Free Republic

Against a grim backdrop of rising suicide rates among American women, new research has revealed a blinding shaft of light: One group of women — practicing Catholics — appears to have bucked the national trend toward despair and self-harm. Compared with women who never participated in religious services, women who attended any religious service once a week or more were five times less likely to commit suicide between 1996 and 2010, says a study published by JAMA Psychiatry. [snip] Among devout Catholic women — those in the pews more than once a week — suicides were a vanishing phenomenon. Among...

Teleios conducted a survey regarding faith and politics on two Instagram accounts frequented by Christian adolescents and millennials. Of the 336 responses the majority were: female (62%), <34 years old (79%), from the United States (80%) and evangelical (76%). The majority of respondents (70%) indicated their faith was 'somewhat' to 'very outreach oriented' with only 19% saying it was private. Almost 80% 'somewhat agreed' to 'strongly agreed' that their country was founded on Christian morality and ethics. Further, over 92% noted it was important to maintain Christian morals and ethics in society. Regarding the current American president, Donald Trump, 63%...

The Supreme Court’s ruling this Monday on my case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, helped determine that people of faith remain free to pursue our chosen vocations. . . . after decades of developing my craft, my home state took it away from me. My case started in 2012 when I was asked to design a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex marriage. I politely declined that request because of my religious beliefs about marriage. But I told the customers that I would sell them anything else in my shop, or create a cake for them for a different...

If Jesus is the Son of God, if God became man and walked among us, if the incarnate deity suffered and died to pay for the sins of the world, if He descended into hell and took the keys of death from the devil, if He rose again from the dead justifying all who become one with Him, if He rose into heaven and anointed the ultimate altar with His blood offering up the payment for the fall of man, what is there that can be of more importance than that? If out of all the millions of books ever...

A federal court has ruled that four Christian universities based in Oklahoma will not be penalized for refusing to provide health care coverage for the birth control services they consider contrary to their religious beliefs. In 2013, Mid-America Christian University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and Southern Nazarene University filed suit against the Obama administration over their mandate that forced most employers, regardless of religious convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception. A decision released Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted relief for the four universities, in large part...

As part of its Spring 2018 regulatory agenda released on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education signaled that it is considering rule amendments to expand the eligibility of faith-based institutions for federal grants. In a release titled Eligibility of Faith-Based Entities and Activities, DOE said: Various provisions of the Department’s regulations regarding the eligibility of faith-based entities to obtain grants from the Department or to participate in State-administered programs and the activities that they may perform unnecessarily restrict participation by religious entities in the Department’s grant programs by including requirements specific to such entities.

And church attendance by Roman Catholics is on the decline again. So, in fact, is the religious affiliation among Americans at large.The drop continues a long trend of declining attendance at mass. In the last three years, an average of only 39 percent of Catholics reported attending church in the past week. That’s down from an average of 45 percent just 10 years ago. And severely off from the mid-1900’s. In 1955, for instance, 75 percent of Catholics reported attending mass during the previous week.On the other side of the aisle, the new Gallup survey found that church attendance...

The Alabama Crimson Tide paid a visit to the White House the other day and it turned out to be one of those uniquely American moments. For the record – I happen to be a Tennessee Volunteer fan — but what the Crimson Tide did at the White House transcends football rivalries – even Southeastern Conference football rivalries. Coach Nick Saban gladly accepted President Trump’s invitation and said the entire national championship team would attend– regardless of political proclivities. “Coach Saban addressed it and just said, ‘Hey, we’re doing this regardless of your political thoughts,” offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher told...

Many years ago, I attended a dinner at a wealthy man's New York City condo with, among others, one of the most prominent and influential conservatives in American life. I admired this man then and I admire him now (he has since passed on). He was a major force for good in America. At one point, the subjects of God and religion came up, and I mentioned how essential God is to morality -- that without God, morality is subjective, a matter of personal or communal opinion. Having debated atheist scholars, all of whom agreed with this not-very-audacious observation, I...

In 1992, I learned the meaning of the Hebrew word “shachah.” 10 years earlier, I met my wife on an oil rig. I was a geologist, working on a well, she was an engineer. I had spent 11 years in college, going full time including summers, and never heard the message of the gospel. My parents, sister, and brothers were completely unchurched, and I actually did not know the meaning of Christmas or Easter, and certainly did not know who Jesus Christ was. I can’t say I was an atheist – I simply was a non-theist. So, when I met...

