Free Republic

From the outset of forming our country, our Founders were determined to keep religion as a foundational element, given that many people had left their homes in Britain to be able to practice their religions as they chose. The goal was not for the government to reject faith, but for it to be prevented from dictating doctrine. But over the years, the Left has distorted the meaning of “separation of church and state” (a phrase that’s not written into the Constitution) and now the country feels obligated to ban religion from every nook and cranny. How did a country founded...

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has confirmed that chaplains can preach sermons with obviously Christian content at affiliated medical facilities and has rescinded a letter of reprimand after a chaplain was punished last year. In a letter written in late February but recently made public, VA Secretary Doug Collins said "there is no national or local policy or standard operating procedure which inhibits Chaplain sermons." "To the extent that there have been any proposed changes to any existing policy, those proposals will not move forward and have been rescinded," wrote Collins. "VA reiterates again its commitment to upholding and...

May 20, 2020, 7:21 p.m. EST: BREAKING: The Minnesota Catholic Conference and The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in Minnesota sent Governor Tim Walz separate letters today announcing that they will resume worship services on May 26 despite Governor Walz’s current COVID-19 executive order which allows retailers to operate at 50 percent capacity but caps church worship services at ten people. Governor Walz’s latest re-opening order allows the Mall of America to open its doors to those seeking retail therapy but disallows churches from providing spiritual healing to their congregations. At the same time, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sent Governor...

Even though the Communist Party of China is officially atheist, and the central government was once wary of religion, subtle signs and increasing activities show there is a changing attitude towards religion in order to unite China and its neighbors. In March last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping stood in the offices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, and extolled the profound impact Buddhism has had on China. "Buddhism originated in ancient India," said Xi, the leader of the officially atheist Communist Party of China. "After it was introduced into China, the religion went...

The Biden administration has gotten banks to let them 'spy' on the everyday purchases and money transfers of Americans, carrying out millions of searches without getting a warrant typically required for such snooping, a stunning new Congressional report charges. The House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government just released its damning findings, which the panel found skews heavily toward surveillance of Americans inclined to support President-elect Donald Trump. 'The federal government is spying on your bank account,' the Republican-led panel posted in a video on X summarizing its 47-page report. ... Over 14,000 federal employees accessed...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Movie explores faith in Cristero War against forced secularism By Kevin J. Jones Cuajimalpa, Mexico, Apr 8, 2011 / 06:16 am (CNA).- The director of the upcoming movie “Cristiada” describes his film about the armed resistance against the attempt to secularize Mexico by force in the 1920s as an inspiring tale of faith and religious freedom.“Our film follows the stories of five ordinary people from across the country who chose to stand up for their rights,” director Dean Wright told CNA on April 4. “Ultimately, once they found themselves in this little civil war, they had to decide...

The Olympics and NBC are taking down videos of the controversial Olympics opening ceremony, citing copyright infringement, instead of addressing the criticism. This action has sparked outrage, as many believe these takedowns are a misuse of copyright laws to suppress negative commentary. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), fair use allows for commentary and critique, which raises concerns about the legitimacy of these takedowns. The actions of NBC and the Olympics are not only silencing free speech but also acting in an authoritarian manner by preventing public discourse on the event.

The son of a Canadian pastor who faces jail time for preaching to truckers who blocked the US-Canada border last year received a standing ovation in EU Parliament as he slammed PM Justin Trudeau for taking 'freedom and democracy' away from citizens. Nathaniel Pawlowski's father Artur Pawlowski potentially faces 10 years in prison after he delivered a 19-minute speech to truckers who were protesting federal vaccine mandates by blocking the border in early 2022. 'I am here today in desperation, a cry for help,' Pawlowski, 23, told members of the EU Parliament on July 4. 'I would like to stand...

Memphis — An After School Satan Club plans to begin offering activities to children at a Tennessee elementary school following Christmas break, officials said, and the move immediately proved controversial. The Satanic Temple plans to host the club at Chimneyrock Elementary School in Cordova, news outlets reported. It will begin meeting on Jan. 10 in the school's library and run through the spring semester, according to an announcement Tuesday posted on social media.

Abigail Martinez, a mother who lost her daughter to suicide, is seeking justice and protection for families facing similar situations. First Liberty Institute has submitted a brief to the Supreme Court on her behalf, urging the court to uphold parental rights in a case involving the removal of a child from Christian parents due to their religious beliefs about sexuality. Abigail’s daughter, Yaeli, struggled with depression and sexuality, and was ultimately taken from her home and given gender-transition treatments without parental consent. (Trending: Top Democrat Loses In Historic Landslide) “My child was a number in the system. I don’t want...

