Free Republic

PORTLAND, OR, April 8, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A soon-to-be opened natural foods store in Oregon is in danger of never opening its doors after homosexual activists publicized remarks its Mormon owner made online supporting true marriage and organized a boycott targeting not just the store, but its suppliers. Chauncy Childs had planned to open Moreland Farmers Pantry, an organic, locally-sourced grocery store, in the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland. But because of comments she made under a pseudonym during a discussion on Facebook last year in which she defended true marriage and said business owners should have the right to refuse...

“Strong and brave young women.”That’s what former U.S. Secretary of State and potential presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called the members of Pussy Riot, a Russian anarchist punk band whose members have been convicted in Russian courts of “hooliganism” and inciting religious hatred.Clinton posed with two members of the band while in New York for the Women in the World Summit. On Friday, she posted the photo on Twitter, saying,Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina served nearly two years in prison after their unauthorized performance February 21, 2012, in Moscow’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The two were stopped by...

Tunis (AFP) - It happens every April ahead of the summer marriage season, says Tunisian gynaecologist Faouzi Hajri -- desperate brides-to-be beg for surgery to make them "virgins" again for their wedding night. Fearing rejection as "used" women in a conservative Muslim country where premarital sex is nevertheless common, Tunisian women are increasingly opting for the sort of surgery offered by Doctor Hajri. But it doesn't stop them regretting the need to convince new husbands of their purity. "A woman's honour shouldn't be determined by a few drops of blood," says Salima, a 32-year-old who admits she had the operation...

One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,” Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits. His words could not be more clear: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be...

A week ago, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the Italian Episcopal Conference, defended the Vatican’s policy of not requiring clergy to report child sex abuse to the authorities. “The Vatican requires national laws to be respected, and we know that there is no such duty (to report abuse) under Italian law,” he told reporters. It was a disappointment because Pope Francis had just appointed a commission to advise him on sex-abuse policy. Bagnasco’s comments sounded like business as usual.

Claims of widespread child sex abuse at four Christian Brothers-run WA boarding schools will be investigated as part of a nationwide inquiry. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold its first WA public hearing at the end of this month. It will hear from dozens of former boarders who spent time as young boys at Castledare Junior Orphanage in Wilson, St Vincent’s Orphanage in Clontarf, St Mary’s Agricultural School in Tardun, and Bindoon Farm School.

Proverb 8 (NKJV) The Excellence of Wisdom Wisdom Is Everlasting01 Does not wisdom cry out, 00 And understanding lift up her voice? 02 She takes her stand on the top of the high hill, 00 Beside the way, where the paths meet. 03 She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, 00 At the entrance of the doors: 04 "To you, O men, I call, 00 And my voice is to the sons of men. 05 O you simple ones, understand prudence, 00 And you fools, be of an understanding heart. 06 Listen, for I...

In a stunning revelation Sunday senior officials of the Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, one of the largest and fastest growing churches in the United States, announced that their popular founding pastor Bob Coy, 58, has resigned after "confessing to a moral failing." An official statement on the resignation from the Florida church revealed that Coy confessed his failing to the church's leadership team last Thursday and resigned immediately after that. "On April 3, 2014, Bob Coy resigned as senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, effective immediately, after confessing to a moral failing in his life which disqualifies him from...

News coverage is now available for the resolution of complaints about Sister Jane Dominic Laurel’s controversial presentation at a Catholic high school in Charlotte, North Carolina. [SNIP] As far as I have been able to determine from the limited correspondence I received from some of those who objected to Sr. Jane Dominic’s presentation, the tactic chosen for the formal complaint was to insist that nobody was questioning Church teaching. Rather, the formal complaint was against the presentation of the alleged familial consequences of ignoring Church teaching. Such practical data was referred to in a variety of ways, such as “scare...

Late last week on the blog the I made mention of the sins that “cry to heaven for vengeance.” The traditional list, is summarized in the Catechism which states The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are “sins that cry to heaven”: the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of the people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan, injustice to the wage earner (# 1867). It probably does not surprise you that I got push-back from certain homosexuals who wrote in to “remind” me that the sin of Sodom...

