Free Republic

Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that to counter the ideology of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its claim of a "religious foundation" for its actions, part of the strategy of the international coalition he is attempting to assemble must be to "begin to put real Islam out there." Kerry, in Paris for talks with various world leaders to build that coalition, further said that all of the Arab leaders he had spoken with earlier concurred about their focus on "real Islam and how important the Friday sermons are." The secretary of state recently...

Japan is known by many to be a difficult mission field. But for those who know missions in Japan well, the phrase “hard mission field” is merely a euphemism for a grimmer expression that was previously used about Africa, one that has been recently applied to Japan: “the missionary’s graveyard.” One would expect such a bleak designation to be used in reference to a land known for physical hardship or violent persecution, and there have been martyrs in Japan’s Christian history. That is not the case today, however. Religious worker visas are readily available, and the Japanese often politely thank...

What does the church most need today? In answering this important but rather general question, Psalm 81 is uniquely important and helpful. This psalm obviously contains beautiful promises and clear directions to help the people of God. But careful study of this psalm will deepen our appreciation of it, increase its value for us, and show us how distinctive it is for helping the church.As we study psalms, we soon learn that the central verse of a psalm is often significant as a key to its interpretation. The central line of Psalm 81 is the heart of that psalm, as...

We have all heard what has come to be a liberal dictum, that the State must remain neutral as regards religion or irreligion. One can show fairly easily that the men who wrote our constitution had no such neutrality in mind, given the laws that they and their fellows subsequently passed, their habits of public prayer at meetings, and their common understanding that freedom without virtue, and virtue without piety, were chimeras. To show that that understanding persisted, all one need do is open every textbook for school children published for almost two hundred years; or recall that Catholic immigrants...

David Limbaugh has written a book that departs dramatically from his recent tomes on the worst excesses of the Obama presidency. "Jesus On Trial: A Lawyer Affirms the Truth of the Gospel" explores his journey of faith, from believer to non-believer and back. "Rush and I were raised in a great Midwest Christian family. We went to church every Sunday. Our parents raised us right so I'm not blaming them. I'm blaming myself for the message not sticking," he says. As it has for so many, his faith faded away in college. Faith was replaced by skepticism. Limbaugh wants it...

(RNS) Arkansas State is removing a Christian cross decal from the back of its football helmets after a complaint that it violated separation of church and state, the university said Wednesday (Sept. 10). Athletics director Terry Mohajir said he wanted to fight the decision because the decal was intended to honor former player Markel Owens and equipment manager Barry Weyer, who both died this year. However, Mohajir said he had little choice but to follow advice from the university’s legal counsel to remove or modify the symbol. “My job is to support our players and our coaches in their expression...

Reports surfaced Wednesday night that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was "booed off the stage" at an event hosted by a purportedly Christian organization. Cruz, the keynote speaker at the new "In Defense Of Christians" organization's dinner in Washington DC, had offered the crowd--a number of whom were Christians from the Middle East, including Palestinian Christians--public support for Israel. After doing so, some members of the crowd booed at Cruz, and they persisted until he left the stage, noting their hatred and saying he can't stand with them if they don't stand with Israel.

Sweden has let in thousands of Muslim immigrants during the last decades. Many native Swedes are strongly opposed to the idea of Multiculturalism becoming the new 'state religion'. Some members of parliament have begun speaking the truth about Islam. Link below.

A new policy put in place by Cal State University could cost InterVarsity and other Christian groups up to $460,000 to meet on campus because they cannot change their leadership requirements to include any student. "No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society, or other student organization unless its membership and leadership are open to all currently enrolled students at that campus," the policy states. The rule requires leadership positions to be open to any student, regardless of whether they hold the same beliefs as the Club. The policy went into effect in 2012 but up until...

One of the fundamental problems in our society is that we argue with one another from positions of moral parochialism: we assume that the other party shares our frames of reference. That may have been true in the earlier years of our nation, but I propose that this is no longer the case. Today, we argue from different and fundamentally incompatible moral codes and value systems. It is the dichotomy between the two that confuses our discourse and creates great dangers for our country.

How to gear the free market so that people floursh.Two young girls sit on the front porch of an idyllic suburban home, staring at the wonder that is the modern smartphone. After one girl lists all the things the smartphone can do—“I can watch movies on it, read a book, talk with my friends... ...prompting the other girl to say, “I want one; make me one!” The smartphone then explains that “no one knows how to build even one of these things”—that millions of inventors, designers, miners, oil drillers, and factory owners around the world are needed to create just...

