Free Republic

"'Life' in this 'society' being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of 'society' being at all relevant to women, there remains to civic-minded, responsible, thrill-seeking females only to overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and eliminate the male sex." - Valerie Solanas.Professor Breanne Fahs is a revolutionary. She teaches Women's and Gender Studies at Arizona State University. Recently, she decided to give extra credit to her female students for "defying social norms" by refusing to shave their armpits. In the name of equality, she also gave her male students an opportunity to earn...

In the early hours of Thursday morning, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on CBS featured a guest musical performance with vehemently anti-religious lyrics, including a line wishing the mother of Jesus “would’ve had an abortion.” Kristeen Young was host Craig Ferguson’s guest, performing her song, “Pearl of a Girl,” which takes all three of the world’s major, monotheistic religions to task for allegedly repressing women. “I never knew I was a girl until they stooped to tell me,” Young sang in the first verse of her song. “I never knew I was disturbed until they dropped three volumes...

People who disagree with same-sex marriage and birth-control use have been met with accusations of bigotry. Are some Christians being unfairly shamed out of the public sphere? Is evangelical Christian morality still viable in American public life? This is the question lurking in recent debates over religious-liberty issues, from the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision to the Christian bakers who object to baking cakes for gay weddings. In discussions of these cases, objections to same-sex marriage and contraception are described as a retreat from “secular society.” And in some cases, evangelicals actually have retreated: Since the Boy Scouts of America...

By Rebecca Ryskind Teti * There’s a March for Marriage in Washington, DC today, and the chairman of the US Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, will be there as a featured speaker. This in spite of the fact that a number of California politicians and other public figures wrote him an open letter asking him not to attend.The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi wrote a similar private missive to the Archbishop, invoking Pope Francis’ “who am I to judge?” as she requested he not march.  It’s a bit chilling...

Male and Female He Created Them February 24, 2014Dr. Gregory Popcak I have been reflecting a great deal on Eve Tushnet’s excellent article in The Atlantic that many of you have probably, already read (and if you haven’t, by all means, check it out).  I’ve been thinking of her article, in part, because she’s a great writer, but also, because I spent the weekend with my best friend from childhood with whom I remain very close despite the fact that we have many very different views, me being a promoter of the Catholic vision of the person and sexuality and him, being an expert on and professor of queer theory. ...

Medical science is making bold new leaps every day. Not only is there a new medication out that is just like the old medication, except it costs 10 times as much, but the American Medical Association has decided that gender is purely imaginary.For thousands of years, human ignorance convinced us that there were two genders. Now the AMA says that gender is imaginary. You can be any gender you want. Change gender every week. Or every day. We’re in Hopechangeistan now. Biology, like economics and military science, are purely imaginary fields. “Science” says so. In other action Monday, the AMA...

Barack Obama has integrated promotions of homosexuality and other alternative lifestyle choices into his policy and practice since his election, successfully promoting the “gay” lifestyle in the U.S. military and forbidding the enforcement of the federal law called the Defense of Marriage Act that supported traditional marriage. The extent of the reach of his actions perhaps was epitomized by last week’s announcement that the U.S. Embassy in Israel was flying a rainbow flag – representing homosexual activism – along with Old Glory. But now a coalition in Congress, made up exclusively of Democrats, wants to take the effort further and...

A gender non-conforming teenager from South Carolina is demanding to have a driver's license retaken after DMV staff barred him from wearing make up. Chase Culpepper claims DMV staff said the make up should be removed because the teenager didn't look like how a boy should. The 16-year-old, who wears androgynous clothing and make up, agreed to the staff's demands to get a license, but now wants to have the photo redone. Chase says staff claimed that DMV rules stated that the photo needed to show the person as they appear normally, and banned pictures taken in 'disguise'. 'This is...

Catholic sociologist Gabriele Kuby meets Pope Benedict in November 2012. VATICAN – Pope Francis strongly condemned “gender ideology” in a private conversation with Austrian Bishop Andreas Laun earlier this year, the bishop related in a recent essay. In doing so, the pope follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Nearing the end of his pontificate, the pope emeritus spoke twice about gender ideology as “a negative trend for humankind,” and a “profound falsehood,” which “it is the duty of pastors of the Church” to put the faithful “on guard against.” Bishop Laun, auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, wrote...

The Washington National Cathedral is welcoming the first openly transgendered Episcopal priest to its altar this month. The Rev. Cameron Partridge, a transgendered man, is set to give the June 22 sermon at the cathedral, a fixture in the D.C. skyline and one of the nation’s most well-known houses of worship. “We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Mr. Hall said. “We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity...

