Free Republic

A conservative researcher says homosexual activists are implementing several strategies to market their political agenda. Those strategies include a tactic known as "conversion" -- and continued efforts aimed at the movement's primary target: kids in the early years of school.To homosexual-rights activists, conversion is a planned psychological attack spread through the media. Paul Rondeau, a doctoral student in persuasion studies at Regent University, says the strategy involves wearing society down to the point where just accepting homosexuality is much less of a burden than continuing to "fight the fight" for the good of American values."Health care alone for AIDS infection...

After 31 years of blocking legislation to extend civil rights protections to gays and lesbians, the Republican-controlled State Senate yesterday permitted New York State to join a dozen other states as well as New York City, Nassau and Suffolk in outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Gov. George Pataki signed the bill yesterday, just hours after the Senate approved the measure 34-26, mostly due to Democratic support. Only a third of the Republicans backed the bill, with some opposed to its content and others fearing retribution from the Conservative Party, whose chairman had made it clear that anyone...

<p>At a time when bullying and teasing in schools is a growing concern for educators and parents, a new study finds that students who are gay or thought to be gay are most likely to be targets -- even more than children who are overweight or have disabilities.</p>

Sixty-eight percent said the New York Democratic senator and former first lady should not run for president in 2004, while 28 percent said she should get into the race. Four percent were undecided about Clinton. The former first lady has said she will not run for president in 2004. She has not ruled out running for the White House in 2008. Only 37 percent of New Hampshire Democratic primary voters said they would be more likely to vote for a presidential candidate endorsed by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, while 29 percent said they would be less likely to...

A watchdog group used to leveling its political might at the television industry to suppress violence and graphic sexual images during family viewing hours has trained its guns on its former executive director, threatening to sue him for speaking out about his abrupt firing. Yet in a seeming paradox, the organization continues to fund-raise using the ousted director's name. The Parents Television Council, or PTC, threatened to take legal action against Dennis Mansfield for "actionable" comments he made in an article published by WorldNetDaily last week. The article touched off a firestorm of reader reaction. "[Mansfield's] characterization of the firing...

It started with cars. Thanks to some newfangled divine inspiration, we now know that if Jesus were here today, he would drive little electric-hybrid autos. And – also fresh from the mind of the Lord – we have recently discovered that Christ was pro-abortion. Seriously. "[O]ne thing I know from the Bible is that Jesus was not against women having a choice in continuing a pregnancy," Rev. Mark Bigelow told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly in a recent letter. Naturally, Christ being pro-choice adds all new shades of meaning to "suffer the little children." Obviously the passage doesn't mean to...

When the doorbell rings at the Channell residence in Spring Valley, Ill., 10-year-old Aaron and 11-year-old Christopher run for cover. The homeschooled boys have been on edge, says their father Roger, since a truant officer came to the family's front door Oct. 3 and warned, "I could have your children taken away." The Channells have been homeschooling their boys for five years without a hint of concern from public school officials. Like other Illinois homeschoolers, they've responded to any official inquiry with a brief letter stating that they comply with the law by teaching, in English, all the branches of...

You may not need a trust, an elaborate estate plan or even a will. But unless you want a stranger making important decisions for your and your family, there are some things you do need.By Liz Pulliam Weston Most Americans don’t have wills, but that’s not the crisis many in the estate-planning industry would have you believe. With a few exceptions -- which we’ll talk about below -- most people’s quality of life won’t be much improved by a will. That’s because your state already has a basic plan for distributing your stuff when you die. You’re dead, so what...

Bernard Cardinal Law was personally aware of multiple sex abuse complaints against six priests between 1984 and 1989 - and possibly more - but did not think his archdiocese faced ``a major, overwhelming problem,'' according to testimony released yesterday. ``I was facing a major problem with those priests,'' Law told attorney Roderick MacLeish Jr. during a sworn deposition Oct. 16 in the Catholic Church molestation scandal. ``I was not facing a major problem with the priesthood.'' Law's remarks came after MacLeish confronted him with documents on a dozen problem priests obtained by court order in late summer. MacLeish has since...

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration."–The 16th Amendment What are we to make of the idea Washington is floating of replacing tax on income with a national sales tax? The Cato Institute has described it as "simpler, more efficient, pro-growth and fairer to taxpayers." And I must be missing something because I thought we already paid taxes on products and services. In addition to states where a sales tax already exists, sizeable portions of the prices...

