Free Republic

Imagine the following hypothetical situation: Frank and Ellen meet at a night course and end up getting drinks together after class several times. The drinks start to feel like dates, so Ellen asks Frank if he is married, making it clear that adultery is a deal-breaker for her. Frank is married, but he lies and says he is single. The two go to bed. Is Frank guilty of rape? To most people, even those who consider Frank a dishonorable creep, the answer is clearly no. The law agrees: In most American jurisdictions, Frank is not liable for any tort or...

Pope’s pick says ‘clericalist mindset is changing’Sr Nathalie Becquart (CNS/Paul Haring)A French sister who could be the first woman to cast a vote in the Synod of Bishops says her appointment as an undersecretary is evidence the “clericalist mindset is changing”. Source: Crux.Sr Nathalie Becquart told journalists on Wednesday that Pope Francis has been underlining the importance of including women in the decision-making processes, helping move the Church from a clericalist attitude towards a more synodal one.“How can we somehow end with a clerical Church, where there have been abuses, of power and other kind of abuses,” she asked, during...

No?...You mean to tell me that from the Mainstream Media (so abundant with “feminists”) you didn’t hear about this “Latina” girl who, when younger than Miley Cyrus, courageously took up arms as a guerrilla fighter against a murderous, terror-sponsoring (genuinely) Russia-colluding regime, was captured, horribly tortured in utterly dark, underground dungeons crawling with rats and roaches where she lost her baby and eventually her mind? She suffered 15 years as a political prisoner enduring horrible tortures, alongside the longest-suffering female political prisoners in modern history, in a locale absolutely infested with mainstream “news” bureaus and their intrepid “reporters” and correspondents....

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/godfather-of-the-pro-life-movement-joe-scheidler-dies-at-age-93Godfather of the pro-life movement, Joe Scheidler, dies at age 93 by Doug MainwaringExcerpts:CHICAGO, Illinois, January 19, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Joe Scheidler, a towering figure in the pro-life movement in the United States, died yesterday at age 93.Scheidler gained national prominence as chief defendant in the landmark NOW v. Scheidler, filed by the National Organizaiton for Women (NOW) which accused him of being a member “in a nationwide conspiracy to obstruct women’s access to abortion clinics through a pattern of racketeering activity including the actual or implied threat of violence.” The case ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court three...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis’ Lesson on How to Make Female MinistersIn one of my weaker moments, I did something rather foolish, born from curiosity. That is, I read Pope Francis’ new motu proprio: Spiritus Domini. It was not so much what the document promulgated that interested me – that women shall be made official acolytes and lectors of the Church – but rather in how it was accomplished. How exactly does a pope go about codifying an illicit and vexatious practice? Is it as simple as a few magic words, a stroke of the pen, and voila, women can officially...

[Catholic Caucus] Far from the Spirit of the Lord: On the Pope’s New Motu ProprioThe obvious problems with the recent opening of the ministries of lector and acolyte to women by Pope Francis has already been the subject of a number of articles, including one that I wrote earlier this week. As I reflect further on the motu proprio Spiritus Domini, I see more and more disturbing implications of this modification to canon law. Those who think “it’s not a big deal, it just formalizes what we’ve already been doing for decades!” greatly underestimate the difference between custom (which can...

Let’s face it, there is nothing that won’t offend a Democrat. They get up every morning actively seeking something to bother them after waking up in a cold sweat and dreaming of microaggressions. They aren’t normal people; you wouldn’t wish their lives on your worst enemy, you also wouldn’t have to because they already have them. Liberals being miserable is nothing new, they’ve just gotten more forceful in projecting their misery on everyone else. If they get their way in the election, they’ll be able to mandate their misery and punish those who don’t comply. How that will manifest itself...

Her very existence repudiates the left's binary thinking about womanhood, that women have to deny what makes women different from men to achieve professionally. And that's why they hate her. Newest Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is almost the polar opposite of the “Sex and the City” chimera of female empowerment: a serious Christian who eschews hookup culture and has seven kids. Half of her resume consists of behavior the leftists who control feminism constantly attack as anti-woman: big-time motherhood and big-time religion.Fertile women who are serious about prayer get derided as brainless sex slaves, with the “Handmaid’s Tale”...

Half of Christians say sex between consenting adults who are in a committed dating relationship is sometimes or always acceptable, and over half — with the exception of evangelical Protestants — say casual sex is OK, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 62% of Catholics, 56% of Protestants in the historically black tradition, 54% of mainline Protestants, and 36% of evangelical Protestants say casual sex between consenting adults is sometimes or always acceptable, according to the survey. Among those who are religiously unaffiliated, as many as 84% say casual sex is sometimes or always acceptable, Pew...

