Free Republic

One of the most important religious freedom cases heard before the Supreme Court in a generation may see an opinion handed down tomorrow. Hobby Lobby, a Michigan based company, is challenging the Obamacare contraception mandate on the grounds that paying for coverage would violate their religious beliefs. Cleveland Plain Dealer: Tomorrow, the Supreme Court is likely to release its decision in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby, a widely anticipated ruling expected to have far-reaching implications for businesses.

The EWTN Global Catholic Network has filed a motion for emergency relief with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for an injunction to bar enforcement of the federal contraception mandate. Michael Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN, explained that the network has already requested this protection with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, “but that court has yet to respond to our petition.” Without an injunction offering protection from the mandate, EWTN would be forced to comply with its demands starting July 1. As a result, the network filed its motion for emergency relief with the high court June 27. “We...

It certainly was a shock when the president of Russia lectured Americans that we are “becoming godless.” In his last “state of the nation” speech, Vladimir Putin told Russia that the United States was moving away from Christian values. Back in the 1980’s, Ronald Reagan was making similar comments about Russia! So is the United States still one nation under God? In a recent article, Dr. Ben Carson says yes. Americans still live in a culture that operates under many of Christianity’s basic assumptions about life. But with increasing numbers of Americans becoming reluctant to mention God in public, we...

The Eucharist conforms Catholics to “the pattern of Christ’s self-giving love” and compels them to see the dignity of the poor and perform acts of mercy, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said at the June 21 opening Mass for this year’s Fortnight for Freedom. The Mass coincided with the feast of Corpus Christi. “By entering the dynamic of Christ’s self-giving eucharistic love, we are impelled ... to work for a loving and just society where the dignity of human life is respected from conception until natural death and all the stages in between,” he said in his homily. More than...

IRONDALE, AL – A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the network founded by Mother Angelica must comply with the HHS mandate, despite its deep-seated religious objections, because the ObamaCare provision does not violate the First Amendment. "EWTN doesn't have to comply with the mandate. All it has to do is sign a form certifying its opposition to the use of contraceptives and then deliver that form to its third-party administrator." U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled in Mobile that the Obama administration may compel the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) to comply with a provision furnishing female employees with...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia takes part in an interview with Chris Wallace on "FOX News Sunday" at the FOX News D.C. Bureau on July 27, 2012 in Washington, DC. Although the Supreme Court declined today to hear a case about religious freedom, it reminded Justice Antonin Scalia, who dissented, about his feelings regarding music and joy and community. Religion, some people believe, "is a personal matter," he wrote. "[I]f it must be given external manifestation, that should not occur in public places where others may be offended." Just like that dreadful rock and roll: I can understand that...

Frightening article in the Telegraph: Gay Danish couples win right to marry in church. The country's parliament voted through the new law on same-sex marriage by a large majority, making it mandatory for all churches to conduct gay marriages. .... Under the law, individual priests can refuse to carry out the ceremony, but the local bishop must arrange a replacement for their church. I am sure at first most Catholic clergy will refuse and bishops will not comply but down the line, in two or three years, what will happen, and if this law were introduced into England, or the...

When the word ‘terrorism’ is used today, most people equate it with Muslim extremists, radical bombings and hijacked aircraft. But there’s another form of terrorism happening right here in America, and the perpetrators are out to destroy the very fiber of our Judeo-Christian heritage and U.S. Constitution. Welcome to the bloody LGBT battlefield where everyone is fair game in a relentless, multifaceted assault on our humanity. Make no mistake about the LGBT intentions. No longer content to ‘fit in’ or simply be ‘accepted’ by others for living an odd lifestyle, today they are out to castrate the minds and hearts...

Rev. Franklin Graham does not mince words when he speaks about the threat Sharia Law presents to America. He is not concerned with the attacks he has gotten from Sharia apologists over what he sees as his duty to warn America that Sharia is antithetical to Christianity and everything for which America stands. In a recent interview Rev. Graham advises those who would try to force Sharia on America to “Go back where you came from.” Expanding on his message Rev. Graham said, “We should be afraid of Sharia Law in America, and Muslims here who want to practice Sharia...

