Free Republic

Saudi woman have been blamed more than men for the high divorce rate in the Gulf Kingdom and one of the main reasons is their disobedience. A study issued this week by a local legal centre showed there are 11 key reasons for the surge in divorces in the world’s largest oil exporter. Six of them are related to women and four to men while the 11th reason has to do with the couple’s families and their interference in their marital life, showed the study by the Riyadh-based consultancy Centre for Legal Training. “One of the main reasons for the...

An Edmond teenager faces a possible life in prison sentence after authorities say they learned about shocking crimes he allegedly committed on an African mission trip. The suspect was volunteering at a Kenyan children’s home when he allegedly raped and molested a number of young children. According to court records, 19-year-old Matthew Durham confessed to raping several young girls, forcing some boys to perform oral sex on him and even making other kids watch. “This is a young man in our community that made choices to exploit children in an orphanage,” said United States Attorney Sanford Coats. “It’s a true...

I have never in my life encountered a religion as oppressive, cold, and stiff as Progressivism. I’ve never known a faith more eager to burn heretics at the stake. Even a fundamentalist Iranian Muslim would flinch if he came face to face with a western liberal’s rigid dogmatism. I imagine that even a Saudi Arabian Islamic cleric would take one look at how American left wingers react when anyone deviates ever so slightly from their established orthodoxy, and say to himself, “man, these people REALLY need to chill.” The Cult of Leftism has many tenets, and it demands full compliance...

Perhaps the most astounding development in the wake of the Gaza incursion was the revelation that Turkey had suddenly discovered that there is such a thing as “the conscience of humanity.” Those were the very words used by that country’s foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu. They surfaced during the endless ranting and raving by him and Turkey’s pathetic farce of a prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against Israel. The other astounding development is that Erdogan actually used the word “genocide.” It’s been a century now since the Turks committed genocide against the Armenians and until this day, although the event was...

If you are fasting and suffer from high blood pressure these tips are for you. Dr. Georgie Thomas Specialist – Cardiology at Burjeel Hospital in the UAE has some simple yet effective and helpful tips for people who suffer from this particular problem and advises on how to fast during the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan it is very important that you maintain a healthy lifestyle. You should stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids from Iftar until Suhoor to prevent complications that may occur. Reduce salt consumption. A key to healthy eating is choosing foods lower in salt and...

“I will really miss drinking sobia now that Ramadan is coming to an end.” This was the lament from Hassan Al-Amoudi, a local resident, here recently. “It is the main drink at the dinner table during Ramadan at our house. I usually drink it as soon as I hear the call for prayer.” Al-Amoudi typically buys between four and five large bags of sobia for his family of eight, many of whom are addicted to the drink in Ramadan. “Sobia has a lot of health benefits,” he said. "For example it helps relax and calm the nerves, and is considered...

FULL TITLE: Duane Youngblood: Pastor Who Wrote Book About Overcoming Homosexuality Arrested For Molesting Teen Boy Duane Youngblood once wrote a book about how he was able to de-convert from homosexuality, but police say the Pittsburgh pastor was actually sexually abusing a teenage boy over the course of several years. Youngblood, who leads the Higher Call World Outreach Church, was arrested this week and charged with corrupting a minor. The boy, who has since turned 21, told police that Youngblood abused him over the course of nearly three years. The young man claimed that the sexual assaults took place inside...

From behind a smoking sniper rifle high atop his ivory tower peers the secular-”progressive.” He surveys his many victims, strewn across the American landscape below and mockingly sneers, “War on Christianity? What war on Christianity?” He then resumes shooting, all the while insisting that those uncooperative Christians who scatter for cover behind the word of God and the U.S. Constitution somehow suffer from a “persecution complex” (the baker, the photographer, the florist, the innkeeper, the Christian school administrator, etc.). Though there are many, it is plain for all to see that abortion and “sexual liberation” remain the two principal theaters...

A new Connecticut Supreme Court ruling is adding to the debate on whether gay marriage rights should be applied retroactively and qualify same-sex couples for rights and benefits for which they weren’t entitled before state laws allowed them to marry. Although no states that allow gay marriage have made their laws retroactive, many same-sex partners believe they should have received Social Security survivor payments, tax breaks, inheritances and other benefits that were afforded only to heterosexual married couples before gay marriage laws were passed. …

EPC religious organizations demand attention for other reasons than sheer numbers. First, EPC churches draw people together on a much more regular consistent basis than other types of civic organizations, such as ethnic advocacy groups. Some EPC adherents in our study attend services or Bible studies four times a week throughout the year. Second, an EPC pastor or religious leader is more than a trusted community to their church or temple members.