Cultural civil war can be avoided by getting government out of marriage There is no question that the media, political, and cultural push for gay marriage has made impressive gains. As recently as 1989, voters in avant-garde San Francisco repealed a law that had established only domestic partnerships. But judging by the questions posed by Supreme Court justices this week in oral arguments for two gay-marriage cases, most observers do not expect sweeping rulings that would settle the issue and avoid protracted political combat. A total of 41 states currently do not allow gay marriage, and most of those laws...

Does the Bible really teach that premarital sex is wrong? (Of course it does! But with Sola Scriptura, that might be unclear!) http://youtube.com/watch?v=PsHMNPyI7iI(Alternate link, via Vimeo.) “Follow” me on Twitter, “Like” Answering Protestants and Catholic Analysis on Facebook, Add Answering Protestants and Catholic Analysis to your Circles on Google+, and “Subscribe” to my YouTube videos. TRANSCRIPT ———————- Does the Bible really teach that premarital sex is wrong? Well, as a Catholic, I know that it does. So, I suppose the real question should be: can a Protestant reasonably think that premarital sex is okay? I think that they can. And...

Calling slain civil rights hero Harvey Milk a “predator” on its website this week, the fundamentalist Christian group American Family Association (AFA) urged members to refuse any mail postmarked with a recently-released commemorative stamp featuring the late San Francisco supervisor. “Harvey Milk was a very disreputable man and used his charm and power to prey on young boys with emotional problems and drug addiction,” reads the AFA’s press release. “He is the last person we should be featuring on a stamp.”

WASHINGTON (RNS) – Americans are showing more tolerance for a range of behaviors, with sex between unmarried adults, medical research on stem cells from human embryos, and doctor-assisted suicide all showing record highs and increases in “moral acceptability” from last year. The Gallup poll’s annual “moral acceptability” scale has been conducted since 2001 and charts shifting cultural attitudes on a number of hot-button social issues. In the 2014 list released Friday (May 30), Gallup researchers said 12 of the 19 categories reflected “levels of moral acceptance that are as high or higher than in the past.” “Americans largely agree about...

- FrontPage Magazine - http://www.frontpagemag.com - Canada On Verge of Banning Christians from Professional LifePosted By Lea Singh On May 30, 2014 @ 12:15 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | No Comments An intense struggle is happening in the realm of professional licensing in Canada. The religious freedom of Christians and others is colliding on a grand scale with the “equality rights” of the LGBTQ identity group, and as the tide turns in favor of equality rights, we are starting to witness socially accepted ostracism of Christians by professional bodies.On April 24th, the law society of Canada’s largest province voted against...

So there I was, reading a guest article in our newspaper here in Arkansas and nodding not just in agreement but admiration. And why not? For the guest writer was going right down the list of points I'd made over the years in favor of civil unions as an alternative to homosexual marriage. Well put, I thought. Right on, amen, hallelujah and selah! Few things are as pleasing as seeing one's own opinions repeated by others; they seem even more convincing when their glory is reflected in another's words. Attaway, brother! Ye-e-es! Such is human vanity, or at least that...

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, delivered a letter to the Vatican on behalf of 9 teachers who have lost their jobs at Catholics Schools for either being LGBT, or supporting an LGBT family member. Last month, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati took anti-LGBT to a new level, calling not only for the firing of gay and lesbian school employees, but also citing support of the “homosexual lifestyle” as grounds for dismissal. More than 2,200 educators at 94 parochial schools in the archdiocese have been affected by this new contract....

Storme DeLarverie, a lesbian activist who took part in the New York Stonewall riots in 1969 that started the gay rights movement in the United States, has died. She was 93. DeLarverie died Saturday at a Brooklyn nursing home, said Lisa Cannistraci, a longtime friend and one of her legal guardians. …

Last January 2013, then Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, ordered the Joint Chiefs of Staff to study the feasibility of opening all military jobs to women by 2016. This would include more than 200,000 jobs that make up the core of the ground-level combat force in the Army and the Marine Corps. Opponents of women in combat argue, rightly in my opinion, that the military's physical standards must not be compromised to expand access because our military's fighting effectiveness is at stake. Hauling 50 pounds of equipment while walking 20 miles is a standard that must not be demoted as it...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says in a new interview that Republicans should embrace a more tolerant view of those who don't hold conservative positions on social issues."I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues," Paul told vocativ.com. "The Republican Party is not going to give up on having quite a few people who do believe in traditional marriage. But the Republican Party also has to find a place for young people and others who don’t want to be festooned by those issues."Paul's comments harken back somewhat to former...