Free Republic

Bishop Karen Oliveto sees her consecration in 2016 as a breaking point for some of the thousands of people who have made the once unthinkable decision to leave the United Methodist Church. Oliveto is the church's first openly gay bishop and oversees congregations in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and one church in Idaho. Her service defies long-standing rules in the denomination. Disregard for those church laws is fueling divisions that have already led to the exodus of about 20% of the United Methodist Church's congregations across the U.S. since disaffiliations began in 2019. The number of members who have left...

In the post-Civil War era, inspired by Abraham Lincoln and Union victory, those blacks who could overcome state requirements aimed at preventing their voting usually voted Republican. President Dwight D. Eisenhower overwhelmingly was supported by blacks when he ran for re-election in 1956. Then came Senator John F. Kennedy, D-Mass., in the 1960 presidential race. Blacks switched and voted for JFK. They helped him win that squeaker election against Vice President Richard M. Nixon. What happened? At the time I had just begun my broadcasting career and was working at WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Working alongside me on weekends was...