Free Republic

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges that legalized marriage equality in America, some conservative Christians have been downright apoplectic. In a ridiculously offensive analogy, right wing anti-equality zealot Bryan Fischer tweeted: From a moral standpoint, 6/26 is now our 9/11.— Bryan Fischer (@BryanJFischer) June 26, 2015 Channeling a similar anger, though in a more commonly heard form, Fox News commentator Todd Starnes tweeted: If you thought the cultural purge over the Confederate flag was breathtaking -- wait until you see what LGBT activists do with Christians.— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 26, 2015 Meanwhile, Rod Dreher of the American...

Once again, this time by the New York Times, it has been proven that the only group that it is politically correct to bash or offend is Christians. They turn the other cheek and forgive those who trespass, rather than behead and bomb, or storm newspaper offices to murder and maim. That much was admitted by New York Times editor for standards Phil Corbett in defending the newspaper’s decision to publish Monday a picture of Pope Benedict XVI fashioned out of condoms, after being among those that refused to publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the Mohammed that prompted a...

By Jeff Gardner -Last August, Joseph received the news he had feared for weeks: The armies of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, had invaded the region of Sinjar in western Iraq, the place where he and tens of thousands of Yezidis had lived for centuries. When Joseph got word that ISIS fighters were headed towards his home village of Tillqasab, he panicked — although he had left years ago, his elderly father still lived in the village. Arriving at the outskirts of town, Joseph realized that he was too late — Tillqasab had already fallen...

The church is under attack today in every way imaginable – literally as well as figuratively! We still are reeling from the horrific attacks against the AME Church in Charleston. While our brothers and sisters gathered for a mid-week Bible study and prayer time, they were shot dead. We have seen an amazing display of forgiveness on their part for this cold-blooded killer. Facing the killer in court, several relatives who also attended AME Church extended their forgiveness to this young man, despite his indescribably evil act. The church has since gone back to their mid-week Bible study, saying, “This...

The Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on Friday raises troubling questions about the future of religious freedom in the United States. Most ominously, Justice Kennedy writing for the court seemed to circumscribe the freedom of religion as no longer the exercise of one’s faith, but merely the profession of it. All four of the dissenting justices wrote vehemently about the danger that this decision presents to the entire project of ordered liberty. Meanwhile, progressive organizations have made it clear that religious freedom is their next target now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land.Still, as we...

Leading Evangelist Franklin Graham is warning Christians nationwide that they should be ready to face persecution if they wish to stand by the biblical definition of marriage following last Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States. Despite President Barack Obama claiming that the Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges is a "victory for a America," Graham, the president of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, asserted in an interview with Fox News' Todd Starnes last weekend that the United States is really the true "loser" because the ruling could bring...

Judge Roy Moore explains the implications of the Supreme Court Marriage Ruling for Christians. Click link his comments.

(Snip) No, the real intent of removing tax-exempt status is to cripple the institutions that continue their dissent from the sexual revolution. When tax exemptions are removed, donors will give far less than they are giving now. Churches will become liable to property taxes. That means that many churches will have to forfeit their property to the government because they won’t be able to afford the taxes they have to pay on it. Many of them wouldn’t be able to pay them now. If donations went down, they would be that much further from being able to pay them. As...

Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho, city officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines. The dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller reported. A federal judge recently ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, while the city of Coeur d‘Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on...

When one observes President Obama’s unwillingness to accommodate America’s four-century long religious conscience protection through his attempts to require Catholics to go against their own doctrines and beliefs, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Catholic. But that characterization would not be correct. Although he has recently singled out Catholics, he has equally targeted traditional Protestant beliefs over the past four years. So since he has attacked Catholics and Protestants, one is tempted to say that he is anti-Christian. But that, too, would be inaccurate. He has been equally disrespectful in his appalling treatment of religious Jews in general...

A lawsuit is moving forward against a Washington State florist who refused to supply floral arrangements for a same-sex wedding ceremony based on her religious objection, which could put her at risk of serious financial loss and the loss of her business. Baronelle Stutzman, who owns and operates Arlene's Flowers in Richland, Washington, is being sued by the Washington State attorney general's office for refusing to supply flowers for a same-sex couple's wedding ceremony. Instead, she referred the couple to another nearby florist who could supply flowers for their wedding. The attorney general's office filed its lawsuit against Stutzman in...

