Free Republic

Following my article Effects of Atheist Propaganda Come Home to Roost, - although on Free Republic the comments were favourable to my position - readers of my blog have posted comments that need a more analytical and detailed answer than allowed in the comments section. Complex subjects require complex treatment. Furthermore, there seems to be much confusion about the theme of Christianity and ethics. For example, an anonymous reader calling himself "roger in florida" wrote: "I believe you are very misguided if you equate Christianity with morality or cannot understand that atheists, such as myself, are incapable [he then explained that he...

Before 9/11, most Americans looked at Islam as no different than any of the world's other great religions. But since that terrible day, Americans have read countless stories about crazed riots over damaged Qurans, terrorists who've murdered people in the name of Allah and violent threats over Muhammad cartoons. Quite understandably, this has caused people to become considerably more wary of Islam. Is that fair to all the good and decent Muslims out there? No, it isn't. But, let's also stop ignoring the obvious fact that the Islamic faith has a large, radical and violent contingent that the world's other...

In our Founding Father’s day, the practice of VIRTUE was a crown of honor, not a bigot’s badge of shame. My beloved, just look what we as a nation have become today! We are a nation of godless, narcissistic, self-gratifying, infanticidal murderers - pornographic, sexually deviant, perverse, callous, adulterous, drug addicts and drunks, using the First Amendment as a license to transgress natural laws and moral absolutes in the name of secular human rights. Our American families are truly decimated! . In our Founding Father’s day, the practice of VIRTUE was a crown of honor, not a bigot’s badge of...

PARIS (Reuters) - Germany's top labor court ruled on Thursday the country's Catholic charity network had the right to fire an employee who quit the Church in protest against the sexual abuse crisis and disputed decisions by ex-Pope Benedict. The 60-year-old teacher, challenging his 2011 dismissal, had claimed his constitutional right to freedom of opinion trumped the Church's right to employ only Catholics who agreed with the religious mission of their jobs. He said that his work at Caritas Germany tutoring grade-school children did not deal with religion and that pupils of all faiths were welcome there. The decision was...

Many Muslims and websites claim that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. As proof, they usually present us with unverifiable claims and baseless media quotes. Apparently ABC News had claimed "Already more than a billion-people strong, Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion", a quote which cannot be traced to its source. Also CNN World News stated "Fast-growing Islam winning converts in Western world", a statement which they fail to back up with any evidence. Here we examine the actual data available for Islam to see if any of these claims are based on fact. ccording to "The...

A judge has made an important decision in a sexual assault case that is not only the correct one, but one that hopefully others will follow. The decision was not on the guilt or innocence of the men charged, but on the complainant’s desire to wear a niqab while testifying. The woman, known only as N.S., had taken her fight all the way to the Supreme Court, which chose not to choose. The Supreme Court ruled that it was up to each individual judge to determine on a case-by-case basis if the wearing of the religious cloth – essentially the...

Why are people still wondering why these boys bombed innocent people? Are they not listening? In addition to all the other facts that have surfaced, apparently on CNN last night, their mother said the following: “If they are going to kill him. I don’t care. My oldest son is killed, so I don’t care. I don’t care if my youngest son is going to be killed today. I want the world to hear this. And, I don’t care if I am going to get killed too. And I will say Allahu Akbar!“

The U.S. Army is directing troops to remove a Bible inscription that a vendor etched into the serial numbers of weapon scopes, Fox News has learned. Soldiers at Fort Wainwright in Alaska told Fox News they received a directive to turn in their scopes so the Bible references could be removed. The scopes were made by Trijicom and referenced New Testament passages in John 8:12 and Second Corinthians 4:6. The verses appeared at the end of the scope serial numbers – “JN8:12” and “2COR4:6.” “The biblical verse (JN8:12) must be removed utilizing a Dremel type tool and then painted black,”...

Professor Richard Dawkins has claimed that forcing a religion on children without questioning its merits is as bad as 'child abuse'. In typically incendiary style, the leading atheist said he was against the 'indoctrination of religion' and teaching it as fact. The evolutionary scientist and Emeritus Fellow at Oxford University, speaking at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival yesterday, was repeating claims he made last year which were roundly condemned by charities and politicians. Professor Dawkins said at the festival that children should be taught religion but scorn should be poured on its claims. 'What a child should be taught is...

