Free Republic

Some in the media have popularized the term “culture war,” giving the impression that the war being waged against Christianity is the same thing as a war against everything that is traditional. But in 2013, let’s change the term. Let’s call it what it is: “A war against Christ.” Certainly there are many American traditions rooted in Christian teaching and history. But mixing some traditions with what is purely Christ-honoring—although it may recruit support from non-Christian traditionalists or conservatives—dilutes the Christian dye. Take for example the ACLU’s war against Christians praying in public schools while obliging Muslims the ability...

This time I should’ve been the one listening. But listening can be tough sometimes when you’re an analyst and a commentator, and people around the country – listeners, readers, media, candidates, causes, businesses, etc. – come to you to find out why things are happening and what may happen next. Analysis and commentary is one of the few things in life I’m really good at. My car expertise begins and ends with changing a tire. Any toy that comes with the phrase “some assembly required” my kids immediately take to my wife. And when that much-anticipated Zombie apocalypse finally happens...

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Bob Morrison. Much of the Internet exploded in wrath over Pope Benedict XVI’s Christmas greetings to the Roman curia. Delivered in those historic halls painted by Renaissance artists, the Pope’s address was given to those tasked with administering the Vatican State and serving the Catholic faithful worldwide. “Rant!” “Hateful!” “Outrageous!” These were some of the milder expletives cast at the Pope—the ones we didn’t have to delete. This storm of abuse arose because of a papal statement extolling marriage and the natural family. Let us carefully note what is happening here. The acknowledged...

The United Kingdom has long been proud to host the Mother of Parliaments. Now, if Prime Minister David Cameron has his way, Britain will be home to the Progenitor of Parliaments. Britain’s Conservatives – the Tories – are deeply divided by the precipitous actions of their young, hip Prime Minister. Mr. Cameron wants to ram through Parliament a measure to end marriage in Britain. He won’t, of course, claim to be ending marriage. But this will nonetheless be the effect of his rule. But Cameron is facing a revolt. A big one. Anne Widdicombe spoke for thousands of Britons when...

A few days ago, going through some memorabilia of my mother's, I found the original promotional material for this syndicated column, launched in 1993. I was billed as "A New Conservative Voice for Young Women!" More than 17 years ago, I set out to explain how a Yale-educated young woman from a secular Oregon family could become a social conservative: Every life is precious. It is better to care for your children than to kill them. Divorce hurts children; it also breaks apart life's most precious commitment -- a family. Men and women are different. A society that pretends otherwise...

It's the beginning of a new year and a great chance to start over -- but how? Here are 10 ways to gain a fresh start in 2013. 1) What's past is past. Wipe all the disappointments of 2012 from your mind. They cannot be changed, and any amount of dwelling and wallowing will not help. Pretend you have amnesia and that it never happened, while retaining the lessons learned from the experience. Then do this again every month, every week, every morning. 2) Define success. Whether it be money made, time spent, lives changed, experiences created, every person has...

Most of America's problems are cultural. Even our economic problems stem from the cultural rejection of personal responsibility and the acceptance of collective responsibility. And none of our problems would be as bad if the church was still shaping the culture instead of merely responding to it. I was reminded of this during my annual holiday trip home to The Woodlands, Texas. I've attended Christmas Eve services four out of the last six years at the Woodlands Church (formerly Fellowship of the Woodlands), which is a Southern Baptist mega church that keeps its Baptist affiliation well hidden from the general...

As a Christian, it can be difficult to reconcile all the evil that happens in the world with an all knowing, all powerful loving God who could stop it if He wants, but chooses not to do so. If our hearts break for the innocent children who were senselessly murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary, how can a God who loves us not feel the same way? If any of us had known what Adam Lanza was going to do, we would have done anything in our power to stop him, so why didn't God? All too often we tend to...

With dark shadows of uncertainty descending upon the hearts of so many at the conclusion of 2012, one can only hope 2013 will be a year of promise. But even in these dark days, miracles do still happen, especially when people are willing to roll up their sleeves for the cause of freedom. This present darkness has its roots in our nation's moral decline, and the further we get from our moral center, the worse off we are as a people -- and a nation. It has taken some time to get where we are today. Over the years, conservatives...

A year ago, I resolved to spend 2012 praying more and, in my prayers, asking for patience. I have prayed, I have asked, I have received, but not enough. Ask my family, and they may attest that I must not have prayed enough, as my patience often runs thin. This year has been more than interesting and full of challenges. My father, Newt Gingrich, ran for the Republican nomination. Just one year ago this week, on Dec. 27, 2011, our family of four (me, my husband, Jimmy and our two children) boarded a plane from our home in Atlanta to...

