Free Republic

I’ve never quite understood either the appeal of Mike Huckabee as a national candidate or why Mike Huckabee thinks of himself as a national candidate but, for the second time Governor Huckabee has made a bid to become the GOP’s nominee for president. In 2008, he made a creditable run in the early states but dropped out in March when it became apparent that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 48% would win Texas and the nomination. Huckabee had hoped to reprise his 2008 campaign this year but has been frustrated by one man: Ted Cruz. Cruz won the endorsement of Iowa...

When the mutant superhero Iceman came out last month - thanks to a one-two punch of his prying telepathic teammate and a time-travel visit from his younger self - he immediately became the most prominent gay comic book character. But his revelation was far from the only story line involving gay, lesbian and transgender characters in the fast-evolving world of comic-book narratives. In October, Alysia Yeoh, a transgender friend of Batgirl, and her girlfriend Jo were married in a simple ceremony unmarred by super-villainy; Peter Parker, perhaps better known as Spider-Man, attended the wedding of Max Modell, his scientific mentor...

President Obama has spent at least $700 million promoting homosexual tolerance in Africa.  Unfortunately, the initiative seems to have backfired: Since 2012, the American government has put more than $700 million into supporting gay rights groups and causes globally. More than half of that money has focused on sub-Saharan Africa — just one indication of this continent’s importance to the new policy. The U.S. support is making matters worse,” said Mike, 24, a university student studying biology in Minna, a town in centralNigeria who asked that his full name not be used for his safety. “There’s more resistance now. It’s...

In 1975, I took a college course in psychology. The professor invited a gay man to speak to the class. He explained to us, "I'm just like you, only I prefer to have sex with men instead of women." No one objected or protested. What did we know? The thesis seemed plausible then, and today most people regard it as axiomatic. The gay agenda is to convince the heterosexual majority that there are no appreciable differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals. We are to believe that sexual preference is merely a personal choice with no broader ramifications for society. The choice...

Cruz: Obama 'More Interested in Promoting Homosexuality in the Military Than He Is in Defeating Our Enemy'Morale in the U.S. military has “plummeted” in recent years because President Barack Obama “doesn’t support our soldiers,” won’t even name the enemy “radical Islamic terrorism,” and is “more interested in promoting homosexuality in the military” than in “defeating our enemy,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).During a conference call with Bishop E.W. Jackson of the National Emergency Coalition (NEC), Senator Cruz said, “You look at the military and one of the things we’ve seen is morale in the military under the Obama administration has...

Consider this a dangerous post, and a post that will be easily misunderstood. For here I am about to make a point that explores a biblical theme and apply it to today. But in so doing, I am “holding other things equal”—a technique which examines a certain aspect of a problem and focuses on that one thing, while not denying that other factors and issues are also at work. Simply put, part of the explanation is that God is permitting increased violence, and not restraining it, as a kind of chastisement on the increasingly secular West for our unbelief. This...

"Combat Effectiveness" Being Degraded by Obama's Military Policies By evaluating an overwhelming amount of evidence that has been building for 6 ½ years, the obvious conclusion personnel with extensive military experience will come to, is that Obama’s military policies have been degrading the finest US military fighting force in history. Over the last 6 ½ years, the US Armed Forces has been hollowed out by Obama, his Social Experiment On Diversity has severely fractured unit cohesiveness, his “Politically Correct Policies” have negatively affected unit morale, and the “Combat Effectiveness” of the US military is being degraded. Tip of the spear...

Katherine Jefferts Schori has opined that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are "Abrahamic faiths" and are therefore on an equal footing. However, Islam claims that it is not like Judaism and Christianity. Consider this teaching of Islam: "Asserting one's religion does not mean that you simply leave people to worship whatever they please without comment, like the Christians and the Jews do. It means that you must clearly and plainly disapprove of what they worship, and show enmity towards the disbelievers; failing this there is no assertion of Islam." (From Al Wala' wa'l Bara by Muhammad Sa'eed Al Qahtani) Al-wala' wa'l-bara...

In June this year SCOTUS ruled homosexuals could marry. That night the White House was bathed in the colors of the rainbow signifying solidarity with their homosexual allies. Yesterday America's oldest alli was hit with Islamic terrorism. IMany Americans changed their Facebook profile to reflect the colors of the French flag. Landmarks around the world displayed the French colors. The White House has done nothing. The White House response to the SCOTUS ruling and the Islamic attack on Paris is very revealing.

Events of recent memory have left my head spinning in disbelief—“Caitlyn,” same-sex so-called “marriage,” three women “marrying” in South America, and, yes, “gay Catholics” and “chaste gay couples.” With me, you may wonder how all this has emerged in a short few decades of social upheaval. I may have an answer: Society has constructed an unreal cultural landscape in which things that are not sexuality are passed off as sexuality. Even a majority of Catholics are, perhaps unwittingly, swallowing this unreality, hook, line, and sinker.The fabric of this false landscape is language—language that frames everyone and everything in a...

