Free Republic

GUANGZHOU: To accommodate adherents of different faiths, a religious service center will be available in Asian Games Town during the 16th Asian Games that will start in this southern Chinese city on November 12 next year. Gathering places for Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity and Hinduism, as well as a serenity room, will be made available in the special-built town at foot of Lianhua Mountain in Panyu district, authorities said. In addition, some 26 temples and churches and two more religious houses for Christian activities in downtown areas will open to foreign participants. "The religious service will cater to believers in...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Fifteen Catholic Senators voted against Nelson Amendment Sen. Barbara Mikulski Washington D.C., Dec 11, 2009 / 06:29 am (CNA).- A total of fifteen self-described Catholic Senators voted to table the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment, which would have significantly restricted abortion funding from the Senate health care bill.The Amendment failed by a 54-45 vote on Tuesday. It was co-sponsored by Democrats Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania, who were joined by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. Senator Nelson is a Methodist, Sen. Hatch is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter...

Pope Benedict XVI sends a message to the conference on God organised by the Bishops’ Conference of Italy. Cardinal Bagnasco greets participants. Cardinal Ruini presents his paper. When rationalism marginalises God, irrational religions emerge. God and truth separate man from animals and machine. Rome (AsiaNews) – “God today: with Him or without Him, that changes everything” is the topic of a conference that opened today in Rome. Organised by the Cultural Planning Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Italy, the event is chaired by Card Camillo Ruini. Over the next two days, writers, scholars, theologies and world-renown journalists will...

There is no discussing Islam without discussing the Moderate Muslim. Like the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, the Moderate Muslim is often a topic of conversation, but rarely has much to say about himself. And even those who note that the Moderate Muslim is somewhat less in evidence than the Dodo or the Mammoth, turn instead to the project of reforming Islam. It is of course possible to reform Islam. It is also possible to reform a serial killer. It is however not likely, and certainly not safe to stake your serial-killer prevention strategy on letting the serial killer run...

Here are the main reasons I am not signing the Manhattan Declaration, even though a few men whom I love and respect have already affixed their names to it: • Although I obviously agree with the document’s opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, and other key moral problems threatening our culture, the document falls far short of identifying the one true and ultimate remedy for all of humanity’s moral ills: the gospel. The gospel is barely mentioned in the Declaration. At one point the statement rightly acknowledges, “It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus...

The newest ambassador to the Holy See, Cuba's Eduardo Delgado Bermudez, renewed nearly 75 years of continuous relations with the Vatican today when he delivered his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience. The Pontiff expressed to the ambassador his hopes for the future of the Cuban people and for seeing continued “concrete signs” of the acceptance of the exercise of religious freedom. In his address, Pope Benedict highlighted the importance for governments around the world not to forget about the basic needs of the people, despite the current economic crisis. "The Catholic Church in Cuba, that in...

To the surprise of the majority of Americans and the entire world, on 10/9/09 U.S. President Barak H. Obama was chosen to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Today Obama received his "prestigious" leftist award just nine days after ordering 30,000 more U.S. troops into battle in Afghanistan. It is no secret to any who follow politics or world events on the Right that the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation is an elitist, secular liberal body with a secular liberal utopian vision for the world and pushes a godless leftist agenda (Isaiah 30:1). The past recipients of this Award undoubtedy reveal...

For all their protestations to the contrary, liberals have an awful habit of trying to tell people of faith, notably the Catholic Church, what their faith means and how it should apply in the political sphere. If you can stomach the irony, let’s take a look at the latest example of this genre, an opinion piece in the Politico by Robert Kennedy’s daughter, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Kennedy (I use her maiden name because it’s the only thing that gets her published) starts off well enough, with the title “On health care, the bishops have lost their...

First let me say a word in praise and defense of my former boss, my professor, mentor and friend Ron Sider. I need to start off with this affirming word because by the end of this post--and in the one to follow--I'm afraid I'm going to have to be rather harshly critical of my old friend. ...I have enormous respect and affection for Ron Sider, so much so that my regard for him is able to withstand even something like his dismaying endorsement of the overwrought, corrupt and corrupting "Manhattan Declaration." In partial defense of Ron, though, we should note...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is not a likely candidate to write a sequel to the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People," especially when it comes to winning over the opposition to health-care reform. In one broad sweep, the Democratic Leader on Monday tarred all opponents of health-care reform with the same brush as Americans who once opposed ending slavery or extending civil rights to women and Blacks, and he has refused to back down from his analogy. Instead, the Nevada Democrat on Tuesday castigated Republicans for "distorting" his comments, made Monday on the Senate floor, reported...

