Free Republic

The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in today’s climate. I recently gave some talks at a Renewal Ministries conference in Ann Arbor Michigan and promised the participants I would repost this for their reference. When the videos of the conference come available, I will link to them. The most difficult questions on Hell that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy.1. Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes.How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain...

October 30th, 2021 Our Lady of the Shoals, Tuscumbia, Alabama Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green First readingRomans 11:1-2,11-12,25-29 ©The Jews have not fallen for everLet me put a question: is it possible that God has rejected his people? Of course not. I, an Israelite, descended from Abraham through the tribe of Benjamin, could never agree that God had rejected his people, the people he chose specially long ago. Do you remember what scripture says of Elijah – how he complained to God about Israel’s behaviour? Let me put another question then: have the Jews fallen for ever, or have they...

No, not I. Whether in history, or in current events, we often read of horrible crimes, committed by horrible people. If it so happens, as too rarely it does, that the miscreant is caught, then we call for his punishment. Let him pay for the crimes he has committed. Who could feel sorry for such an evildoer? Why does he even get a defender? The victim has suffered; let the one who inflicted such pain feel it himself. If he begs for mercy, then show him the same mercy he had for the one he tormented. There, it is done,...

How we respond to crises often tells us a lot about the motivations of the parties involved in making public policy solutions. For instance, Donald Trump chose a federalist-style response to Covid-19 that allowed localities to target policy in a manner that best suited local constituents. It would be disingenuous to suggest that there was no personal motivation involved in his decision and that at least, in part, his administration’s response was built around protecting the record economy that he had built. Similarly, his opponents focused primarily on driving the fear that would keep voters home, destroying the economy, and...

Throughout academia, corporate world, and government, leaders are pushing the notion that American society advantages whites and disadvantages blacks. The notion of white privilege, though, is mistaken, thereby rendering worthless much of the teaching and underlying research. In 1989, Wellesley College’s Peggy McIntosh published her influential article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” This article tied in with a group she founded, Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity (SEED). Since 1986, SEED has trained 2,200 teachers and professors in more than 40 countries. As a result, her work has influenced and will continue to influence millions of students. The notion of...

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him” (Proverbs 30:5).

[H/T Ymani Cricket]Editor’s Note: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has released an October 23, 2021 letter he sent to the U.S. Bishops through Archbishop José Gómez and to Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), as well as to Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, former Prefect for the CDF.Archbishop Viganò asks his fellow bishops to reconsider the Note issued last year by the CDF about the moral question of receiving the so-called COVID-19 vaccines that are connected with abortion. He urges the bishops to speak collegially in a way that is in “conformity...

On Friday, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based brokerage disclosed that transaction-based revenues attributable to Dogecoin, a Shiba Inu-themed token that was created as a joke, represented 8% of its total net revenues of $364.9 million in the third quarter. And while about $30 million is still significant amount for what is ultimately a fledgling asset, it marks a significant pullback from the second quarter, when Robinhood collected 32% of its total revenues from Dogecoin transactions.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Researchers at the University of Cincinnati say they have more evidence that Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico was more than just an ancient gathering spot for Indigenous ceremonies and rituals... The researchers reported a gradual degradation of the surrounding woodlands beginning around 600 B.C., much earlier than previously thought... ...Amid the shift from people hunting and gathering to underatking agriculture, the researchers noted measurable changes — such as juniper trees decimated for building needs, food resources and firewood for cooking. “This is a very arid area,” he said. “In arid woodlands, the trees are essential...

In anticipation that he may well lose in the November 2 governor's race, former governor Terry McAuliffe has hired the Elias Law Group. Marc Elias formerly worked as a partner at the law firm Perkins Coie. Perkins Coie played a major part in concocting the fraudulent Steele Dossier that alleged Russians helped Trump cheat in his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton. The two-year Mueller investigation found no evidence to support this allegation. Concerned that news of this hire could reflect negatively on McAuliffe, campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich sent out an email seeking the media's help in suppressing this story. She...

