Free Republic

I know it's homophobic to disagree with and/or dislike a gay person, especially when he's making a big deal out of being gay because it's 2019 and he's running for president and the Democrats are obsessed with identity politics. But I find myself disagreeing with Pete Buttigieg more often than not, and he's really beginning to irritate me. That's the focus of modern politics, of course, "owning" the other side by trolling them until they get ticked off. Well, Mayor Pete came to play. He really has a talent for appearing perfectly reasonable while saying something completely illogical. Like this:...

Rachel Held Evans, a best-selling Christian author who was unafraid to wade into fierce theological battles over issues such as the role of women, science, LGBT issues and politics on her blog and social media, died Saturday, after spending weeks in the hospital for an infection. She was 37. Her husband Dan, who has been writing health updates, wrote on her blog on Saturday that she had been weaned from an induced coma, but swelling in her brain was not survivable. The hashtag #PrayforRHE became a trending topic on Twitter for Evans, who had two young children, ages 3 and...

The race for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States continues to intensify as energy builds from the almost weekly announcements of a new candidate vying for the nomination. Most recently, Vice President Joe Biden officially announced his candidacy for Commander and Chief. It came as no surprise, but now he is officially in. The surprise in the race is a candidate who has captured the continued (and largely adoring) gaze of the media. His name appears relentlessly in the headlines from every major media outlet. He has become a national sensation—and he is a name that very...

On Wednesday, the Reverend Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the global charity Samaritan's Purse, defended traditional Christian teaching on homosexual activity. His comments unleashed a firestorm of media controversy, with major media figures suggesting that Graham is not really Christian because he supports President Donald Trump and encouraged South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg to repent of his homosexual activity. Graham explicitly attacked Buttigieg, who had said, "God doesn't have a political party." "Presidential candidate & South Bend Mayor [Pete Buttigieg] is right—God doesn’t have a political party. But God does have commandments, laws & standards He gives us to...

‘GOD DOESN’T HAVE A POLITICAL PARTY’ Appearing as the nightcap for CNN's five-part Town Hall segment on Monday, 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg addressed concerns over his lack of political experience, his age and his views on how faith can be used to unite Christians from all political spectrums. Buttigieg, who is the current mayor of South Bend, Indiana, talked about his faith at the end of the hour-long question and answer session. "You've talked opening about your strong Christian faith, as well as your identity as a happily-married gay man. I myself am a bi-sexual Christian woman," Harvard freshman...

So, it looks like the Religious Left might have found its candidate: Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana. (You pronounce it “boot-edge-edge”.) He’s a practicing Episcopalian, happily married to a man, and unembarrassed by his religion. He went on Meet The Press yesterday and chastised Donald Trump for failing to uphold Christian values in certain ways. From the transcript:

“If it turns out that there is a God … the worst that you can say about him is that basically he’s an underachiever.”—Woody Allen If you go into a Reform or Conservative temple, it’s likely that you will notice two things: The congregation is becoming smaller and older. Across the United States and Europe, Jewish congregations are aging at a rapid rate, a phenomenon increasingly common for mainstream religions across the high-income world. Overall, the American Jewish population—unlike that of demographically robust Israel—is on the decline, with a loss of 300,000 members over the past decade, a number expected...

“Our anti-semites are better than your anti-semites” feels like a bold new frontier in modern partisan tribalism. Trump should have tried that spin after Charlottesville. As it is, at least he allowed that there were “very fine people” on both sides. As Jeryl Bier says, to Krugs it seems there are very fine anti-semites on only one side.

The ad is part of a campaign called "Love is in the aisle: A dating show at Walmart."

In a key United Methodist General Conference vote setting voting priorities for the next three days, delegates preferred the Traditional Plan backed by global evangelicals over the liberalizing One Church Plan backed by most bishops. The Traditional Plan, which got nearly 56%, reaffirms current United Methodist teaching on marriage as male and female. One Church Plan, which got nearly 49%, would overturn that teaching and compel local congregations to choose their own definition of marriage. In one swoop, delegates were asked to vote their preference on dozens of legislative proposals and could vote yes to each one. The vote sets...

A Methodist church is causing controversy this week with a message targeting President Trump, suggesting his push for a border wall is racist against people who are not white. The sign in front of the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, states: “White supremacy is the real crisis.” “We really wanted to respond to our president who is taking this opportunity to manufacture a crisis at the border,” Rev. Andy Oliver at the church told WFLA-TV. He told the station he sought to extend a message of love and acceptance to those who see the placard. “Targeting people...

