Free Republic

As 2016’s election wound down, political scientists scrambled to understand which issue pushed President Donald Trump over the finish line. And while research showed economic dissatisfaction and prejudice toward immigrants and minorities to be a strong indicator of support for Trump, one study found that the best way to determine vote choice in 2016 was by gauging adherence to Christian nationalist ideology. “Christian nationalism,” or the belief that the country is or should be a Christian nation that can often include social and political campaigns supposedly aimed at maintaining or reverting back to that status, is not a new phenomenon,...

In recent days we have seen the mask pulled off of Hillary Clinton and her campaign and it has shown us the scary ugly picture of Soviet style religious persecution she has in store for us. He were shocked at the wiki leaks revelation that John Podesta having had an email exchange about how the Democrats plan is to use fake “Catholic” front groups to infiltrate the Catholic Church structure and undermine the authority of the Holy Father. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/10/12/email-chain-allegedly-shows-clinton-aide-mocking-catholics-evangelicals/ This shook the core of many a Catholic Democrat who had steadfastly refused to acknowledge that voting Democrat and being a...

The Department of Justice has been accused of religious intolerance and viewpoint discrimination after workers were sent an email directing them to verbally affirm homosexuality, according to a religious liberty law firm representing a DOJ whistleblower. Liberty Counsel said DOJ employees were emailed a brochure called “LGBT Inclusion at Work: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Managers.” The brochure was created as a resource from DOJ Pride, an association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of the DOJ. A Department of Justice spokesperson did not return calls seeking comment. Fox News also reached out to DOJ Pride for comment...

...The (AP) article quoted nine people, all ecstatic about the new gay right. Queens teacher Eugene Lovendusky was typical: “I am spellbound. I’m so exhausted and so proud that the New York State Senate finally stood on the right side of history.” Reporter Karen Zraick even quoted one official saying the new law is “good news” for city tourism. But what about the AP’s “Statement of Ethical Principles”? The first sentence under the heading “Integrity” states, “The newspaper should strive for impartial treatment of issues and dispassionate handling of controversial subjects.” Impartiality and dispassionate handling were nowhere in evidence yesterday...

Washington – The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today responded to the “Manhattan Declaration” produced and released by 145 evangelical, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian leaders indicating that they will not cooperate with laws that conflict with their beliefs, including those recognizing same-sex couples. The document also references the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) as a threat to religious liberty. Yet ENDA – which prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity – broadly exempts religious organizations. The declaration also argues that religious groups that receive public funds...

A few days ago the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, died. I was hoping to read an extended story about his life, as is customary when someone of note passes, in the papers I have been reading for many years. I was only able to find a brief seven line column announcing his death, and even in that brief announcement the paper made sure to insert an implied negative connotation such as “making the (Russian) church a force for nationalism”. The European press has been more respectful and given Patriarch Alexy II his due. He was described...

As questions have been raised over how thoroughly Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign vetted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the V.P. slot, it seems the McCain campaign was unaware of a video -- available online -- in which Palin talks about God's role in U.S. military action overseas, according to a political operative familiar with the situation.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution. Rejecting claims of religious discrimination and stifling of free expression, U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles said UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking. Otero's ruling Friday, which focused on specific courses and texts, followed his decision in March that found no...

court in Wisconsin has been asked to suspend immediately a policy in the Tomah Area School District that bans Christian symbols in students' artwork, but allows Hindu, Buddhist and satanic representations. The motion was filed yesterday by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has taken on the case of a student identified by the initials A.P. The ADF launched a lawsuit on the student's behalf after a teacher refused to give him a grade on a project because his work included "John 3:16" as well as "As sign of love." The school district, however, openly acknowledged and publicized various pieces of...

Canada's government funded National Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has offered its annual Christmas season refutation of Christianity, this year in the form of a documentary entitled, "The Pagan Christ" based on the book of the same name by popular Canadian liberal "theologian" Tom Harpur. The CBC webpage for the documentary asks, "So, what if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament - the cornerstone of Christianity - is based on myth and metaphor?" The idea was popularized by radical feminist and lesbian writers like the self-styled "witch" Miriam...

