Free Republic

There are pastors and bishops in Alabama who have attempted to turn immigration into a moral issue and have deemed it un-Christian to deal with illegal aliens and deport illegal trespassers. But they are mistaken. If we turn to the Holy Bible to learn what God says about this issue, we see that God himself established the nations after Noah’s flood, according to Genesis 10:32. And the Book of Deuteronomy tells us that not only did God separate the nations, but he also set the borders of the first nations. This truth is further attested in the New Testament in...

Dozens of Rialto eighth-graders questioned whether the Holocaust occurred in essays written for an in-class assignment this spring. Rialto Unified School District administrators, besieged by criticism after the assignment became public in May, claimed at the time that none of the students who completed the assignment questioned or denied the Holocaust, but a survey of the students’ work by this news organization found numerous examples of students expressing doubt or flatly denying that the Holocaust occurred. :snip: “Students got high praise and grades for writing that the Holocaust was a hoax. I’m sick about that, I’m sick about that,” said...

Nancy Pelosi, who was awarded the Margaret Sanger Eugenicist of the Year Award by Planned Genocide Parenthood (go here)has now proclaimed herself the protector of children. This article trumpets her new child protector status… House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday described herself as a “lioness” when it comes to protecting children. She also called not only for the U.S. government to process minors arriving illegally from Central America on a “case-by-case basis” but for the government to “treat the Mexican kids the way they treat the non-contiguous country kids.” “Quite frankly, I would rather they treat the Mexican kids...

Via Pewsitter I learned of this from Liberty News. My emphases. EXCLUSIVE: HHS Bankrolled Catholic and Baptist Church from 2010 to 2013 to Prepare for ObamaÂ’s 2014 Invasion!A month or two ago news broke that ObamaÂ’s HHS was calling for private contractors to help transport illegal aliens throughout the interior United States. What made this already big news even bigger is the fact that the original call for proposals came out in January, long before the bulk of the illegal alien surge began. The breaking news youÂ’re about to read is ten times bigger, because the following proves the Obama...

The cross-party campaign to legalise the right to die took a significant step forward last night when the former archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, announced his support for the proposal as a way of preventing "needless suffering". The Church of England is strongly opposed to the bill. But in an article for the Daily Mail, Carey said he had changed his mind after witnessing the pain of Tony Nicklinson who suffered from locked-in syndrome. He died two years ago just weeks after losing his high court battle. "Here was a dignified man making a simple appeal for mercy, begging...

Must Evangelical churches change or downplay their position on homosexuality to attract millennials? Millennials, generally defined as those ages 18 to mid-30s, are the most supportive of redefining marriage to include same-sex couples, many polls show. A recent Public Religion Research Institute poll had their support at 69 percent, the highest of any age group. Even among self-described Evangelicals, the millennials showed the highest level of support at 43 percent (though the poll only included white Evangelicals), compared to 33 percent for generation X, 22 percent for Baby Boomers and 19 percent for those 68 and older. The poll also...

I'm going to follow up on yesterday's posting with some observations and questions - mostly questions, for there seem to be many questions that aren't being asked.  Who know?  Perhaps these questions are being actively stifled.  Well, I'll ask them (in no particular order) and hope that this serves to wake some folks up. Today I received my newsletter from Help Save Maryland, a conservative organization in Maryland.  They in turn reprinted a National Review article, called "The Moral Crisis On Our Southern Border" by Victor Davis Hanson.  He rightly points out that the bulk of these children are...

This is by Zac Morgan, a staff attorney at the Center for Competitive Politics writing at NRO.  My emphases and comments. Does Religious Speech Threaten Democracy? It could be restricted or banned under a constitutional amendment Democrats have proposed.The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved by a 10–8 vote a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would functionally eliminate the political rights of speech and association. While the committee made the language more succinct than in its original iteration, the law still poses a profound threat to fundamental liberties. [Mind you, a constitutional amendment doesn't happen over night, but... it has to start...

“There are more witnesses, more martyrs in the Church today than there were in the first centuries,” said Pope Francis last week. He decried the persecution but added “The Church grows thanks to the blood of the martyrs. This is the beauty of martyrdom.”His words are proving true around the world.ChinaChina used to be an example of the triumph of atheism — atheists came to power there and in the Soviet Bloc, in the 20th century but China is fast becoming an example of the triumph of Christianity in the 21st.The government is not taking it lightly.You may have...

Gordon College President D. Michael Lindsay thrust the college into the spotlight a week ago by signing a letter to President Barack Obama requesting that he exclude religious institutions from an executive order barring organizations that take federal money from discrimination in hiring based on sexual orientation. Now the Christian college on the North Shore faces scrutiny from the body that accredits colleges and universities in New England. Gordon’s action — and the ensuing media coverage — has put the college on the agenda for the September meeting of the New England Association of School and College’s higher education commission....