.... Religion is reclaiming cinema for sacred purposes at a rate never seen in history, with faith-based movies exploding from an obscure cottage industry last century into a multi-billion-dollar business. ..... "You can add faith-based movies to the list of genres that you can count on as box office, as much as you can count on any genre. But these movies have to come from an authentic place," comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told AFP. ....

The faith-based film "I Can Only Imagine" brought in $17.1 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, going far beyond early expectations and ranking third, behind "Tomb Raider" and "Black Panther." Based on the true-story of Christian artist Bart Millard's life, the family drama opened at 1,629 locations in the United States and received an A+ CinemaScore with an audience that was 67 percent female and 80 percent over 35. This is the distributor Roadside Attractions' highest grossing opening ever. "We felt that the film's inspiring story of hope and forgiveness made for a very compelling collaboration,"...

“I should be dead. Buried in an unmarked grave in Romania. Obviously, I am not. God had other plans.” So declares a lady who grew up under Communism. Her name is Virginia Prodan. I had not heard of her until she reached out to me through Facebook---to commend me for a recent column I had written about how Communism, despite its deadly track record, seems to be gaining some support among the young and naïve of the West. I have come to learn her story, to read her book, and to interview her on the radio. She has an important...

In 2008, John Michael Finley – a student at the prestigious performing arts school at Roosevelt University – came home to Lebanon after his spring semester only to hear bad news. His father told him that Roosevelt University was simply too expensive, and he’d need to finish his college education elsewhere. This news didn’t necessarily bode well for his aspirations as an actor, yet Finley took it in stride. But only a few weeks later, he and his family were shaken by tragedy. On May 31, 2008, Finley’s 21-year-old brother, Army Specialist James M. Finley, was killed in Jalalabad City,...

The GOD of the BIBLE versus The god of the Nation of Islam (NOI, Louis Farrakhan Sr., etc.) (Isaiah 44:8) “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Pet 1:16). Bible: GOD always existed and always will, and is the Creator, not a created being, and His essential nature is that of spirit, not flesh and blood, and who has always been and...

o the royal household, it is known as the QXB – the Queen’s Christmas broadcast. To millions of people, it is still an essential feature of Christmas Day. To the Queen, her annual broadcast is the time when she speaks to the nation without the government scripting it. But in recent years, it has also become something else: a declaration of her Christian faith. As Britain has become more secular, the Queen’s messages have followed the opposite trajectory.

Speaking the word of God brings increase in every area of your life. When you understand the process God has supplied you with to receive whatever you may need in this life you will have a greater appreciation of the word of God. 2Peter 1:3 says, God has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. How has God given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, by his word. The process of receiving what God has given us by his word is found in Mark 4:26-28 it operates on the principle of sowing and...

David Brody and Scott Lamb's latest book, The Faith of Donald J. Trump, A Spiritual Biography, published by Harper Collins, is an absolute joy to read. It chronicles the history of the 45th president’s faith in two parts. The first takes the reader down memory lane, following the footsteps of Trump’s grandparents and parents to understand the cultural and religious influences that shaped his Christian worldview. The second focuses on Trump’s more recent statements about God, faith, forgiveness, and personal relationships with Christian leaders. It details interviews with Trump during and after his successful presidential campaign, controversial statements, and...

RUSH: The Oprah is… It’s kind of like her weight goes up and down. Whether she’s gonna run for president becomes a yes or no depending on what day you ask her. I was with Mr. Buckley, William F. Buckley Jr. one day, and somebody asked him about Oprah Winfrey. He said (impression), “Ah, is — is — is that the, uh, the woman routinely, uh, uh, gaining weight and losing it? Is that who you mean?” “Yeah.” That’s how he knew who she was: “The woman routinely gaining and losing weight.” I think he said “reducing” instead of “losing.”...

In the aftermath of another school campus mass murder by a deranged individual, there were a myriad of reactions as people tried to come to grips with why this continues to happen. Many of the reactions are expected -- especially those speaking of the need for greater controls over the acquisition of guns. One reaction I don’t understand is why clergy are not calling for more religion instead of more gun control. By now you know that (to their credit) the FBI stated they did not act on a tip received on the Parkland, Fla., murderer that could have potentially...