Free Republic

A couple of days ago, I noticed ministry friends of mine sharing videos of a well-known pastoral voice, Senior Pastor Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church located in Alpharetta, Georgia. After looking around for the video myself, I discovered the video was an excerpt from the Drive Conference at North Point in 2022. Many people are familiar with this pastor in Georgia. Some of his statements diminishing the authority of Scripture, and his callous jest at Christians who think it more authoritative, led those in the Church to surmise that his issues with biblical authority indicate a much more...

[Catholic Caucus] Jesuit Father James Martin Says Gay Marriage Is MarriageROME — Jesuit Father James Martin, an LGBT advocate, affirmed Saturday his belief that two men can enter into a real marriage that must be recognized as such.Responding to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, who proposed that Pete Buttigieg’s same-sex marriage to his partner Chasten is not a true marriage but rather a “legal fiction,” Father Martin countered that “Pete Buttigieg is married.”

An education professor delivered a lecture in early January at a major mathematician meeting that described college math as “white” and “cisheteropatriarchal.” “Undergraduate Mathematics Education as a White, Cisheteropatriarchal Space and Opportunities for Structural Disruption to Advance Queer of Color Justice” was the full title of the lecture given by Luis Leyva, associate professor of mathematics education at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. Leyva delivered the lecture Jan. 4 in Boston at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2023. The summit is the “largest mathematics gathering in the world,” according to its website. “Cisheteropatriarchal” is a...

Paglia used charity funds to renovate apartment Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia diverted hundreds of thousands of euros allocated to support missionary and charitable works while he served as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Paglia used much of the money to finance building projects in Rome, including the renovation of his personal apartment, The Pillar has learned.According to multiple independent sources with knowledge of the events, Archbishop Paglia confirmed in a 2015 memo to Holy See financial officials that hundreds of thousands of euros had been paid to an Italian construction contractor instead of going to missionary and charitable...

[Catholic Caucus] Head of John Paul II Institute: Same-sex couples shouldn’t be ‘deprived of God’s blessing’Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne continued his previous defence of blessings for individuals in same-sex unions, saying 'behind the request for a blessing, there is often the same thirst for inclusion.'VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The president of the “John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family” – gutted by Pope Francis in 2019 – has defended blessings for same-sex couples, arguing that “no one can be deprived of God’s blessing.”Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne issued his statement in a recent interview published by La Croix International,...

The first openly gay Republican elected to Congress said he won a Long Island House seat by running a “common sense” platform. George Santos noted the historic nature of his candidacy during an interview with the Post on Wednesday. “I kept my message true to the people,” he said. Santos will become the first openly gay Republican elected to the House — a handful of other candidates came out after they were elected. “It’s a different world and we’re better for it,” Santos said. *** Santos, 34, will succeed retiring Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi in the 3rd Congressional District that...

It was announced on Monday, October 10, that the late Queen had approved the appointment of The Very Rev. Dr. David Monteith, Dean of Leicester, as Dean of Canterbury. Dr Monteith is in a same-sex civil partnership with David Hamilton, a counselling therapist working in palliative and bereavement care. Will this not perplex and shock millions of faithful Anglicans across the globe? The cathedral is claimed by the Church of England Establishment to be the mother church of the Anglican Communion, an iconic landmark founded in 597 AD. It is a World Heritage Site unlike any other, having seen some...

St. Louis, Mo., Oct 16, 2022 / 12:50 pm (CNA). A well-known Chicago priest has been asked to step aside from ministry during an investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse against a minor. Father Michael Pfleger, senior pastor at St. Sabina parish and a well-known social activist, will live away from his parish while the allegation — which he denies — is investigated. The alleged abuse occurred more than 30 years ago, the archdiocese says. In an Oct. 15 letter, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said Pfleger has “agreed to cooperate fully” with the request to step aside from...

West Hartford, CT — A 71-year-old West Hartford man was arrested after making a homophobic slur to a Home Depot cashier and referencing the Orlando, Florida, nightclub shooting on Wednesday, according to police. West Hartford Police responded to the Home Depot on New Park Avenue around 11:30 a.m. to speak with an employee regarding a report of a hostile customer. The employee told police he was talking to the customer about why he was wearing gloves at the register before it “quickly evolved into a harassing discussion about the employee's sexuality,” according to the police report. The employee told police...

"We're a nation of laws. Nobody's above the law. That's for darn sure," the South Carolina Republican told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “

MOSCOW. July 18 (Interfax) - Ukrainians will never accept Canada's decision to return a turbine for the Nord Stream gas pipeline to Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "I talked today with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We discussed our cooperation, and I thanked him, thanked Canada for support. But I also pointed out that the Ukrainians would never accept Canada's decision regarding a turbine for Nord Stream, which it decided to transfer to Germany essentially in violation of the sanction regime," Ukrainian media quoted Zelensky as saying in a video address on Sunday evening. Gazprom has officially addressed Siemens...

Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher has resigned from the government, as a newspaper alleged he groped two men at a private members' club. In his resignation letter, he told the PM he "drank far too much" and "embarrassed himself and other people". Witnesses told the BBC he was seen "extremely drunk" at the Carlton Club, the Conservative Party members club in London on Wednesday night. The BBC has approached Mr. Pincher for comment. A Downing Street source said as things stood he would face no further action from the party...

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said Tuesday night she has decided to seek a retraining order against a House Democrat staffer who was captured by Capitol Police on security cameras defacing posters outside her Washington office. Greene told Just the News that she felt like she had no choice but to seek the protective order against Timothy Hysom, the chief of staff to Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Jake Auchincloss, after the U.S. attorney's office in Washington declined a police request to issue an arrest warrant and charge the staffer. "Nancy Pelosi and Democrat leadership don't believe in protecting me. So I...

There is a serious problem with the homogenized nature of cybersecurity professionals, Trellix CEO Bryan Palma said during his keynote at the RSA Conference. An overwhelming majority of individuals in the cybersecurity field identify as straight, white, and male, according to a recent Trellix-commissioned survey conducted by a market research firm. This clear lack of diversity is holding the industry back in two main ways. “First, we are turning away great people and doing our industry a significant disservice by failing to cultivate a more inclusive environment,” Palma explained. “We are all better when we benefit from the diverse perspectives...

Last year, the United Methodist Church accepted Isaac Simmons, who regularly preaches dressed as a drag queen under the name Ms. Penny Cost, as a candidate for ordination. Since that time, Simmons, who serves as an associate pastor at Hope United Methodist Church in Bloomington, Illinois, has challenged basic theological concepts, projecting a worldview where divinity rests not in God but in queerness. In a church preparing to split over LGBTQ issues, the drag queen pastor, who embraces queer theology while barely attempting to plaster on the basic tenets of Christian theology, has become a lightning rod. Conservatives argue that...

[Catholic Caucus] Gay Church Worker Who Resigned After Hate Crimes Speaks at Vatican ConferenceA gay church worker who resigned due to right wing hate crimes recently addressed a Vatican conference on the relationship between Amoris Laetitia and LGBTQ people.Aaron Bianco gave his talk at a conference organized by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life and the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 2018, Bianco resigned from his position as pastoral associate at a southern California parish after enduring repeated hate crimes, including death threats, slashed tires, and anti-gay graffiti on the church. He since became a theology professor at the...

Around 9 a.m., deputies were called to a campground at O’Neill Regional Park, located at 30892 Trabuco Canyon Rd. in Trabuco Canyon, for an assault investigation, Sgt. Scott Steinle of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department told KTLA. After an investigation, Dick was arrested on suspicion of felony sexual battery, the Sheriff’s Department said. He has since been booked into jail. Back in November, Dick was arrested in the L.A. area on a felony domestic violence charge for allegedly hitting his boyfriend on the head with a liquor bottle. The comedian has also been arrested a number of times for allegations...

Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) law to penalize Disney by removing the company’s special tax status and privileges because they oppose Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law is like the actions of dictators. Polis said, “This is out of the playbook of authoritarianism of government intervention into private businesses saying you don’t do what I want, you’re not supporting my anti-gay law. Therefore I will directly penalize your company, not pass some general law that affects all companies. Literally, we will go after your company if you don’t get in...

Imran Ahmad Khan, 48, stood trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, wherein it was revealed he “forced the youngster to drink gin, dragged him upstairs and asked him to watch pornography before assaulting him.” According to the BBC, “The court heard that Khan had gone to the boy’s bed and “reached in and touched his legs, reaching for, or actually touching, his groin”.” “His breathing was getting quite heavy and I kept pushing his hand away and pushing it back and it would keep coming,” the man, who is now in his late twenties, revealed. The BBC further reports:...

Lord Williams of Oystermouth wades into conversion therapy debate as No 10’s stance sparks boycott of its LGBT conference.Lord Williams signed the open letter to Boris Johnson, along with senior clergy, including the Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Revd Dr David Ison; the Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Revd Dr Alan Wilson; the Dean of Southwark, the Very Revd Andrew Nunn; and the Dean of Manchester, the Very Revd Rogers Govender. In the open letter, obtained by ITV News, they added: “To allow those discerning this journey to be subject to coercive or undermining practices is to make prayer...