Free Republic

Last month, I celebrated the beginning of my 81st year of life. For nearly half that time, I have been writing a nationally syndicated column on many topics generating reader responses that go from supportive to quite ugly. So I thought a column making my vision, values and views explicit might settle some of the controversy. My initial premise, when looking at all human issues, is that each of us owns himself. I am my private property, and you are your private property. If you agree with that premise, then certain human actions are moral and others immoral. The reason...

The U.K.'s Standard reports on the now burgeoning trans-speciesism movement, composed of people who feel they are actually dogs, cats, penguins, etc, who will most certainly be pushing for full legal rights in the near future. The slippery slope is more like a cliff whose edge goes straight into chaotic darkness.  The Bible was 100% correct to predict that the last days would be characterized be lawlessness (Matthew 24:12, Revelation 9:21, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Daniel 8:23, Matthew 13:41).  Complete governmental control of all amoral aspects of life (education, taxes, guns, farming, monetary policy, etc) and virtually no...

Sometimes restrictions serve to bring out our creativity in startling and memorable ways There was a time in the early years of motion pictures when a kiss was the ultimate expression of love. Anything beyond a brush of the lips was left to the imagination, and love scenes were actually more potent because of it.In the 1930s a strict code dictated to directors and writers the lines of demarcation between what was permissible, not only for lovemaking, but also for vulgarity and other delicate themes. Though marked in part by what was considered backward in the era [i.e., miscegenation – ed],...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- In a recent interview for the BBC2 series Inside Obama's White House," President Obama sounded somewhat wistful as he spoke to an interviewer about how he has tried to use his voice "to move things toward a more ethical and moral outcome." The question of morals and ethics has been debated since the dawn of humanity. It won't be settled by the shifting winds of politics, because not everyone can agree on what is moral and what is not. Dictionary.com defines morality: "Conformity to the rules of right conduct." Ah, but here's the rub. That definition...

There is a line from John Adams of which conservatives, particularly those of a moralistic bent, are fond: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." The surrounding prose is quoted much less frequently, and it is stern stuff dealing with one of Adams’s great fears - one that is particularly relevant to this moment in our history. John Adams hated democracy and he feared what was known in the language of the time as "passion." Adams's famous assessment: "I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run,...

At The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (of the Southern Baptist Convention), a recent blog post details the "Six principles of a Jesus-centered moral order." The post is an excerpt from a recent book co-authored by David Kinnaman, the president of Barna Group, a Christian research and communications company. The piece notes that, "in the twentieth century, more and more people began to see Christian morality as standing in the way of a new moral code: the morality of self-fulfillment. Throwing off burdensome traditional mores, people began to imagine life without a bothersome God standing watch." The post also reveals...

When people fail in doing good and make bad choices some of them feel shame, others try to cover it and hide the shame. Those who hide it, promise to make an effort not to do it again. The promise of a moral effort is a good thing, but is it enough? But how can you say that you will try harder if you do not fill any remorse or repentance for the wrong you have done? See what Father Stephen Freeman writes in this article titled "When Words Fail." The promise to try harder, to work more, to be...

A highly moral person can be a holy devil. It is very dangerous to see yourself as highly moral person. You may not think it that way, but let's look at the difference between morality and spirituality. What is MoralityMorality is what's in the outside of a human being. Everyone sees it. I am not killing, I am not stealing, I respect people, work heard and am well educated. I am a highly moral person. And let anyone dare to tell me that I am not a moral good person. This is our image of a highly moral person. Isn't...

The decade-old dating website OkCupid has been asking their users personal preference questions since the site’s inception. The company recently released the results of a study on the sexual mores of some million or so users, showing how users’ views have shifted since 2005. The company asked a series of questions and sorted out the answers from both men and women, and further broke them down by those who identified as straight, bisexual, and homosexual. The responses to two questions stand out: When asked “Would you consider sleeping with someone on the first date?” compared to ten years ago every...

There are people who seek to preserve and protect the fibers of a functional society, the most important of which are decency and morality. Justice Antonin Scalia fought for these values at a time when many others felt it more opportune to destroy these societal pillars, without which no civilization can last. This makes his passing especially tragic and untimely. For the sake of his soul and for the sake of our continued well being, it should also serve as a call to action. There are certain events that remind people how far and off track society has fallen and...

