Free Republic

Boston Vigil for Dr. Tiller Join the Boston community in sharing our grief and celebrating the life of Dr. George Tiller, a true hero for women across the country. Monday, June 1st 6pm St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral 138 Tremont St., Boston Across from the Park St. T stop Please help us spread the word via email, Facebook, Twitter, and texts. Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=88629078374&ref=nf Twitter hashtag: #BostonVigil and #Tiller (this one is attracting some unpleasant tweets, however) Dr. Tiller was shot and killed Sunday morning while serving as an usher at his church in Witchita, Kansas. Since the 1970s, Dr. Tiller...

This CBS News story is a snapshot of where the gay-marriage debate is taking us. At a rally in West Hollywood, Drew Barrymore revived the old narrative that family structure doesn't matter: "Children need families, people need to love and we need to move forward, not backward," Barrymore said. "What defines a family? We do!" A rabbi calls the idea that marriage means a husband and wife "religious bigotry," i.e., not religious liberty. The headline of the story is Ted Olson's decision to help bring a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8. I'm not sure the Human Rights...

May 20, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Barack Obama's speech at Notre Dame Sunday held out as a central thesis a false theology of faith; a false theology contradicted by the Bible, by ancient Christian writers and by the Catechism of the Catholic Church.A central point in the President's speech was "faith" and its supposed inherent "doubt."  Obama told the students: "Remember, too, that the ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt. It's the belief in things not seen.  It's beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what...

Managua, Nicaragua, May 18, 2009 / 12:59 pm (CNA).- The president of the Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM), Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno, said during a press conference last week that celibacy “is not up for debate” at CELAM’s 32nd assembly nor “in the Church in general.” The archbishop made his comments in the wake of the questions raised about celibacy by Father Alberto Cutie of Miami, who has been romantically involved with a woman. He told reporters that celibacy “is not up for debate at this assembly nor in the Church in general, and so the priest who is ordained also...

In spring 2002, as the scandal over sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests was escalating, the long career of Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland of Milwaukee, one of the church’s most venerable voices for change, went up in flames one May morning. On the ABC program “Good Morning America,” the archbishop watched a man he had fallen in love with 23 years earlier say in an interview that the Milwaukee archdiocese had paid him $450,000 years before to keep quiet about his affair with the archbishop — an affair the man was now calling date rape. The next day, the Vatican...

Father Alberto Cutié appeared on CBS this morning to defend his actions and discuss the Catholic Church's celibacy policy. "This is someone who I love," he says.

PHOENIX, Arizona, May 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An openly homosexual Roman Catholic priest of the diocese of Phoenix, who once endorsed a pornographic film entitled "Naked Boys Singing" for a homosexualist paper, has been excommunicated by Bishop Thomas Olmsted.The excommunication of Fr. Chris Carpenter, who has long been publicly opposed to the Church's condemnation of active homosexuality, was issued last month but only made public on Monday.  After Bishop Olmsted repeatedly chastised him for his homosexual activism, Carpenter precipitated the excommunication by joining the "Reformed Catholic Church," an offshoot religious group that endorses homosexuality, homosexual priests, and women priests. While Carpenter...

In the seven weeks since Notre Dame announced President Barack Obama as its 2009 Commencement speaker, the campus has seen prayer gatherings, academic debates, banner-flying planes and bloodied baby dolls in strollers. Now, with a week and a half to go until Obama lands in South Bend to address the graduating class, another group has arrived in town to demand Notre Dame be stripped of its Catholic identity.It's really been quite the month and a half. I spent the entire day stuck in the library studying for exams, but luckily the South Bend Tribune was on the scene Tuesday to...

Gallup Poll Daily tracking during President Obama's first 100 days in office finds broad support for him among Americans affiliated with most major U.S. religions. U.S..........

Within just a few days this month, the push for gay marriage found a wave of fresh momentum. A unanimous state Supreme Court decision legalized the practice in Iowa. The state legislature overrode a gubernatorial veto and instituted the practice in Vermont. And Democratic Gov. David A. Paterson announced plans to push legislation that would open the door to the practice in New York. Beyond the political and legal arguments on the issue, however, are demographic shifts indicating that the controversy over same-sex unions may eventually fade altogether. Younger Americans are far more supportive of civil unions and gay marriage...

On his 100th day in office, President Obama will be "crowned" in messianic imagery at New York City's Union Square. Artist Michael D'Antuono's painting "The Truth" – featuring Obama with his arms outstretched and wearing a crown of thorns upon his head – will be unveiled on April 29 at the Square's South Plaza. According to a statement released about the portrait, "The 30" x 54" acrylic painting on canvas depicts President Obama appearing much like Jesus Christ on the Cross: atop his head, a crown of thorns; behind him, the dark veil being lifted (or lowered) on the Presidential...

President Obama’s first 100 days in office will come to a close. Obama's juggernaut candidacy swept many Christians into its wake. Some now appear to have "buyer's remorse." As David Gushee, an evangelical Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and a supporter of Obama recently wrote in the USA TODAY: "Mr. President, we need more than lip service. Centrist evangelicals like me embraced Barack Obama's campaign pledge to help bride the gaps of the culture wars. Instead, the president's short record on abortion-related issues is is familiar— and disappointing—rather than revolutionary.” Gushee is not alone. So, while politicos and...

Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears have taken to Twitter to support gay marriage, just days after Miss California Carrie Prejean sparked controversy during Sunday night's Miss USA competition when asked by celeb blogger Perez Hilton if more states should legalize same-sex marriage. Prejean stated her opinion that marriage should be between a man and a woman — and in the process has made an enemy of Hilton — but has also started a conversation among many notable celebrities on Twitter. "Love is love!" Britney Tweeted to Perez. "People should be able to do whatever makes them happy!" Miley Cyrus Tweeted...