Free Republic

President Barack Obama is the most divisive man to ever occupy the White House –period! Yet, 95 percent of black Americans worship him as if he’s the messiah. Why? Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx recently took the stage at the Soul Train Awards and told the audience, “Thank God, and our lord and savior, Barack Obama!” Foxx called on the audience to stand up and clap for Obama. His outrageous remarks were broadcast on national television, yet not one nationally known black leader repudiated Foxx. Barack Obama’s ability to seduce people is well-known. He can bring his biggest critics into...

Godfather movies are still a huge industry, it seems. By Godfather movies, I do not mean films about gangsters as such, but more the sort of films that have been spawned by Francis Ford Coppola’s great movie. We’ve just been treated to an example of the genre on Channel 4, entitled The Fear. The Fear harked back to The Godfather in several ways. First of all it lifted the plot from The Godfather. Ritchie, our Brighton gangster had two sons, Cal who was rather wild and wanted to go in with the Albanian gangs, and Matty who was altogether more respectable....

LONDON — The British government announced Tuesday that it will introduce a bill next year legalizing gay marriage — but banning the Church of England from conducting same-sex ceremonies. Equalities minister Maria Miller said the legislation would authorize same-sex civil marriages, as well as religious ceremonies if religions decide to “opt in. “I feel strongly that, if a couple wish to show their love and commitment to each other, the state should not stand in their way,” Miller said. “For me, extending marriage to same-sex couples will strengthen, not weaken, this vital institution.” Some religious groups, such as Quakers and...

The gap between the proportion of Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland has narrowed, new census figures revealed today. The percentage of Catholics in the population was up to 45 while Protestant representation has fallen to 48% from the 2001 census. The figures were detailed in the 2011 census, the results of which were published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency today. Almost half the population (48%) designated themselves as British when asked to select one or more of a number of identities, including Northern Irish or Irish. A total of 29% of the overall population included Northern...

Why aren’t Christians allowed to be offended? We’re reminded of this issue every year at this time as we observe the War on Christmas. And this sensitivity to offense doesn’t stop with Christmas. Why is it that we’re required to be silent while the gay agenda, feminism, multiculturalism, radical environmentalism, and globalism are deified and taught to our children, while the Christian worldview is vilified by the same government officials?

Evangelical pastor and author John MacArthur said that the Democratic Party has “adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform." “And as you know,” MacArthur told his Southern California congregation on Sept. 30, “I’m not one to talk about politics as such, but I was essentially amazed that one of the historic parties here in the United States adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their platform. This is a new day in our country. Parties which used to differ on economics now differ dramatically on issues that invade the realm of God’s law and morality.” MacArthur is an...

Last week, a cadet publicly quit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, citing forced prayer and churchgoing. Republican strategist Shirley Husar, in a debate on HuffPost Live, asserted that West Point is “a religious institute.” Merry Christmas, Shirley, but West Point is not a religious institute—though that’s not for want of trying on the Christian right’s part. The cadet in question is 24-year-old Blake Page, who described being “severely punished” for not going to church while in basic training. “You scrubbed floors for four hours or went on rock flipping detail so the rocks could get an even tan...

US bishops look over documents at a meeting in Baltimore (Photo: CNS) Since the presidential election, I havenÂ’t been watching the American news channels much, I havenÂ’t had the heart. The US appears to be about to go over something they are calling the fiscal cliff because of ObamaÂ’s triumphalistic behaviour: he won, so heÂ’s not compromising with congressional Republicans who want much-needed public spending cuts, and heÂ’ll blame them if they do all go over this cliff (there are, I understand, other analyses of what is happening, but I like this one best). This cliff may not seem...

The founder of an international group of advocates for the equality and rights of Coptic Christians is appealing to the leaders of democratic nations to cut any ties with Egypt. The Voice of the Copts is attempting to thwart President Mohamed Morsi's regime from implementing a primarily Islamic-based constitution. "We demand that world leaders withdraw their recognition of Egypt's phony 'pro-democracy' leader, Mr. Morsi, who is backed by the illegal Muslim Brotherhood party," states Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, president of Voice of the Copts, in an open letter sent Monday. "Freeze your political relationships with Egypt, halt all investments and aid...

Russia's Orthodox Church has pledged "solidarity and support" for the Catholic Church in France in its campaign against a bill to allow same-sex marriage by the Socialist Government of President Francois Hollande. In a letter, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the Moscow Patriarchate's external relations director, praised Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, president of France's bishops' conference, for his "consistent and uncompromising" opposition to same-sex marriage which represented "the truly Christian view" on the issue. He told the cardinal the Moscow Patriarchate was ready to work with French bishops "to protect the Gospel's ethical values". The Russian prelate added: "It is gratifying that...

...gambling, rock music, etc, etc? Now, this thread isn't about debating what is sin and what isn't or what constitutes sin or doesn't. Please don't hijack this thread over the issues that I listed. Thank you. This thread is about our changing culture - and let's face it, more and more denominations/churches are ever so slowly moving towards tolerance and/or acceptance of homosexual marriage. The rest in the list (following gay marriage) that I included in the thread were put there to show that if you look back far enough at various denomination's church bylaws some churches were once against...

In Quod Apostolici Muneris (1878), Pope Leo XIII deplores those who “under the motley and all but barbarous terms and titles of Socialists, Communists, and Nihilists, are spread abroad throughout the world,” striving in alliance for “the purpose long resolved upon, of uprooting the foundations of civil society at large.” It may sound odd to our ears, that socialists, whose prescriptions for society are many and comprehensive, should be united with nihilists, who by definition believe in nothing. But Pope Leo, beginning as always from a rich view of human nature grounded in reason and elevated by relevation, sees the...

Psalm 33:18 Behold, the Lord's Eye is upon those who Fear Him [Who Revere and Worship Him with Awe], Who Wait for Him, And Hope in His Mercy and Lovingkindness.

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...