Has anyone in the media brought this up yet?Michelle Obama is very worried about the treatment of "Her Girls"in Nigeria yet wont go to the US/Mexican border where thousands of children are in dire straights,many have died in attempt to swim across the Rio Grande.So where is Michelle?Has she even made a public statement regarding the children refugees coming into the states with numerous contageious diseases while being stored in overcrowded detention sites most likey sick and starving,waiting to be processed?The Obama's seem to be more concerned with Non-Americans than Americans already in dire straights!

The Church is encountering requests for children’s baptism from parents in same-sex relationships. But few dioceses have actual policies in the area,which requires a great deal of pastoral attention and no one-size-fits-all answers. In the Diocese of Madison,Msgr. James Bartylla, sent out an email to pastors asking them to “please seek consultation and coordination” with his office on requests for baptism of children to same-sex couples. The email stated that each case “must be evaluated individually,” because of difficulties in same-sex unions that “touch upon theology, canon law, pastoral approach, liturgical adaptation and sacramental recording.” Madison Bishop Robert Morlino said...

SOUTH DAYTONA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A teacher at Warner Christian Academy in South Daytona has been placed on unpaid administrative suspension pending an investigation into allegations of possession and distribution of child pornography. Matthew C. Graziotti,42, of Edgewater, was arrested on Monday following a joint investigation by the FBI, the Edgewater Police Department and the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. According to a criminal complaint, Graziotti distributed 141 images and 6 videos depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of children to an FBI agent, who was acting in an undercover capacity. During the execution of a search warrant, agents...

Hamdan: With every full moon comes a new beginning and with every new beginning comes opportunitiesSheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, shared these pictures and video on his Instagram account of him atop the world’s tallest building - Burj Khalifa – with the Super Moon in the backgrounD. Along with the picture, Sheikh Hamdan wrote: “With every full moon comes a new beginning and with every new beginning comes opportunities! A big thank you to all my followers.” Sheikh Hamdan also posted this video: “Super moon, super city for my super followers!” Social networking...

Readers of LifeSiteNews are aware of the lawsuit brought by Dr. Steve Tourloukis of Hamilton, Ontario, against the Hamilton-Wentworth school board. He is a devout member of the Orthodox Church, and he wants to be told when the school plans to introduce to his children sexual material that he finds objectionable. The school board does not want to yield. They are standing on principles, such as those are. They believe they are “co-parents,” and that “children have a right to an inclusive education,” which means, simply, they have a “right” to be educated into complete sexual indifference and chaos. For...

Hamas isnÂ’t shooting rockets at the Jews because of persecution, isolation or occupation. The Sunni Islamic terrorist group is doing it for the same reason that Sunnis and Shiites are killing each other in Iraq and Syria. And why its Muslim Brotherhood core group is killing Christians in Egypt. To understand why, letÂ’s step into a time machine and go back to the spring of 632. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius is engaged in the first of a series of wars with MohammedÂ’s maddened followers. England is divided into seven quarreling kingdoms. Across the water, the Merovingians are killing each other...

The Obama administration’s anti-Semitism monitor has added an issue to his office’s portfolio: defending circumcision in Europe. Circumcision has become a top focus for Ira Forman, the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism. He has been using the pulpit his office provides to warn European governments that moves to ban ritual circumcision could lead to the demise of their countries’ Jewish communities. “Because circumcision is essentially universal among Jews, this can shut down a community, especially a small vulnerable community,” Forman said. No European country has outright banned the practice, but there is increasing pressure to do...

Desmond Tutu has supported calls for a rethink on the Church of England’s stance on assisted dying claiming life should not be preserved “at any cost”. The retired Anglican archbishop said laws to stop people being allowed help to end their lives removed their “human right to dignity”. Tutu branded the treatment of Nelson Mandela, who was kept alive through a long and painful illness which saw him wheeled in and out of hospital and forced to take part in PR-driven photo shoots, an “affront to Madiba’s dignity”. He claimed he did not want his own life to be “prolonged...

