catholic...

Barack Obama - U.S. Senator for Illinois - obama.senate.gov 'Call to Renewal' Keynote Address Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Washington, DC Good morning. I appreciate the opportunity to speak here at the Call to Renewal's Building a Covenant for a New America conference. I've had the opportunity to take a look at your Covenant for a New America. It is filled with outstanding policies and prescriptions for much of what ails this country. So I'd like to congratulate you all on the thoughtful presentations you've given so far about poverty and justice in America, and for putting fire under the...