A former president of the Philippine bishops’ conference has criticized the United States for doubling its aid to the nation’s military, which has been accused of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings. “The US government must reconsider its financial support for a military that is accused of violating human rights in the name of war on terror,” said Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro.

A Jesuit bishop is warning that the Malaysian government’s effort to forbid non-Muslims to use the word “Allah” is merely part of the effort to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state. Only 60% of the nation’s 26.6 million residents are Muslim, while 19% are Buddhist and 9% are Christian, a third of them Catholic. “This Islamization process has now begun to penetrate our Federal Constitution, which is rooted in British common law,” said Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing of the southern Malaysian diocese of Melaka-Johor. “Using their own words, the federal law should be made ‘compliant with Islamic Law.’”

A top Israeli official was headed to the Vatican on Wednesday for a new round of talks on long-standing disputes over Church property in the Holy Land and other issues that have marred ties. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon will head an Israeli delegation at the plenary meeting of the joint economic commission starting Thursday, according to a ministry statement, which sounded an upbeat note despite the continuing, deep-rooted disagreements. The negotiations "are in their final stages after reaching significant understandings in recent months," mainly on issues of taxation and the legal status of Vatican personnel, it said. But senior...

Following the "tabling” of the Pro-Life Amendment to the Health Care Reform Bill, Catholic Bishops are speaking out. The tabling ensures that if this version of the Health Care Reform Bill is signed by President Obama Federal funds will be used to kill children in the womb. It would be called “Health Care” when, at least that portion of it used for abortion, would actually be infanticide. Imagine if “Health Care” in the United States of America included payment for killing two year olds at the request of one of their parents, with tax dollars! There is no moral difference....

A Jewish bride and her father were arrested on the Temple Mount the day before her wedding, after an Arab policeman claimed he saw the father muttering prayers and the bride nodding her head. The father and daughter were being taken around the site on Wednesday morning by her brother Eli, a volunteer who conducts regular tours at the Temple Mount, when suddenly they were accosted by the Jerusalem policeman.

Rifqa, a born Muslim American teen, converted to Christianity and was allegedly threatened with death by her parents. She insists on saying that the Qur'an commands her parents to kill her. In her interview, she says, "You dont understand, Islam is very diffrent. If they love Allah more, they have to kill me, my blood is Halal now, because I have turned to Christianity, its honor killing, its in Quran, you dont understand". Rifqa Bary is absolutely right when she says, "you dont understand." However, the one not understanding what Islam teaches is herself and those who want to kill...

Obama is not a joke. Do not treat him as one. He is an effective tool of Satan and many shall perish because of this devious man. Pray for the innocent and expose the wicked. Let us realize how critical are the days in which we are blest to dwell. Let our light shine that many shall awaken before the end. Daniel 7:24-25. "And another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 3 kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of...

By a 54-45 vote, the United States Senate has rejected the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Amendment to health care legislation. The amendment would have kept in place “the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of health coverage that includes elective abortions,” as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops stated before the vote. With the failure of the amendment, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, who chairs the US bishops' pro-life committee, said: "The Senate should not approve this bill in its current form." However leaders of the US bishops' conference held out some hope that the bill might still be amended...

LONDON (CNS) -- The Catholic bishops of England and Wales said they could be at risk of prosecution under a proposed law unless they accept women, sexually active gays and transsexuals as candidates to the priesthood. They made their claims in a briefing for Catholic members of the House of Lords, Britain's upper political chamber, ahead of a scheduled Dec. 15 debate on the Equality Bill, which aims to stamp out discrimination in the workplace. The bishops said the bill defines priests as employees rather than officeholders. Under the terms of the bill, the church would be immune from prosecution...

The high court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) announced decisions in favor of a lesbian woman and a gay man on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Meeting in Indianapolis, Friday, Oct. 30, the court heard arguments related to Lisa Larges, a lesbian woman who has been a candidate for ordination for more than two decades and Paul Capetz, a gay man whose January 2008 reinstatement by his home Presbytery was challenged. The Larges and Capetz cases are the first cases to use a 2008 compromise voted by the denomination so that, despite a ban on partnered gay and lesbian ministers, Presbyteries could...

