Free Republic

August 12, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - When sixteen year-old Elizabeth Cameron found she was pregnant after being brutally gang raped, "practically everyone" in her life said she had every moral and legal right to kill her daughter by abortion. But Elizabeth defied the world's wisdom and says, now that her daughter Phoebe is a toddler, that she could not imagine life without her. "Every time I look at Phoebe, I know I made the right decision. I never wanted to end my baby's life just because of how she came to be," she told the Daily Mail this weekend. In...

(IsraelNN.com) A left-wing kibbutz member, who had never seen a Yesha settlement until the day she came to destroy it, asks forgiveness of the people she expelled. "Three years without a home is much too long," she says. The soldier publicized her story, and request for forgiveness, in an interview with Yedidya Meir on the Kol Chai radio station. She had been an active member of a left-wing youth movement in her kibbutz, never having met a "settler" (Jewish resident of Judea, Samaria and Gaza), or been inside a Jewish town there, in her life. After enlisting in the army,...

Vandals entered the six-bedroom lodge and sprayed the interior with fire extinguishers, slathering the floors and walls with dust. They poured cooking oils, soaps and lemon juice in the living room, halls and kitchen and even on a dining table large enough to seat 20 for dinner, using it as a slip-and-slide. They threw eggs on the walls and television set. They scribbled obscenities. They stole two hair dryers and two pillows and left the water running. They might have spent five years behind bars had they been adults convicted on burglary and vandalism charges. As preteens, they might have...

The parents of a teenager girl who became a homicide victim when Andrea Curry-Demus, 38, allegedly sliced open her stomach and stole her unborn child say they forgive her. The parents of 18-year-old Kia Johnson spoke at her funeral on Friday after her body was found in Curry-Demus' apartment. "I forgive her for the simple fact that if she wouldn't have took the baby to the hospital, we would not have been able to find our daughter," Johnson's mother Darlene said. "She's going to be missed by everyone," her mother said. "Kia was a special child. An AP report indicated...

In an e-mail obtained by NEWSCHANNEL 13, former New Life Church Pastor Ted Haggard admits to sexual contact with a gay escort and using drugs. This is the first public revelation of what Haggard claims is the full story of what happened between him and his accuser, Mike Jones. Haggard sent the e-mail to close family friend Kurt Serpe back in October. In it, he writes: "I was referred to Mike Jones from the concierge at a Marriott hotel when I asked for a masseur." The e-mail then becomes more detailed and sexual in nature.

When Lylah Rose Goldwater visits Shayne Pitts in prison, she can't bring herself to shake his hand, the one that held the gun that killed her daughter 17 years ago. "There seems to be a connection between that handshake and my daughter's death," she said. "One of those emotional barriers I have yet to overcome, if ever." But Goldwater has overcome her hatred of Pitts, 35, who is serving a 40-year to life sentence for the killing of 19-year-old Melody Derosia-Waters in Hopkinton. The mother who once sat in her car outside a courthouse and aimed a gun at Pitts...

By President Thomas S. Monson.In April 1966, at the Church’s annual general conference, Elder Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a memorable address. He quoted an account written by Samuel T. Whitman titled “Forgotten Wedges.” I too wish to quote from Whitman’s account, followed by examples from my own life. Whitman wrote: “The ice storm [that winter] wasn’t generally destructive. True, a few wires came down, and there was a sudden jump in accidents along the highway. … Normally, the big walnut tree could easily have borne the weight that formed on its spreading...

Men Have A Harder Time Forgiving Than Women Do ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2008) — Forgiveness can be a powerful means to healing, but it does not come naturally for both sexes. Men have a harder time forgiving than women do, according to Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Juola Exline. But that can change if men develop empathy toward an offender by seeing they may also be capable of similar actions. Then the gender gap closes, and men become less vengeful. In seven forgiveness-related studies Exline conducted between 1998 through 2005 with more than 1,400 college students, gender differences between...

DETROIT - Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded for forgiveness from his family and his constituents Wednesday in an emotional televised speech, his delayed response to recently revealed racy text messages that contradict his sworn testimony that he did not have a physical relationship with a key aide. "I truly apologize to you," Kilpatrick said, turning to his wife, Carlita, who sat by his side, holding his hand, at their family church. Kilpatrick did not publicly specify, however, what he was apologizing for, saying legal matters prevented him from doing so. A prosecutor is investigating whether the mayor and chief of staff...

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war. And then to mention the subject at all is to be greeted with howls of anger. It is not that people think this too high and difficult a virtue: it is that they think it hateful and contemptible. "That sort of talk makes them sick," they say. And half of you already want to ask me, "I wonder how'd you feel about forgiving the Gestapo if you were a Pole or a Jew?" So do I. I wonder very much. Just...

