Free Republic

The cultural civil war in which America is engaged is, in large measure, about American exceptionalism. Conservative America generally believes in the concept; liberal America generally finds it chauvinistic and dangerous. What is American exceptionalism? The belief that America often knows better than the world what is right and wrong. This belief drives most of the world's opinion-makers crazy. And it particularly infuriates the American Left, that part of America that trusts what is called "world opinion" more than it trusts the American people. And from where does this belief in American exceptionalism derive? Mostly from the religious beliefs that...

Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A. ¡ª Further to our press release of March 30 regarding the arrest of Father ZHAO KeXun Úw¿Ë„× of Xuanhua Ðû»¯ diocese in Heibei ºÓ±±, we now report that Bishop YAO Liang Ò¦Á¼, the auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Xiwanzi Î÷ž³×Ó in Hebei ºÓ±±, was arrested on March 31, 2005. He is in his early eighties. Before his arrest Bishop YAO had been under mounting pressure from the Chinese authority to sever ties with the Pope and join the official Catholic Church (the Patriotic Association). However, the bishop refused to do so. The faithful in Xiwanzi diocese...