Free Republic

An Iowa church just wants to be free to preach the gospel, but the state’s so-called nondiscrimination requirements could block the house of worship from doing just that. Lawyers for the church are asking a federal court to prevent Iowa from censoring what the religious group can say about homosexuality, same-sex “marriage,” transgenderism and other related topics. The case erupted when the state’s Civil Rights Commission first claimed the authority to control the content of sermons and then to define what’s religious. At issue is the state’s nondiscrimination requirements that specify any “public accommodation” can be ordered not to say...

More disturbing revelations about the DNC continue to come to light as hacked emails continue to be published online, exposing the radical left for who they really are for the whole world to see. One of the latest developments to surface are emails that show the Democratic Party was working with anti-religious freedom groups to get around religious liberty laws that protect our First Amendment right to believe what we want, worship where we want, and live out our beliefs both publicly and privately. This is truly atrocious.

I had a very weird college experience. My memories aren’t of frat parties, of slugging down drinks in games of quarters or beer pong, of losing my voice cheering at big football games, and of hearing how evil Western civilization is in the classroom. Instead, when I think of my four years at Thomas Aquinas College, I think of drawing Euclidean propositions on a chalkboard, of lively debates about Aristotle’s claims about ethics, of earnest discussions about things as obscure as the nature of being.

I had a very weird college experience. My memories aren’t of frat parties, of slugging down drinks in games of quarters or beer pong, of losing my voice cheering at big football games, and of hearing how evil Western civilization is in the classroom. Instead, when I think of my four years at Thomas Aquinas College, I think of drawing Euclidean propositions on a chalkboard, of lively debates about Aristotle’s claims about ethics, of earnest discussions about things as obscure as the nature of being.

An order of nuns was forced to pay 25,000 Euros to a teacher for discontinuing her employment based on the incompatibility of her sexual orientation with the school’s ethos. For the first time in Italy, a judge has fined a Catholic school on the ground of discrimination towards a female teacher for her public homosexual lifestyle. The Institute “Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” in the northern Italian town of Trento paid a sum of 25,000 Euros in reparation of property damage to an anonymous teacher. Additionally they were fined 1,500€ to the “Radical Association of Certain Rights” –...

I will begin with a true story. Father Massimiliano Pusceddu is a young Catholic priest serving in the Sardinian diocese of Cagliari. During a sermon on May 28 wherein he defended natural marriage, he quoted St. Paul's letter to the Romans (1:24-32) where the Apostle condemns same-sex acts. The day after the June 12 murder of 49 people at the gay bar in Orlando, an online petition to Pope Francis and Italian political authorities was launched to obtain the "immediate resignation" of Fr. Pusceddu. It reached 31,000 signatures in only four days — now there are 44,806. What particularly triggered...

An Iowa pastor, saying the government needs to stop “meddling in religious affairs,” is at odds with the state over a law focused on sexual orientation and gender identity that he says hinders his First Amendment right to teach on matters of sexuality. “The state of Iowa is not the self-appointed pope of all churches,” Cary Gordon, pastor of Cornerstone World Outreach, a nondenominational church with around 900 members in Sioux City, Iowa, told The Daily Signal.

Is a church a place of public accommodation and if so – are congregations required to follow anti-discrimination laws regarding gender and sexual orientation? That’s the issue raised by a brochure published by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. They contend that any church that opens its doors to the public would be required to comply with sexual orientation and gender identity laws.

The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case challenging a Washington state law that forces a family-owned pharmacy to dispense emergency contraceptives is an “ominous sign” for those who value religious freedom, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. “If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern,” Alito said Tuesday in a critical dissent. Alito was joined in his dissent by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Clarence Thomas, falling one justice short of the four needed for the...

Jesuit Father Thomas Reese was appointed chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, becoming the first priest to hold this position. He replaces Princeton law professor Dr. Robert George. Jesuit priest Father Thomas Reese was first appointed to a two-year term as a member of the commission by President Barack Obama in 2014, and re-appointed in 2016. Now he will take over as the chair of the organization, an independent, bipartisan commission that monitors and reviews religious freedom violations around the world, and makes policy recommendations to the Secretary of State, Congress and the president. “I am...