Anti-Christian Crusade - Beowulf is the latest installment in Hollywood’s attempt to reconfigure history By now, the oft-recurring negative portrayals of Christianity in major Hollywood movies have become hackneyed and predictable. The recent rendition of Beowulf only reinforced this trend. The same subtle depictions and motifs present in movies from decades past were once again present, a favorite being the attempt to try to depict pagans as “open-minded” and “free-spirited” peoples, or, quite anachronistically, as medieval counterparts to the modern, secular, liberal. The idea being that pagan peoples — unencumbered by the suffocating forces of Christianity — were/are happy, passionate...

Holiday task force gives decoration suggestions for city This article discusses a proposal by the city of Fort Collins, CO to establish a task force to consider policies related to city-sponsored holiday displays. The "educational and multicultural" display would represent both religious and non-religious celebrations that occur between Nov 1 and Jan 30.

<p>ABC may have set a loathsome new MSM low in insulting traditional Christians. On today's "Good Morning America," the network lumped the "Christan right" with the 9-11 Islamic terrorists as driving people to atheism.</p> <p>Some are reacting to religious extremism, like the Islamic fundamentalism behind the terrorist attacks of 9-11, but also the rise of the Christian right in the U.S.</p>

A court decision that opens the doors of Culbertson Elementary School in Pennsylvania to books about witches – but rejects the Bible as being too "proselytizing" – is being challenged. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund has submitted amicus briefs in a lawsuit filed when a kindergarten student, under an assignment in which parents were invited to read their child's favorite book, was denied permission to have his mother read a Bible story. A decision in U.S. District Court that sided with the school's decision to ban the Bible reading, while allowing teachers to suggest reading books about "witches and Halloween,"...

During her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee testimony Dem congressman Steven Cohen of Tennessee quizzed former Justice Department official Monica Goodling regarding her Christian faith and the Christian law school at Regent University, founded by Pat Robertson, that she attended. An internet search reveals brief references to the interrogation in articles by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post and Maura Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times. But I saw no coverage of the grilling on any of the morning news shows, nor have CNN or MSNBC picked it up as far as I have noticed. I'm setting forth...

A Navy chaplain said Thursday he was dismissed from service following his public protest of the branch's policy on nondenominational prayer. In September a military jury found Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt had disobeyed a superior officer's order not to wear his uniform to a political protest at the White House in March 2006. Klingenschmitt argued he was allowed to wear his uniform if conducting a "bona fide worship service." He said he believes he was punished for making a political speech in uniform because he prayed in Jesus' name. William Farley, Klingenschmitt's attorney, said the Navy's decision violated his client's constitutional...

AgapePress) - Although funnyman Will Ferrell's new movie, Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, finished first at the box office this past weekend, the comedy was not a winner as far as Christian movie reviewer Ted Baehr is concerned. Baehr, publisher of Movieguide.org, is waving the yellow flag over the film about a dim-witted NASCAR racer with a gung-ho, win-at-all-costs attitude. According to Associated Press (AP) reports, the Christian media reviewer describes Talladega Nights as "a racist, bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, Southern white men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity." The Movieguide review of...

Christian Reviewer Rants About Liberal Hollywood LOS ANGELES -- Christian film reviewer Ted Baehr is no fan of this past weekend's top movie at the box office. Web Site: See Baehr's Review The Movieguide.org publisher said Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is "a racist, bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, Southern white men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity." Baehr said the lead character's mocking prayer to baby Jesus shows anti-Christian bigotry and wonders why Hollywood isn't treating Will Ferrell like it's treated Mel Gibson, who has apologized for his anti-Semitic outburst. "Don't...

WASHINGTON -- These are rich times for conspiracy theorists, and the mother lode these days may be found in the fevered minds of anti-Christianists. Among paranoiacs who see a Jerry Falwell or a John Hagee in every burning bush, U.S. support for Israel isn't about protecting the only healthy democracy in the Middle East, but about advancing Armageddon and, yes, the Second Coming. At last, we'll get to know what Jesus would drive. Most likely, he'd drive out the conspiracy theorists on both sides of this imagined apocalypse. For those who do not spend their days pulling imaginary bugs out...

A group representing California religious schools has filed a lawsuit accusing the University of California system of discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other conservative Christian viewpoints. The Association of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 schools, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday claiming UC admissions officials have refused to certify high school science courses that use textbooks challenging Darwin's theory of evolution. Other rejected courses include "Christianity's Influence in American History." According to the lawsuit, the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta was told its courses were rejected because they use textbooks printed by two Christian...