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Left-wing feminist groups such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL, Times Up, and Emily’s List have sent urgent notices to media outlets, warning them that Joe Biden’s female running mate is likely to be subjected to “sexist” and “racist” attacks. “A woman VP candidate, possibly a Black or Brown woman candidate, requires the same kind of internal consideration about systemic inequality as you undertook earlier this year,” the abortion rights supporters wrote to media heads, as NBC News reported. The coalition leaders include Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, NARAL President Ilyse Hogue, Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, Former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile...

Analysis carried out by the Pew Research Center has revealed that just one in six protesters turning out at BLM demonstrations in the US are actually black. The research notes that the plurality of those present at the gatherings have been white people.

We who have picked this hill to die on, who have chosen to speak out for the rights of women, girls, and boys who end up suckered into this fantasy that biological sex is mutable, salute Rowling. J.K. Rowling has held the line on refuting transgender rhetoric, and for gender-critical women and real feminists, this is a glorious moment. We, the gender-critical, the terfs, those women who have spoken up over and over, are finally witnessing the manifestation of an ally who is simply too big to cancel. Rowling has tweeted, which is about as public as you can get...

'Mrs. America' tries to paint Phyllis Schlafly as cold and unforgiving, but the conservative icon my grandmother and I knew was nothing of the sort. My grandmother was in a Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter with Phyllis Schlafly from 1965 to 1990. A few years before she died, I had the privilege to intern for Mrs. Schlafly. So, during quarantine, as we watched the FX series “Mrs. America” together, we became filled with growing frustration and disgust at seeing the woman we had known misrepresented and defamed. What is most striking about “Mrs. America,” however, is how little it...

Feminist author Susan Faludi made a lame attempt in The New York Times to help feminists escape from the hypocrisy of believing all female "survivors" of sexual harassment or assault. Somehow, Faludi claimed that feminists never said you should believe all women. The headline was "'Believe All Women' Is a Right-Wing Trap: How Feminists Got Stuck Answering for a Canard." She claimed the canard came from me, among others, and quoted my recent article about Joe Biden accuser Tara Reade in which I wrote: "Where is the #MeToo movement on this story? What happened to their rigid 'Believe All Women'...

Just as has happened in our economy dominated by finance capitalism, feminism brought outsized benefits to a few in exchange for the suffering of many. Starring Academy Award Winner Cate Blanchett as conservative firebrand Phyllis Schlafly, Hulu series “Mrs. America” has been getting awards buzz. While the writers are too skilled to give a one-dimensional portrayal of Schlafly, nonetheless the broader agenda of the show is clear: to anathematize Schlafly, build up the feminists who opposed her, and ultimately, to push for a new Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). “Mrs. America” is effective propaganda against Schlafly and conservative ideas because it...

When the big media push behind the pro-gun-control Parkland students was still getting revved up last month, I called it a “Children’s Crusade.” That seemed appropriate because of the reverence the media was showing these often ignorant and occasionally offensive teenagers. Even back then, that impulse was clearly focused most intensely on Emma Gonzalez, the student whose “We call BS” speech CNN transcribed and spread with an evangelists zeal on its homepage. But today, the New Yorker has reached peak-Parkland-adulation with a piece titled “Joan of Arc and the Passion of Emma González.” The author isn’t directly comparing Gonazalez to...

Bikini — and burkini — season is over here, but with the new school year, France’s battle over national identity has erupted on a new front: its history curriculum. School curriculums have long been a part of culture wars, including in the United States, where there have been tussles over slavery and evolution. But in France, where the state sets school programs nationwide, the country’s understanding of its past — and how it uses education to shape young citizens — has become a hot-button issue in a fraught election season. Changes to how Joan of Arc and other touchstone historical...

Joan of Arc was amazing. At the age of 19, coming from a very poor family, she played a significant role in turning round a very long war. This was a world where faith counted for something.

A new biography on Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton reveals that during her time as First Lady, Clinton participated in strange moments of imaginary conversation with a deceased Eleanor Roosevelt from the solarium atop the White House. Grove City College professor Paul Kengor’s “God and Hillary Clinton” also notes the religious devotion with which Senator Clinton advocates abortion. An overview of the book by Kengor’s Grove City colleague Dr. Warren Thockmorton notes that the book - with information from friends, colleagues and acquaintances - paints an accurate picture of Clinton’s version of faith. The woman who arranged the séance-type sessions atop...