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares faces hate speech charges for questioning "gay empire," "radical feminism," and "gender theory" during homily. Just in case you need more examples of why laws against "hate speech" are a bad idea, here's a case out of Spain in which a Catholic leader is under investigation for remarks he made during a religious ceremony. While giving the homily at a Catholic University of Valencia mass, the Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, suggested that "the gay empire" and "radical feminism" were undermining traditional family values. "The family is being stalked today, in our culture, by endlessly grave...

end current California laws on postsecondary education to make two main changes. The first is limiting the religious exemption from the Equity in Higher Education Act to educational institutions that are controlled by a religious organization specifically to train ministers. Seminaries would still be allowed to retain the exemption, but most Christian colleges and universities in California would no longer qualify. The second stipulation is that it would require postsecondary educational institutions that receive the exemption to post a notice of it in a “prominent place” on campus, on their websites, on all brochures, and so on. An amendment removed...

.....Despite the 1st amendment and his oath, Sen. Schumer (D-New York) says that religious Americans have a choice: hold their religious faith or go into business but, according to Sen. Schumer, religious people cannot both practice their faith and conduct business in America.... The first part of the answer is that...it became a given in the modern period that religion is an essentially private, theoretical matter. ....The second part of the answer is really a question. How did it come to be that, in America, a nation founded on the principle of the right of relatively unencumbered religious practice, in...

Reps. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) introduced the Do No Harm Act Wednesday, which would amend the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to specify that religious exceptions should not apply to “protections against discrimination or the promotion of equal opportunity” and “access to, information about, referrals for, provision of, or coverage for, any health care item or service.” The legislation is intended to “clarify that no one can seek religious exemption from laws guaranteeing fundamental civil and legal rights.”

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, May 19, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The homosexual plaintiffs behind the Supreme Court case legalizing gay “marriage” across the U.S. are claiming discrimination after a Catholic cemetery declined their headstone design because it conflicted with Church teaching. "It's pretty clear when you read the letter that this is a clear case of LGBT discrimination," said Greg Bourke, one-half of the same-sex Louisville, KY, couple named as plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges. Bourke and Michael De Leon held a press conference Wednesday outside St. Michael Cemetery to claim the Archdiocese of Louisville was discriminating against them for its rejection of...

In a slanted hit piece against religious freedom laws for CBS Sunday Morning, correspondent Mark Strassmann proclaimed: "North Carolina's public bathrooms are the new frontier in American civil rights law....Just since the beginning of this year, lawmakers in 34 states have proposed so-called 'bathroom' bills and 'religious freedom' laws that, critics say, target gay, lesbian and transgender people."The reporter argued that the source of such supposed discrimination was signed into law decades earlier: "These state actions descend from a little-known bipartisan bill signed into law by President Clinton back in 1993....The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, prohibited the government...

Candidate Ted Cruz and candidate John Kasich have officially “suspended” their campaign efforts to win the republican nomination. However, the campaign effort to deliver a resounding win for Donald Trump continues.Yes, a major hurdle has been crossed – Donald Trump is now the last remaining candidate running for the nomination; but that doesn’t mean the push through the last remaining states should be any less important. Every vote counts. Every delegate matters.Anyone who is inclined toward complacency needs only to look at the reaction yesterday by House Speaker Paul ‘Omnibus‘ Ryan and note why it is vital for the...

In a proclamation designating May 5 as a National Day of Prayer, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the United States was “founded on the idea of religious freedom” and that the U.S. “will continue to stand up for those around the world who are subject to fear or violence because of their religion or beliefs.” […] “As a Nation free to practice our faith as we choose, we must remember those around the world who are not afforded this freedom, and we must recommit to building a society where all can enjoy this liberty and live their lives in...

Hillary Clinton claims to be Christian. Barack Obama claims to be a Christian. And I am claiming to be a brain surgeon! Any takers? You see just saying, "I am a brain surgeon," doesn't mean I can perform brain surgery. I would need to back it up with a diploma and years of training. In the same way, no American will get elected president claiming, "The Bible is outdated, it's just a bunch of stories. I am a humanistic socialist at heart!" Sure the left will have no problem with that, but you can't win without independents. So the candidates...

Four hundred protesters associated with the Democracy Spring movement were arrested in Washington, DC last week after demonstrators descended upon the US Capitol. They spoke out against money in politics, the Koch brothers, and the Citizens United ruling that overturned key provisions of campaign finance law. The demonstration was clearly a statement against corporate influence in politics. The protesters aren't entirely wrong. Yes, political influence is unequally distributed because money begets power and vice versa. A guy who changes oil for a living doesn't have as much pull as a guy who owns an oil company. But what can be...