Free Republic

The Church of England issued a formal apology to LGBTQ members of the Anglican Communion who have felt excluded by the institution even as officials decided to continue to bar same-sex marriages in its churches. "We want to apologize for the ways in which the Church of England has treated LGBTQI+ people — both those who worship in our churches and those who do not," the bishops of the church wrote in "Living in Love and Faith," a report released Friday following a six-year consultation period about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. "For the times we have rejected or excluded...

Oklahoma Sooners assistant football coach Cale Gundy has resigned from his position after he used a “shameful” word during a team meeting. SNIP “I owe it to Sooner Nation to be transparent about what led to this decision: Last week, during a film session, I instructed my players to take notes,” the statement read. “I noticed a player was distracted and picked up his iPad and read aloud the words that were written on his screen. The words displayed had nothing to do with football. One particular word that I should never — under any circumstance — have uttered was...

HENDERSONVILLE — The executive director of the North Carolina Apple Festival resigned June 23 over comments he made on social media about Juneteenth, according to the festival Facebook page. The post on the festival’s Facebook page said David Nicholson, the executive director of the festival, confirmed the resignation of David Nicholson, the event’s long-time.

The co-creator of Friends has said it was a mistake not to use appropriate pronouns for Chandler Bing’s transgender parent in the hit 90s sitcom.Marta Kauffman, 65, said she now regrets the representation of the character Amanda Bing, who was played by Kathleen Turner.“We kept referring to her as Chandler’s father, even though Chandler’s father was trans,” she said in an interview with The Conversation on the BBC World Service, which will be broadcast on 11 July. “Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn’t refer to that character as she. That was a mistake.” Kauffman co-created...

Kentucky Catholic church hosts ‘unprecedented’ service of apology to LGBTQ+ communityLEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - On the last day of Pride Month, a Lexington church is apologizing to the LGBTQ+ community.Leaders at St. Paul Catholic Church said they want to make amends for the church’s discrimination and lack of compassion.“I felt betrayed by an institution. A divine institution, and I was heartbroken,” said JR Zerkowski, director of the Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry.Multiple religious leaders made remarks Thursday evening about their mistreatment within Catholic congregations and the long road they took just to be accepted.“It took me 20 years for my mom to...

Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio called the events of Jan. 6, 2021 a “dust up” at team minicamp Wednesday after he was asked about a recent tweet that downplayed what happened on the day the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election were tabulated. On Monday, Del Rio tweeted that he wanted to know the “whole story” surrounding the protests against systemic injustice in the summer of 2020 and that he didn’t understand why this week's Congressional hearings examining the events leading up to Jan. 6 were such a big deal. Hours later, Del Rio released a statement...

The Desclée de Brouwer publishing house, which publishes the Jerusalem Bible, changed the word "man" (“hombre”) to "person" (“persona”) in its new Spanish edition. The Jerusalem Bible is among the best known publications of the Bible. It has been published in Spanish since 1967. The first edition was published in French in 1956, and was based on the original Hebrew and Greek texts, not the Latin Vulgate, as are subsequent editions in other modern languages. The excerpt shared by several Twitter users refers to Matthew 4:19, where Christ says to his disciples: "I will make you fishers of men," which...

An independent school with an evangelical ethos has cancelled its support for a charity providing emergency humanitarian support in Ukraine after one complaint about its Christian beliefs on marriage. One set of parents, demanding St Lawrence College, Ramsgate drop its support for international charity Samaritan Purse’s Operation Christmas Child (OCC) programme, was enough to see the school capitulate and withdraw future support. Samaritan’s Purse holds to biblical beliefs, shared by the mainstream churches across the world on human sexuality and biblical marriage. Other parents have described the move of the fee-paying college as a: “betrayal of Christian children and parents...

The Disney Co.’s CEO Bob Chapek has taken a knee before his LGBTQ employees, issuing a humiliating apology after some of them mutinied over the company’s refusal to condemn Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which would forbid the teaching of sexuality and transgender ideology to students in kindergarten through third grade. In his groveling mea culpa, Chapek said he needed to be a “stronger ally” to the company’s gay and transgender employees. He also falsely referred to the legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — a smear created by Democrats and dutifully propagated by the news media —...

