Free Republic

The election of 2012 fused principles of state and church demanding Americans follow one distinct path. The country chose to follow a path that is fiscally illogical, covetous of private property, dismissive to personal initiative, mythological towards freedom, repentant to a planet, subjugating of the religious to the secular, deadly to the unborn, disrespectful to the sick and aged, encouraging to the sexually deviant, and destructive to family. So how could our nation, so strongly and freely steeped in Judeo-Christian principles, have chosen such a path willingly? First, let us quickly address the Judeo portion of our heritage. Quite simply,...

News of Newhall seniors protesting the removal of a Christmas tree from their community room this week because, they said they were told, it was a religious symbol prompted a national outcry -- a collective bah humbug from Christmas defenders. It was, many said, another example of the so-called "war on Christmas" and political correctness run amok. The issue isn't new, but the debate over appropriate public demonstrations of traditionally religious holidays has now spread beyond blatant symbols like the cross and Nativity scenes to the unassuming Christmas tree. Chalk it up to the melting pot, experts say. "The country...

Around 1985, current al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri fled his homeland of Egypt, presumably never to return. From his early beginnings as a teenage leader of a small jihadi cell devoted to overthrowing Egyptian regimes (first Nasser's then Sadat's) until he merged forces with Osama bin Laden, expanding his objectives to include targeting the United States of America, Zawahiri never forgot his original objective: transforming Egypt into an Islamist state that upholds and enforces the totality of Sharia law, and that works towards the resurrection of a global caliphate.This vision is on its way to being fulfilled. With Islamist political victories,...

THE tensions between Church and state have provoked their fair share of war and bad blood over the centuries. But an infuriated Catholic bishop in Scotland, appalled over social reforms being carried out by David Cameron, has taken things to a whole new level. In an intemperate two-page letter to the Prime Minister, Bishop Joe Devine of Motherwell has accused him of being “out of his depth” and suggested he is “devoid of moral competence” over his attitude to Christianity. Not only that, he also tells Cameron that he is responsible for a political culture in which “words mean nothing”...

David Cameron will risk a major battle with his party next week by backing gay weddings in churches, the Evening Standard can reveal. He will go further than ever in his modernising drive by saying religious groups should be allowed to host same-sex civil weddings in churches, synagogues and other religious buildings if they choose. Organisations that reject gay marriage, such as the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, will have legal protection from being forced to host ceremonies against their wishes, the Prime Minister will pledge. Tory MPs will have a free vote on a Bill next...

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president this year, received the lowest level of support among evangelicals of any Republican presidential candidate since Bob Dole in 1996, according to a report by Barna Group, a Christian polling organization. Romney received the support of 81 percent of evangelicals, compared to 88 percent for John McCain in 2008, and 83 percent and 85 percent, respectively, for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Only Dole received a lower level of evangelical support at 74 percent in Barna's polling. Barna's results differ from other polls showing Romney received a higher proportion of the...

Jamie Foxx caused some controversy when he referred to President Barack Obama as "our lord and savior" at the 2012 Soul Train Awards, but the Academy Award-winning actor is defending his actions. Foxx, 44, drew criticism from the likes of Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California. Donohue has been vocal about protesting Obama's policies like the HHS Mandate and released a statement calling Foxx's remarks "startling." "It just goes to show that even though Obama did not succeed in stopping the oceans from rising (as...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- New rules issued by Pope Benedict XVI for the governance of Catholic charities will not prevent such charities from accepting government funding, so long as the funding does not entail conditions that conflict with church teaching, said the second-highest official of the Vatican office in charge of applying the new legislation. Msgr. Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, secretary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, spoke to Catholic News Service about the pope's apostolic letter on the "service of charity," issued "motu proprio" (on the pope's "own initiative") Nov. 11, and released by the Vatican Dec. 1. The...

Lawsuit threat cancels Christmas concert HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A threatened lawsuit had put a halt to what's become a Christmas tradition for members of the Moanalua High School orchestra. For the past six years, the award-winning group and volunteers from the New Hope Church have raised more than $200,0000 for a charity that treats poor people in Hawaii. But that all came to a halt on Monday when the Department of Education decided to cancel the concert just four days before the event. In a letter to the Department of Education, Mitch Kahle, founder of the Hawaii Citizens for the...