A new report just released by the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has offered shocking new insights into the full extent of the FBI’s efforts to use government power and resources to target, intimidate, and harass Catholics, pro-life activists, and other members of the religious community. The December 4 report found, among other disturbing revelations, that the FBI “abused its counterterrorism tools to target Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists” when agency operatives in Richmond, Virginia, circulated a memo designating so-called “radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]” as potential “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists.” “The Committee and Select Subcommittee...

A North Carolina middle school student was suspended for three days over a conversation he had with classmates about Jesus Christ. The 12-year-old is a seventh grader at Envision Science Academy in Wake Forest. He is also a devout Christian. The young man’s father told me that he received a phone call from the assistant dean saying he needed to attend a meeting about his son’s “continued behavior.” Several of the boy’s classmates had started a conversation during the previous school year about Christianity and his son had explained how they needed a relationship with Jesus Christ to go to...

Santa Clara County (SCC) residents earn the title for longest duration living under the strictest COVID rules in the nation. SCC's public health department (SCC DPH) director, Sara Cody, became the face of lockdown — the spokesperson to declare the nation's first Shelter-in-Place (SIP) order on March 16, 2020. SCC was first in the nation to enter lockdown, lowest for in-person schooling, highest in restrictions, highest in punitive fines, and last to ditch school mask mandates. While frequently lauded by her proponents for touting "safety first," she knew that "the efficacy of face masks and physical distancing hadn't been established...

This case was a challenge to the constitutionality of a Maine program that prohibits tuition for some students to attend private religious schools when their own school district does not operate a public secondary school. The court 6-3, led by Roberts, holds that the Maine program violates the free exercise clause. Because the benefits hinge on whether a school is religious, the Chief writes, the Maine program "effectively penalizes the free exercise" of religion.

Medical conscience concerns are too serious to be allowed to fluctuate according to the whims of the current presidential administration.Thanks to the leaked opinion in the Dobbs case, abortion “rights” have become a hot topic on the left. But what about the rights of health care workers to refuse to abort babies? Or to refuse participation in other referrals or procedures (such as euthanasia or gender reassignment surgeries) to which they object on moral or religious grounds? Under a proposed rule removal by the Biden administration’s Health and Human Services Department (HHS), health care workers will have little recourse if...

Trump White House officials in May 2020 removed public health advice urging churches to consider virtual religious services as the coronavirus spread, delivering a messaging change sought by the president’s supporters, according to emails from former top officials released by a House panel on Friday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent its planned public health guidance for religious communities to the White House on May 21, 2020, seeking approval to publish it. The agency had days earlier released reports saying that the virus had killed three and infected dozens at church events in Arkansas and infected 87 percent...

So far no arrests have been made and authorities are keeping mum about a raid on a property in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country around Lancaster, but the local paper has some intriguing suggestions about what’s going on, and it sure looks like the BATFE is getting ready to accuse an Amish farmer of being an unlicensed gun retailer.The raid on the property known as the Cattail Foundry took place two weeks ago, with agents carting off an untold number of guns. This week, LancasterOnline.com spoke with Rueben King, who says the guns were all his private property, though...

emocrat President Joe Biden seems to be “at war with all faith-based agencies” — including foster and adoption agencies that wish to operate according to their religious beliefs, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) told Breitbart News. During an exclusive phone interview on Tuesday, the congressman discussed at length an effort he is leading with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and more than 100 other Republican lawmakers to pressure the Biden administration over its November decision to rescind waivers to faith-based adoption and foster agencies in South Carolina, Texas, and Michigan, which let them operate according to their religious beliefs by allowing them...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene today released “Unusually Cruel- An Eyewitness Report From Inside The DC Jail,” her report about what she saw when she was finally allowed to meet the January 6 political prisoners. Reps. Greene, Gohmert, Gaetz, and Gosar tried, unsuccessfully, to visit the January 6 political prisoners twice earlier this year. They were turned back for no stated reasons. They sent a congressional letter and forced a confrontation with the D.C. mayor’s office and the Washington D.C. Department of Corrections (DOC) staff just so they could inspect a jail that “they have the right, prerogative, and duty as...

We have all seen the horrible violence in Seattle in the last year or so. But now there’s a new battle, virtually under the radar. In 1932, the Union Gospel Mission began serving the poor and downtrodden in Seattle. But now this ministry which has been serving millions of meals through the years and providing many other services may have to shut its doors because of a decision by the Washington Supreme Court. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is defending the mission. They write: “A Washington Supreme Court decision forces a religious nonprofit, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, to hire employees...