Free Republic

...[S]he’s right. While she’s discussing the corporate world, it’s equally true — perhaps even more so — in the world of politics. Surely it takes a robust ego for anyone to think she’s got the stuff it takes to lead a school committee or town, much less a state or even the entire nation: and not just lead it, but take it in the right direction, all the while avoiding the dizzying emoluments of the culture of greed, graft, bribery, quid-pro-quo, and you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours. Not only that, but you’ve got to have the apparently not-so-common...

United States president Barack Obama says he and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd share several personality traits - one of which is humility. The US president made the comments to the 7.30 Report's Kerry O'Brien during an interview which will be aired on ABC1 tonight.

Apologies to all of my FReeper friends for an extended absence from the forum. I have checked in now and then, and did not want to answer some pings and not others, so have merely participated in 'spectator mode' these past few months. I am offering the following as a Christmas wish for all of you -- some of whom I have known here for longer than ten years. Despite long silences over that time (often on both ends), I believe we all share a timeless common bond, formed by a love of country that will not die ... and...

DEAR PRECIOUS GRACEFUL, I think shame is an interesting thing. Have certainly wrestled with plenty of it in my life. Not sure it's all over, either. There was a church member or pastor . . . speaking, I forget which . . . recently . . . a sermon, I think . . . probably Pastor Christie . . . how Christ . . . Cast down shame on The Cross. Not just took it upon Himself but conquered it, and cast it down. Banished it from having any effect or influence on Him. I think there was some...

Sister Sobodka said: "Several times he (Pope John Paul) would put himself through bodily penance. "We would hear it – we were in the next room at Castel Gandolfo. You could hear the sound of the blows when he flagellate himself. He did it when he was still capable of moving on his own." The flagellation is also confirmed by another bishop who has given testimony. Emery Kabongo was a secretary for Pope John Paul. "He would punish himself and in particular just before he ordained bishops and priests," he said. "I never actually saw it myself but several people...

Striping away the nuance of public discourse and gazing at the underlying foundation of competing belief systems seems to reveal two general camps into which people fall. There are those who believe, for whatever reason and to varying degrees, that human beings have evolved from lower animal or social forms and are continuing to evolve toward some future perfection or apotheosis. Conversely, there are those who believe man is inherently flawed, limited, and in a very literal way retarded. I believe the latter self-evident, and wish to ask those who believe the former to present me with an answer to...

[snip long aside about Joe Wilson] Whether he knows it or not, Chambliss should be grateful that the dust-up over Wilson's outburst overshadowed the senator's own remarks about Obama. In a Tuesday interview on Fox News, Chambliss was talking about Republican expectations for the president's address when he said, "I think what you're looking at is folks on my side anxious to see what the president has to say (Wednesday) night. I think he's going to have to express some humility based on what we've seen around the country during August, and that's not his inclination." Take a closer look...

Here is video of Sen. Saxby Chambliss talking to Stuart Varney yesterday where he said Republicans will be looking for Obama to show some "humility" in his speech tonight, based on the outcry from Americans this past month against a Government take over of Health Care. Chambliss added that "humility" is "against his inclination." He makes the comment at around the 2:30 mark of the video. The whole segment contains a discussion of what Obama and the Democrats may try to do to pass a Health Care bill. . . (VIDEO)

Watch video poem at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53cwvVDP7bk Talk about hope and dignity. Try to look beyond the decay I see. More than a word to set me "free." Help me see real meaning. Make me what I ought to be. When I tell you: "No, I don't really care." When your invitation meets a vacant stare. Please, give me a needed kick in the ass. Please, make me fight for the things that last. When a lonely stranger needs your hope and joy. When a starving mother cannot feed her boy. When a dying patient cries out in pain. Will I stop...

MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti) - The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church spoke of the importance of meekness during a service on Friday in central Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral to commemorate St. Nicholas' Day. St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, children, travelers, the falsely accused and the sick, as well as of the cities of Bari, Amsterdam and Liverpool. He is also the archetype for the British and U.S. version of Santa Claus. He is especially venerated in Russia. On Friday, the Russian Orthodox Church marks the day when the relics of St. Nicholas the...

1 Peter 1:3-9 (King James Version) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your...

The Galileo affair: history or heroic hagiography? by Thomas Schirrmacher Summary The 17th century controversy between Galileo and the Vatican is examined. Fifteen theses are advanced, with supporting evidence, to show that the Galileo affair cannot serve as an argument for any position on the relation of religion and science. Contrary to legend, both Galileo and the Copernican system were well regarded by church officials. Galileo was the victim of his own arrogance, the envy of his colleagues and the politics of Pope Urban VIII. He was not accused of criticising the Bible, but disobeying a papal decree...

EXCLUSIVE: For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark. Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country. On Monday, the president is set to make a more common public trip...

“And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People?We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But...

WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, I was an unwilling eyewitness to a dramatic political event, and it made me wonder where we are headed as a nation. More on that in a moment. First, a little background. There is no doubt that leadership matters. The study of human history provides evidence that empires -- even entire civilizations -- rise and fall on the ideas, virtues and skills (or lack thereof) of great leaders. From Mesopotamia to Europe, those who chronicled the triumphs and failures of great leaders in the Western world measured success based on military prowess and territory conquered. Herodotus...

Pardon a vanity, but I'd like to have a discussion on McCain's plain talk. Humility and being humble are traits not shown by politicians except in rare cases.

2 Kings 5 1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman's wife. 3 She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his...

When our middle son was in preschool, his teacher asked him to explain to the (overwhelmingly non-Jewish) class what the Jewish New Year was all about. Four-year-old David told them that on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jews go to a big building and "forgive God." Well, something like that. This week, Jews all over the world are gathering to observe the "Ten Days of Awe," the period that begins with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and culminates with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Like other Jewish holidays (Passover, Sukkot), Rosh Hashanah is celebrated for two days in...

        Shunning Over- Familiarity - Imitation of Christ DO NOT open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things. Be not intimate with any woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the intimacy of God and of His...

  Having A Humble Opinion of Self - Imitation of Christ EVERY man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not happy when praised by men. If I knew all things in the world and had not charity, what would it profit me before God Who will judge me by my deeds? Shun too great a desire...