Free Republic

Ninety-four percent of Americans believe that "being married and having sex with someone else" is morally wrong, the highest figure on a list of eight actions that CNN asked 1,010 adults to ethically classify earlier this month. "Cheating on your taxes" followed adultery with 90 percent of Americans classifying it as morally wrong. "Having an abortion," "engaging in homosexual behavior" and "looking at a pornographic magazine" came in at 57, 50, and 46 percent, respectively. Glenn Stanton, the director for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family, explained Americans' lack of consensus on what made an action morally wrong...

The former president of Poland and leader of the Solidarity movement is not enamored with President Obama and his leadership. The Hill: Former Polish President Lech Walesa says America no longer leads the world "in terms of politics and morality." Walesa, in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, spoke negatively about President Obama's leadership skills. "When he was elected there was great hope in the world. We were hoping that Obama would reclaim moral leadership for America, but that failed. America does not lead the world in the area of morality," Walesa said. Walesa, who is promoting a new biopic...

As of today -- Jan. 1, 2014 -- a Democratic administration led by President Barack Obama will use a regulation permitted and funded by a Republican-majority House of Representatives to prohibit Americans from freely exercising not just Christianity, but virtue itself in the United States of America. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines virtue as "conformity to a standard of right" -- and, in truth, there is only one such standard. Individuals are born and die, nations rise and fall -- yet it remains. Nor can it be escaped -- no matter how devoutly men such as Obama seek to annul it,...

Well, that only took decades. Who knew that the Leftist Playbook would finally get seriously winged by a duck caller? [SNIP] As the year ends, the un-suspension of Phil Robertson is exactly the moment to understand that what Mr. Robertson and his family — who rallied to their patriarch — have accomplished is no small thing. This “controversy” in fact had nothing to do with gays or African Americans. In fact, the Robertson-A&E dust-up was merely the latest in a long — very long — line of leftist attempts to impose supposedly sophisticated moral pretensions on the rest of the...

It is no secret that our culture as a whole is descending into an ever-deeper sexual confusion. Recently two examples of this were in the news.In the first article which I summarize here, a Canadian couple have chosen to raise (impose upon?) their child a “genderless” upbringing. For now, they have refused to tell any of their family or friends the sex of their child, whom they call “Storm,” and groom and dress the infant child ambiguously.I would like to provide excerpts of a much longer article here and comment as we go. As usual, the article is in bold,...

While substituting for Sean Hannity recently, Neal Boortz went into another of his "libertarian" rants against "social" conservatives. Taking note of the recent flak involving Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty," while pleading that the fate of the republic may depend upon Republicans retaking the U.S. Senate, Boortz forebodingly predicted that Republicans would fail in this task because, "they [Republicans] simply cannot resist the urge, the impulse to get into this social conservatism." Long known for his disdain of the "social" (I prefer "moral") issues, like many others, Boortz masquerades as libertarian while in reality being nothing more than a liberal...

On December 4, 2013 Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million member American Federation of Teachers(AFT), spoke on C-Span about bullying, particularly of gay students. Ms. Weingarten said, with surprise in her voice, that she doesn't understand why gay students are still bullied in public schools, because in 2013, "It's cool to be gay." She also said she is gay, and now speaks about it openly.As a psychotherapist, I tell clients that being surprised by another person's behavior often results from erroneous assumptions about the person, usually because you see them as you want them to be rather than as they...

...The Bizarro World comes to mind as I watch the erosion of the moral foundation of freedom in the United States of America. I grew up believing that the United States of America, with its Christian roots, emphasis on a Natural Moral Law and recognition of inalienable rights which come from God, was a beacon for all Nations. In particular, for those Nations which had succumbed to the lies of atheistic Marxism. That included Russia, once the greatest proponent of atheistic communism. I still hope this is the case. However, we have clearly lost our moral compass as a Nation....

Indeed, under this president, America's chief export has become immorality. Sexual deviancy, murder of the unborn, redistribution of wealth and other evils have been sanitized and propagandized as "basic human rights." Thus, when this arrogant man stands before the U.N. and decries those nations that refuse to embrace his special brand of pagan relativism, we shouldn't be surprised if those nations push back.

Vladimir Putin sought to cast Russia as the moral arbiter of the world on Thursday, as he hit out at America’s “non-traditional values” and its influence across the world. In an annual state of the nation address, the 61-year-old Russian president said his country did not aspire to be “some kind of superpower”. “We do not infringe on anyone’s interests, we do not force our patronage on anyone, or try to teach anyone how to live,” he said. His comments amounted to an oblique rebuttal to the growing international movement against Russia’s restrictive laws on homosexuality. ... Mr Putin defended...