Often, we pray for goodness in the world but usually do so off the cuff, quickly, and in an all too generic way. We pray for the end of conflict. We pray for reconciliation. We pray for peace. But when it comes to terrorism, we need also to pray that evil, occult tendencies, and arrogance be purged from religions that spawn vehemence and destruction. The Church militant must rise when his faith is under attack, and the Church militant not only prays for a shield but also actively seeks (in prayer) to "deliver us from the evil one."

Former President Bill Clinton said in Los Angeles his daughter, Chelsea, helped make him more sympathetic to the cause of civil rights for homosexuals. Speaking at a gala for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Clinton said the former first daughter has some homosexual friends and together they reminded him that all people should be treated equally.

DENVER -- It was a Sunday morning in Los Angeles, the day before a preseason tussle with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Warriors coach Mark Jackson had given his team the day off. But instead of sleeping in or dispersing to meet with friends, nearly the entire team took the team bus to a hotel ballroom in Studio City. Instead of indulging in the Hollywood scene, they worshiped together. Coach Mark Jackson, pastor at True Love Worship Center International, preached about letting their light shine. Jackson's wife and co-pastor prayed over the often-injured right ankle of team star Stephen Curry....

A federal appeals court is to hear arguments Wednesday on whether a first-of-its-kind law that prohibits licensed mental health professionals in California from offering therapies aimed at making gay and lesbian teenagers straight violates the civil rights of practitioners and parents. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering two legal challenges to the ban on "sexual orientation change efforts" that was passed by the California Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown last fall.

George Beverly Shea, whose booming baritone voice echoed through stadiums, squares and souls during a decades-long career with evangelist Billy Graham, died Tuesday. He was 104.

Hutson observes that in their 1780 state constitution, “[o]fficials in Massachusetts afforded the most ample liberty of conscience…to Deists, Mahometans, Jews and Christians” (2002)—an allusion to Samuel West’s discussion of tax assessments for the support of the public teaching of religion and morality. This observation is accurate as long as one clearly understands that “liberty of conscience” specifically meant no governmental intrusion, but did not extend to the encouragement or promotion of Islam in public life. Proof of this contention is seen in the Third Article of the 1780 constitution itself, in which the legislature was authorized “to make suitable...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican's criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns which the Church said was tainted by "radical" feminism, dashing hopes he might take a softer stand with the sisters. Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling which the Vatican said on Monday still applied. Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with...

ORLANDO, Fla. — In the pews of the First Baptist Church of Orlando, where thousands of evangelical Christians gather on Sundays to worship and sing, a change of heart is happening on the once toxic issue of immigration. Two years ago, national evangelical leaders began to speak out in favor of legislation to give legal status to immigrants in the United States illegally. Now, as Congress is about to start a debate on overhauling the immigration system, conservative Christians in those churches, once inclined to take a hard line on immigrants they viewed as lawbreakers, are consulting their Bibles and...

With the repeal of the Clinton era “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy allowing gays to quietly serve in America’s armed forces, the politically correct goons in the Department of defense are working to silence any opposition to the Gay Agenda. Military Chaplains are being silenced. Soldiers are being taught to equate Christians with extremists and racists who preach violence against non-believers. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty sent a letter to the House Armed Services Committee warning that Military Chaplains are being threatened by higher brass to keep quiet about their opposition to Homosexual Marriages. The organization has pointed out...

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 2013 (Acton Institute) - “What right do they have to do this, to take away our freedoms?” Mary Anne Yep, co-founder and vice president of Triune Health Group in Chicago, recently asked of the Obama administration regarding the HHS Mandate. On Monday when the official comment period closed, thousands of individuals swamped the Department of Health and Human Services with concerns about the HHS Mandate and the effect it would have on religious liberty in the United States. The Heritage Foundation recently posted an updateabout HHS and the people against it: After more than a year...

Sunday worship at Calvary Foursquare Church in Silver Spring, Md., starts in an empty parking lot. The congregants usually arrive on foot with well-worn Bibles in hand. They come in groups, Latino mothers and toddlers, grandparents and friends. "Que Dios te bendiga"--May the Lord bless you--each one says, offering hugs and kisses to everyone they meet. They board a refurbished school bus painted with a Bible verse and the church's Spanish name: Iglesia Cuadrangular el Calvario. When it pulls out into the busy street, I hop in my car and follow.