Over half of voting Americans are pleased to see Barack Obama continue for a second term while just under 50% are wondering how voters could reelect him after such a dismal record of broken promises. As believers, we ask--Is God guiding us, punishing us, or reminding us again of what truly counts in the Kingdom of God. After all, at this time of the year, when we celebrate the birth of Christ when God chose to lower himself into our playpen that by His grace we might join the family of God, we wonder what God is doing to...

"The greatest gift which America has received from the Lord is the faith which has forged its Christian identity," Pope John Paul II wrote in a document on the Church in America in 1999. Here at the end of 2012, the words might be the rallying cry of the season -- a reminder, a challenge, a warning -- and a gift to be pondered born of a grotto in Bethlehem. And it's not just something for Christians. As the pope wrote at the time: "The evangelization which accompanied the European migrations has shaped America's religious profile, marked by moral...

BANGKOK -- Most of us can read about sex trafficking with a sense of detachment. It is only when we see its results up close that we are forced to confront the full extent of its horror. Nana Plaza is one of several "red light" districts in Bangkok. It is less than two blocks from my upscale hotel, but worlds away from it, a distance, you could say, separating Heaven from Hell. Girls -- and that's what many of them are -- wear almost nothing. They are there to please. My guide points out a three-story structure. "The higher you...

In the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, as family members and friends of the slain and wounded suffer unspeakable agony, people around the world are asking, “Where was God?” But very few are asking, “Is God hurting too?” According to Basilea Schlink (1904-2001), a German Christian leader who stood up to the Nazis, “Anyone who loves as much as God does, cannot help suffering. And anyone who really loves God will sense that He is suffering.” She found support for this view in the writings of the Japanese Lutheran theologian Kazoh Kitamori in his book “Theology of the Pain of...

Rome -- "Where people are, the Word of God must be," a priest from Washington state, in the holy city for a conference on the Church in America, told an Italian media outlet. The simple explanation did make clear why one of the most learned, reserved, holy men on the planet was dipping his toes into Twitter. When the pope sent his first post on the popular social media platform, two grandmotherly women from the Philippines were sitting near me. "Pope -- Twitter!" they said to me with radiant smiles. "Thanks be to God!" they continued. There was a language...

The current conundrum regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage is what happens when church and state are mixed -- the topics become confusing and confused. When I married my husband almost 15 years ago, I did so out of love and out of a desire to witness before God my commitment to him and his to me. The legal and tax ramifications did not enter into my head. But for couples of the same sex, the legal and tax ramifications can be very important because their legal rights differ from those of heterosexual couples in a number of ways, from...

As most of you know, during a football game last week Bob Costas lectured us po’ goofy Americans about the evils of a “gun culture” and how we need to evolve away from being obsessed with firearms. As soon as I heard that drivel roll off Mr. C’s tongue I ordered another 30/06, a sweet Walther PPK and a custom .416 Rigby turnbolt. Cowabunga, Bob. Thanks for reminding me to buy more guns. First off, let me help you, Robert: Guns do not kill people. Dads with daughters do. Oh, and BTW, Planned Parenthood kills a lot of people …...

My buddy, Glenn Beck, has made a great contribution to the TEA party movement and to a renewal of popular interest in our Founding Fathers and their ideals. For all that he deserves praise. But, I believe, he is making a serious error in abandoning the civil right of marriage. The Republican Party was founded in opposition to two historic wrongs. The party’s first platform in 1856 denounced “slavery and polygamy—the twin relics of barbarism.” Slavery was finally put down with a terrible toll—630,000 Americans dead in the Civil War. The new movie, Lincoln, tells the dramatic story of the...

My son, age 42, finally got married. His bride, in a shimmering turquoise maternity dress, walked down a red carpet with rose petals scattered by his 8-year-old twin nieces, to join a cantor who sang the Jewish blessings under a chuppah, a canopy held by a man on each corner, in a quasi-traditional wedding ceremony. The bridegroom broke the traditional glass under his foot, the guests cheered, and a jazz combo struck up syncopated rhythms heralding the happy couple. If that sounds more quasi- than traditional, the bridegroom gets credit for breaking through a social trend. More than 23 percent...

Whenever I write about the issue of First Amendment Freedom of Association, I defend the right of campus groups, not government administrators, to control their own belief structure and membership requirements. This often involves discussing real life cases with real life tension between religious groups and homosexual activists. This results in a slew of emails asking why a homosexual student would ever want to join a fundamentalist religious group. The short answer to the question is that homosexual activists don't really want to join these organizations. Some want to use them for political gain before shutting them down altogether. The...