Free Republic

When workers at his Colorado business went to pot, Mark Brawner said it was enough for him to roll out of the Rockies and head for South Carolina. Brawner, who ran Little Spider Creations out of an old Denver warehouse for years until this month, told KUSA-TV Thursday he moved because pot was hurting his company. He said employees started to come to work stoned after the state legalized the drug for recreational use in 2012.

A New Jersey lawmaker wants to ban an organic herb fueling the latest drug craze among teens. As WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported, Kratom gives a high similar to heroin. The substance is legal and kids can buy it, Adams reported. The plant is related to coffee; it is native to southeast Asia and has long been used as an herbal pain reliever. But it is also psychoactive and can cause hallucinations and addictions, says New Jersey Assemblyman Ron Dancer, who wants to make the substance illegal. “According to the FDA, there is a known toxicity in multiple organs that...

Bloomberg - link and title only. Sub-title... "A culture war blows up, and Cruz intends to win it!" politics/articles/2015-04-24/ted-cruz-campaiA culture war blows up, and Cruz intends to win it.

The attacks continue against San Francisco’s archbishop and faithful Catholic teachers in his archdiocese who just want to be free to teach the truth with love in the City of St. Francis. Crisis readers are already aware of petitions to Rome to remove the faithful archbishop for requiring Catholic school teachers to follow Catholic teaching and for allowing a conservative priest to only have altar boys. These critics’ latest target is the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, one of the fastest growing orders of nuns in the United States, who teach in his diocese.The San Francisco...

“As the fight for religious liberty moves to Louisiana, I have a clear message for any corporation that contemplates bullying our state: Save your breath. … If we, as conservatives, are to succeed in advancing the cause of freedom and free enterprise, the business community must stand shoulder to shoulder with those fighting for religious liberty. The left-wing ideologues who oppose religious freedom are the same ones who seek to tax and regulate businesses out of existence. The same people who think that profit making is vulgar believe that religiosity is folly. The fight against this misguided, government-dictating ideology is...

New claims have surfaced suggesting that US Olympic herp Bruce Jenner started a gender transition process in the mid-1980s but stopped after he met and fell in love with Kris Kardashian, who became his third wife. Entertainment Tonight, quoting 'a source with direct knowledge,' said Bruce, now 65, talked about transitioning 30 years ago. By the mid-1980s, the Olympic gold medalist had allegedly started hormone therapy and electrolysis and had had plastic surgery to make his features look more feminine. Jenner found his own facial hair to be repulsive, the source told ET. The bombshell Entertainment Tonight report, broadcast Thursday...

Senator Ted Cruz has positioned himself as a strong opponent of same-sex marriage, urging pastors nationwide to preach in support of marriage as an institution between a man and a woman, which he said was “ordained by God.” But on Monday night, at a reception for him at the Manhattan apartment of two prominent gay hoteliers, the Texas senator and Republican presidential hopeful struck quite a different tone. During the gathering, according to two people present, Mr. Cruz said he would not love his daughters any differently if one of them was gay. He did not mention his opposition to...

An Oregon administrative law judge recommended today that the bakers who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding should be fined $135,000. “[T]he forum concludes that $75,000 and $60,000, are appropriate awards to compensate [the same-sex couple] for the emotional suffering they experienced,” wrote Alan McCullough, administrative law judge for Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries in his proposed order. Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa located in Gresham, Ore., say the fine is enough to potentially bankrupt their family of seven. The dispute began in January 2013, when Aaron denied Rachel Cryer a...

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal says he will respect the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage when it rules. Georgia has a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but the high court is expected to hear arguments on the issue next week. “Federal constitutional issues trump state constitutional issues, " Deal told "A Closer Look" host Denis O'Hayer. "So we will abide by whatever the Supreme Court rules as an interpretation of the United States Constitution.” On Wednesday, State Attorney General Sam Olens said he'll follow the U.S. Supreme Court's order. Deal also spoke about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,...

Millions of Americans are turning to prayer over the next seven days in a bid to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold traditional marriage between a man and a woman when it considers whether states can ban gay marriage during oral arguments April 28. The effort hits Washington Saturday when a "March for Marriage" takes place featuring speeches from leaders of several religions. In addition, networks of at least 145,000 pastors, many with enormous followings, several Evangelical and pro-marriage groups and Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz are leading the effort. While an easy decision for groups opposed to...