To quote Vincent Vega, “That’s a bold statement.” It’s a claim that Col. Richard Kemp, commander of British forces in Afghanistan and an observer to the 2014 war in Gaza, defends in this latest video from Prager University. Kemp makes his argument based on two factors — the reason Israel goes to war (self-defense) and its conduct of war when conflict erupts. Despite claims of widespread war crimes and atrocities, Kemp insists that the IDF’s actions saved lives at risk of their own:CLICK ABOVE LINK FIR THE VIDEO After repeated warnings from Israel to stop, the Israeli Air Force...

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...

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://hotair.com/archives/2015/10/23/end-of-discussion-anti-feminism-speech-at-williams-college-canceled-following-student-uproar/ This is hysterical, insane nonsense. Having the option of listening to a dissenting voice against the Left’s prevailing orthodoxy on gender roles in no way represents an imposition of harm, let alone “physical harm.” Such intolerant, sub-moronic delirium must be aggressively defied and mocked, not coddled and indulged. Event planners warned Venker that her upcoming address was “stirring a lot of angry reactions among students on campus,” prior to its eventual cancellation. Williams had “never experienced this kind of resistance” to a speaker, she was informed. On America’s college campuses, the heckler’s veto is a distressingly effective method of...

http://clashdaily.com/2015/10/no-white-house-invite-for-this-kid-even-though-he-made-a-life-changing-invention-for-vets-with-ptsd/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:19815131&utm_campaign=Liberal%20Chick%20Asks%20Dumb%20Americans%20Who%20This%20%E2%80%98Ben%20Ghazi%E2%80%99%20Guy%20Is%20(WATCH) Ahmed Mohamed makes a ‘clock’ that looks like a briefcase bomb and gets an invite to the White House. But Tyler Skluzacek? Obama probably won’t ever know who he is. Senior Tyler Skluzacek said he was in sixth grade when his dad, Sgt. First Class Patrick Skluzacek, spent a year in Iraq. It had a huge impact. His dad returned with PTSD and night terrors. So Tyler’s team created an app they say helps prevent them.

Sex. Some of us do it, most of us like it and we all think about it…. A lot. I know I do (though I was told that it’s normal). Gettin’ busy really isn’t the taboo subject that it once was. Whereas once upon a time the conversation was relegated to whispers behind closed doors, nowadays it’s discussed openly and without shame. As a stand-up comedian, I’ve seen hacks openly depict the most depraved, explicit sexual acts they can think of just to get a laugh out of the audience. Clearly, telling wiener jokes is no longer the treading of...

Darkness abounds. Nonetheless wisdom beckons, reminding those who'll listen to make the very best of the dark days we're in rather than allowing these dark days to get the best of us. However, that's not easy. Darkness is easier to adapt to than light. Here in Alaska, summer's glaring midnight sun is pretty offensive at bedtime. But the extra light is good, providing lots of time for healthy activities, leaving a healthier, better you at summer's end. In sharp contrast, winters up here offer minimal light. The lack of light makes it feel almost natural to do what's in reality,...

September was another month of murders in Chicago. We have seen the murder rate – and the attempted murder rate, too – skyrocket in recent years, in Chicago, Baltimore, New York, St. Louis … all homes of half a century or more of liberal policies, all laboratories of Leftist solutions, all booming centers of the modern welfare state and the omnipresent leviathan. How could this happen, we ask ourselves? Why is the murder rate up? Every time a murder or mass killing occurs, the Left immediately aims the focus of the investigation in the direction of the weapon. Was it...

RUSH: A new Gallup poll out. Headline: "Americans Continue to Shift Left on Key Moral Issues." Now, before you go off getting depressed about this, let me tell you what the reason for this is, after we give you the details. "Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level." It's a subtle message to the Republican Party, and...

Most people don't know what a socialist is. Socialist sounds too much like "social." A socialist, I suspect, for most Americans means to be "social." Who could be opposed to that? Bernie Sanders is a Socialist. In reality, he's a theft using the respectability of the United States Senate as cover for his criminal views. Like all socialists, Sanders believes it's OK to steal from people if he can get enough votes and enough support from the people he will be stealing for -- the beneficiaries of his thieving ways. Of course, Sanders isn't the only socialist in Congress. Most...