Free Republic

"They were basically calling for a lynching," Jackson said. "They are looking to suppress speech and they are taking a very partisan, progressive, hard-left agenda on all sorts of issues that have nothing to do with education."On Thursday, Harry Jackson, the first black head of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology's Parent Teacher Association, resigned from his post, citing issues with the PTA's state officials and the implementation of critical race theory teachings at the school.Jackson, who won his position in May, did so by campaigning against what he called misguided left-wing moves by school leadership and...

A group of about a dozen American evangelical leaders led by Pat Robertson met with Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. Led by Robertson and his Christian Broadcasting Network, the group included author Joel Rosenberg, evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, Charisma Media founder Stephen Strang, Maryland Bishop Harry Jackson, and Jonathan Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and the son of Liberty University founder Jerry Falwell Sr. Not only did the group discuss the future of the South American country and their shared belief in traditional Christian values, but...

A group of influential Christian theologians and pastors announced on Wednesday their support of businesses like Hobby Lobby who are fighting against the HHS contraception mandate. In a 46-page amicus brief filed with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), they argued that the mandate violates the First Amendment rights of Christians who believe that all work is sacred. The list of 38 signatories includes pastor Rick Warren, Bishop Harry Jackson, theologian Wayne Grudem, author Ravi Zacharias, and other Christian influencers. The convening organizations listed on the brief includes Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Coalition of African American Pastors, and...

A National Association of Evangelicals board member is calling on African-Americans to vote for their conservative convictions in the 2012 election, describing President Barack Obama as a theologically liberal candidate. Bishop Harry R. Jackson. Jr., senior pastor of Hope Christian Church outside of Washington, D.C., asked blacks to re-evaluate their tendency to “flock the polls” in support of Democratic leaders in an opinion piece published Friday in The Wall Street Journal. Blacks, he noted, espouse traditional, conservative beliefs on social issues rooted in their faith. Yet, they often vote for Democratic leaders with liberal leanings. “Most blacks have looked the...

Rally for Marriage 2010 Sunday, August 15, 2010 from 2:00pm – 3:00pm US Capitol (East Side) Between Capitol and Supreme Court Washington, D.C. Featuring live performance by, Gospel Singers, Songwriters and Producers Deitrick & Damita Haddon RSVP with Facebook Parking: Union Station Click here for directions Speakers: Brian Brown, President, National Organization for Marriage Maggie Gallagher, Chairman, National Organization for Marriage Bishop Harry Jackson, Senior Pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland Reverand Walter Fauntroy, First Representative of Congress, Washington, D.C. Commissioner Robert “Bob” King Bishop Neavelle Coles, New Bethel Church of God in Christ Special Message from: Dr....

Last week Sarah Palin appeared on Bill O’Reilley’s show discussing a crude joke levied at her on the animated television show - “The Family Guy.” For those who may not have seen either the show itself or the O’Reilly interview, here’s what happened. In the animated show two Sundays ago, a teenaged character named Chris is romancing Ellen, his classmate. She has Down Syndrome. As Chris delves into Ellen’s background, she makes this statement, “My dad’s an accountant and my mom is the former governor of Alaska.” The fact that the actress who does the voice for Ellen, Andrea Fay...

I was not surprised that a recent Washington Post article gleefully asserted, “DC’s left leanings confirmed in poll.” I was surprised at the seeming air of objectivity that the writers attempted to project. I was skeptical of the article and its conclusions for several reasons. First, it was commissioned and paid for by the Post (not to impugn the work of SRBI, Inc of New York). Second, a poll could yield very skewed results by focusing on selected wards. Third, private polling obtained by Stand For Marriage DC shows very different results. The writers asserted that their telephone survey of...

Conservative Christian leaders unveiled a declaration Friday calling on Christians not to comply with rules and laws forcing them to accept abortion, same-sex marriage and other ideals that go against their religious doctrines. The declaration urges Christians to practice civil disobedience to defend their convictions, even though some signers of the document backed away from the strong language. The Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl, was among the first signers of the Manhattan Declaration. He appeared at a news conference in the District on Friday to announce it, even as the Church was considering a city-proposed compromise on its...

Two weeks ago, just after the Maine’s successful reversal of the state legislature’s decision to sanction same-sex marriage, MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer asked me a profound question: “Would Jesus have spent $550,000 to oppose same-sex marriage?” The question was exactly what many secular parties had been asking in Portland, Maine, where she was speaking to me by satellite. My answer was that Jesus would have given the money to oppose same-sex marriage. My reasoning was simple: Jesus would have upheld his own teaching; refusing to be a loving, permanent enabler of a misguided local government. I mentioned in the interview that...