This may be the most disturbing thing you read all day. A Catholic nun said that the defeat in the Senate of the pro-life Nelson amendment on the feast of the Immaculate Conception was "providential" and that Mary was the first woman in the bible to express "choice." As you have probably heard by now the Nelson amendment to the health-care bill, which would have restricted federal funds from being used to fund abortions, has been defeated 54-45. This should be a sad day for all Catholics, but it is not. In fact, one Catholic nun is downright giddy over...

All nations surrounded me, But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me, Yes, they surrounded me; But in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They surrounded me like bees; They were quenched like a fire of thorns; For in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. You pushed me violently, that I might fall, But the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. (Ps. 118: 10-14)

I hate to come across as a "square" but it is nearly impossible to go anywhere in the United States of America today and not sense the oppressive sexual culture in which we live. It is a subliminal, hypnotic barrage of immoral images, lewd language and erotic enticements that consciously and subconsciously affects our entire nation. It has gone so far that we have become a base and morally callous people. Where can anyone go today without being continuously bombarded by the “24/ 7” decadent drumbeat of this licentious orchestra? We have indeed become a “Red Light District” nation! This...

Some good insight into Sarah Palin's faith in Almighty God. Links below. Finding Faith On Facing Challenges On Scripture On Godly Leadership

Evangelical Alliance Ireland has controversially suggested that Christians should support a Bill that would extend the rights and privileges of marriage to homosexual couples who register their partnerships. The suggestion has drawn fire from other evangelical groups. The Irish Government’s Civil Partnership Bill would grant welfare and tax benefits on a par with marriage to homosexual and heterosexual cohabiting couples who enter a civil partnership. Evangelical Alliance Ireland’s General Director, Sean Mullan, claimed in a statement: “The Government is seeking to legislate for greater justice and fairness for co-habiting couples, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. As Christians we should support...

After the dreary wilderness years of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, when many Catholic bishops in the United States practiced a kind of know-nothingism in their silence and lack of real leadership on life issues, such as abortion, things are quickly changing. Individually and corporately, the American bishops are really starting to lead the Church determinedly in the right direction: the battlefront. Everyone knows that the white-hot center of this present generation's battle is abortion, and in increasing numbers, many of today's stalwart bishops are leading from the front, showing the way forward and, by their own example of fearless...

The Roman Catholic bishops need more time. That is the recent word from Sen. Ben Nelson — news reports noted that before he introduces his amendment to restrict women’s access to coverage under health care reform, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs more time to review it. Why is it that the bishops are more concerned with restricting millions of American women from making health care decisions that are best for them and their families than they are with ensuring that millions of Americans — women, men, children, immigrants, the poor, the middle class — get much-needed health insurance?...

For two decades, the Religious Right has reveled in the successes of their crusade to erode the wall separating church and state. Since America's sharp Left turn in 2008, they have not been so quick to gloat. Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said, "I'm not grieving over Barack Obama's victory, but over the loss of things that I've fought for, for 35 years," particularly concerning abortion rights and advancement of the so-called homosexual agenda. The Religious Right itself seems to be taking a soul-searching sabbatical, to get back in touch with its deeper mission: to live...

Vatican City, Dec 7, 2009 / 11:42 am (CNA).- In a meeting with a group of Brazilian bishops on Saturday, the Holy Father warned of the dangers of Marxist liberation theology and noted its grave consequences for ecclesial communities. During the ad limina visit, the Pope recalled that “last August marked 25 years since the Instruction “Libertatis nuntius” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on certain aspects of liberation theology. The document "highlights the danger involved in the uncritical absorption, by certain theologians, of theses and methodologies that come from Marxism." The Pope warned that the “more...

When people see us, they need to see the Christ Spirit in us. This cannot be if we separate ourselves from God as miserable sinners. That is self righteous hypocrisy. People saying they do what they want because they are miserable sinners. That is saying sin is God's fault. Jesus called us to be one in Christ. John 17:20-23. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, are in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in...