Deep in the nation’s Bible Belt, new signs emerged this weekend of an evolution among Republican governors on gay marriage, an explosive social issue that has divided America’s families and politics for years. While the Republican Party’s religious conservatives continue to fight against same-sex marriage, its governors appear to be backing off their opposition- in their rhetoric, at least. For some, the shift may be more a matter of tone than substance as the GOP tries to attract new voters ahead of the midterm elections. Nonetheless, it is a dramatic turn for a party that has long been defined by...

Roof Knocking is the Israeli military's tactic of phoning Palestinians it is about to bomb. Before the Israeli Military bombs your house, it is not uncommon for many Gaza Strip residents to get a phone call. Can you imagine getting such a phone call, knowing it's serious, knowing they literally have got your number and have viewed within via drones? It happens a lot in this part of the world. Sawsan Kawarea, a resident of Khan Younis, said she was in her home earlier this week when the phone rang. She answered, and on the other side was 'David', who...

From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 126 new species in the Greater Mekong area, the WWF said in a new report detailing discoveries in 2011. But threats to the region's biodiversity mean many of the new species are already struggling to survive, the conservation group warned. "The good news is new discoveries. The bad news is that it is getting harder and harder in the world of conservation and environmental sustainability," Nick Cox, manager of WWF-Greater Mekong's Species Programme, said.

A year ago The View co-host Sherri Shepherd announced she and her husband Lamar Sally were going to have a baby using a surrogate. The procedure was to use Shepherd’s eggs and the womb of a stranger. Shepherd said at the time that she had found “a drama-free uterus” and that “we’re putting in our eggs and Sal’s sperm and we’ll let you know how it progresses.” It turns out not to have progressed very well either for a baby or for the marriage. TMZ reported this week that Shepherd’s eggs and Sally’s sperm did not work and that she...

At a press conference Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said people with religious beliefs who disagree with the ObamaCare contraception mandate can choose their faith or “you don’t have to form a corporation.” “You’re born with a religion or you adopt a religion. You have to obey the precepts of that religion and the government gives you a wide penumbra—you don’t have to form a corporation,” Schumer said. Schumer claims the Supreme Court’s decision that closely-held firms have a right to deny coverage for certain types of birth control they find objectionable under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) was...

“The dissents in both [the Wheaton and Hobby Lobby] cases show … a legal theory we haven’t seen before—which is essentially a theory that says, abortion rights trump everything else,” said Liz Cheney during a panel discussion on Fox News Sunday. “Abortion rights are more important than the free exercise of religion.” While Monday’s Hobby Lobby case received the bulk of media attention this week, a less publicized Thursday ruling granted an injunction to Wheaton College, a small evangelical college that is also a non-profit. …

AUDIENCE MEMBER: You lie! (Boos.) THE PRESIDENT: It's not true. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place. (Applause.)

The World Cup is “a homosexual abomination”, according to one angry Russian priest, who says male footballers may as well wear women’s underwear and bras. Orthodox Christianity religious figure Alexander Shumsky came out with the controversial stance against the biggest single event sporting competition as it reaches the semi-final stage. Although most people might see the different types and colours of boots adorned by footballers as a good variety, Shumsky slammed the choice of footwear and claims that liberals are trying to drown traditional Christianity with football. “Wearing pink and blue shoes is like wearing women’s underwear or wearing a...

<p>Muslims move next door to a Texas man who try to bully him into selling his house. These Muzzies picked on the WRONG Texan. I wish everybody stood up to these bully terrorist like Mr. Baker Watch & Enjoy.</p> <p>KATY, Texas – When an Islamic group moved in next door and told Craig Baker the pigs on his family’s 200-year-old Texas farm had to go, he and his swine decided to fight back.</p>

On this Fourth of July, 236 years after Congress declared independence from the British Empire through the Declaration of Independence, it’s well worth reminding ourselves of a number of things about the Founding era. In 1776, numerous individuals, families, committees, congregations, localities, and states had already proclaimed their independence, and almost no remaining imperial structure could continue to operate with any legitimacy in what would very soon become thirteen states. By the very beginning of July of 1776, it became clear that members of Congress would have to catch up quickly to the more activist localities, hoping to rein in...

The collapse will bring out the best and worst in all of us. Many of us will question why the collapse has happened. Many of us will wonder if God is punishing us for our personal or collective national sins, including abortion, promiscuity, pornography, drug addiction, and allowing other types of idols to creep into our lives. Now that the deceptive shackles of toys, gadgets, and other distractions have been stripped away, many of us will be sincerely looking for answers to some difficult questions: Why did my best friend die, but I survived? Why are there so many people...

