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If we abandon Godliness, we will surely abandon liberty, for without morality, we are incapable of freedom Benjamin Franklin said that only a “virtuous people are capable of freedom.” Franklin understood the importance of a moral society, and how secularism may seem free on the surface, but that a society that abandons the Laws of Nature by Nature’s God ultimately leads themselves to bondage, under human masters and tyrannical statism. The Founding Fathers recognized the truth about human nature, primarily viewing it from a classical Christian angle. Our rights are self-evident, but so is the fact that while humans are...

Must we accept that we are no longer the electorate and the elected, but the ruling and the ruled? “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”- Benjamin Franklin What has happened to the United States? Many say that it is a natural progression that is inevitable, but is it actually the breakdown of our morals, our ethics, our family structure and our school systems? Is it the inevitable “chains of government,” that have slowly but surely bound us with the very freedoms we claim to embrace? In...

Across Massachusetts – and across America – thousands of schoolchildren are given sexually graphic, psychologically intrusive surveys by the public schools without parents’ knowledge. These surveys also ask youth to reveal their criminal activity, personal family matters, and other intimate issues. This is done in the public middle schools and high schools during school hours. At best, parents are told about the surveys in vague terms, but are rarely allowed read them beforehand. The surveys are “officially” anonymous and voluntary. But they are administered by the teacher in a classroom and (according to teachers we’ve talked to) there is often...

Moral obligation is not man's prison, from which he must liberate himself in order finally to be able to do what he wants. It is moral obligation that constitutes his dignity, and he does not become more free if he discards it: on the contrary, he takes a step backward, to the level of a machine, or a mere thing. If there is no longer any obligation to which he can and must respond in freedom, then there is no longer any realm of freedom at all. The recognition of morality is the real substance of human dignity; but one...

Almost all of the declared and undeclared Republican candidates for 2016 could be found this weekend at one of two events, or both. The first was organized by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, and held in Point of Grace Church in Waukee. Dominated by Evangelical Christians, who were 60 percent of Republican caucus-goers in 2008 and 2012, the Point of Grace Church event drew no fewer than nine Republican hopefuls. Ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum, past winners of the Iowa caucuses, were there. So, too, were Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Scott Walter. Cruz and Walker are...

Kudos to Pope Francis for calling a conference, scheduled for tomorrow, emphasizing the moral dimensions of climate change. It’s about time we took a clear and sober look at an issue that can cause so much harm to so many, especially the poor and downtrodden. The core problem for the conference is to balance the costs and benefits imposed by climate change against the costs and benefits of a major reduction in the use of fossil fuels, with the understanding that there are only two other sources of dense energy that can effectively replace them, nuclear power and large hydroelectric...

LGBT activists view Saudi Arabia’s beheadings as equal to the smallest microaggression by American Christians, while ruining someone’s life for their political views or their blog posts is perfectly acceptable (as long as it’s done to those who disagree).  They see moral equivalence for the smallest slight or limitation of their lifestyle versus instigating your complete financial and personal ruin. Don’t believe it?  Here’s objective proof. Let’s compare three cultures and how tolerant each one is regarding LGBT rights:  Saudi Arabia, American Christians, and LGBT activists. Saudi Arabia.Gays are banned from even attending school, never mind teaching at one.  It’s pretty...

The establishment media has suddenly gone ga-ga over transgenders. Whether it’s Bruce Jenner’s prime-time interview with Diane Sawyer to discuss his “journey” from a 1976 Olympic decathlon stud to surgery- and drug-induced womanhood, or teary-eyed parents waxing softly about their child’s difficult but rewarding transformation from one sex to another, the American public is about to be inundated with journalistic stories, TV shows, books, movies and ads promoting transgenderism. Like all good propaganda campaigns, it starts in the schools.

Ancient society morality was based on concentric circles, with the free male of that tribe at the center, females and children farther out, foreign and slaves at the bottom. Christianity held that all were equally valid before God, even if not necessarily the same in real life. You may have a master in the world, but your soul was equally valid. That was revolutionary at the time. Liberalism has brought back the old concentric rings of value. The woman is worth more than a man, hired first, her opinion more valid from her experience. The non-Caucasian is worth more; that...

Gov. Scott Walker's father is the Rev. Llewellyn "Llew" Walker. Sen. Ted Cruz's father is the Rev. Rafael Bienvenido Cruz. Both are conservative Baptist ministers. But that is not the only thing they have in common. Both Baptist ministers were born in the same year, 1939. Could this be a mere coincidence, or is God trying to send America a sign in these troubled times? We are living in an America where the leadership of both parties no longer believes in the difference between morality and immorality. Who better than the conservative sons of two Baptist ministers to remind us...

