Free Republic

Over Thanksgiving last year, I got strep throat. I haven’t had strep since college and it reminded me quickly why I hope to never have it again. It’s awful. But antibiotics are God’s gift to humanity. I only had to endure the effects of strep until the antibiotics kicked in, but every hour the pain lasted, I thanked God I live this side of modern medicine. ...Back during the anthrax scare of the early 2000s, news anchor Tom Brokaw closed his evening broadcast saying “in Cipro we trust.” This drug had saved the life of his co-workers and many others....

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a truly Orwellian society where there is absolutely no freedom of speech, absolutely no freedom of religion and absolutely no freedom of the press? You may think that the rules that you are currently living under are bad, but the country that I am about to discuss exercises total control over the population. In this nation, you can only choose a haircut off a pre-approved list, and smiling on the wrong day can literally get you sent to a prison camp. Unfortunately, once you are sent to a...

[Catholic Caucus] Leading Amazon cardinal decries ‘resistance’ to Synod as ‘rejection of dialogue’Cardinal Ulrich Steiner's words provide yet another example of the fiercely boiling civil war now erupting in the Church, as cardinals publicly debate about the nature of the Church and Her doctrines, following the openness and relativistic terms of the Synod on Synodality.Cardinal Ulrich Steiner from the Amazon region has condemned “resistance” to the Synod on Synodality as being the “rejection of dialogue.”While participating in a conference hosted by the University of San Diego recently, Steiner presented his thoughts on the recently concluded Synod on Synodality via video-link....

Formators Encourage Spanish Seminarians to Hindu IdolatrySeminarians from the south of Spain met last weekend in Ceuta to promote fraternity, including seminarians of the Neocatechumenal Way.InfoVaticana.com reports that the program of this meeting included a visit to the Sidi Embarek Mosque and to a Hindu center.The so-called visit to the Hindu center was not for cultural purposes, but during their prayer time.Inside the Hindu temple, especially those wearing clerical collar shirts, were asked to make circles with a candle, invoking Hindu deities.Most of the clergy complied, especially in front of Ganesha, a major Hindu idol. Among the idolaters was the...

Jesus asked the chief priests and elders to take a stand an a simple truth claim: Either John’s baptism is from heaven or from man. Declare what you believe to be the truth. They ponder: If we say that John’s baptism is from heaven, then we will be shamed because we don’t live like it is from heaven and Jesus will show that we are hypocrites. (1)On the other hand, if we say that John’s baptism is from man, we may be attacked by the crowd, because they all believe he was a prophet. So since we don’t want to...

The Shroud of Turin is the most studied object in the world – and for good reason. If authentic, this linen cloth would constitute physical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Not so fast comes the gut reaction from many Christians, concerned that such a theory skirts dangerously close to venerating a spurious relic. Besides, hasn’t the science concluded this is simply a medieval forgery?But the truth is, there is little consensus on the Shroud’s authenticity. After thousands of hours of research, study and tests, opinion is still divided among both scholars and enthusiasts. And so the intriguing possibility remains...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican again turns off lights for ‘Earth Hour’ to promote ‘respect for Our Mother Earth’Father Enzo Fortunato, the communicators director of St. Peter’s Basilica, linked the move to Pope Francis’ encyclical on ‘climate change,’ Laudato Si’."The Vatican once again turned off its external lights for an hour this weekend to “raise awareness of respect for Our Mother Earth.”In a statement issued to journalists accredited to the Holy See late Saturday afternoon, Father Enzo Fortunato – the recently appointed director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica – announced the darkening of the basilica that evening: On the occasion of...

We require leaders with the will to admit it. A secure future for America is tied to winning two related shooting wars, one in Ukraine and the other in Israel. Victory will weaken the Russia-Iran-China axis that is at war with the United States. The will and a strategy to win are crucial and will require strong U.S. leadership, particularly from the president of the United States. In our war with the Russia-Iran-China axis (North Korea is the junior partner), American troops are not engaged directly at this time, but those of our Ukrainian and Israeli allies experience death and...

Pope Francis to COP28: Environmental destruction is ‘an offense against God’Pope Francis called the destruction of the environment “an offense against God” in a message given to the participants in the U.N. climate summit on Saturday.The keynote address that the pope had intended to give in person at the COP28 conference was distributed to the attendees in Dubai, where Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin read a shortened version of the pope’s speech to the assembly on Dec. 2.Pope Francis, who turns 87 in two weeks, canceled his scheduled trip to the United Arab Emirates days before the climate...

