Free Republic

When California Bishop Marc Andrus wants to engage people in a conversation about climate change he doesn’t throw statistics at them, rather he begins with a question like: When was the last time you had an experience of wonder in the natural world? “If we can connect people back to it, or open them up for a fresh experience with wonder, it’s a great starting place for recovering a sense of why [climate change] is a moral issue,” said Andrus. Throughout history, the church has partnered with social movements on equal rights and justice issues. By beginning the conversation now...

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). Turning right and wrong upside down is a human habit that goes back thousands of years. Modern times are no different. Famous evolutionary biologist and professor of Oxford University, Richard Dawkins, recently showed his hand in a twitter conversation that has gained media attention. The British Broadcasting Corporation, a public service broadcaster among many others in the United Kingdom, reported that a twitter user said to Dawkins, “I honestly don’t...

Following a similar shocking video at Cornell University released by James O'Keefe last week, Barry University officials in Florida also sanction a pro-ISIS club with the stated goal of sending material support to ISIS. The only suggestion by Barry officials was to change the name of the club "because technically our country is at war with ISIS."

Indiana's Republican legislative leaders said Monday they're working on adding language to a new state law to make it clear that it doesn't allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.... Supporters of the law insist the law will keep the government from compelling people to provide services they find objectionable on religious grounds. Arkansas is poised to follow in Indiana's footsteps, as Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he'll sign a measure moving through the state's Legislature.

There is a play called The Book of Mormon. Here are the reviews..The New York Times calls it “the best musical of this century.” The Washington Post says, “It is the kind of evening that restores your faith in musicals.” And Entertainment Weekly says, “Grade A: the funniest musical of all time.” Jon Stewart of The Daily Show calls it “a crowning achievement. So good it makes me angry.” It’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, the nine-time Tony Award® winning Best Musical from the creators of South Park. Contains explicit language.These Mormons are so lovable, you feel half-inclined to take a...

In commemoration of Palm Sunday, dozens of churchgoers marched into a Logan Square McDonald's singing, chanting and demanding a $15 minimum wage for the workers behind the counter. About 80 congregants had gathered at the Logan Square Monument moments earlier to receive communion and to use the example of Jesus riding into Jerusalem a week before Easter to demand what they called a living wage for all low-wage workers. "Jesus was participating in street theater on Palm Sunday. On that day he was riding in on that donkey. He was saying business as usual will not continue here," said Marilyn...

I just watched "Killing Jesus". To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I found it unbearable. I understand adding pieces between the lines to flesh out the story for TV, but totally re-writing the Bible is beyond the pale. The stories of John the Baptist death, the trial before Pilot, and especially Judas and the 30 pieces of silver are totally rewritten, and the original was much better. I saw no one in this film worthy of worship, much less praise. Sorry, O'Reilly - You missed the mark on this one.

Questions are being raised over two U.S. foundations that have poured more than three million dollars into abortion rights, LGBT activist, and legal groups to push the message that exemptions based on religious beliefs are “un-American” and an abuse of liberty. The Arcus Foundation and the Ford Foundation have spent over $3 million in combined spending against religious liberty exemptions since 2013, according to a CNA review of tax forms and grant listings.

Who Are the Atheists? [excerpts] For reporting purposes at Barna, we often combine atheists and agnostics into one group, which we call skeptics. Skeptics either do not believe God exists (atheists) or are not sure God exists, but are open to the possibility (agnostics). Skeptics represent one-quarter of all unchurched adults (25%). Nearly one-third of skeptics have never attended a Christian church service in their lives (31%). That’s nearly double the proportion of “virgin unchurched” who are not skeptics (17%)... Five Demographic Shifts among Skeptics They are younger. Skeptics today are, on average, younger than in the past. Twenty years...