April 23, 2015 (CrisisMagazine.com) -- I am a very committed, very public advocate of marriage as a gender-based institution. Many of my fellow proponents of man/woman marriage cite religious liberty as an argument against redefining marriage. While I have great respect for those who promote this view, I must respectfully disagree with their assessment.The uproar over the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act demonstrates that religious liberty arguments don’t work anymore. I take no pleasure in saying this. But religious liberty arguments are not compelling enough to induce our fellow citizens to sacrifice something they value, namely, sexual liberty.I can think of...

Leaders with the Student Government Association at Youngstown State University said they decided to act quickly this week when posters showed up on campus promoting “Straight Pride” week next month. The posters contained profanity, which our station has blurred for viewers. The posters promote the event as a way of not showing the differences between students. Campus leaders said while they believe the posters were meant more as satire, especially since no names were associated with them, they determined the flyers went too far with their message.

Health officials are warning New Jerseyans about a street drug that has sent about 30 people to emergency rooms throughout the state. Authorities have issued the warning for synthetic marijuana, commonly known as spice or K2, which can cause severe agitation, seizures and renal failure. No one has died in New Jersey as a result of the drug. But a 22-year-old South Brunswick woman apparently suffered an adverse reaction on Tuesday.

Johns Hopkins University has banned Chick-fil-A from its campus saying that the restaurant is a “microaggression” against its students. In an 18-8 vote, the Student Government Association at Johns Hopkins voted not to “support the proposal of a Chick-fil-A, in a current or future sense, particularly on any location that is central to student life.” The anti-Chick-fil-A bill listed seven main reasons why the restaurant should be banned from campus. The first is that “the Student Government Association of Johns Hopkins University aims to provide a safe, supportive environment for all university affiliates now and in the future.” The fourth...

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases that will likely determine whether same-sex marriage will become a legal nationwide. The justices have rolled four cases together that will allow them to decide two questions: must states recognize other states' gay marriages, and does the Constitution require states to allow same-sex marriage? Some believe the justices have already decided to create that right before hearing the case. But others say the matter is far from decided. On Wednesday, a panel discussion at the Family Research Council was swimming upstream against conventional thought on the issue. That is, it's a...

Gov. Bobby Jindal declared that he won't be backing down from the fight over same-sex marriage or Louisiana's controversial religious freedom bill in an opinion piece for The New York Times Thursday morning. (April 23). Jindal said he will continue to back the legislation that some have called discriminatory, even if more businesses leaders come out against the bill. In the essay, he chastises conservative leaders in Arkansas and Indiana over bowing to pressure "That political leaders in both states quickly cowered amid the shrieks of big business and the radical left should alarm us all," Jindal writes.

The United States Supreme Court may soon liberate the biblically conservative church from old "prejudices" that should have long ago been "jettisoned," forcing it into "rightly bowing to the enlightenments of modernity," in the words of a recent writer in The New York Times. Homosexuality must be removed from the "sin list" and, according to an MSNBC commentator, traditional marriage proponents must be forced "to do things they don't want to do." Sadly, this crusade will be like the Marxist "liberation" movements that promised to "free" people, but really were about control and suppression. The culmination may come as the...

This NYT story, an obvious attempt at a gotcha that’ll damage Cruz among his base, will do more damage to the two businessmen within their own circle of allies, I suspect. It’s one thing for Ted Cruz, social conservative, to socialize with gay friends. It’s another for gays to socialize with — gasp — Ted Cruz, social conservative. During the gathering, according to two attendees, Mr. Cruz said he would have no problem if one of his daughters was gay. He did not mention his opposition to same-sex marriage, saying only that marriage is an issue that should be...

Bloomberg Title and Link Only http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-24/ted-cruz-introduces-bills-to-stop-gay-marriage Sub-Heading-- "The Texas senator wants to establish a constitutional amendment that protects states that define marriage as being between a man and a woman from legal action. "

A response to Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option”An atmosphere of gloom and despair pervades some cultural-conservative circles, and, at first glance, it’s easy to understand why. There’s no question that hysterical public assaults on Christians or others who dissent from leftist sexual orthodoxy are increasing in volume and frequency. It seems as if every day there’s a new story of an attempt to silence, intimidate, or publicly shame social conservatives. It’s not enough to express disagreement with cultural conservatives — they must lose their jobs, lose their businesses, and close their schools, unless they bend the knee to the sexual revolution....