Free Republic

The word family had a wider meaning both Aramaic and Hebrew than it does in our English word today. The Hebrew, ah and the Aramaic aha could be used to refer to those who were brothers and sisters, half brothers, cousins and even other near relations. Extended family networks were both insisted upon, and essential for survival. To have these ties and be dependent upon them, was every Jewish person’s duty, and an absolute necessity for survival.Marriage – Of course marriage is the heart of family. The very first order that God gave Adam and Eve, was that a man...

Call off the wedding. Spotsylvania County in Virginia has imposed “special use permit” restrictions on a couple that’s been hosting marriages for years — effectively nullifying future nuptials at a once-thriving business. Gary Gratopp, co-owner of Eden Try, said the county crackdown “defies logic.” Yet the move resembles actions in nearby Fauquier County, where officials are employing permitting requirements to harass and intimidate private-property owners

March 3, 2014 (Breakpoint.org) - The call for tolerating same-sex marriage has become a demand for compliance. Cases like Masterpiece Cake Shop in Colorado and Elane Huguenin’s New Mexico photography business have shown us that “tolerance” ends exactly where the right to say “no” begins. And so people, businesses, and non-profits are forced to choose between their livelihoods and their convictions. Some fellow Christians are giving this new state of affairs a thumbs-up, including Kirsten Powers, whose fearless stand against abortion I admire, and Skye Jethani, a friend I respect greatly. They argue that Christians who won’t participate in gay...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Denying services to same-sex couples may soon become legal in Kansas. House Bill 2453 explicitly protects religious individuals, groups and businesses that refuse services to same-sex couples, particularly those looking to tie the knot. It passed the state's Republican-dominated House on Wednesday with a vote of 72-49, and has gone to the Senate for a vote. Such a law may seem unnecessary in a state where same-sex marriage is banned, but some Kansas lawmakers think different. They want to prevent religious individuals and organizations from getting sued, or otherwise punished, for not providing goods or services to gay couples --...

SNIPPET: "The forces fighting against Assad's regime in Syria include foreigners who have come to take part in the uprising alongside the Syrian rebels. Among them are members of Jordan's Salafi-jihadi movement, which, according to its senior leaders, has so far dispatched some 250 fighters to Syria.[1] As one means of encouraging Jordanian youths to join its ranks and adopt the ideology of jihad and martyrdom, the Salafi-jihadi movement stages "martyrs' weddings" for fighters killed in Syria, based on the Islamic belief that every martyr is rewarded with 72 black-eyed virgin brides in Paradise. These "weddings" are not a new...

The Petraeus sex scandal didn't just reveal the former CIA director's bedroom secrets. It's also shined a spotlight on a romantic facility in Berryville, Virginia, 65 miles from Washington where David and Holly Petraeus' daughter Anne married Matt Mauney last month in a picturesque setting the couple celebrated with pictures on her blog, fannetasticfood.com. Rosemont Manor owner William Genda told Secrets that he is sad about how the publicity came to his facility, but happy for the new business it is bringing from the Washington area. "It's probably been good," he told Secrets. Only in business for two years, the...

Across the country, gay couples are fighting for the same marriage rights as straight couples. But in the Conservative Jewish movement, heterosexual couples may soon clamor for the kind of partnerships now reserved only for lesbians and gays. This spring, a committee that creates laws for the Conservative Jewish movement approved two ceremonies for same-sex couples that strip marriage liturgy of any reference to ownership, makes double-ring ceremonies officially part of the wedding and allows either party to initiate a divorce — three issues that have long been sticking points among Jewish brides.

A notary in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has sparked controversy by accepting a civil union between three people. Public Notary Claudia do Nascimento Domingues has said the man and two women should be entitled to family rights. She says there is nothing in law to prevent such an arrangement. But the move has angered some religious groups, while one lawyer described it as "absurd and totally illegal". The three individuals, who have declined to speak to the press, have lived in Rio de Janeiro together for three years and share bills and other expenses. Ms Domingues says they...

Most priests, if they are lucky and smart, have a trained music director or organist to whom they can refer the Bride (sometimes with the groom) to finalize music for weddings. Then he can refer them and avoid a ton of trouble. Yet, occasionally he has to duck for cover when the flak from the battle between bride and organist gets thick.Don’t get me wrong, everything generally goes fine and most brides and grooms are just fine. But every now and then, there’s a bride (and sometimes a groom) who are the irresistible force that meet the immoveable object (i.e....

While most of the women I know wouldn’t stand for it, there’s been a lot of buzz around husbands opting not to wear their wedding bands. According to some experts, people just don’t value the symbolism in a ring like they used to. “I know I’m married, everybody else knows I’m married. I just don’t have no desire to wear it, at all.” Richard Rhodes has been happily married for 15 years and says he hasn’t worn his ring since he tied the knot. “I took it off right after the reception and I ain’t seen it since,” said Rhodes....