I read this at NRO: Senate Democrats’ Religious-Freedom Deprivation BillUnder the guise of “protect[ing] women’s health from corporate interference,” the bill that Senate Democrats are proposing in response to the Hobby Lobby ruling would deprive religious entities of all religious-liberty protections against having the HHS mandate directly imposed on them. Specifically:1. The bill would apply to employers generally, not just (as the bill’s short title would suggest) to “corporate” employers. Subsection 4(a) would make it unlawful for any “employer that establishes or maintains a group health plan for its employees” to “deny coverage of a specific health care item or...

Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden is enthused by the fruit that came from recent discussions between U.S. bishops and Iran’s religious leaders. “When you build a certain sense of trust and respect, then you can move forward and deal with the issues,” he said. The faith leaders announced June 14 that they oppose actions that endanger the life, health, dignity and welfare of others, including the creation of weapons of mass destruction. That declaration was the result of a March dialogue between a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers...

"In order to avoid future clashes with the citizens of Murrieta, Calif., over attempts to transfer illegal immigrants there, the Obama administration has turned to an unusual bedfellow: the Catholic Church. Deacon Luis Sanchez of the Diocese of San Bernardino tells National Review Online that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent approached the diocese on July 2, 2014, and “expressed his desire for the Church to help in helping these families reach their destination.” Since that time, he says, diocesan officials have spoken on the phone with ICE, and they held a planning meeting on Monday. John Andrews, the diocese’s...

Muslims advocates gathered at the California state capitol. Photo courtesy of the Council on American-Islamic Relations CA. Sacramento, Calif., Jul 10, 2014 / 04:07 am (CNA).- Proposed California food safety rules for butchering animals have raised concerns among the state’s Muslims, who say the rules would prevent them from practicing their religious beliefs. “Religious freedom is an important issue for all Americans. It is at the core of the freedoms our country was founded on and a value we pride ourselves on,” Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council of Islamic Relations’ San Francisco Bay Area Office, told CNA July...

“He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” Deuteronomy 10:18 (ESV)Christians are used to hearing people say “it’s the Christian thing to do.” Most often, it is by people deeply hostile to Christianity who say it. I get this all the time — even more so since I announced I am going to seminary. Liberals with no sense of Christianity want to tell Christians how they must behave and, by and large, hate us when we behave as Christians. Now, I know many of you do not share my faith....

The Catholic Church in the Philippines is encouraging members who are medical workers to refuse to implement a newly-approved birth control law, an official said on Thursday.MANILA: The Catholic Church in the Philippines is encouraging members who are medical workers to refuse to implement a newly-approved birth control law, an official said on Thursday. It is the latest move by the powerful church hierarchy in the largely Catholic Philippines against a law that took effect this year, compelling the state for the first time to provide free condoms and contraceptive pills. "Pastoral guidance" issued by bishops this week explains how...

Most Americans are deeply appreciative that our nation has welcomed millions of immigrants throughout our history. But is it possible to sustain a practice whereby social services are freely provided to anyone who can sneak across the border? Does such a practice ever reach a tipping point where it becomes self-defeating and detrimental to everyone in the nation? What does a community look like when there are not enough federal, state or local funds to meet the basic needs of the poor? Should limits ever be set on who gets to come across the border to America? Compare it to...

U.S. government officials were caught off guard by the recent rapid rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria and its plan to establish a sharia-ruled caliphate state.Either they weren’t getting enough intelligence from their agents in the field, or else they lacked the framework for processing the information. Since the American Embassy in Baghdad has some 15,000 employees and since we can assume that this includes a sizeable contingent of intelligence gatherers, a problem with the framework is the more likely explanation. The framework is built around the assumption that Islam is a religion of peace, and that the...

"World Congress of Families" Ambassador Tells ZENIT Faithful Must Be Visible and in the Public Square to Defend Our CivilizationThe day may come when U.S. citizens actually have to resist the nation's radically-changing forces, set to limit religious freedom - just one of the views shared with ZENIT by an ambassador of the World Congress of Families, Fr. Marcel Guarnizio. An expert on the region and Russia having ministered there extensively, Fr. Guarnizio warns that hope disappears when populations don’t see a need to have families. He believes Russia now has a new vitality, needed to help Western Europe resist...

It was just another high school graduation in one more streamer-bedecked gym, with all the usual trappings, the procession, the band, the beach balls, the decorated caps, the parents, the dignitaries. Except it wasn’t ordinary at all: it was as powerful a statement of faith from both a student and from the crowd itself as you will ever see.