On November 22, 1963, two other notable men died, and got relegated to the foot of page 37 — the British authors C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley. Lewis endures because of the Narnia books (and films), but there’s a lot more in the back of his wardrobe. In his book The Abolition of Man, he writes of “men without chests” — the chest being “the indispensable liaison” between the head and the gut, between “cerebral man” and “visceral man.” In the chest beat what Lewis calls “the trained emotions.” Without them there is no honor or virtue, but only...

Our stories are changing. Wonder and Beauty slowly eke from our world, unnoticed and unmourned. I used to think it was a natural cessation from the Neverland of youth; a necessary immigration from the immature trappings of youthful imagination to the logical constraints of a moribund maturity. However I've found that this is not just my perspective, draining of imagination and wonder as I age. Our stories, our heroes are changing. Our children seem less prone to idealism, more immune to wonder; and this points to a tidal shift in the culture itself. If you watch or read any contemporary...

Singapore’s government has blocked access to the popular adultery website Ashley Madison amid a public outcry ahead of the company’s planned launch of a portal for the city-state. The Media Development Authority, which regulates the Internet, said in a statement late Friday that it has blocked access to the Canada-based website because it is in “flagrant disregard of our family values and public morality.” …

I was speaking with Mrs. Hoagy62 this morning about some of the threads I was seeing here on FR. There is a LOT of things being said about defense in the face of tyranny, tactics to be used when going up against tyrannical forces, and general commentary about what one does in certain situations. One of the things that I found a little disturbing is the thought that one should target families of those who may be in the employ of the government/military/police forces on the opposite side of a possible CWII conflict. I refer to the comment on the...

Welcome homosexual people to fellowship with your congregation, but be very careful how you show them the “love of Christ.” If you welcome them into church membership and/or give them leadership positions of any kind while they are still living a homosexual lifestyle, you will be, in effect, affirming and endorsing their lifestyle and helping them along a path that can only result in their spending their eternity in hell. (1 Corinthians 6:9). How is that showing them the “love of Christ”, who died to save them from their sins, not to save them and their sins?

“I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.” – R.C. Sproul I was delighted to speak on Sunday at Faith Christian Center in Arlington, Texas. I joined that community of believers in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the church’s affiliated school, St. Paul’s Preparatory Academy. The topic of my discussion was “How to Raise Christian Children in Today’s Culture.” As I was preparing my remarks it occurred to me that raising children to both love and faithfully serve the Lord and Creator of the...

Putin highlighted traditionalism as the center for Russia’s national identity. “Without the values at the core of Christianity and other world religions, without moral norms that have been shaped over millennia, people will inevitably lose their human dignity,” he stated. The president criticized “Euro-Atlantic countries” where “any traditional identity, … including sexual identity, is rejected… There is a policy equating families with many children with same-sex families, belief in God with belief in Satan,” he said. “Any minority’s right to be different must be respected, but the right of the majority must not be questioned,” Putin added. ... President Putin...

Why Christians Must Legislate Morality by Frank TurekWhen I have just a minute to communicate the importance of Christians being involved in politics, I call up this satellite picture of the Korean peninsula on my iPhone.1 Here we see a homogenous population of mostly Koreans separated by a well-fortified border. South Korea is full of light, productivity, and the gospel. They are a free country and one of the most Christianized countries in the world. North Korea is a concentration camp. They have no freedom, very little food, and almost no Christianity.I then ask, “What is the primary reason for...

Born-again Christians who are proclaiming the truths of God’s Word are increasingly being accused, especially by unbelievers, of judging them, against the admonition of Jesus, “Do not judge”, as if Christians are not allowed, much less instructed, to judge anyone or anything, ever. But, is that really what Jesus meant? Is that a valid accusation, or is it merely a ploy to mislead us and keep us from speaking out on current moral issues, so that they can freely contend for their version of moral truth without opposition?

Whether it was finding the solid ground in writing the Declaration of Independence that would justify and drive a revolution or defining the core rights that would guide the crafting for our Constitution, our Founding Fathers held firmly to core principles that would help them navigate through unchartered waters. Every improvement is the result of change, but not every change is an improvement. Our Founding Fathers had to find a compass to give them a true north as they sorted through the choices and changes our emerging country faced. After more than two centuries, it is understandable that our citizens...