To utterly despair of oneself is infinitely more difficult for a man than to invent some kind of good works.generated self-salvation project. Human beings irresistibly gravitate toward a works or karma-based system because it gives man the false hope that his redemption is within his own reach. But a salvation that is all of grace, a gift earned by Someone else, is so utterly offensive to human nature, so humbling to our pride, that only a supernatural work of grace will bring a person to yield to it. Contrary to popular and cultural concepts of God, the Bible declares that...

"…We are bequeathing to our children moral chaos. And if our children and grandchildren hate the “Baby Boomer” generation, after we’re gone, they have every right to. We are without question the stupidest generation in American history. And there were two big reasons for that. There are many big reasons, two of the biggest are television and college. College makes you morally stupid. Some people survive that, some people will grow up by 50 or 60. But that is, the purpose of college is to make you a moral idiot."

A friend sent me a link to a newspaper column celebrating the supposed ascendance of libertarianism among the hoi polloi. “It is clear,” the author wrote, “that there are certain areas where an increasing portion of Americans are adapting more libertarian views and simply want the government to leave them alone and allow them to freely live their lives.” He cited as examples same-sex marriage and drug legalization. “People have generally come to the conclusion,” he asserted, “that they don’t really care to whom one is attracted or what consenting adults do behind closed doors.” He also predicted that “the...

Some ethicists argue sexbots will improve our lives by ending prostitution and sex trafficking, and by fulfilling human needs. The Christian Post spoke with three Christians who have written on topics related sex and human relationships and technology to get their take on the issue. The technology required to make a sexbot, or a robot designed for sexual relations with a human, is quickly becoming available, and some companies are already working toward that goal. First, robotics companies are already working toward designing robots that can move like humans and respond to humans with facial expressions. Second, there are several...

An older generation complaining that an emerging one will be the death of civilization as we know it is a cliche and constant as the North Star. However, based on some rather troubling data regarding today’s millennials, it could turn out to be true this time. In his first inaugural address as governor of California 47 years ago, Ronald Reagan warned us that “freedom is a fragile thing, and is never more than one generation away from extinction.” He also reminded us that freedom “is not ours by inheritance but must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation,...

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, a wide range of thinkers, both secular and religious, struggled to make sense of the profound evil of war, particularly Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. One such effort, “The Authoritarian Personality” by Theodore Adorno and three co-authors, opened up a whole new field of political psychology—initially a small niche within the broader field of social psychology—which developed fitfully over the years, but became an increasingly robust subject area in 1980s and 90s, fleshing out a number of distinct areas of cognitive processing in which liberals and conservatives differed from one another. Liberal/conservative...

[ Last | Latest Posts | Latest Articles | Self Search | Add Bookmark | Post | Abuse | Help! ] Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. Original Sin Culture/Society Editorial Keywords: CULTURE, LIBERALISM, POLITICS, DECEPTIONS, POWER, CORRUPTION Source: The Laissez Faire City Times Published: Dec. 28, 1998 Author: ACE Posted on 08/19/2001 11:27:40 PDT by Coyote Original Sin by ACE Few things...

Richard Dawkins: Children need to be ‘protected’ from religion ‘You have to write off those people’ who put the Bible ahead of science, author says Children need to be “protected” from religious indoctrination in schools, biologist and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins has said, backing a campaign by Atheist Ireland to overhaul our education system.Speaking to The Irish Times in advance of a public talk at Trinity College Dublin on Tuesday evening, Prof Dawkins said: “There is a balancing act and you have to balance the rights of parents and the rights of children and I think the balance has swung...

A court decision upholding Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction on sodomy charges raises “serious concerns about rule of law and the fairness of the judicial system in Malaysia,” the White House said Tuesday. The relatively rare public rebuke over a foreign criminal conviction came despite warming relations between the U.S. and the Malaysian government. President Obama visited the country last year, the first sitting president to do so in nearly half a century.

Many Have Reduced Love to Kindness, and Kindness to Mere Affirmation – A Further Reflection on the Moral Troubles of our Time By: Msgr. Charles PopeIn yesterday’s post, there was a critique of a flawed moral perspective that sets up a false dichotomy between mercy  and moral teaching, and between love and the law. As noted yesterday, well-ordered love and mercy must be rooted in truth. The greatest mercy is to keep people out of Hell and to save them from all the suffering that comes from sin.Jesus exhibits this in His person, for He who is love insists on moral...