I am a Christian. What should I say then about sin? How should I deal with my own sins? How should I treat others regarding their sins? The Bible says it is a sin to seek revenge against others. However, I cannot allow someone who has wronged me to go unpunished. What lies should I say to myself? "It is justice that I seek, not vengeance. If God didn't want me to get even with my enemies, then he would not have made me so judgmental." If I love God I will not. The Bible says it is a sin...

One of our colleagues here on FR has asked for an explanation of my comments about sexual preferences. Here's what I said. In the last two thousand years, the most important advance in moral and ethical practice and teaching is forgiveness. Christ embodied that virtue and risked - and lost - his life for it. No other single characteristic has so greatly transformed religion and society. It's the force that says to a criminal: "repent, make amends, and you can return to society." Forgiveness, even more importantly, liberates those who have been trespassed against, allowing them to move past the...

US National Life Chain Sunday 2007 - October 7 - Life Chain's 20th Year WASHINGTON, DC, October 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On National Life Chain Sunday, October 7, pro-life Americans will, for the 20th year, line sidewalks in over 1,300 cities and towns to seek God's forgiveness and His help to end abortion and related evils in our culture. Participants will hold signs that include Abortion Kills Children; Adoption: The Loving Option; Lord, Forgive Us and Our Nation; and Abortion Hurts Women. Royce Dunn the Director of Life Chain calls it a "a peaceful witness against a violent public enemy...

Young Pastor's Powerful Sermon Encourages Parishioners to Take Part in Life Chain By Steve Jalsevac MANOTICK, Ontario, October 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Sunday, Sept. 23, a week before Canada's Life Chain Sunday, Fr. Geoff Kerslake gave what was seen as a powerful sermon encouraging his parishioners to take part in the local Life Chain the following Sunday. Fr. Geoff is the young pastor of St. Leonard's parish in Manotick, Ontario, located on the fringe of Canada's capital city of Ottawa. Fr. Geoff's sermon so encouraged one couple who heard it that they had the text re-printed in the bulletin...

Elizabethtown, Pa. - ONE year ago today, a shooter entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa., dismissed all but 10 girls, and fired at them execution-style, killing five before shooting himself. Within hours, the Amish community forgave the killer and his family. News of the instant forgiveness stunned the outside world – almost as much as the incident itself did. Many pundits lauded the Amish, but others worried that hasty forgiveness was emotionally unhealthy... ...Members of the Amish community began offering words and hugs of forgiveness when the blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor... ...As the...

Effie Caldarola  Other Articles by Effie CaldarolaPrinter Friendly Version   Vanity Plate Made Me See Bigger Picture September 24, 2007 You wouldn't expect grace or theological insight or a moment of inspiration to come to you via the vanity license plate on the car in front of you. But maybe a generous God, and one with a sense of humor, knows that sometimes a busy mom needs any opportunity she can get for inspiration. And wasn't it St. Ignatius of Loyola who told us that we should find God in all things?It was a wintry day and the sidewalks...

A few Scriptures and some Quix commentary . . .  Keeping in mind . . .  THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW [FOLLOW WHO?] THOSE WHO BELIEVE . . . cast out demons . . . speak with other tongues . . . etc.  AND . . . by reasonable extrapolation: John 20:22-23 (The Message)The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson 22-23Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with...

Pres. Faust knew who comes first By Jerry Johnston Deseret Morning News Published: August 18, 2007 If you took everything said and written about President James E. Faust over the past week and counted how often certain words were used, words like "kindness," "sweet" and "loving" would be near the top of the list. But the most-used word, I think, would be "humility." James E. Faust was a humble man. And I think all those other words — kind, sweet, loving — flow from the word "humility." I think that because I'm convinced most Bible stories, lessons and commandments flow...

Rome, Aug 7, 2007 / 12:04 pm (CNA).- Popular Italian priest Fr. Pierino Gelmini, 82, said this week he forgives the drug addicts who were expelled from his institution and accused him of “sexual abuse” as a way to take revenge and demand money from him. Fr. Gelmini, founder of the “Incontro” community, which has been a successful drug-rehabilitation center, was recently investigated for sexual abuse after accusations were made against him for the first time in his more than fifty years of priestly service. He cooperated fully with investigators and revealed that he had been receiving repeated phone calls...

Liz says... Everybody forgave Bill Clinton, why not David Vitter. He at least told the truth, Clinton did not Anonymous says... I think Vitter's biggest mistake was...He got caught. I'll still vote for him. Anonymous says... If Vitter had ran just a regular campaign and not run to all of the preachers to help him run on a platform of him being this great "family man" this would be no big deal. This is not my idea of a husband, father or the moral platform he ran on. He should have done like Edwin Edwards and said he loved all...