Free Republic

Jews, Catholics and evangelical Christians are viewed warmly by the American public. When asked to rate each group on a “feeling thermometer” ranging from 0 to 100 – where 0 reflects the coldest, most negative possible rating and 100 the warmest, most positive rating – all three groups receive an average rating of 60 or higher (63 for Jews, 62 for Catholics and 61 for evangelical Christians). And 44% of the public rates all three groups in the warmest part of the scale (67 or higher).Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons receive neutral ratings on average, ranging from 48 for Mormons to...

There is a sort of application of the Observer Effect that applies to the news of the day. Sometimes confused with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which argues that at the subatomic level we can discern either the velocity of a particle or its location, but not both, the Observer Effect argues that observing scientific phenomena can affect what we are observing. It’s almost as if the electrons know we’re looking at them, and adjust their dance. With respect to the news of the day, we often hear this kind of argument: “Social ill x is no greater today than it...

Another attack on religious freedom is under way in Canada, this time against doctors in the province of Ontario. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is reviewing its human rights code guidelines, and the public response has been explosive. Many people want the College to change its present practice of permitting doctors to opt out of referring or prescribing treatments that violate their ethics or religious faith. This is not a case of liberal intellectuals and unelected leaders reducing our freedoms without the consent of the public. Judging by the slew of negative comments to stories in the...

The Popular PalestiniansPosted By Caroline Glick On July 16, 2014 @ 12:50 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 5 Comments Originally published by the Jerusalem Post. If the Palestinians are merely engaged in a nationalist struggle for self-determination, then why are they inciting genocide of Jewry? In the midst of Operation Protective Edge, Hamas released a music video in Hebrew calling for the Palestinians to bomb Israel and kill all Israelis. “Raze it [Israel] to the ground, exterminate the cockroaches’ nest, and banish all the Zionists,” the lyrics read. Some human rights activists and lawyers may get a sense of déjà...

I cannot understand how atheists are able to ignore the spiritual realm as if it doesn’t exist. They explain away miracles and supernatural events as if these thousands of occurrences over many years are all just random. I’ve had hundreds of answers to prayer in my life, but atheists tell me they’re all coincidences. One of the most frequent arguments I hear against my faith is that I believe in God because I’m “weak” and need some kind of support. Really? Me? Weak? I may be horribly flawed, but I wouldn’t describe myself as weak, after all the loudmouthed articles...

According to a six month Gallup survey, President Obama is very popular with only one group of Americans, Muslims, registering an astounding 72% approval rating. It is a much different story among all Americans as the President scores a weak 43% approval rating.

Everybody talks about it. The news is full of it. But most Christians know very little about it. Economics: it’s everywhere, influencing everything, yet so rarely understood. Economics for Everybody seeks to remedy that through an insightful and entertaining exploration of the principles, practices, and consequences of economics. Thoroughly unconventional, it links entrepreneurship with lemonade, cartoons with markets, and Charlie Chaplin with supply and demand. It’s funny, clever, profound and instructive. If you want to know why economics is so important to understand, this is the series for you. In our day and age, it’s a message every Christian needs...

The downsides of using poll data to understand the arc of historyIn one of the most ambiguous poll questions ever, Gallup has asked Americans to once again act as a tenuous bellwether for the impending death of religion. In a May survey, more than 1,000 people were asked to pick between two vague sense impressions of faith: "Do you believe that religion can answer all of today's problems, or that religion is largely old fashioned and out of date?" Shockingly, only 13 percent of people took the out of answering "no opinion" or "other," which is one way of saying...

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...

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Brown County Sheriff's Department reports the arrest of a 27 year-old Hobart man on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child. Wayne Makela was arrested Wednesday. The Brown County Sheriff's Department says he is a teacher and coach at Pilgrim Lutheran school in Green Bay. Investigators say the assault may have happened to a child under the age of 16. The suspect was in a position of trust at a church and school in Green Bay, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School confirmed to NBC26 that the suspect teaches a...

An academic sets out to expose “The Great Accreditation Farce” but his efforts border on the farcical. “By awarding accreditation to religious colleges, the process confers legitimacy on institutions that systematically undermine the most fundamental purposes of higher education,” Peter Conn wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “Skeptical and unfettered inquiry is the hallmark of American teaching and research.” “However, such inquiry cannot flourish—in many cases, cannot even survive—inside institutions that erect religious tests for truth.” Conn is an English professor at Penn. “This, in my view, can only be described as a scandal,” Conn avers. “Providing accreditation to...

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.

A bank teller in Kentucky claims she was fired from her job for telling customers, "Have a blessed day." Polly Neace wished customers at U.S. Bank in Walton, Kentucky, well with those words of blessing for more than two years. She said she never had anyone complain about the saying, which she said she was inspired to adopt when someone said the phrase to her in 2009. "I mean, in my opinion, I don't think there's any better way to have a blessed day," she explained in an interview with Fox News. But Neace said she was told she could...

Chinese authorities are cracking down on religious activities following deadly unrest in the country’s Muslim northwest, banning citizens from fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Statements posted Wednesday on websites of schools, government agencies and local party organizations in the Xinjiang region said the ban was aimed at protecting students’ well-being and preventing any official promotion of religion, The Associated Press reported. “No teacher can participate in religious activities, instill religious thoughts in students or coerce students into religious activities,”er

Today, the Supreme Court granted Wheaton College an injunction pending appeal against enforcement of the contraception mandate, even though Wheaton was eligible for the accommodation HHS has provided for religious non-profits. Specifically the Court ordered: If the applicant informs the Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing that it is a non-profit organization that holds itself out as religious and has religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services, the respondents are enjoined from enforcing against the applicant the challenged provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related regulations pending final disposition of appellate review. To...

We Americans are one lawyer away from losing our right to practice our religion. One more liberal Supreme Court Justice would mean that liberal extremists would be able to use the full power of the government to force people of faith to offer sacrifices at the altars of the gods of liberalism -- abortion, contraception, gay marriage, etc. Liberal Supreme Court judges have said that employers have no religious freedom. If an employee wants something, then the employer must provide it despite the employer’s religious beliefs. No woman needs contraceptives or to be sterilized. Those are not part of providing...

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...

RedState.com quotes a Huffington Post article wondering whether there are too many Catholics on the Supreme Court? At present there are no Protestants on the Supreme Court. 3 are Jewish ( Kagan, Breyer, and Bader ) and the remaining 6 are Catholic. It's been noted that the Supreme Court has never reflected the demographics of the country. The Court was all white until 1967 with the appointment of Thurgood Marshall, and Sandra Day O'Conner became the first female SC justice in 1981. Andrew Jackson appointed the first Catholic SC justice, Roger Taney, in 1836. The largest Protestant group in the...

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...

Anne Graham Lotz is asking thousands of people across the nation to answer a national call to prayer this week, warning the end times are near....