Free Republic

In his weekly address released today, President Donald Trump said he is looking forward to talking with Pope Francis about how Christian teaching can put the world on a path to freedom. Trump noted that after his visits in Saudi Arabia and Israel, he will be traveling to the Vatican. “I'll head to the Vatican,” said Trump, “where I will have the great honor of an audience with Pope Francis. I look forward to speaking with the Pope about how Christian teachings can help put the world on a path to justice, freedom, and peace.” {..snip..}

The Gay and Lesbian Services Organization (“GLSO”), attempted to place an order wioth Hands On Originals ("HOO") for t-shirts. The opinion states the shirts "would bear a screen-printed design with the words “Lexington Pride Festival 2012,” the number “5,” and a series of rainbow-colored circles around the “5.” The GLSO intended to sell these t-shirts to promote the 2012 Lexington Pride Festival." HOO refused to provide the services because it violated their Christian views and trheir policy: "Hands On Originals both employs and conducts business with people of all genders, races, religions, sexual preferences, and national origins. However, due to...

President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty has garnered a mixed reaction, with the left moaning about violations of the separation of church and state and some of the right saying it is watered down meaningless rhetoric to placate his religious base, As Ryan T. Anderson at the Daily Signal opines: In reality, what Trump issued today is rather weak. All it includes is general language about the importance of religious liberty, saying the executive branch “will honor and enforce” existing laws and instructing the Department of Justice to “issue guidance” on existing law; directives to the Department of the...

President Donald Trump said he’d promote commonsense policies that would “Make America Great Again” and would stand up to politically correct bullying from the left.So why isn’t he doing that in the case of religious freedom?Twice now, he has failed to stand up for commonsense policy on religious liberty when liberal opponents lashed out against it.Back in February, he caved to the protests of liberal special interest groups as he declined to issue an executive order on religious liberty that had been leaked to hostile press.And earlier today, he issued an executive order on “free speech and religious liberty” that...

There is a war on religious liberty in America – and this war is targeting people of the Christian faith. An Army of militant atheists and LGBT activists are hell-bent on eradicating Christianity from the public marketplace and punishing Christians who follow the teachings of Christ. That’s why President Trump signed an executive order on religious liberty today in the Rose Garden – to protect Americans who have been targeted by a politically correct lynch mob. The order is for people like Barronelle Stutzman – a grandmother and the owner of a Washington state flower shop. Mrs. Stutzman, a...

All three networks this morning predictably reacted negatively to President Trump signing an executive order to scale back federal regulations on religious organizations. Calling the order “controversial,” the three networks warned the bill would likely cause discrimination and fretted about forced birth control coverage. Yet not one of the networks interviewed a religious group that would be affected positively by this order.

President Donald Trump today signed an executive order that would allow religious organizations to endorse political candidates and expand participation in politics. The executive order signed today also enables private employers to use religion as a pretext to deny reproductive health care to their employees. “The actions taken today are a broadside to our country’s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state. Whether by executive order or through backroom deals, it’s clear that the Trump administration and Congressional leadership are using religion as a wedge to further divide the country and permit discrimination. We intend to file suit...

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday will ease restrictions on political activity by churches and charities, White House officials said, but has backed away from a broader religious liberty order that would have allowed faith-based organizations and companies to avoid serving or hiring gay people. Conservative religious leaders who were fierce supporters of Mr. Trump’s candidacy had pushed the president to provide faith organizations with much more sweeping relief from Obama-era regulations that protect gay men, lesbians and others from discrimination. Instead, in an executive order, Mr. Trump will offer a vague promise to “protect and vigorously promote religious liberty.”...

President Donald Trump will take executive action on Thursday to ease a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions as part of an order on religious liberties, a senior White House official said on Wednesday. Trump's executive order to mark the National Day of Prayer will also mandate regulatory relief to religious employers that object to contraception, such as Little Sisters of the Poor, the official said in a briefing.

The executive order President Trump is expected to sign Thursday will be focused on the Johnson Amendment and allow non-profit organizations to deny certain health coverage for religious reasons, administration sources told Fox News Wednesday. Trump will instruct the Treasury Department and the IRS to not enforce the provisions of the Johnson Amendment regarding political activity in churches and non-profit organizations, according to sources. The timing and contents of the order, which would come on the National Day of Prayer, are still "very fluid" and there are still several drafts, according to a senior administration official. The Johnson Amendment, named...

