Free Republic

Restrictions, harassment, and intimidation towards people who practice their religion increased in every major region of the world in 2012 except the Americas, with Christians the major target, says a new report by the Pew Research Center. “Muslims and Jews experienced six-year highs in the number of countries in which they were harassed by national, provincial or local governments,” the study found, but Christians continue to be the world’s most oppressed religious group, with persecution against them reported in 110 countries. A recent report by the Christian group Open Doors noted that “North Korea remains the world’s most restrictive nation...

Muslim persecution of Christians is the “Achilles’ Heel” of the global Islamic movement’s image—the surest way of exposing its supremacist and intolerant elements and one of the main reasons the major media and establishment rarely report or address it. The logic (fully explained here) can be summarized as follows: Islamic and jihadi attacks targeting the West or Israel pose no problem to the image of Islam. No matter how violent or brutal, no matter how many Islamic slogans are shrieked—“Allah commands the subjugation of infidels!”—Muslim violence against the West and Israel will always be dismissed as desperate acts of disempowered,...

Gerald Molen, the producer of Dinesh D’Souza’s documentary film “2016: Obama’s America,” says he never feared his government before he learned that D’Souza is under federal investigation for election fraud. […] “I’m a little bit taken aback by the whole thing because he’s such a great American,” Molen said of D’Souza on Newmax TV’s “Steve Malzberg Show.” The conservative writer and commentator understands the process in America and how it works, Molen said. […] Asked by Malzberg if he ever felt threatened or had any feelings they should not have been making the film, Molen answered, “No. This is America....

Christian Legal Centre client, Tony Miano, was arrested this week after a woman complained that he had spoken about sexual sin. The Christian street evangelist was remanded in custody overnight and later released on bail to appear before Dundee Sheriff's Court on 22nd April. Tony, who is a former Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff, was arrested on 8th January on a charge of alleged breach of peace with "homophobic" aggravation. He was part of a street preaching team holding a week-long mission in Scotland. He was the second of the street pastors to address lunchtime shoppers in Dundee High Street. He...

Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey. Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 "martyr" killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said. "This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm," said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by...

Open Doors, a persecution watchdog group, is out with its 2014 World Watch List, which ranks 50 countries where the persecution of Christians for religious reasons is most severe, according to the report. The organization looks at “violence, government pressures, and other related indicators” to collectively assess countries, according to The Blaze, which spoke with the group’s CEO and President Dr. David Curry. Their ranking methodology is explained in more detail here. “Not every circumstance is the same. For example, in North Korea, you have a quasi-Stalinist government that is the most difficult place to call yourself a Christian on...

Antonio Socci: In the Vatican there is a NEW PROGRESSIVE INQUISITION, and their first victims are the Franciscans of the Immaculate We would just like to remind our readers that Antonio Socci, the great Italian journalist and religion pundit, is inclined to more conservative views but is far from being a Traditionalist, and has been consistently positive in all his views of Pope Francis. So his view is that of an outsider and it is a very nice summary of the intervention in the Franciscans of the Immaculate and how it has been conducted so far. IN THE VATICAN THERE...

Dear A&E, I read that you are indefinitely suspending Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty after he quoted the Bible and said that the homosexual act is sinful. I get it, guys. I do. You punished the Christian guy for being a Christian because you got some angry emails from a bunch of whiny gay activists who lack the spine and maturity to deal with the fact that there are still people out there who have the guts to articulate opinions that they find disagreeable. In so doing, you’ve kowtowed to a pushy minority of vocal bullies who don’t even watch...

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by my (imaginary) friend, the Very Honorable Ima Librul, Senator from the great State of Confusion Utopia. He is a founding member of CCCEB (Climate Change Causes Everything Bad), a charter member of President Obama’s Go For it Team, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairperson of both the Islamic Relations and Meretricious Relations Subcommittees. He is also justly proud of his expertise in the care and breeding of unicorns, for which his Save the Unicorns Foundation has received substantial Federal grants.  We are honored to have a post of this caliber by a...

The left is all in favor of free speech — until someone offers a contrary opinion. Phil Robertson of TV’s wildly popular “Duck Dynasty” offended the homosexual lobby this week with remarks about his religious faith. The A&E network show is the most-popular reality program on all of cable television, following the Robertson family of Louisiana and their business of making calls and other paraphernalia for duck hunters. The show’s success makes the bearded Mr. Robertson, who has the appearance of ZZ Top in camouflage, an unlikely celebrity because he is a born-again Christian. A writer for GQ magazine asked...

