Free Republic

William, Paul and James Newland and their sister, Christine Ketterhagen, who together own Hercules Industries, have no right to conduct their family business in a manner that comports with their Catholic faith. The federal government can and will compel them to either surrender their business or to engage in activities the Catholic faith teaches are intrinsically immoral. This is exactly what President Barack Obama's Justice Department told a U.S. district court in a formal filing last week. Never before has an administration taken such a bold step to strip Americans of the freedom of conscience -- a right for which,...

Defense hawks in the Senate are in a holding pattern on a United Nations arms treaty that’s drawing strong opposition from the National Rifle Association over Second Amendment concerns. Several influential Republican defense hawks said Thursday they have to study the issue further before signing on to oppose it, despite a loud pressure campaign from the NRA. NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre on Wednesday told the U.N. conference negotiating the agreement that 58 senators have pledged to oppose the treaty if it covers civilian arms over fears that would infringe on the right to bear arms. LaPierre pointed to letters signed...

<p>SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A small striped lizard that lives only in the wind-swept sand dunes of four southeastern New Mexico counties and four others in West Texas is about to learn its fate.</p> <p>The Obama administration is expected to announce this week whether the dunes sagebrush lizard will be listed as an endangered species. Tom Buckley, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, said a decision could come as early as Thursday, The Las Cruces Sun-News reported (http://bit.ly/LYP1hG ).</p>

Good morning. It is a great pleasure to be here. I would like to thank the Center for Global Development for sponsoring this event. The Center does really great work under the inspiring leadership of Nancy Birdsall. Thank you, Nancy. It has been twenty years since world leaders first went to Rio to commit to the noble goal of protecting the planet for future generations. And now, twenty years on, we will be journeying back to Rio to affirm our commitment to sustainable development—the idea that we should strive for economic growth, environmental protection and social progress at the same...

As Catholic bishops in Ontario scramble to figure out how to square McGuinty’s new law mandating Gay-Straight Alliances with Catholic teaching on sexual morality, homosexual activist groups say that they are prepared to challenge Catholic doctrine in court come September. Ontario Gay-Straight Alliances Coalition lawyer Doug Elliott told the homsoexual news service Xtra! that if Catholics “driven by the position of the Vatican” think they have found a loophole in the legislation, then they will be hauled before the courts. “If the schools try to play games with kids …. the law is clear. We won’t put up with any...

A photo studio’s refusal to photograph a same-sex couple’s commitment ceremony violates the New Mexico Human Rights Act, the Court of Appeals has ruled, rejecting the Albuquerque studio’s argument that doing so would cause it to disobey God and Biblical teachings. It was the third loss for the studio, and victory for Vanessa Willock. Willock first contacted photographer Elaine Huguenin of Elane Photography in fall 2006 about taking pictures of a “same-gender ceremony” and was informed the studio only handled “traditional weddings.” When her partner contacted the studio without revealing her sexual orientation, the studio responded with a price list...

The passage of time is marked with milestones. We each know where we were when President Kennedy was shot, when the Berlin Wall came down, and on the morning of 9-11. If we continue on the current course, you’ll be telling your grandchildren where you were the night the lights went out in America. America’s energy policy is being dominated by environmentalists’ priorities—regardless of the impact to the American economy, individual communities, or economically-challenged citizens. The plans to shut down or limit America’s abundant, available, and affordable energy are organized, coordinated, and effective. The results will be “lights out in...

Venezuela has brought a new gun law into effect which bans the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition. Until now, anyone with a gun permit could buy arms from a private company. Under the new law, only the army, police and certain groups like security companies will be able to buy arms from the state-owned weapons manufacturer and importer. The ban is the latest attempt by the government to improve security and cut crime ahead of elections in October Venezuela saw more than 18,000 murders last year and the capital, Caracas, is thought to be one of the most dangerous...

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, May 9, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – WWE wrestling superstar C.M. Punk strikes an aggressive pose inside the ring, but it seems he saved his hardest blows for supporters of the traditional family. On Monday, the grappler told his Twitter followers he opposed North Carolina’s constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, which passed in a landslide on Tuesday. One of his followers responded, “Man was meant for woman, and even the thought of homo’s make me sick.” Punk then replied, “Kill yourself.” He told another supporter of the nuclear family to “drink...

The world's most renowned population analyst has called for a massive reduction in the number of humans and for natural resources to be redistributed from the rich to the poor. Paul Ehrlich, Bing professor of population studies at Stanford University in California and author of the best-selling Population Bomb book in 1968, goes much further than the Royal Society in London which this morning said that physical numbers were as important as the amount of natural resources consumed. Link to this audio The optimum population of Earth – enough to guarantee the minimal physical ingredients of a decent life to...