A U.S. government watchdog on Friday accused the State Department and Pentagon of suppressing information that lawmakers and the public need to understand the collapse of Afghanistan's former government and military and the chaotic U.S. troop pullout. John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), spoke out on Friday after it emerged that many of the routine documents had now been marked as classified.... ...After a review, his agency found only four items meriting redaction, and left the remainder accessible. Noting that Congress tasked him with investigating the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and military, he said...

The new taxes and tax increases meant to pay for President Biden’s massive $1.75 trillion social spending bill would raise nearly $470 billion fewer than the White House claims — and won’t bring in enough to match the legislation’s total outlay, according to a new analysis from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. On Thursday, the Biden administration released the final framework of the Build Back Better package, along with how it expected to offset the cost of the measure. But while the White House estimated that the new and higher levies would raise $1.995 trillion, Wharton’s Budget...

Missed collections were reported in Staten Island and Brooklyn. And residents have taken to social media in outrage over the accumulating garbage and to raise concern that the slowdown is intentional in protest of the vaccine mandate. Mayor Bill de Blasio, who announced last week that city workers were required to have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by Friday at 5 p.m. or be placed on unpaid leave, said that supervisors at the department of sanitation would not allow missed collections to continue, though neither he nor the sanitation department would say if the slowdown was...

Music video by Styx performing Mr. Roboto. (C) 1983 A&M Records

Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, fell for and promoted the tiki torch hoax during the Virginia governor’s race on Friday. “Birds of a feather,” tweeted Swalwell in response to a now-deleted post that called a photo of five tiki torch-wielding democrats “disgusting.” Many users on social media called out Swalwell for promoting the tiki torch stunt. Fox News’s Tucker Carlson was unsurprised Swalwell fell for the hoax, noting Swalwell’s past romantic involvement with Chinese spy Christine Fang. It was revealed later on Friday that a prominent pro-Democrat group, The Lincoln Project,...

The Biden administration on Friday said it would make another attempt to end the "Remain in Mexico" protocols, a Trump administration initiative that forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers back into Mexican border towns to await their court dates in the U.S. In a briefing before the announcement, Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters they had reassessed the policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas once again determined it was appropriate to end it despite acknowledging its impact in reducing unauthorized migration.... ...Embedded in the district court's order to reinstate was a suggestion...

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat from Alabama, told Breitbart News that he wore a “bulletproof vest” on January 6 due to threats against him from Antifa and Black Lives Matter, saying CBS’s Stephen Colbert and the broader left dishonestly frame his wearing of body armor on that day as evidence of advance knowledge of how the day’s events would unfold at the Capitol. On Tuesday, Colbert referenced a recent attempt by Rolling Stone — relayed by Alabama Local News and the Daily Beast — to link Brooks to violence at the Capitol, regularly...

PHOENIX — Nearly five years after Joe Arpaio was voted out as sheriff of Arizona’s most populous county, taxpayers are covering one of the last major bills from the thousands of lawsuits the lawman’s headline-grabbing tactics inspired. Officials in Maricopa County agreed last week to pay $3.1 million to cover a settlement with a restaurant owner who alleged Arpaio defamed him and violated his rights when raiding his businesses. The payout takes to $100 million the attorney fees, settlements and other costs the county has paid from lawsuits stemming from Arpaio’s six terms. Arpaio says jail operators are often the...

A House panel is demanding documents from a pair of online businesses as part of an inquiry into whether they pushed what it calls ineffective and dangerous coronavirus treatments, according to letters made public Friday. According to a letter signed by Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, the telemedicine provider SpeakWithAnMD.com has collected millions of dollars in fees... through referrals from America’s Frontline Doctors (AFLD), a separate business that is also a subject of the congressional investigation. Clyburn said he is concerned that the two companies are endangering lives while profiting from...

Never before in human history have we witnessed medical tyranny on the scale of this magnitude. Children will start dying, speak out before it is too late. Video...