Free Republic

Part I in a series of widely held beliefs that are either untrue or meaningless: In every age, people say and believe things that aren't true but somehow become accepted as "conventional wisdom." The statement "I'm not ready to get married" is a current example. Said by more and more Americans between the ages of 21 and 40 (and some who are older than that), it usually qualifies as both meaningless and untrue. And it is one reason a smaller percentage of Americans are marrying than ever before. So, here's a truth that young Americans need to hear: Most people...

God's Plan for Marriage and Family - A Homily for the Feast of the Holy Family Msgr. Charles Pope December 26, 2015 Here in the middle of the Christmas Octave, the Church bids us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. On the old calendar, the feast of the Holy Family fell on the Sunday after Epiphany, which makes some sense. For it is a bit odd with the new calendar to read a gospel portraying Jesus at twelve years of age when we celebrated His birth just a few days ago. And then next week, on the Feast...

LJUBLJANA - More than 60 percent of Slovenian voters opposed legalizing gay marriage in a referendum Sunday marked by low turnout, according to near-complete results from the electoral commission. The outcome marked a setback for gay rights activists who had hoped to see the largely Catholic nation become Europe's first ex-communist country to give same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt. With 99.9 percent of ballots counted, 63.48 percent of voters said 'no' to approving the legislation, which already passed in parliament earlier this year. More than 1.7 million people were registered to vote on an issue that has...

According to the modern idea, marriage is merely a consenting relationship between adults, for whatever purposes those adults define. This idea has given us same-sex marriage. As many have pointed out, plural marriage is the next logical step. Why should a marriage so understood be limited to two people? Many same-sex marriage advocates characterized this “slippery slope” argument as fear-mongering while the debate over same-sex marriage was waged in the courts. Now that the debate is over, “stategery” no longer demands such reticence. The endorsement of plural marriage is baked into the cake of the endorsement of same-sex marriage—and that...

Liberals are all about emotions, not facts. Since that's the case, liberals do a terrible job of coming up with any sort of evidence to support their agenda. More often than not, when they do come up with a great statistic that's repeated over and over, it's fake. If you want some examples, here are five phony statistics you'll regularly hear from liberals. 1) One in five college-age women have been raped.  How do you create a "rape epidemic" that isn't actually happening? Easy. You don't ask women if they've been raped; you just expand the definition of rape so...

During a lunch break at The Atlantic LGBT summit Thursday, attendees were invited to watch an informal panel discussion on transgender civil rights. Panelists included several transgender activists, as well as several non-trans panelists included for their expertise on legal issues (such as Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Chai Feldblum) or proximity to the conversation (such as an Atlantic staff writer who covers social justice). This, it turns out, was problematic.

A judge in a British Sharia court told a married couple the wife must divorce the husband, have sex with a different man and wait three menstrual cycles before marrying the husband again in order to validate the marriage, it has been claimed.In her report on the growing number of Sharia courts in the UK, Dutch academic Machteld Zee, says judges are enforcing harsh rules on women who want to divorce abusive and neglectful husbands, and accuses them of allowing fundamentalists to enforce their ideology.Breitbart London wrote about her initial findings earlier this month, but now new detail has come...

Whether we’re talking about the redefinition of marriage or taxpayer funded abortion and contraception, one question is crossing many Christians’ minds: where will the next challenge to religious liberty arise? Among some, there is a growing concern that the next threat to religious liberty will be a cyber showdown.

HOUSTON, Texas – The National Organization for Marriage, one of the most active groups defending traditional marriage in state legislatures, Congress, and the courts, has endorsed Ted Cruz for President. Cruz, a supporter of NOM's Presidential Marriage Pledge, has a strong and proven record of standing up for religious liberty and the right of states to decide the definition of marriage."Sen. Ted Cruz is a proven champion for marriage and religious freedom and someone we can absolutely count on to fight to restore marriage to our nation’s laws and defend the religious liberty of the tens of millions of Americans...

Dear Marriage Supporter, I have some exciting news: After a great deal of consideration, NOM has decided to endorse Sen. Ted Cruz in the race for president of the United States! Here is a link to our press release, issued moments ago. We couldn't be prouder to support Sen. Cruz. Not only has he signed NOM's Presidential Marriage Pledge, but he's the sponsor of one of our key agenda items — a constitutional amendment to restore the right of states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman — and he's a co-sponsor of another...

