Free Republic

Government ministers of Scotland are demanding that Catholic schools must be forced to teach students about same-sex marriage and about sex clinics which provide contraception, according to The Scottish Express. A government spokesperson reportedly said, “Denominational schools, like any other local authority schools, are subject to inspection by Education Scotland on the quality of their learning and teaching.” Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES), was quoted as saying, “The SCES has encouraged the Scottish Government to move beyond the grudging tolerance which this draft and the original guidance showed towards the right of Catholic schools to...

Is this a Christian country? There are likely as many ways to answer the question as there are stripes on our flag. Yes, the country was populated at its beginning with Christians looking for a place to worship freely. But that was before we became a country. Yes, many of our founding fathers were sincere professing Christians. But many of them were not. Yes, we are Christian in the same sense as all of Europe is Christian — it is the faith tradition of the majority in our country. But no, we have rejected the faith of our fathers. Yes,...

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, a U.S. district judge ruled against an Oklahoma law, claiming it is unconstitutional. According to the Human Rights Campaign, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

Today U.S. District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma’s ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. His ruling is stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not occur immediately in the Sooner State. ... The ruling comes on the heels of a year-long string of electoral, judicial and legislative victories for marriage equality. In recent weeks both the New Mexico Supreme Court and a federal district judge in Utah have ruled in favor of marriage for lesbian and gay couples.

Recent events have not been kind to the radical homosexual lobby and its efforts to impose "homo-normalization" onto America. For years, Big Gay has given the appearance of being an unstoppable juggernaut as it rolled from one court victory to the next, leaving behind it a wreckage of ruined lives of people who had the temerity to not show enough deference to the gay agenda. Yet, there are a few recent signs that this might be changing. It brings up the question, "Are average, everyday Americans finally tired enough of being bullied, hectored, accused, attacked, shouted at, threatened, and otherwise...

Head teacher removes minister from post at Glasgow Gaelic School after Facebook commentsA Church of Scotland minister has been removed from his post as chaplain of a Gaelic school after describing homosexuality as a "perversion" and a “disorder”. The Rev Donald MacInnes made the comments on a Facebook page seen by some parents of pupils at the Glasgow Gaelic School. They complained to the city council over the remarks, with one describing them as “absolutely disgraceful”. Mr MacInnes made the comments while criticising the Scottish Government's plans to legalise same-sex marriage. He said: "The overwhelming support of our Scottish politicians...

NEW YORK – The underlying assumption that has led to the increasing legitimization of same-sex marriage is now fueling a growing effort in academic circles to mainstream pedophilia. Once considered taboo, psychologists are beginning to walk down the same path LGBT activists established more than 50 years ago, insisting that pedophilia is an inborn “sexual orientation,” not a learned sexual behavior. If people are born with a sexual attraction to minors, the argument goes, their “orientation” should be accepted as normative and not stigmatized. James Cantor, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in the Law and Mental Health Program at the...

Much of this material was published earlier, in two parts. I hope this more cohesive and comprehensive form will be helpful to those researching and debating the topic. It's another slogan that passes for thought among the thinking-averse: "Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality...." The rest of the sentence remains unspoken for fear that laughter might break out. "Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality; therefore He approves of it." First of all, that's what's known as an "argument from silence;" a logical fallacy. By this rule Jesus would be made to endorse rape, cannibalism and lots of other nasty stuff....

Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, says he’s at odds on the issue of homosexuality with Pope Francis, who famously told reporters this summer, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge them?” “I think he’s right when he says he’s not the judge,” Graham said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding: “He’s not the judge. God is the judge.” Graham said he feels compelled to tell people about his belief that homosexuality is a sin — and declared that he wouldn’t shift on...

Dear gays: This is why people don’t like you. You’re welcome. As I’ve been saying… As Gay Pride revs up yet again, thoughtful people are asked to swallow, as it were, the same tiresome and illogical worldview held by so many professional homosexuals. Somehow, they manage to believe and promote the following contradictory “facts” at the same time: * Gays are marginalized victims who live in the shadows — with their very own corporately sponsored parades and festivals that shut down major cities once a year. * These pride parades have been going on for twenty years — BUT gays...

Sen. Mike Lee says a bill he introduced would prevent the Internal Revenue Service from denying tax-exempt status to any person or group that refuses to perform gay marriages. "What we're talking about here is the freedom of religious belief, the freedom of a church, for example, to adhere to its own religious doctrine so that it cannot be discriminated against by the government," the Utah Republican said in an interview with Newsmax. Lee said the federal government's failure to protect religious liberty — citing Obamacare mandates for contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs — was a key motivation for him to...