A deeply divided Orlando City Council gave preliminary approval Monday night to a law that would protect gays and lesbians from discrimination in the private sector. The 4-3 vote followed a marathon eight-hour public hearing filled with impassioned speeches by dozens of supporters and opponents. The measure still must earn final approval in two weeks, but Monday's vote all but guarantees it will become law. If it earns the second "yes" vote Dec. 2, Orlando will join eight other Florida cities and counties that extend antidiscrimination protection to gays.

<p>A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled that the U.S. government does not owe free lifetime medical care to World War II and Korean War veterans who agreed to serve 20 years in exchange, despite promises made to them when they were in the armed forces.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The bill creating a Department of Homeland Security faced a new hurdle Tuesday following an announcement by Republican Sen. John McCain that he would side with Democrats on a key vote to strip seven "special-interest" provisions from the bill passed last week by the GOP-led House.</p>

The jury is in on TWA Flight 800, and the verdict is clear: There is absolutely no evidence of either a mechanical failure, or of a bomb planted in the fuselage. Indeed, all available evidence suggests the explosive event that destroyed the ill-fated airliner in 1996 was caused by a terrorist group called the Islamic Change Movement. This is the "group" that had taken responsibility for the Riyadh bombing in 1995 that killed five Americans and two Indian nationals, and the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia on June 25, 1996, that killed 19 American servicemen. Early on July 17,...

Gun enthusiasts aggravated with liberal gun-control politicians in Washington and the states need to understand that they who seek to stifle your constitutional right to keep and bear arms are only interested in your safety. It's true. We all realize that deep down our politicians care about us and don't want to see us gunned down in our prime, leaving behind loved ones who depend on us for nurturing, livelihood and parenting. So it's important for as many of us as possible to support gun-control initiatives designed to disarm law-abiding Americans – you know, because they make us safer and...

I was stunned Monday as Councilman Scott Galloway read a resolution, now an infamous part of Ferndale's record, that censured Pastor Tom Hansen for an anti-homosexual speech he made in May. It passed 4-1. Hansen's words were described as "callous, outdated and hostile" to the lesbian and gay community and an affront to Ferndale and many of its citizens. Isn't the real "culprit" here the Bible? If so, then SoulForce and council need to go after the Bible. And while they're at it, burn Huckleberry Finn, The Catcher in the Rye, Tropic of Cancer and other "callous, outdated and hostile"...

The Ferndale City Council sharply rebuked its police chaplain, and the chief, at a meeting Monday night. The action stems from an incident May 13 when the Rev. Tom Hansen, the police chaplain for more than five years, protested the Motor City Pride event and made disparaging statements about gay people. In a resolution approved by four of the five council members Monday night, the council said Hansen's statements were "callous, outdated and hostile"and were an affront to the council and the residents. The resolution said the council respects Hansen's right to free speech but disavowed the comments he made...

The specter of a U.S. attack on Iraq has Russian officials concerned about the nation's oil contracts with Saddam Hussein, causing talk that a Russian-led coup may be the only way to protect Moscow's interests, reports Pravda online. According to the Pravda report, an opposition leader in Iraq has said that in the event of the overthrow of Saddam by U.S. forces, Iraq's oil contracts with the United States will take priority over those of Russia, France and other countries. As a result, Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that he will stand up for the interests of Russian oil...

A Michigan city is facing a possible lawsuit if a volunteer chaplain -- who believes homosexuality is a sin -- is removed from his duties.Last Monday night during its regular meeting, several members of the Ferndale City Council said they supported removing Pastor Tom Hansen as the city's volunteer police chaplain. Hansen was blasted at the meeting by members of the homosexual activist group Soulforce for having publicly expressed his religious view on homosexuality.According to the Daily Tribune in Oakland County, Michigan, Hansen -- pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church -- stated his belief that the homosexual lifestyle is in...

When people travel the country holding conferences to "dispel the myths of the gay lifestyle" and declare they are former homosexuals, controversy is bound to follow. But when John Paulk takes his "Love Won Out" message of transformation to the Washington, D.C., area in two weeks, the venue will confront his message in an agonizingly personal way. "We're going into the lion's den of gay activism," Paulk told WorldNetDaily, noting that the nation's capital is the headquarters for many of the leading rights groups. Moreover for Paulk, that "lion's den" was the scene of a highly publicized failure that not...