Washington - The Supreme Court agreed today to hear an appeal from a Christian student group in San Francisco which refused to admit gays and lesbians and decide whether the group's right to religious liberty and freedom of association can trump a university's ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation. The case, to be heard next year, could set new rules for campus groups across the nation. The University of California's Hastings College of Law says its officially recognized student groups must be open to all of its students. The law school also has a general non-discrimination policy which applies...

Monday December 7, 2009 Spanish King Faces Excommunication if He Assents to Abortion Bill Royal assent could plunge Spain into Constitutional Crisis By Hilary WhiteDecember 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Spanish press is highlighting the dilemma faced by Juan Carlos, king of Spain, a Catholic, who may be called upon to sign into law a bill that, if passed, would further liberalize abortion. On November 25th, Spain's Catholic bishops warned that those politicians who vote in favor of the law will have excommunicated themselves, having put themselves in an "objective state of sin." The bishops wrote that "while the...

Victory Declaration – Pastors Vow That IRS Will Not Control Them In that my first article ever written for Freedom’s Phoenix did not appear until September 28, 2007, the Victory Declaration which appears below was never released to Freedom’s Phoenix when it was circulated to the media in February of 2006. Therefore we are making it available to FP readers on this occasion. It is an update of the Redress of the 1983 Chicago Declaration that appeared on December 5, 2009 in FP. VICTORY DECLARATION Unregistered Baptist Fellowship Meeting February 21, 2006 Victory Baptist Church Okeechobee, Florida PREAMBLE “Forasmuch as...

Psalm 33:22 Let Thy Mercy, O LORD, be upon us, According as we Hope in Thee.

As a Romney supporter and blogger I have very seldom written about faith and religion, whether in the general sense or as it applies to Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate. I’ve always known Romney’s religion to be a stigma to some. I’m sure it is even a boon to others, especially those who share his faith. Today, in remembrance of the 2nd anniversary of Romney’s speech “Faith in America”, I’m going to take a rare moment to share my thoughts on subject. Full disclosure: I am a life-long member of the LDS (Mormon) church. Now let’s proceed. I consider...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (YBH.ME) – During the premier broadcast tonight of Robin Williams’ new HBO special, the franticly quick-witted comic referred to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi. The show, entitled “Weapons of Self Destruction,” was filmed in Washington, D.C. in November. The remark came at around the 1:12 mark of the ninety minute performance. Mr. Williams was doing a bit about the selection of a new Pope after Pope John Paul II died in 2005 and flatly referred to the current Pope as a Nazi. Mr. Williams went on to talk about pedophilia within the church and likened the Pope’s...

It is alarming to realize the nonchalance on the part of many concerning abortion. But it is not new. A popular newsmagazine quoted one medical opinion: “Abortion is finding its place as a perfectly acceptable and valid health measure. We no longer think of it as a crime.”

Washington D.C., Dec 4, 2009 / 10:43 pm (CNA).- Conservative blogs were buzzing on Friday with the discovery that a member of the USCCB's Subcommittee on Catholic Health Care is an active homosexual and gay rights activist. However, though Mary Kay Henry's bio states that she is a labor adviser to the U.S. bishops, the USCCB communications director told CNA "she is not a consultant." Henry, the international executive vice president for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was recently named one of the nation's "Top 25 Women in Healthcare" for 2009 by Modern Healthcare. Her biography at the SEIU...

1983 Chicago Declaration by 100 Church Leaders Resubmitted Because of a computer glitch the Chicago Declaration of 1983 that was revived and submitted on December 5 (2009) did not hold its numbering and paragraphs which made it difficult to read. Due to the good graces of the Editors of Freedom’s Phoenix we are resubmitting it for the benefit of those readers who are interested in circulating the article. Again we give thanks to a loving God of the Holy Bible and our wise Founding Fathers who gave us the inalienable right of Freedom of the press along with the others...

Deuteronomy 33:26,27 There is None like unto the God of Jeshurun, Who Rideth upon the Heaven in thy Help, And in His Excellency on the Sky. The Eternal God is thy Refuge, and Underneath are the Everlasting Arms: And He shall Thrust Out the Enemy from before thee; and shall Say, Destroy them.