Yesterday (yes, December 7) marked my 10th year anniversary of marriage. Earlier today I was talking with a friend who underwent a bitter divorce a few years ago. While my wife and I have had MANY arguments (usually at least once per day), we have never gotten close to even thinking about divorcing. After 10 years I think I can qualify on how to have a happy marriage. Here are a few key points, some of which might seem counter-intuitive: 1. Don't have too much in common. Yes, that is correct. What happens when a husband and wife have too...

One third of marriages in Turkey involve underage girls, according to a women’s rights lawyer speaking at a conference that was called to tackle the problem. “There are 181,036 child brides in our country, unfortunately,” İzmir Bar Association Central Executive Board Member and women’s rights advocate Nuriye Kadan said during the conference in İzmir on Dec. 6. The actual number is probably far higher because many child marriages are performed with only the presence of an imam and are not officially registered with authorities, she said. “Nearly 20,000 parents filed applications to marry off their under-16 girls in 2012,” Kadan...

Democracy and common sense teach us to seek the truth by listening to one another. If we will not even provide a room for people who want to talk with one another because we do not like what they say, then democracy is impossible.When I was a junior in college and looking for a summer job to defray the next year's tuition, I answered an ambiguous ad in a newspaper and found myself selling high-quality pots and pans, china, and cutlery to unmarried working girls. It actually was a good job for a good company. I ended up selling $20,000...

Tim Tebow recently split with girlfriend Olivia Culpo — a former Miss USA model — and the reason is said to be the former Broncos quarterback’s abstinence pledge. Yes, that’s right, folks. You now live in a culture where a girl doesn’t want a man who respects her enough to wait until he is ready to commit to her, faithfully for life, and not just use her body for his own personal pleasure. Sports media, as you might expect, had a field day mocking Tebow and his desire to please God with his sexuality. From NewsBusters: Tim Tebow’s relationship with...

MANATEE -- A 45-year-old woman was charged with domestic abuse after running over her ex-husband's foot after an argument about having sex in the rear of a storage unit, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Wendy Luper was married to the victim for 12 years, divorced and has gotten back together with him in the past six months, according to an arrest report. The two went to a storage unit in the 5700 block of 14th Street West at 6:54 p.m. Saturday to get some of the victim's stuff. While parked in the rear of the facility, Luper undressed...

It was less than two months ago that we brought you “The Mystery Of The ‘Missing Inflation’ Solved, And Why The US Housing Crisis Is About To Get Much Worse.” In it, we documented the inexorable rise of rents in America which, thanks to the housing crisis, has gone from being  a society of homeowners to a society of renters, wiping out two decades of “progress” on the homeownership rate in the short span of seven years. Of course to a certain extent (scratch that, to a “great” extent), the market sowed the seeds of its own destruction by creating...

Alabama can be an interesting place to be Catholic. On the one hand, it's challenging to live within an overwhelmingly evangelical community that generally believes our faith isn't authentic Christianity. "If he's a Christian, it's despite being Catholic," is how I've heard it said. On the other, we have great opportunities to learn from the thriving protestant communities that dominate the Bible Belt – their knowledge of scripture, how they make church fun for families, and how they build thriving, mission-minded congregations. But perhaps the greatest challenge, and opportunity, is when we're questioned by a knowledgeable and well-meaning protestant. While...

Look, you can be as close with any consenting adult as you like. I sure don't care what they're doing behind closed doors, either- why let things you cannot possibly control bother you? But 'marriage' exists for the purpose of creating families and providing a stable environment for the raising of children- and deep down, everybody knows it... Government needs to step-away from the moral side of this topic -which is really none of it's concern- and issue ANY and all couples 'civil partnership' arrangements, as is done in -of all places- France.  People can pick whatever church they like...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMfrLFirGWc

Fr. Mark Hodges Mon Nov 2, 2015 - 1:47 pm EST Russian Orthodox patriarch: Americans for natural marriage are ‘Confessors of the Faith’ MOSCOW, November 2, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – According to Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Christians who stand for the ancient traditions of their faith are becoming "Confessors of the Faith," in the mold of the mutilated and exiled St. Maximos (+662 AD). Kirill met with famous American Evangelical leader Franklin Graham last week, with whom he shared his admiration for American evangelicals' defense of Christian morals. Kirill called those who suffer for their stand supporting...