On Thursday, Indiana governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into law, and some celebrities, politicians, and journalists--including Miley Cyrus, Ashton Kutcher, and Hillary Clinton, just to name a few--are absolutely outraged. They say the law is a license to discriminate against gay people:

Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law Thursday a bill he claims will protect religious liberty in his state. Overwhelmingly approved by that state’s Republican-controlled legislature, the law allows businesses and workers, citing their religious beliefs, to refuse service to anyone they find objectionable. Of course, what the so-called “religious freedom” act really does is legalize discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people.

Given all the bad press Islam has gotten over the last few years, it might seem surprising at first glance that Islam is still such a vibrant, fast-growing religion. Even setting aside the fact that Muhammad was a bad guy and Allah doesn’t exist, the press about Islam over the last few years has been almost universally negative. If you’re not hearing about terrorist attacks, suicide bombers or sanctioned wife beating, you’re reading about ISIS taking slaves or Iranian morality police beating women with sticks for showing their ankles. If all of that is so, then why was Muhammad the...

Jackie Mason for VP with Cruz or who knws. he knows more than the audience and makes fun of them and makes them laugh at them selves being stupid. catch some of the names he mentions.

When Pope Francis last year effectively demoted U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke by moving him out of a senior post in the Vatican to a largely ceremonial role as head of a Rome-based Catholic charity, it was viewed as a way to sideline one of the pontiff’s most outspoken critics on the right ... Now the American churchman has spoken out again, telling an interviewer that gay couples and divorced and remarried Catholics who are trying to live good and faithful lives are still like “the person who murders someone and yet is kind to other people.” ...

SENATE ENROLLED ACT No. 101 AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning civil procedure. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana: SECTION1.IC34-13-9 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2015]: Chapter 9. Religious Freedom Restoration Sec. 1. This chapter applies to all governmental entity statutes, ordinances, resolutions, executive or administrative orders, regulations, customs, and usages, including the implementation or application thereof, regardless of whether they were enacted, adopted, or initiated before, on, or after July 1, 2015. Sec. 2. A governmental entity statute, ordinance,...

INDIANAPOLIS – The governor of Indiana signed the state “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” into law on Thursday, resisting critics who asserted that the legislation would allow people of faith to “discriminate” against homosexuals. Gov. Mike Pence signed SB 101 into law in a closed ceremony, with an estimated 70 t0 80 invited guests attending the event. “Today I signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier of every faith,” he said in a statement. “The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of...

In New York City schools, kids are learning Rs: reading, writing, and Ramadan. Thanks to the far-Left priorities of Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), city schools have added two Muslim holidays to the school calendar — a concession that took even Big Apple parents by surprise. While the largest religion in the country fights to even be recognized, “NYC schools will now close for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha — making (it) the largest school district in the nation to recognize the two holidays on the official school calendar.” Although families already had the option of taking excused absences for...

"Duck Dynasty's" Phil Robertson has come under fire once again, this time for a speech he made about a hypothetical atheist family at an annual prayer breakfast in Florida on Friday. Robertson described a graphic scenario while sharing his thoughts on those who do not believe in God. "Two guys break into an atheist's home," Robertson began. "He has a little atheist wife and two little atheist daughters. Two guys break into his home and tie him up in a chair and gag him. And then they take his two daughters in front of him and rape both of them...

The highest ranking woman in the Anglican communion has said climate denial is a “blind” and immoral position which rejects God’s gift of knowledge. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal church and one of the most powerful women in Christianity, said that climate change was a moral imperative akin to that of the civil rights movement. She said it was already a threat to the livelihoods and survival of people in the developing world.

After watching last Halloween’s broadcast of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, I realized that Linus van Pelt is like those who preach global warming. Linus doesn’t let the failure of the Great Pumpkin to appear destroy his belief that the Great Pumpkin exists. Similarly, the climate shaman who preach global warming won’t let colder than normal winter weather in recent years destroy their belief that someday their “Great Pumpkin” will rise from the pumpkin patch and distribute warming throughout the world.