U.S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. wished her Twitter followers a Merry Christmas Tuesday by referring to the newborn Jesus as a "refugee." "Joy to the World!" Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "Merry Christmas everyone - here’s to a holiday filled with happiness, family, and love for all people. (Including refugee babies in mangers + their parents.)" Mary and Joseph are not depicted as refugees in the Nativity story. According to the Gospel of Luke, Joseph brings the pregnant Mary to Bethlehem so that he may enroll in a census ordered by the Roman emperor Agustus. The couple are forced to take shelter in...

It’s an unconventional take on the nativity scene at St. Susanna’s Parish Dedham. The baby Jesus is in a cage, the wise men are closed off by a wall. For the parish, the crèche is meant to be thought provoking. “We try to take a picture of the world as it is and put it together with a Christmas message,” said Pastor Fr. Stephen Josoma. That message this year questions “peace on earth”, since Jesus represents migrant children being held at the southern border separated from their parents. The wise men are the caravan of migrants behind the border wall....

It’s one of the most sacrilegious acts a religious leader could perform, but it’s happening again — this time in Columbus, Ohio. Tonight, the the so-called Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is planning a “blessing” of a local abortion clinic. This appears to be a response to the closing ceremony of the 40 Days for Life campaign where pro-life advocates pray outside abortion facilities worldwide and offer practical pregnancy help and support for women. Originally, the blessing was supposed to take place at a Planned Parenthood abortion center. Although, the Planned Parenthood event has now been taken off their website,...

On a recent evening in Houston, under the heavy branches of live oak trees, Doug Pagitt stood before a couple dozen people gathered on blue folding chairs on the Rice University campus. "You've heard it said that to be a true Christian, you must vote like a Republican," he said. "But we are here to be reminded that just ain't so." You have heard it said, 'America First,' but we are here to be reminded to 'seek first the Kingdom of God,' on behalf of all those everywhere in the world. Doug Pagitt Pagitt, 52, describes himself as a progressive...

A major schism of the United Methodist Church would surprise no one Activists within the United Methodist Church (UMC), America’s second largest Protestant denomination, are using the tactics of the American political Left to leverage a major change in their church. Those tactics include using: (A.) labels as propaganda; (B.) protest demonstrations as theatre; and, (C.) escalating defiance to test boundaries.

The Left’s Religious War Against America What’s really driving leftist anger and hatred. October 12, 2018 Daniel Greenfield Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism. 69% of progressives are ashamed to be Americans, but 63% are proud of their political ideology instead. The majority don’t attend religious services, but 73% list politics as their preoccupation. Religiously unaffiliated voters are the most excited about attending political rallies and marches. Numbers from one poll showed that, "religiously unaffiliated Democrats were more than twice as likely...

“The National Council of Churches makes a rare statement to Oppose Kavanaugh.” So read the headline accompanying the lead story a fortnight ago in the The Washington Post’s “Acts of Faith” section. The WaPo hailed the NCC – the (fake) religious arm of the Democrat Party – for its denunciation of President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee (and, by extension, President Trump himself). And the paper misleadingly suggested that the NCC’s statement represented the prevailing sentiment of the “more than 30 million U.S. parishioners” the Protestant organization purportedly represents. But the NCC hardly speaks for the more than 30 million parishioners....

Pastor of the Shrine of the Immaculate ConceptionATLANTA (ChurchMilitant.com) - The pastor of a pro-homosexual parish is flaunting his attendance at a drag show in August. Monsignor Henry Gracz, the pastor of the heavily pro-homosexual Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, posted on his Facebook that he attended a drag performance at "Lips" on Aug. 1. The same month, Abp. Wilton Gregory appointed Gracz "spiritual director" to sex abuse victims despite the fact he is unapologetically pro-homosexual. In June 2017, Gracz allowed Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo from the dissident New Ways Ministry to speak at the Shrine...

The National Council of Churches, a partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the United States, is urging for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination to be withdrawn, citing his temperament and demeanor before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. “Judge Kavanaugh exhibited extreme partisan bias and disrespect towards certain members of the committee and thereby demonstrated that he possesses neither the temperament nor the character essential for a member of the highest court in our nation,” read a statement released by the council Wednesday. Additionally, the group pointed to what the statement described as “several misstatements and some outright falsehoods”...