Havana, Cuba, Dec 4, 2012 / 12:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Local Catholics say that the reinstatement of Christmas as a national holiday in 1997 after decades of being outlawed has brought enormous good “to the life of the nation,” but that its deeper meaning still needs to be understood. “Once again Christmas proves to be a source of happiness: however, we cannot forget that this beneficial aspect of Christmas has its roots and its nature in the religious event of the birth of Jesus Christ,” wrote editors from the Diocese of Pinar del Rio's magazine titled Vitral. “The more Christmas...

About ninety percent of faculty and administrators from America’s top Catholic universities who contributed to presidential campaigns in 2012 gave to President Obama, a Campus Reform investigation has revealed. The strong support for President Obama from Catholic schools came despite Democrats’ controversial health care legislation which could force employers to provide contraception for employees even though it is explicitly forbidden under Catholic doctrine. A Campus Reform investigation revealed that faculty and staff at Catholic universities gave overwhelmingly to President Obama's reelection campaign. The findings, based on official Federal Election Commission data made available by the government transparency site OpenSecrets.org, revealed...

An excerpt from How Close Are We?The Blessed Hope With Christ’s I will come again! still fresh in memories, the early Christians eagerly waited and watched for their Lord’s return. He had said that they were not of this world, but that He had chosen them out of it. Paul would soon write under His Lord’s inspiration: “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20,21). The world held little interest for...

* Disclaimer: The following should not be considered legal, financial or tax advice. Every individual situation is unique and you are encouraged to consult with your tax and financial advisor before year end. There's a lot of hype, confusion and speculation related to the so-called "fiscal cliff" America is facing as the calendar rolls over from 2012 to 2013. At the Presbyterian Lay Committee, we're getting questions from donors and churches alike about what they might anticipate in terms of the impact on charitable giving. The answer all depends on what happens between now and the end of the year...

Pope Benedict XVI. (Credit: Anne Hartney) Vatican City, Dec 2, 2012 / 01:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has released an apostolic letter on charitable activities that asks bishops to improve their supervision of local charities and ensure that these groups’ work does not contradict Catholic teaching. The Pope’s six-page letter, released Dec. 1, notes the duty of the diocesan bishops and parish priests to see that in charitable service the faithful “are not led into error or misunderstanding.” Bishops and parish priests “are to prevent publicity being given through parish or diocesan structures to initiatives which, while...

Throughout history, religious reformations have changed the way people look at the concept of faith and a higher power. Denmark has been no exception in this respect. In the last 1,100 years, the country has experienced two major religious reformations that have changed the course of its history. And today, with church attendances dwindling and calls growing for a separation of church and state, the country would appear to be on the verge of a third. While the first reformation took place when King Harald Bluetooth embraced Christianity in the 10th century, it is the second − which saw a...

Offertory, 1st Sunday in Advent (Tridentine Rite) Psalm 24 1-3. Ad te levávi ánimam meam: Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam: neque irrídeant me inimíci mei: étenim univérsi, qui te exspéctant, non confundéntur. To Thee have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed: neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded.

Psalm 5:11 Let All who Take Refuge in You be Glad, Let them Ever Sing for Joy; And May You Shelter them, That those who Love Your Name May Exult in You.

On Usury By Hilaire BellocTaken from ESSAYS OF A CATHOLIC, Usury does not mean high interest. It means any interest, however low, demanded for an unproductive loan. It is not only immoral [on which account it has been condemned by every moral code-----Pagan-----Mohammedan-----or Catholic] but it is ultimately destructive of society. It has only been the rule of our commerce to take usury since the breakup of Europe following on the Reformation. Usury will destroy our society, but meanwhile there is no escape from it. We are coming near the end of its maleficent action, not through awaking to its...

In a Nov. 20th memo obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society, Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh has announced to faculty and staff that in response to the HHS mandate it will begin covering contraceptives starting next month. While many Catholic colleges and dioceses are battling the HHS mandate on religious liberty grounds in court, Gonzaga, a Jesuit University, announced to faculty and staff that even while they vow to clearly communicate the Church’s position on contraception, they are “compelled by the federal government to fulfill our legal obligation under the mandate.” According to the memo, the university will begin covering...

Imagine a demographic that has doubled its share of the population over the past two decades, is up by 25 percent over the past four years, and now accounts for as many as one in five Americans. Imagine that this demographic votes disproportionately for one political party—to the tune of 70 percent for Obama versus 26 percent for Romney in the 2012 election. Sounds like a demographic that ought to be of interest to politicians, journalists, and activists, right? That demographic consists of people who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic, or religiously unaffiliated—the “nones,” as they’re sometimes called. And it...