CHARLOTTE, NC, April 7, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The bishop of Charlotte is backing a Dominican nun who has been at the center of a fiery controversy since last month when she gave a speech promoting Catholic teaching on sexuality to students at Charlotte Catholic High School. After a public meeting with diocesan and school officials turned ugly, with parents and students alike shouting at administrators over what they perceived as “hateful” remarks criticizing homosexual behavior, divorce and extra-marital sex, a spokesman for the diocese told LifeSiteNews that the nun in question, Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, did nothing wrong and will...

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice have announced that they are preparing to launch a new tour of hit show "Jesus Christ, Superstar." The musical started on Broadway in 1971 and is now being re-launched with an all-star cast featuring JC Chasez, Michelle Williams, and Brandon Boyd. The new production stars Brandon Boyd as "Judas Iscariot," JC Chasez as "Pontius Pilate" and Michelle Williams as "Mary Magdalene." Ben Forster, a relative newcomer to the U.S., takes on the daunting role of "Jesus Christ." The musical offers a unique interpretation of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, with Judas Iscariot,...

The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear a case involving a photography company's refusal to shoot a gay commitment ceremony. The owners of New Mexico-based Elane Photography, owned by Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin, declined the job due to their religious beliefs. The Huguenins said they would "gladly serve gays and lesbians" by taking portraits. But photographing same-sex marriages or commitment ceremonies would "require them to create expression conveying messages that conflict with their religious beliefs," according to their petition to the court.

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to think of the NEA and went to their site. That was where I happened to learn officially what I'd already suspected for awhile, that the most segregated schools in America weren't in the South. This is the NEA headline giving me the official news: "The Most Segregated Schools are in the South, right? Wrong." When I clicked on the link, though, what I received instead of the story was "Page not found," (which still, to this point, anyone can see since all is still the same to this point). The other news...

You probably saw my post Sister explains the situation. Spittle-flecked nutty, bullying, intimidation ensue. Sr. Jane Laurel, OP, gave a talk at a Catholic High School. Hell broke loose. If you want to sample her talks, go HERE. Her talk at the High School was “Masculinity & Femininity: Difference & Gift”. Presentations with that title are on that website. Listen to a few. At the High School, Sister included comments about homosexuality, divorce and single parents. Some people lost their minds. Read more here. I suspect that what happened, to build this up into such a thing, is that parents...

Proverb 7 (NKJV) The Wiles of a Harlot 01 My son, keep my words, 00 And treasure my commands within you. 02 Keep my commands and live, 00 And my law as the apple of your eye. 03 Bind them on your fingers; 00 Write them on the tablet of your heart. 04 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"; 00 And call understanding your nearest kin, 05 That they may keep you from the immoral woman, 00 From the seductress who flatters with her words. The Crafty Harlot 06 For at the window of my house 00 I...

Pope Francis spent three hours visiting a parish in Rome's Magliana neighborhood on April 6. Before hearing confessions and celebrating Mass, Pope Francis met with different groups from the parish, including youth, the sick and elderly, engaged couples, and parents of the recently baptized. In a meeting with former prisoners and drug addicts, the Pope “lamented the culture of waste, pointing out as an example the killing of unborn children in their mother’s womb,” according to Vatican Radio. During his Sunday evening homily, Pope Francis preached on the raising of Lazarus. “Only the power of Jesus can help us...

The idea of practicing virtue to help and respect others is not absent from any part of the world. It is a basic law found everywhere. Therefore, no one has an excuse to not follow it. If we ever expect to have peace in the world, this is certainly where we can begin. The importance of this was well stated by Mohandas Gandhi: "To injure a single human being is to injure those divine powers within us, and thus the harm reaches not only that one human being, but with him the whole world." This makes it clear that whatever...

Proverb 6 (NKJV) Dangerous Promises Seven Deadly Sins 01 My son, if you become surety for your friend, 00 If you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger, 02 You are snared by the words of your mouth; 00 You are taken by the words of your mouth. 03 So do this, my son, and deliver yourself; 00 For you have come into the hand of your friend: 00 Go and humble yourself; 00 Plead with your friend. 04 Give no sleep to your eyes, 00 Nor slumber to your eyelids. 05 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from...

Sister Jane Dominic Laurel was tossed under the bus so frequently last week that I hope she will be able to get the tread marks out of her habit. A vibrant teacher of Catholic orthodoxy on sexual morality based on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, she had given lectures around the country with no controversy until she gave a presentation at the hilariously misnamed Catholic High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and some parents and their spoiled brats decided to stage a massive hissy fit. The diocese of Charlotte wasted no time in cowardly apologizing for the...