Free Republic

An original bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2011 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes.

Francis Eugene George is not just a cardinal. He is also president of the United States conference of catholic bishops and sets the tone and direction for church policy and position in the country. His comments, therefore, on the positive attributes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), more commonly known as Mormons, seem surprising given the enormous theological and demographic differences between the two groups. Or do his words herald a spirit of co-operation among disparate religious movements in the fight against secularism?

Gender and sexuality have caused divisions in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Same-sex unions are upheld in some churches and not in others; the same is true for gay clergy. While there are more than 3,300 churches that affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender congregants, 57 percent of Protestant clergy hardly ever discuss issues specific to the gay and lesbian community. But according to "Sexuality and Religion 2020," a report released this week, they probably should. The report was published by the Westport, Conn.-based Religious Institute, a national interfaith network of more than 5,000 clergy and religious leaders....

Lawyers investigating an alleged financial scam in the Lakes Region say the father of the man accused of orchestrating the fraud received $2 million in bogus loans with his son's help. Robert Farah, pastor of Center Harbor Christian Church, says he's a victim of the alleged scam run by his son, Scott Farah. But in Belknap County Superior Court yesterday, lawyers investigating Scott Farah and his former business partner said Robert Farah profited from his son's alleged fraud. Attorney Thomas Donovan, who's representing several former investors of Financial Resources Mortgage in Meredith, said he and the trustee overseeing Scott Farah's...

Leaders of the Methodist Church yesterday offered to surrender more than 200 years of independence from the Church of England. They said they were ready to 'cease having a separate existence' and merge with Anglicans to help the cause of Christianity. The promise, made to the Church of England's parliament, the General Synod, follows two decades of growing anxiety among Methodists over falling membership and its receding influence in society. Once seen as a pillar of working class culture and a major contributor to the thinking of the Labour Party, the church has seen its membership shrink to just 265,000.

FBI agents searched a Southern Christian Leadership Conference office in Dayton, Ohio, on Thursday, an agency spokesman told CNN. The search came days after the SCLC board accused its national chairman, Dayton minister Raleigh Trammell, of financial mismanagement, according to CNN affiliate WDTN-TV of Dayton.

Judge Brian Sandoval will resign from the U.S. District Court in Nevada, Chief Judge Roger Hunt confirmed today. An announcement with more details is forthcoming, Hunt said. Sandoval will now be free to run for statewide political office if he so chooses. He has been described as a potentially strong Republican candidate for governor.

Students at these schools don’t venture far off the path that leads to the right. Religion plays a big role in the campus activities, generally, as do morals and character profiles that would make any parent proud. The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 college students for the 2010 edition of the "Best 371 Colleges" book revealed the top 10 colleges that have conservative campus cultures, especially regarding political persuasion, the use of drugs and alcohol and the level of acceptance of the gay community on campus.

Mormons: The Most Conservative Religious Group In America That's according to a new report from Pew, released today and based on data from the group's 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. More Mormons (60 percent) identify themselves as conservatives than any other religious group; they also lead every other group in GOP party identification (at 65 percent)--much higher than the general population in both categories