There is no rest from the labour of parenting - not even on the seventh day. Two parents in southern Germany spared the rod but did not quite spoil their child when they abandoned their 11-year-old in a car park so they could go to church. Showing that love is not always patient or kind, the parents were led into temptation after a disagreement over visiting church on the day of the Lord. They stopped in a car park on the road to Freiburg, in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, and left their son there on Sunday because he did...

Security men in the sacred Saudi town of Makkah arrested a man wearing strange clothes inside the Grand Mosque, saying his costume detracted worshippers. Many curious men had left their prayers at the mosque and surrounded the man to take a close look at his apparel, prompting the mosque’s security men to intervene. “He was told to go and change his clothes because they are distracting the worshippers from their prayers…he left but returned with the same clothes,” Sada daily. It said police arrested the bearded man for interrogation after he entered the mosque for the second time with the...

A Christian-run bakery is facing legal action from a Government agency for refusing to produce a cake carrying a picture of the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie and the slogan “support gay marriage”. Ashers Baking Co., based in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, canceled an order for a novelty cake with a picture of the puppets arm in arm printed onto the icing saying that it went against the directors’ religious beliefs. They believe that producing the cake with the slogan and the logo of QueerSpace, a gay rights group the would-be customer supports, would amount to endorsing the campaign for...

Dr Hamid Al Naimi says many recent discoveries made by modern science are mentioned in the Quran, which was revealed over 1,400 years ago. The universe is expanding, and will come to an end and die like all creatures. This was one of the many miraculous facts of our universe — mentioned in the Holy Quran — chronicled in the third lecture of the cultural programme of the Dubai International Holy Quran Award held on Tuesday night. The lecture, which was attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police Major-General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, traced the journey of the universe as...

A Saudi man set precedence in the Gulf Kingdom’s conservative society when he sought his wife’s written opinion whether she would let him marry again. But her response carried an implicit threat to her husband. In a letter he left her at home, the husband told his wife that he intends to marry again on the grounds Islam permits men to have four wives at a time. A copy of the letter published by Sada newspaper showed the man marked two answers at the bottom “I agree and I don’t agree.” It showed the wife not only answered “I don’t...

Everyone bashes Maryland so I wanted to show folks where I live in Maryland and PROVE that it is NOT a communist state. Read every word before you call me a liar.....lol. Arnold is a medium-sized coastal town (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 23,106 people and five constituent neighborhoods, Arnold is the 47th largest community in Maryland. Housing costs in Arnold are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don’t compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in...

Participants from a variety of faiths joined at the mosque and learned about Muslim customs.A Kendall mosque is welcoming non-Muslims to join in festivities during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The Miami Herald reports Masjid AnNoor held a fifth annual open house to coincide with Ramadan. At 116, Arkansas Woman Named Oldest American During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset. The fasting and prayers are designed to help followers reconnect spiritually.

Voodoo dolls of Colombian star James Rodriguez, candles in Brazil colours and prayers to deities, Neymar and co are getting full support from the World Cup hosts' Afro-Brazilian religions. Before every game, Helio Sillman lights four yellow, green and blue candles in the colours of the national flag and places them in a rectangular box representing a football pitch. He places dolls inside and sends them "strength and energy," with the help of Orixas, the gods of Macumba and other religions that mix Roman Catholic and African beliefs.

SHELBY COUNTY, TN - A once trusted Hope Presbyterian Church music teacher is now at the center of a child sex investigation. Officials are releasing very few details about the investigation, but they do say that it involves multiple agencies. On Wednesday, Matthew Williams was charged with child sex abuse involving a family member. On Saturday, Hope Presbyterian Church found out and terminated Williams' contract immediately. Collierville Police Department confirmed there is an investigation, but that is all it would say. Williams taught piano lessons at Hope Music Academy at the church for almost a year. A spokesperson for Hope...

Pro-abortion pastors from different “Christian” denominations distributed condoms outside a Hobby Lobby store to protest this week’s Supreme Court decision giving it and other companies the ability to opt out of the Obamacare HHS mandate that compels them to pay for abortion-causing drugs for their employees. This comes after a NARAL board member suggested abortion activists have sex in Hobby Lobby stores as a protest. The Chicago Sun Times has more on what happened: hobbylobby27Christian clergy and activists from different faiths protested outside a Hobby Lobby on Route 59 Wednesday in protest of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that says...