The Supreme Court faces another historic June, with at least 10 major case decisions to be announced. Here is your brief guide to these cases, some major decisions already announced, and resources about the decisions.So far this term, the nine Justices have handed down rulings on affirmative action, campaign finance, public prayer, and pollution regulations. Among the other decisions expected from the Court is the first big ruling on the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, since June 2012

Meriam Ibrahim was sentenced to 100 lashes and death on Sunday. She had been given three days to recant her faith. But Meriam defiantly told the judge that she was never a Muslim, that her mother raised her Christian after her father abandoned the family. It was then that the judge pronounced that she be given 100 lashes after the baby is born, and then hanged to death. Meriam is eight months pregnant. The ACLJ is very influential with channels to act for her freedom. They also have a petition, so please go to their site aclj.or to sign. Sudan's...

I have argued since I first began writing and speaking on this issue that the First Amendment restrains only the actions of Congress. The first word in the First Amendment, after all, is the word "Congress." "Congress shall make no law..." The Founders quite intentionally were not imposing restraints on what a state could do in offering prayers before legislative assemblies, or what a city could do in erecting Ten Commandments monuments, or what a school could do in offering prayer and Bible reading over the intercom or at graduation. Congress and Congress alone is bound down by the chains...

After the marshal on Monday spoke the traditional “God save the United States and this honorable court,” the Supreme Court ruled that the upstate New York town of Greece does not violate the First Amendment’s prohibition of “establishment of religion” by opening its board of supervisors’ meetings with a prayer. This ruling would not scandalize James Madison and other members of the First Congress, which drafted and sent to the states for ratification the First Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights. The Congress did this after hiring a chaplain. Three decades have passed since the court last...

Whichever way the United States Supreme Court rules on Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, one fact has become abundantly clear. We are belatedly realizing that different forms of freedom are more dependent on each other than many have hitherto supposed. Who would have thought that the welfare state’s expansion in the guise of Obamacare—which, by definition, significantly reduces economic freedom—would directly impact the ability of individuals and groups to conduct their affairs in accordance with their deeply held religious beliefs? This, however, is precisely the reality confronting us. Most people are used to thinking of religious liberty as a prerequisite...

A coalition of clergy members is challenging North Carolina's constitutional ban on gay marriage with an unusual approach in a federal lawsuit: They say it violates their religious freedom. The clergy members said in the lawsuit filed Monday that they'd like to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies in their congregations, but they can't because of the "unjust law."... "North Carolina's marriage laws are a direct affront to freedom of religion," said the Rev. J. Bennett Guess, executive minister with the Cleveland-based United Church of Christ, which is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "We feel that it is important that any person...

Are you 18-29 years old? Do you care about the constant attacks on religious liberty in America? Then, participate in our new video project about religious liberty. To receive instructions, you must fill out everything present in the below submission form. Submission forms that contain false and inaccurate information or don't fulfill our requirements will not be considered. To fill out a submission form, please go to this link: http://www.counterculturedusa.com/23/post/2014/04/speak-out-about-religious-liberty-video-project.html This was originally posted on Counter Cultured's "Video Projects" tab.

Let me see whether I have this right. Brendan Eich was forced to step down as CEO of Mozilla because it became public that he opposed same-sex marriage, the same position that President Barack Obama, darling of the LGBT community, held prior to his phony conversion. Why didn't the left demand that President Obama resign as president of the United States prior to the consummation of his "evolution" on the issue in favor of same-sex marriage? Was it because liberals knew he was never actually opposed to same-sex marriage and that his stated opposition was an opportunistic ruse to make...

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from a studio that refused to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony, letting stand a New Mexico high court ruling that helped spur a national debate over gay rights and religious freedom. The justices left in place a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling last year that said Elane Photography violated New Mexico’s Human Rights Act by refusing to photograph the same-sex ceremony “in the same way as if it had refused to photograph a wedding between people of different races.” …

Excerpts: The clouds of war are gathering all over our world, but it’s not just a war of guns and missiles, it is war against God, the Creator Himself. The Holy Ghost warned us in the prophesies of David. He wrote,“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” (Psalms 2:1-3) From entertainment to the high courts of America, the blasphemous world is...

Possible Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said Wednesday that religious Americans have a duty to take a stand against policies, such as President Barack Obama’s health care law, that could threaten their liberties. “As believers, we are called to action; not just sitting quietly and hiding our faith under a bushel but to stand and speak no matter what the consequence,” the Texas senator told students at Liberty University. “Religious liberty has never been more under attack.” …