A Campaign of IntimidationCOLLEEN CARROLL CAMPBELLSt. Louis Catholics heading into the Cathedral Basilica for Mass last Sunday got a taste of what their counterparts in California experienced last fall: protests intended to shame churchgoers for their church's opposition to gay marriage. Archbishop Robert Carlson Like the gay-rights activists who heckled and chanted outside Catholic, evangelical and Mormon houses of worship after California voters approved Proposition 8, those who demonstrated outside the Cathedral last weekend were incensed about the role that religious leaders played in defeating another state's push for same-sex marriage. The target of activist ire in this case...

Abortion opponents are urging local Catholic bishops to use the power of Communion to influence the national health care debate by withholding the sacrament from politicians who favor federal dollars for abortion. Randall Terry led five protesters Friday in front of Sen. Robert Casey's office, Downtown, and St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland. He is founder of Insurrecta Nex, Latin for "revolt against killing," a Washington group opposed to abortion. Casey is a Catholic. "Part of what we're doing on this tour is calling on the bishops to obey the teachings of the church and to enforce them," Terry said. "This...

The Catholic attitude to war 1557. You speak of a Christian solution of social troubles, but did not the Great War show the utter failure of Christianity altogether? No. Christianity did not fail. The nations failed to observe Christian principles, a totally different thing. When I say the nations, I mean those in political control of their destinies, and the general outlook of the peoples concerned. Many individuals who fought were excellent Christians, believing the cause of their own country to be just and defending the right as they conceived it with the highest motives. And this on both sides....

President of Russia Dmitrij Medvedev and Pope Benedict XVI / Photo Credit: L'Osservatore Romano Vatican City, Dec 4, 2009 / 02:10 pm (CNA).- At the conclusion of the meeting this week at the Apostolic Palace between Pope Benedict XVI and Russian President Dmitrij Medvedev, the Vatican announced that full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Russian Federation will be established. According to a statement from the Holy See’s Press Office, the meeting included "an exchange of views on the international economic and political situation in light of the encyclical, 'Caritas in Veritate'” and a discussion on "the...

Patrick Kennedy has a remarkable opportunity. The Democrat, a congressman from Rhode Island and the son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is currently embroiled in a scandal of his own making. I'd be delighted to be able to write a profile on his "courage" as it plays out. First of all, contrary to the game of telephone sometimes referred to as journalism, Patrick Kennedy's bishop did not seek to publicly reprimand Kennedy for his vociferous opinions on the Church, abortion and health care. Bishop Tobin of Providence was summoned by Kennedy's public scandal. Tobin has long sought to...

Friday, December 4 Dr. William Donohue, Catholic League President on his latest book, Secular Sabotage. William P. Clark, former aide to President Reagan and the subject of The Judge: William P. Clark, Ronald Reagan's Top Hand from Ignatius Press. Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at the Vatican on the Church's efforts to engage the culture through media.   Watch The World Over  100k   300k  Windows MediaRaymond's Blog: Seen and Unseen  From Ignatius Press ... Product Review The most important biographical record of the Reagan years—from the Reagan governorship to the 40th president’s...

[cross-posted] On the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha ('Feast of the Sacrifice'), Muslims rejoice for the descending of the pilgrims back down to the earth. While Ramadan is a time of suffering and lack, where Muslims gouge themselves new wounds and cover themselves with blood in the streets after long fasting, Eid al-Adha is a time of fullness. A dark part of it, not frequently talked about with Westerners, is the torture and murder of innocent horses. The justification for the torture and murder of innocent horses is contained within Volume 3, Book 47, Number 744 of the Sahih Bukhari Hadeeths:One...

The debate over affordable health care for America has now moved to the Senate and it is as yet quite unclear what will finally result. The Catholic support for the Stupak Amendment, which brought the Hyde Amendment’s prohibition of the use of federal funds for abortion into the legislation, should not be interpreted as a complete support by the Church of everything else in the health care reform legislation. For instance, the proposed health bill continues to provide abortion payments in cases of rape and incest and when the life of the mother is threatened. This is contrary to Church...

A court in northern China has sentenced five leaders of an unauthorized Protestant church to prison terms of up to seven years on charges including illegal assembly, rights groups reported. The sentences are among the harshest in recent years for members of house churches -- congregations that refuse to register and accept the authority of the government's Religious Affairs Bureau. Arrests stemmed from a Sept. 13 raid by police and hired security guards on sunrise services held by the 50,000- member Linfen Fushan Church in Linfen, northern Shanxi province, according to a Nov. 26 report from rights groups and the...