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20 From the LGBT Out Magazine: This is the first time a sitting president has been photographed for the cover of an LGBT title, a historic moment in itself, and a statement on how much his administration has done to advance a singularly volatile issue that tarnished the reputations of both President Clinton and President Bush. It might have tarnished this president, too, but for his late-hour conversion in 2012, which...

Why do Catholics in America support homosexuality proportionately more than the general population? Two reasons: lack of authentic Catholic teaching regarding homosexuality, and the Church omitted one of the clearest Bible verses on homosexuality from the lectionary. One of the very unfortunate results of the New Lectionary is that verses that might be deemed offensive have been omitted from our liturgical celebrations. (I've written about how three "offensive" Psalms were removed from the Liturgy of the Hours after 1971 here.) Verses against Homosexuality Omitted from Current LectionaryAn example of the silence of offensive passages is from the readings of last...

The truth of the Catholic Church regarding homosexuality is so far removed from the mainstream media’s debates over same-sex “marriage” it is nearly impossible to achieve an accurate reading of the Synod’s final document (Relazione Finale) without an in depth understanding of the Church’s teaching in this regard... ...However, all of that language is missing from the Synod’s final document. The war over language in the Synod hall was all about getting rid of clear language condemning homosexuality and other sins, and the liberals have achieved their goal in the final document. Gone are references to even the sinfulness of...

http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2015/10/23/why-cant-two-gay-brothers-marry-n2070299/page/full One of the strongest arguments against consensual adult incest is that incestuous unions could result in children with genetic defects, but since that concern wouldn’t apply to same-sex couples, an Irish political leader has argued that gay cousins should be allowed to “marry.” And that only begs the next obvious question: Why not gay brothers or gay sisters? As reported in the Irish Times, Independent Senator David Norris, himself gay, “has said that gay cousins should be allowed to marry each other following the same-sex marriage referendum.” “It would not take a feather out of me if two cousins...

http://www.gopusa.com/freshink/2015/10/23/a-few-transgender-students-tie-school-districts-in-knots-over-locker-rooms/?subscriber=1 Across America, public schools are faced with a challenge almost unheard of a generation ago: dealing with a student population that isn't sorted neatly into boys and girls. A small but growing number of students and their families are demanding that schools make accommodations for transgender youths, who were born with the body parts of one gender but identify with the other. Which bathrooms should they use? Should they play for the boys sports teams or the girls? Where should they change clothes and shower after gym class or athletic events? Palatine-based Township High School District 211 is prepared...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Asking for accommodations for religious freedom on marriage is not enough and is likely to fail, says Southern Evangelical Seminary professor Frank Turek. At the Southern Evangelical Seminary's annual National Conference on Christian Apologetics, Turek hosted a panel discussion on marriage titled "What Do We Do Now?" in which he asserted that Christians and supporters of traditional marriage have to make broader arguments about its benefits to society and family. "We can't let it all just be about religious liberty, because if we don't make the arguments that we are arguing for the good of all society...

Can someone really be “born” gay? Is there a “gay gene”? Does biology equal destiny?Clearly, the controversy over this issue is huge in our culture. While pro-gay activists and their allies want us to believe people are “born gay” and that sexual orientation is an unchangeable characteristic like race or eye color, a closer examination of the scientific evidence reveals that the “nature vs. nurture” debate over homosexuality is far from settled. At best, the evidence for a genetic and/or biological basis to homosexual orientation is inconclusive. In fact, since the early 1990s, numerous studies attempting to establish a genetic...

A century ago these times were imagined and they are now here. How do we live as Christians in such times? My mother-in-law is ninety-five years old. She has lived through several wars and numerous other cataclysmic events in her life. Nothing has her more perplexed, shocked, and almost emotionally stunned as the culture wars that have been waged and have changed our world. I see her sitting in church when I am visiting her, obviously wondering why all of her past memories have been lost in the present format of worship. She is not at home either in...

....Today at 3pm, we will be joined by Dr. Rosaria Butterfield to discuss sexuality, our culture’s objection to biblical morality, and what it looks like for Christians to speak the truth in love. Dr. Butterfield is a pastor’s wife, mother, homeschool teacher, and author of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and Openness Unhindered.

 A substantial number of those ensnared in "The Gay Lifestyle" were sexually abused as children.  In The Syndemic of STDs and AIDS among MSM, sympathetic author Dale O'Leary, author of One Man, One Woman: A Catholic's Guide to Defending Marriage, mourns the fact of the high incidence of childhood sexual abuse against those who later end up in a homosexual lifestyle. Childhood Sexual Abuse and Other Adverse Events  MSM are more likely to have been victims of childhood sexual abuse. Stall and associates note that a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has been linked to increase risk of HIV infection....