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to block Ximena Hartsock from becoming the next director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, aggravating the tension between the council and the mayor and casting fresh doubt on the future of the troubled agency. After a long debate, the council voted 7 to 5 to reject Hartsock and remove her as the head of an agency that has had seven permanent or interim directors in the past decade. It was the first time since Fenty took office in 2007 that the council had rejected one of his nominees ...The vote followed a contentious...

Recently the Obama administration filed court papers claiming a federal marriage law, called The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), discriminates against gays. This was surprising because at the same time government lawyers have been instructed to defend it. In fact, Department of Justice Department lawyers are seeking to dismiss a suit brought by a gay California couple challenging the 1996 Act. The administration's legal strategy so angered gay activists that they claimed the president is backtracking on campaign promises. Last week as a response to the pressure from numerous gay groups, the administration flip-flopped, vowing to repeal DOMA. The administration’s...

A coalition of gay marriage opponents asked the D.C. elections board Tuesday to authorize a ballot initiative that if approved by a majority of voters would define marriage in the District as the union of a man and a woman. Stand4MarriageDC, led by Bishop Harry Jackson of Beltsville's Hope Christian Church, filed papers with the Board of Elections and Ethics seeking authority to collect petition signatures for a November 2010 referendum on the definition of marriage. The filing, backed by the Archdiocese of Washington, comes ahead of an anticipated D.C. Council effort to legalize same-sex marriage in the District. "The...

video 4:40

WASHINGTON – A number of black evangelical leaders are rising up as a new voice in the conservative movement traditionally dominated by white Protestants. Their centerpiece agendas are abortion and same-sex “marriage” – the same two key social issues emphasized by most conservative evangelicals. But unlike the typical white evangelical Christian that is most likely part of the conservative wing of the Republican party, these African American leaders may be card-carrying Democrats but willing to switch over to the Republican side if their conservative values are addressed. Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr., who heads the socially conservative black pastors group...

Last week, Senator Dick Durbin made comments that should have won him the “Most Racially Insensitive Remarks of the Year Award.” His statements were made in a committee markup. An audio recording of the heated exchange between Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Brownback (R-KS) revealed the unfortunate bias of the Senator from Illinois. Senator Durbin justified the fact that 41% of pregnancies in DC are terminated by abortion by essentially saying, “It’s a black thing!” His exact words are listed below: Durbin: In terms of safe, legal and rare, to the Senator from Kansas, I will tell you two things....

The following is an excerpt from a letter that will be sent this week to President Obama from leaders in the African-American community. Two events have precipitated the writing of this letter. 1. The President hosted a Stonewall Riot 40th anniversary celebration at the White House, when no such meeting has been afforded to African-American clergy to date. 2. The legal attempt to overthrow the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that has come out of Massachusetts last week. All too often, both the press and politicians view the African-American community as a monolithic group that will go wherever the cultural...

A D.C. Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to delay the implementation of a law recognizing same-sex marriages performed in jurisdictions outside the District and rejected efforts to bring the issue before voters. The lawsuit was an attempt to salvage a referendum drive that would have put the question of same-sex marriage on the ballot. ...snip The plaintiffs, seven D.C. residents led by Bishop Harry R. Jackson of the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, said they were disappointed by the decision. "Essentially, today, the D.C. residents have been disenfranchised and unable to vote on an important public policy...

 Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr.

Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr. grew up thinking everyone has a right to be heard and that the right to vote is a near-sacred privilege. The son of a civil rights activist who fled Florida with his family when a state trooper threatened his father at gunpoint, Mr. Jackson knows firsthand the struggles to be recognized in the democratic system. But same-sex marriage, according to Mr. Jackson, is no civil right. "How dare someone piggyback on the civil rights movement?" he said. "What you really have is an elite group of people masquerading as a minority and systematically imposing their...

Last week marked a nadir in the battle for biblical marriage. Two huge events occurred. First, former VP Dick Cheney voiced his support for same-sex marriage. Second, New Hampshire became the sixth state in the Union to legalize gay marriage. Despite these two events, nationalizing same-sex marriage is absolutely not inevitable. Gay marriage proponents are only too aware that the recent California Supreme Court ruling that the 2008 Proposition 8 victory will stand guarantees that a fresh round of marriage amendments, initiatives, and referendums will undoubtedly be levied in the states that have scored temporary victories for same-sex marriage.