The media will spend the next ten years with their heads up their sphincters trying to determine motive. Hmmm ..... what could it be now? For those of us in the media who have not surrendered to jihad (all three of us), we have noticed a decided uptick in this activity. Arrests in the US are weekly now, sometimes daily. Nothing to see here, folks, keep it moving until the next catastrophe. And then the enemedia and Hamas-CAIR operatives in DC will blame ...... counter jihadists. :) Colorado man arrested on terrorism AP (hat tip Ken) AURORA, Colo. (AP) —...

The internet has become a powerful catalyst for international violent jihad, according to a new report from the Dutch security service AIVD.

That’s the gist of this piece by writer Cara McDonough, who raises a question that’s increasingly common these days. I get several calls a year from people who ask if I can do a wedding for them in a catering hall or on a beach. (Usually, it’s after a priest has turned them down; deacons, of course, are always the last resort.)McDonough writes: My sister-in-law is getting married this spring. I’ve tried on my bridesmaid dress, jotted down the date of her New York City bachelorette party and also, intrigued, watched her struggle as she strives to book a priest.Like...

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/007413.html "Whither the jihadi forums?" SNIPPET: "There are currently only three jihadi forums that are sufficiently active and well-connected to be of any interest whatsoever. Why we claim to be on the verge of defeating al-Qaida while simultaneously watching passively as they use these forums to regroup and regenerate is beyond me. These are the forums three: • al-Fidaa, a forum created by al-Qaida core. That it is directly linked to al-Qaida by definition moves it to the top of the list. Current membership: 2,462, all of whom can be considered "active" if only because they just joined the forum....

There are few places someone can go to lament the loss of traditional values like FR. Today I'm lamenting the death (or terminal illness) of the sensible American wedding. As a 24-year-old American girl, I attend lots of nuptials, and because of familial obligations certain brides couldn't eschew, I've even been an occasional bridesmaid. Every subsequent wedding I attend seems to be the next in a terrifying sequence of tacky one-upmanship. It's as though each bride has a "ridiculous counter" that ticks up and up during the planning until true perfection of ridiculousness is realized on the big day. Here...

In Afghanistan, wedding celebrations are a unique opportunity for people to show their hospitality. But the size and scale of the events has prompted the government to consider a new law aimed at curbing the extravagant feasts that weddings often become - especially given the level of unemployment and poverty in the country. Officials and other tribal leaders now want to limit the number of guests, as well as the items on the menu, which would instead be drawn up by the municipal authority.

I got some good laughs from the following column (slightly edited) that appeared in the Oct. 4 bulletin of St. Lambert Parish in Skokie, Ill., whose pastor is the staunchly pro-life Father Richard Simon. Humorous, but true! Warning: This episode of the Rev. Know-it-all is extremely offensive. It is not about you or anyone you know. Please read the whole article. The Rev. Know-it-all is not opposed to all wedding celebrations. He is not talking about your wedding, which was a triumph of personal sanctity and good taste. He is probably just having a bad day. Dear Rev. Know-it-all, I...

BANGOR, Maine — The Sabattus woman who enlisted more than a dozen other Mainers, including family and friends, to enter into sham marriages with immigrants was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to 10 months in prison. Angela Roy, 37, sobbed as a federal judge described her role as a recruiter and wedding planner in the state’s first spouses-for-hire conspiracy as “extremely significant.” Roy was recruited more than seven years ago by two Massachusetts men, who are natives of Africa, to find men and women willing to marry foreign nationals for a fee so the immigrants could more easily achieve...

The jilted bride who sued her ex for almost $100,000 in wedding expenses may not have been jilted at all. So says the groom, who has filed his own lawsuit, claiming that the decision to cancel the wedding was mutual. He’s seeking the return of a $45,500, 3-carat engagement ring. Both lawsuits do agree on one matter: There was a bachelor party — featuring strippers and lap dances — at a South Loop gentlemen’s club called the Pink Monkey. Dominique Buttitta, the former bride, an attorney who works in Hoffman Estates, filed a breach of promise suit Dec. 11 in...

Timing truly is everything and sometimes - when it comes to love - the timing is just, well, wrong. Or is it? A New York couple is causing quite a brouhaha after their wedding profile ran in the New York Times' Vows section this weekend. Why the controversy? The couple - a New York City television reporter and a high-powered ad executive - told the paper how their love blossomed while they were each married to someone else. That's right. They were each in long-term marriages, and each have children. In fact, it was the children who brought them together,...