The city of Hutchinson, Kan., is mulling over a proposed law that would force some churches in the community, regardless of their religious convictions, to rent their church halls to gay couples for events. The proposal came about after the Kansas Equality Coalition encouraged the Hutchinson City Council to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the city's human relations code. The law would make it illegal for churches that rent their facilities to the public to prevent anyone from renting their facility based on sexual orientation or gender identity. "If a church has a parish hall that they rent...

Wow. Sometimes Satan indulges in jaw-dropping capers. I’m looking at a brochure from Six Rivers Planned Parenthood in Eureka, Calif. On it is an announcement from Humboldt County Clergy for Choice: “We are religious leaders who value all human life.” The flyer, for “40 Days of Prayer,” lists prayers such as: “Day 34: Today we give thanks for abortion escorts who guide women safely through the hostile gauntlets of protesters.” And “Day 38: Today we pray for a cloud of gentleness to surround every abortion facility.” This is not a sick April Fools’ Day joke. The campaign continues through April...

Tea Party favorite, Rep. Allen West (R-FL) made headlines this week by saying there are members of the Communist party in the US House.  The Daily Caller  reported of a recent town hall meeting of the Congressman. “I believe there are about 78 or 81 members of the Democrat Party that are members of the Communist Party,” West said in response to a question at the event. After a dramatic pause, he added, “it’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus.” Kevin Price, Host of the Price of Business and Publisher of the US Daily Review actually covered an event of the Communist Party USA...

(FOX News) - The Green Climate Fund, which is supposed to help mobilize as much as $100 billion a year to lower global greenhouse gases, is seeking a broad blanket of UN-style immunity that would shield its operations from any kind of legal process, including civil and criminal prosecution, in the countries where it operates. There is just one problem: it is not part of the United Nations.

In El Paso, Texas, Democrat Mayor John Cook is literally doing whatever he can to cram his political preferences down the throats of El Pasoans who voted against him. His latest effort in this regard has been convening a grand jury in El Paso to possibly indict those who oppose his policies, based solely on their speech. It all began in 2010, when the City Council passed a measure granting taxpayer-paid benefits for same-sex couples. The citizens responded by passing a city-wide referendum overturning the measure. Not pleased that his policies were thwarted by the people, Cook went to the...

Ok...so Drudge and others are talking about the E.O. that was re-signed by Obama on Friday with the additional words "non-emergency" added to it as well. Dig a little deeper...now mind you I am not jumping on the Alex Jones bandwagon just yet...but what's up with these other E.O.'s being signed days and weeks apart that actually link right along with what was re-signed and amended on Friday night? Executive Order 13600 Jump to: navigation, search ←Executive Order 13599 Executive Order 13600 by President of the United States Establishing the President's Global Development Council Executive Order 13601→ Signed by President...

The election of President Barack Obama in 2008 triggered an explosion in the number of militias and so-called patriot groups in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported in its annual tally of such anti-government organizations. There were 149 militias and patriot groups when Obama took office, compared to more than 1,200 today — an increase of 755 percent, the nonprofit civil rights organization reported. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The increase has just been astounding," said Mark Potok, editor-in-chief of the SPLC report. "The reality is that many of these groups are becoming more and more fearful that Barack Obama will...

Free Speech: In the name of stopping online piracy of copyrighted material, some propose giving the federal government power to shut down websites without due process and control the greatest mode of free speech ever invented. Call them "sons of net neutrality," for while the Software Online Piracy Act (SOPA) working its way through the House of Representatives and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), are shrouded in seemingly worthy goals, they would grant government power it should not have and arguably pose a threat to our First Amendment rights. Online piracy is a real problem, and the...

Sometimes voters get behind an idea, and we think to ourselves, why? Why are they even bothering when that idea, were it to become law, would be struck down as unconstitutional faster than we can utter “temporary restraining order?” We smugly revisited that thought on Tuesday upon hearing that the Denver-based 10th Circuit had upheld a lower-court ruling keeping an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution from becoming law. The amendment, overwhelmingly approved by Oklahoma voters last year, prevents judges from basing rulings on international law — and specifically mentions Islamic law, often known as Shariah law.

Back in June of 2010 a leader of a pro-Palestinian student group at University of Berkeley allegedly rammed a Jewish woman with a shopping cart as she staged a counter-protest to an anti-Israel “Apartheid Week” rally conducted by the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine. The counter-protest was dubbed “Israel Wants Peace Week.” Now, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg has deemed that the Muslim students who harassed Jessica Felber and other Jewish students were simply engaging in protected political speech.