The Supreme Court decision Friday making homosexual marriage not only legal but giving it a status superior to heterosexual marriage* was ominous (never mind that the lead defendant's name sounded like a rank in the Wehrmacht). In his majority opinion, one which cavalierly overthrew well over 6,000 years of human history in the service of Kennedy's vigorously, if vicariously, twitching nether regions, Kennedy laid out a road map for the eradication of the legal ability to oppose homosexual marriage. This is the key section: “Finally, it must be emphasized that religions, and those who adhere to religious doctrines, may continue...

As everyone knows, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled gay marriage is a constitutionally protected right.Christians around the country have already lost jobs and businesses because they believe in traditional, one-man one-woman marriage, and many fear that this ruling will lead to more persecution.That may be so. But even if that does happen, it won’t be the worst result of our country’s acceptance of gay marriage.The worst outcome of our country’s acceptance of gay marriage will be the loss of souls to hell.Homosexual acts are gravely sinful. The approval of homosexual acts is gravely sinful. This court decision further entrenches...

The Nazis disliked universities, intellectuals and the Catholic and Protestant churches. Their long term plan was to de-Christianise Germany after final victory in the war.[3][10] Their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment, whose legitimacy did not spring from the government, and desired the subordination of the church to the state.[2] To many Nazis, Catholics were suspected of insufficient patriotism, or even of disloyalty to the Fatherland, and of serving the interests of "sinister alien forces".[11] Aggressive anti-Church radicals like Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann saw the conflict with the Churches as a priority concern, and anti-church and anti-clerical sentiments...

Pope Francis recently released a new encyclical. Portions of it deal with environmentalism, global warming, and climate change. Naturally, this has prompted controversy. It’s noteworthy that Francis didn’t merely make a passing comment on global warming during this or that sermon, but that he issued a papal encyclical on the matter. Encyclicals are much more formal and significant than remarks made during mass. They are letters written by a pope and sent to bishops all around the world. In turn, the bishops are meant to disseminate the encyclical’s ideas to all the priests and churches in their jurisdiction, so that...

Christians in Deep Danger: 'We Dare Not Be Silent' By Gary Lane CBN News Sr. International Correspondent Friday, June 26, 2015 From Egypt, to Syria and Iraq, ancient Christian communities --among the world's oldest -- are under threat of extinction. "Christians and other minorities are in deep danger and we dare not be silent. The time to speak is now," said Katrina Lantos Swett, chairman of the United States Commission on International Freedom. Swett delivered that message at the recent 6th Annual Coptic Solidarity Conference in Washington, D.C., on persecution in the Middle East. So, why should Americans, or other...

WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS employees erased computer backup tapes a month after officials discovered that thousands of emails related to the tax agency's tea party scandal had been lost, according to government investigators. The investigators, however, concluded that employees erased the tapes by mistake, not as part of an attempt to destroy evidence. As many as 24,000 emails were lost because 422 backup tapes were erased, according to J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. The revelation is likely to fuel conspiracy theories among conservatives who say the IRS has obstructed congressional investigations into the scandal. George...

ISIS Muslims are right now surrounding a 4th century Christian monastery, called St. Matthew’s Monastery. Although the Muslim terrorists are armed with machine guns and knives, the Christians inside the church — three monks and six students — are not afraid, declaring: “We of course are not scared. God protects us” Sahar Karaikos, one of six students in the monastery, said We are not scared, because our teachers give us a feeling of peace here, but we know we are on the front lines, and in seconds the Islamic State could be here… I don’t even want to think or...

I'm not usually one to share my blog on FR (I haven't FReeped regularly in a long time), and I wasn't sure if this should be posted in Bloggers or Religion. But I wanted to share my thoughts on the Charleston shooting, how it pertains to media coverage, homosexuality, and Christianity in current events, and what the Bible has to say about persecution in the end-time hour. Drunken with the Blood of the Saints: By Philip Cottraux So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full...

If you doubt that Christians are fair game for ridicule by the cultural left, take a look at the hit piece on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia by Jeffrey Tayler for Salon. I can't decide which is worse, the title or the subtitle. The title: "Antonin Scalia is unfit to serve: A justice who rejects science and the law for religion is of unsound mind." The subtitle: "The justice claims to be an originalist, but his real loyalty is to religion and a phony man in the sky." The writer is trying to be cute, but don't conclude that any...