While the Japanese were celebrating the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the mastermind of that attack, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, had a sobering message for his countrymen. "We have awakened a sleeping giant," he said. Even before the war began, the admiral had warned his emperor that Japan would enjoy early victories in any war with the United States, but that winning streak would last only six months to a year, after which American industrial might would inevitably overwhelm the small island nation. He was right. For the first few months of World War II, the Japanese war...

At the risk of having at least some of what I am about to share misunderstood, I venture a few thoughts on the current Phil Robertson-Duck Dynasty -A&E story. First, it strikes me that framing it primarily as a freedom of speech issue falls short of what is really happening. The censoring of Phil Robertson is more than an attack on any man’s right to speak his mind—it is a matter of religious discrimination. It is part of a broad-brush attempt by some to delegitimize opinions and values rooted in a traditional view of scripture—the historical-grammatical method of interpreting and...

Phil Robertson has spoken out for the first time since his homophobic comments in a magazine interview went public and refused to go back on his controversial remarks, saying: ‘I will not give or back off from my path.’ The Duck Dynasty patriarch led a small Bible study group in his home town church in West Monroe, Louisiana on Sunday, granting MailOnline exclusive access. And the deeply religious outdoorsman stood by his incendiary statements –

All week long the news media, social media, and ideological attention seekers talked, discussed, lambasted, denigrated, supported, backed, or touted Phil Robertson, the patriarch of Duck Commander and Duck Dynasty.All this blathering was the result of an article in GQ written by Drew Magary. In the article, Robertson expounded on his personal views of homosexuality and gays. The backlash was shock and awe. A&E, which produces Duck Dynasty, suspended Mr. Robertson indefinitely over his comments. Then, there was shock and awe backlash against the backlash. Lost in all this kerfuffle was the article itself. It appears very few, if any...

1. He didn't seek to insult anyone The calm and considered belief that homosexuality is sinful is very different from the immature and foolish belief that homosexuals are "gross", "icky", "sick" or any one of a number of childhood forms of insult. He didn't single a specific person out, nor did he suggest that homosexual individuals as a whole have something wrong with them. He simply described his view of homosexuality. Although some could find his view offensive, it is equally possible that someone could find the opposite view offensive. Axing someone for having a reasonable view is a mistake.

Something amazing is happening in America. An awakening. More people showed support for Phil Robertson (the star of “Duck Dynasty”) in 24 hours than signed up for Obamacare in its first few months. Which means at this point in time, Americans are starting to come to the conclusion we’d be better off with a duck hunter in the White House than Obama. Heck, we couldn’t possibly do any worse. Hollywood really stepped in it this time (must have been duck poop). The result is ironically, Christians are coming out of the closet! In other words, the tables have turned. Middle...

Over the weekend, America’s favorite faux-folksy diner/knickknack chain became the newest front in the culture wars when they removed any trace of Duck Dynasty‘s Phil Robertson from all their stores. It didn’t turn out so well for them, and the way they’ve waved the white flag is instructive. From Cracker Barrel’s Facebook page, 7:51pm on 12/20: Cracker Barrel’s mission is Pleasing People. We operate within the ideals of fairness, mutual respect and equal treatment of all people. These ideals are the core of our corporate culture. We continue to offer Duck Commander products in our stores. We removed selected products...

When word came that Phil Robertson had been "indefinitely" suspended by A&E, he was praying for a fellow church member afflicted with cancer, according to his church leader. Robertson's pastor Mike Kellett said, "There were greater things on our mind than the firestorm about this [GQ magazine] article."Speaking to CNN, Kellett said Robertson isn't worried about being suspended over what he said because he believes he told the truth: "He's very calm, and very confident that if he serves the Lord, God will take care of everything."

Cracker Barrel has become the first sponsor to cut bait with "Duck Dynasty" ... but not entirely. The Southern-themed food chain reacted to Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments by removing "selected products which we were concerned might offend some of our guests" from their stores and restaurants. We called a bunch of Cracker Barrel stores, and the managers told us the products that were removed were the ones that had Phil's face plastered on the packaging. Almost to a person, the managers added, "We still offer a wide variety of Duck Commander products," and then we heard a click. C.B. offers...

The world media is increasingly losing interest in the foreign-fueled war still raging in Syria between the Assad regime and an assortment of Islamist rebel groups backed by the Obama administration, Sunni Arab dictators, and European powers. For embattled Syrian Christians, though — most of whom tried to stay out of the conflict — reports suggest the situation is deteriorating quickly, with over 1,200 documented murders so far, and almost 500,000 forced to flee their homes to escape the escalating violence and ruthless persecution. The real numbers are probably even worse. Experts say the end goal of many jihadist rebel...