Health officials offer health tips to general publicAbu Dhabi Health Services’ (Seha) experts warn people who are fasting to refrain from overeating as it could lead to severe health problems. Overeating, following a 15-hour-long fast, is common and doctors always advise people to eat nutritious and easy to digest food in proper quantities. “Although Ramadan is a month of exercising self-restraint, some habits such as excessive eating after iftar, which is against the very principle of the holy month, may lead to severe health problems,” said Dr Mouza Al Kuwaiti, Health Education Committee Chair of Seha’s Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS)....

Shoe thief sends SR500, asks victim for forgivenessA thief with a guilty conscience has asked for forgiveness from a Saudi man whose shoes he had stolen eight years ago. The guilt-ridden thief sent SR500 in an envelope alongside the apology note. The victim, Abu Abdul Rahman,said that his shoes were stolen as he was having dinner at a wedding reception hosted by a relative, local news site Sabq reported on Thursday. In keeping with the local tradition, food is served on in a majlis and guests and hosts leave their shoes at the door. Abu Abdul Rahman said that he...

Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic runner and war hero who survived 47 days at sea and three years in a Japanese POW camp after his plane crashed in the Pacific during World War II, died of pneumonia late Wednesday. He was 97. "After a 40-day long battle for his life, he peacefully passed away in the presence of his entire family, leaving behind a legacy that has touched so many lives," Zamperini's family said in a statement, according to Deadline. "His indomitable courage and fighting spirit were never more apparent than in these last days." The Olean, N.Y., native's astonishing...

Hobby Lobby doesn’t have to provide objectionable forms of birth control (abortifacients) to its employees, because paying for that would violate sincere religious beliefs held by its owners. That’s what most moderately-informed Americans are likely to take away from the most recent Supreme Court decision in favor of the family-owned company. Some conservatives have expressed disappointment that the decision, as written by Justice Samuel Alito, wasn’t broader, and the precedent it set was indeed deliberately narrow. But it’s still a win for religious liberty, and after the debacle last winter concerning Arizona’s Senate Bill 1062, it’s good to have another...

From efforts to install a monument at the Oklahoma Capitol to a controversial “Black Mass” at Harvard University, Satanists are all over the news. But are they, along with Wiccans and pagans, all together in one non-Abrahamic lump? Not at all, say experts on paganism and the major Satanist groups’ websites. “Paganism is an umbrella term for a wide variety of traditions outside the Abrahamic faiths. Wicca is the largest but there are countless others, from Druid to Heathen to people who are creating their own faiths even as we speak,” said Laura Wildman-Hanlon, a Wiccan priestess and editor of...

Roberto Cavalli ad featuring British model Georgia May Jagger with an H-like symbol on her neck has caused uproar among Sufi Muslims who say the ad “degrades” one of its religious symbols, The Independent reported on Monday. The ad, which promotes the designer's fragrance, showed the model posing in her underwear with the H-like emblem, similar to the one used by Sufi Muslims to refer to God, on her wrist and neck. Many protesters gathered in front of London’s department store Harrods in response to the ad, according to the report. Other protests took place in Chicago as part of...

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Wife denies report, saying she was divorced because of family riftsA Saudi man divorced his wife just after he saw her driving a car on social networks, but the woman denied the report, saying she was divorced because of persistent rifts. The unnamed woman said she would file a lawsuit against her husband for his cruelty and beating her up during their marriage and that she would demand alimony. “The report that he divorced me for driving a car is not true… if this is the reason, then I would not only drive a car but perform stunt driving,” she...

More prayer needed for my family. My son was having troubles with the side of his big toe, at the edge of the toenail...I took him to urgent care/walk-in clinic and they said he had an infection and we should soak it in epsom salts, keep it clean and keep the toenails cut even. They gave him some antibiotics. He went to camp the first week of June and when he came home, the other foot had sores on both sides of the big toe! ...and the first toe was worse. We cleaned them the same as the other foot,...

France is replacing its plan to teach children the “ABCD of equality” between boys and girls after protests by some parents who feared it was a stealth effort to erase gender differences. […] The initial plan was essentially an experiment with 275 schools, and it came under protest from Roman Catholic leaders, the French far right, and some parents groups. …