This guy's idea And a good idea it is, as far as it goes. With religious liberty under assault both legally and culturally, an executive order designed to protect it is surely welcome for the Christian bakers, florists and photographers who don’t want to be forced to take part in a gay “wedding.” But it remains to be seen whether the order that’s coming Thursday will hold up any better than the one Pence signed into law in Indiana. It also remains to be seen what force of law a president’s executive order will have, but we’re going to find...

After wrapping up his first 100 days in the White House on Saturday, President Donald Trump plans to hit a new set of issues, including religious liberty, tax reform, and school choice, a White House official told The Daily Signal.“We want to have legislation that has a profound impact on religious liberty, one that has profound impact on education, that has profound impact on health care,” Helen Aguirre Ferré, White House media affairs director, said in an interview Friday.Ferré added: These are just some of the issues we are working on that’s going to be absolutely critical going forward, not...

May 1 - The US Supreme Court on Monday left intact California's ban on "gay conversion" therapy aimed at turning youths under age 18 away from homosexuality, rejecting a Christian minister's challenge to the law asserting it violates religious rights. The justices, turning away a challenge to the 2012 law for the second time in three years, let stand a lower court's ruling that it was constitutional and neither impinged upon free exercise of religion nor impacted the activities of clergy members.

Evan Michael Minton, a former legislative aide in California, wants to change from being a woman to a man. As part of the process, Minton sought a hysterectomy at Mercy San Juan Medical Center, part of the Dignity Health Care chain. As a Catholic institution, Mercy San Juan does not perform elective hysterectomies. A spokeswoman for the hospital explained that such procedures may only be performed to treat a serious medical problem, and when there is no alternative treatment available. Mercy immediately referred Minton to another hospital within the Dignity chain—one that is not Catholic—and the procedure was performed within...

"LGBT agenda will be unhinged." A new religious liberty executive order protecting Christians from the onslaught of former community organizer Barack Obama's radical LGBT agenda may be in the works soon, says former Donald Trump advisor Ken Blackwell. “My anticipation is that we will see an Executive Order and it will be more than window dressing,” Blackwell, senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at the Family Research Council, told LifeSiteNews, predicting that Obama's “aggressive LGBT agenda will be unhinged." “We have a great plan to attack the administrative state,” he said. “We will have to be very meticulous...

Arguments in a high-profile religious liberty case caused tempers to flare on both sides of the Supreme Court's ideological divide Wednesday. The high court waited for several months to hear Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, and did so with a full nine-justice court bolstered by the addition of Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the court this month. At issue in Trinity Lutheran is whether Missouri violated the Constitution in its decision to bar a church-operated daycare and preschool from a state program that provides funding to nonprofits to resurface playgrounds. Missouri's Constitution includes a provision that prevents public...

It seems that Jordan A. Maney is not as committed to “diversity” and “love” as she would have us believe. Recently, Ms. Maney, the black owner of a San Antonio event planning business, “All The Days Event Co.,” got a bit upset when she was asked to plan the wedding for a couple whose chosen venue contained the word “plantation.” ... As ATTN also notes, Maney also told the inquiring customer on the receiving end of her discrimination, “You’re having a wedding at a grave-site essentially. How are you going to laugh and celebrate on so many people’s blood, and...

RICHMOND, Va. — The Democratic governor of Virginia has vetoed a religious freedom bill which would have prohibited the government from punishing those who believe in biblical marriage and conduct their public lives in accordance with that conviction. “Although couched as a ‘religious freedom’ bill, this legislation is nothing more than an attempt to stigmatize,” Gov. Terry McAuliffe asserted in a statement on Thursday in rejecting S.B. 2314 and H.B. 2025. “No person shall be required to participate in the solemnization of any marriage, or subject to any penalty by the Commonwealth, or its political subdivisions or representatives or agents,...

An Oregon couple who were forced to pay $135,000 after declining to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple had their first appearance before the Oregon Court of Appeals on Thursday, as they continue to fight back against the massive judgement. Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, are arguing that the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries — the state agency responsible for discrimination claims — violated their religious liberty, due process and free speech, after forcing the bakers to pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple at the center of the dispute. The Klein v....

Bush emphasized to host “Today” host Matt Lauer the importance to “worship freely.” “I think it’s very important for all of us to recognize one of our great strengths is for people to be able to worship the way they want to or not worship at all,” Bush said. “The bedrock of our freedom, a bedrock of our freedom, is the right to worship freely. And I — you see, I understood right off the bat, Matt this, that is an ideological conflict. And people who murder the innocent are not religious people. They want to advance an ideology. And...