As the Left foams at the mouth over Phil Robertson, the Christian man who described Almighty God's take on homosexuality and other gross sins, their fear is becoming more and more apparent. They seem gradually to be realizing that they are a pernicious minority that only thrives because they are bolstered by Obama's morally corrupt federal government; intellectually lightweight media, devoid of principles; and interestingly, a general decency of American people influenced by the nation's Judeo-Christian roots. The masses, however, are becoming increasingly fed up with the Left's imposition of a twisted worldview that does not comport with anything resembling...

Real America is understandably abuzz over the Phil Robertson Controversy. Robertson, the patriarch of the Arts and Entertainment Network series "Duck Dynasty," has been accused of every possible crime against humanity ever since word of his interview with GQ magazine, containing his blunt assessment of homosexuality as sin, became known to the public. According to the homosexual advocacy, along with their parakeets among the media elite, Robertson was expressing "hate and intolerance" (their standard characterization of any disagreement with their lifestyle choices). Furthermore, in a clear expression of their real regard for "tolerance," they insist that he and his kind...

On Monday, Michael Eric Dyson appeared on The ED Show on MSNBC, this time hosted by Joy Reid. He was introduced as someone knowledgeable in American history and Biblical theology. Dyson, a professor at Georgetown, then insinuated that the Bible's teaching regarding loving Jesus is “interestingly homoerotic.” Dyson said: Look through the Bible, there's a lot of interesting things. The same men who sat up in a church of all men -- 'I put my God, Jesus over all women, I love Him more than I love her!' -- Hmmm... do you really? That sounds interestingly homoerotic to people who...

Determined to reinstate its anti-gay marriage law, Utah officials said Tuesday they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court "as soon as possible" after an appellate court refused to grant an emergency stay of a lower court ruling. U.S. District Judge Richard Shelby invalidated Utah's law last week and refused to suspend his decision. On Tuesday, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the state's plea for an emergency stay.

I have been thinking about this Duck Dynasty blow up. As some here know I am agnostic, a bit libertarian on social issues but a huge believer in the Bill of Rights. I tend to avoid social issues here because as a guest of this site I know that my views on some of it would be antithetical and could lead to my banishment as I can get very heated in my arguments. Which is the same with A+E and Phil Robertson. As much as he is an employee of there's he is also a guest. We know however the...

An Italian high court has dismissed the sentence in a case of pedophilia on the grounds that there was “romance” involved between the 60 year-old social services worker and the 11 year-old girl in his care. Pietro Lamberti, who works for the social services department of Catanzaro in Calabria in the south, was found in bed with the girl, described as “disadvantaged” in the press, by local police who raided his house in June 2011. The Court of Cassation overturned a five-year sentence for a conviction of sexual violence against a minor. Italy’s age of consent is 14 and rises...

A United Methodist pastor from central Pennsylvania who was defrocked after officiating his son’s gay wedding was invited by a California Methodist bishop to serve in her region in yet another sign of a split in the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination. Frank Schaefer said he is deciding whether to accept the offer from Bishop Minerva G. Carcano to join the California-Pacific Annual Conference. The region includes California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands. “I’m actually leaning toward it right now, but I can’t make that decision myself because it involves my entire family,” Schaefer said. “We are considering it very,...

If Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson is a bigot, then liberals need to (once and for all) provide scriptures that condone homosexuality, so as to support their contention that Christians can believe that the Bible - especially the New Testament (NT) - condones homosexuality. 1.) Several MSM talking heads have retorted that there are many Christians that believe that homosexual behavior isn't a sin. Fine. I imagine that since they claim to be Christians, then as followers of Christ (Christ - ians) they will surely have at least one scripture where Jesus (in the New Testament) condones homosexual behavior. 2.) If...

Why Pope Francis and the Catholic Church has more in common with Phil Robertson than with Robertson’s elitist critics. Two weeks ago, on the Second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist was identified in the Gospel reading as, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Mt 3:3). This week we heard another voice “crying in the wilderness”—except this time his name is Phil Robertson, and the wilderness he’s crying from is the backwoods of West Monroe, Louisiana. How can we account, though, for the vitriol leveled against Robertson by our cultural elites, the mainstream media and LGBT interest groups?...