While a prisoner of Islamic terrorists, Steven Sotloff faked illness so that he could observe Yom Kippur. It is said that he would also covertly pray facing Jerusalem. As with James Foley, another American journalist beheaded by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sotloff's religious faith was reportedly important to him. "He was no hero," his family emphasized in a statement. "He was a man who tried to find good in a world full of darkness." Very far away from where national headlines tend to be made, about 250 Catholic scholars gathered in Bismarck, North Dakota, over...

The economic heart of fascism in the 1930's was the "government-private industry alliance." It still is. In this alliance, the state provides limited funds and promotion of favored businesses. The businesses provide profits that are taxed. The state's bureaucrats increase their influence over the economy by way of favored business enterprises. The state is now heralding faith-based welfare. State money is used to favor some ministries, which conform to state requirements. In this way, the churches get "matching funds" from the state, and the state gets another avenue into the lives of the public. There will be more welfare clients,...

Tempe, AZ: Luis has been in deportation proceedings as a result of a minor traffic incident. On July 7, 2014, his attorney submitted a request for a stay of removal to keep Luis in the United States with his wife and children, but that request has been denied by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite matching the agency’s own “low priority” criteria for removal. He now lives under the threat of immediate deportation. At a press conference at 9:30am, Rev. Eric O. Ledermann will discuss his congregation’s call to stand with and support the Lopez-Acabal family so that they may...

I have a prayer request. I am having cancer surgery on Sept 16. Less than two weeks away. I'm having a mastectomy, with reconstruction. It all gets done (or at least started) on the table. Please pray for my fear, which is usually at the manageable level. And that I make it through surgery. I'll be in the hospital for one day. I opted to stay with my surgical oncologist that operated on me two years ago (cancer then too) for many reasons, one being he's THE breast cancer surgeon in Middle GA. Trouble is, after I was diagnosed, I've...

Today's generation of nuns are progressive women, two things the Church isn't used to Nuns are an endangered species. They are dying and not being replaced. More Florida Atheist Kicked Out of City Meeting For Refusing to Stand During InvocationHate Crime Laws: What the Amish Beard Cutting Case Means for the Rest of UsBrits on Edge: Police Get Power to Seize Terror Suspect Passports NBC NewsSkiing Standoff Could Be Downhill Run for Park City NBC NewsMajor Shift: Germany to Arm Anti-ISIS Forces in Iraq NBC News If you think the news is bad now, a world without nuns would be...

Our Father in Heaven. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the Eternal I AM. The One who is age to age the same. There is no shadow of turning with You. You are fully present in every generation—past, present, and future. You are the All-Mighty. Your power has not been deleted or depleted over the millennia of human history. We know that You so loved the world that You gave us Heaven’s treasure when You sent Your only Son to die, so that anyone and everyone who places their faith in Him...

The crowd of supporters stretched around Main Street on a busy Saturday in August, hundreds of Hamptonites curving past the Ralph Lauren and Tiffany & Co. stores, waiting patiently to greet Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mrs. Clinton had taken a break from her beach vacation to sign copies of her latest memoir, “Hard Choices.” Her presence transformed BookHampton, the bookseller the Clintons frequent on their working summer vacations, into a sort of pre-campaign event with Secret Service agents, and well-wishers including Martha Stewart and Howard Dean. The shores of Long Island are not exactly a proxy for the enthusiasm Mrs. Clinton...

Dedication plaques at two Midlothian elementary schools will be replaced because they reference God and the Holy Christian Church. Superintendent Jerome Stewart confirmed the plaques at Mountain Peak Elementary and Longbranch Elementary are covered up for now. Over the summer, someone complained about the plaque at Mountain Peak to the Freedom from Religion Foundation. After doing some research, the organization sent a letter to the Midlothian ISD. The 2-by-3-foot display next to the front entrance of the school included two Latin crosses and read, “Dedicated in the year of our Lord 1997 to the education of God's children and to...

Troy Schmidt’s jaw dropped. A few minutes before, he had been preparing to start his seventh year as chaplain for the Olympia High School football team in Florida. But now, those plans had been changed – radically changed. “I received a call from the coach,” Schmidt told me. “He said Orange County Public Schools is no longer allowed to have chaplains as a part of the football program.” Schmidt, who is a campus pastor of the First Baptist Church of Windermere, Florida, listened as the football coach explained the district’s decision to cleanse Christianity from its ranks. “I could no...