BREAKING: Spotify CEO apologizes to staff for continuing to host Joe Rogan, says he will continue contract while investing $100M in artists from 'marginalized groups'

Josh McDowell speaks at Talbot Chapel at Biola University in CaliforniaProminent Christian author and apologist Josh McDowell announced that he will step away from his ministry work and speaking events for the time being after making controversial remarks about minorities and education.In a statement posted Wednesday afternoon to his Twitter account, the 82-year-old said that the backlash from his recent comments at the American Association of Christian Counselors conference on Saturday led him to conclude that he had to step away from his ministry efforts for a time."It has become clear to me, along with Cru leadership, that I need...

Cardinal Acquits Islam, Migrants of Terror14 arrested for Vienna massacre are all Muslim migrants VIENNA (ChurchMilitant.com) - Europe's top cardinal has rejected claims blaming Islam or immigration for jihadi terrorism, even as police revealed that the 14 suspects arrested for Monday's Vienna massacre are all Muslim migrants. French bishops pay tribute to Catholic victims of jihad in NiceIn a Wednesday interview with SIR Agency, Cdl. Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union, asserted that incriminating Islam and immigration for French schoolteacher Samuel Paty's murder and recent jihadi attacks in Nice and Vienna "does not...

Though he’s overshadowed by the better known social justice warriors of the NBA and NFL, New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy is way out there on the far Left fringe. In an interview with ESPN’s black-themed blog, The Undefeated, the veteran NBA coach proudly claimed the mantle of poster boy for white privilege. As the new NBA season begins with declining fan interest, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears interviewed Van Gundy, who did not disappoint followers of the SJW, race-baiting ESPN blog. “I’m a poster boy for white privilege,” Van Gundy (in photo above) boasted. “I’ve led a privileged...

A Black defendant’s right to a fair trial would be harmed if the jury heard the case in a courtroom lined with portraits of white jurists, a northern Virginia judge has ruled. The upcoming trial of Terrance Shipp on charges of eluding police will be held in a courtroom that has no portraits on the wall, said Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard. Bernhard noted that his usual courtroom has no portraits. But jury trials that were postponed during the coronavirus pandemics are now being held in larger courtrooms. The walls of those rooms are lined with portraits of...

When Barbara Johns was just 16 years old, she led a walkout at her high school to protest poor and unequal school conditions. The moment is one that many historians believe helped launch the desegregation movement in the US. Now, Johns -- who died in 1991 -- will be memorialized at the US Capitol, replacing Virginia's statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced that records of Negro Leagues players will be included in the game's official statistics, in a "long overdue recognition."...The records and stats of 3,400 players who competed in seven leagues for Black players between 1920 and 1948, will be included in MLB records, officials said.

Rep. Paul Mitchell of Michigan quit the Republican Party on Monday over the GOP’s refusal to admit that President Donald Trump lost the election to President-elect Joe Biden. Mitchell, in a scathing letter to GOP leaders, wrote that Trump’s baseless claims alleging widespread ballot fraud, and the Republican Party’s tolerance of those claims, threatened “long-term harm to our democracy.”

Cleveland's Major League Baseball team has decided to change its nickname, moving away from the moniker it has employed for more than 100 years and that is considered insensitive to indigenous peoples, according to David Waldstein and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times. An announcement from the team could come as soon as this week, per the Times. It's unclear how Cleveland will refer to itself during the upcoming season. One option is to keep the name for an additional year before then transitioning to a new identity; another is to go the route of the National Football...

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Falls Church, Virginia School Board voted to rename Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, as well as George Mason High School, replacing the names of these Founding Fathers with those of people who are more woke and acceptable to the vanguard of today’s Cultural Revolution. School Board Chair Greg Anderson, tongue no doubt planted firmly in cheek, intoned the usual pieties: “The Board took seriously the viewpoints and concerns raised by many students, parents, staff, and community members.” Except it didn’t, since according to WTOP, “a survey of the Falls Church community taken in October…revealed that...

The Virginia Military Institute removed a statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on Monday morning. A small group watched as the bronze figure was hoisted off its pedestal in front of the VMI barracks. The historic figure is being relocated from the campus in Lexington, Va., to its future home at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. The statue was sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a member of the class of 1866, and donated to VMI in 1912. And after standing for more than a century, VMI's board voted in favor of...