Decades ago, Francis Schaeffer perceived this devilish spirit already at work amongst evangelical Protestants. In “The Great Evangelical Disaster” he wrote:“Accommodation, accommodation. How the mindset of accommodation grows and expands…For the evangelical accommodation to the world of our age represents the removal of the last barrier against the breakdown of our culture. And with the final removal of this barrier will come social chaos and the rise of authoritarianism in some form to restore order.” (p. 401)

“Queerness as an interpretative tool” seems to be no more than the blunt assertion that today’s questions are the only ones worth asking and today’s categories the only ones worth applying. Never mind that when the ship sank, the crew drowned and that these artifacts spoke of real human lives that were lost and families that were presumably devastated. It is all about today’s categories such as gender and queerness. Difference need not be respected. Perspectives unsanctioned by modern Western progressivism need not apply.

Pope Francis Slams ‘Populism and Conspiracy Theories’ in Lisbon AddressROME — Pope Francis began his four-day visit to Portugal for World Youth Day by blasting capitalism, populism, and insufficient attention to migrants and climate change.“At a time when we are witnessing in many places a climate of protest and unrest, fertile terrain for populism and conspiracy theories, World Youth Day represents a chance to build together,” the pontiff told civil authorities and diplomats gathered in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.Lamenting a lack of greater global cohesiveness, the pope cautioned that “planetary injustices, wars, climate and migration crises seem to run...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican considering ‘Mayan rite’ of Mass after Mexican bishops overwhelmingly approve itThe ‘Mayan rite’ contains various pagan elements and new liturgical offices, including a ‘principal’ and ‘incensor’ who take on roles of the priest.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– Mexico’s Catholic bishops have overwhelmingly approved and sent to Rome their proposals for a Mayan rite of the Mass, which incorporates lay leadership and apparent elements of idolatry. LifeSite has received a copy of the text now being examined by the Vatican, and presents elements of it below.ACI Prensa reported on July 25 that the Mexican Bishops’ Conference has submitted its...

It sounds like bad science fiction, but it is rapidly becoming reality. Some of the most powerful people on the planet think they are going to “upgrade” human beings — or at least some human beings — through genetic engineering and technological schemes such as “brain implants.” Yes, really. In fact, they are publicly touting alleged benefits, supposedly including eternal life, and even evolving into “gods.”If that all sounds crazy or even diabolical — good, it should, because it is. And yet, the technologies to make some of these nightmarish visions possible are progressing so fast it would make your...

America, the freest, most enlightened society in the history of the world, was founded on Biblical presuppositions beginning with, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) “…in His own image He made them, male and female He made them…I give you dominion over the earth and its creatures…” (Gen. 1:27) “I am the Lord your God…” (Isaiah 41:13) Our Constitutional rights, beginning with the most important one, the God-given right to life, flow from this Biblical seedbed, thus because human beings are the spiritual image bearers of the Lord, throughout Christianized Western civilization there exist...

INTELLIGENT AI robots are coming - and they will have the ability to perform religious ceremonies and could even turn against humans, experts have warned. As AI becomes more prominent in our day to day lives, it wasn’t going to be long before the worlds of religion and tech merged. The thought of robot Gods and ChatGPT sermons terrifies some people - and rightly so, according to experts. Wesley Wildman, Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, and of Computing and Data Sciences at Boston University, told The Sun that he believes AI will soon be able to perform religious duties...

A group of experts has discovered proof that people during the Bronze Age used drugs in their ceremonies. By examining hair strands from a burial location in Menorca, Spain, researchers have learned that our ancestors took in hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants. This new information presents the initial clear evidence of drug use in olden Europe. These drugs may have been an important part of their traditional events and practices, according to the researchers. The scientists identified three specific substances, scopolamine, ephedrine, and atropine, in three separate hair samples that they replicated. The researchers noted that due to the dangerous...

The new Mayan rite of Mass encouraged by Pope Francis is replete with pagan idolatry and symbolismVarious photographs, images and statements from the Mexican diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas clearly show instances of pagan idolatry, symbolism and heretical practices being adopted into what is meant to be the Catholic Mass.Priests and bishops worshiping in front of Mayan altar in the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas in MexicoAt the beginning of March, news came out of Mexico that a group of Mexican bishops had met in the diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas with Bishop Aurelio...

In the essay, “The Paganization of Biblical Studies,” Dr. Peter Jones, Professor of New Testament at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, Calif., identifies liberalism and/or progressivism as a form of neo-Gnostic paganism, or mystical pantheism.

Gonzalez, who became the center of an international custody battle at 5 years old, was nominated Sunday to Cuba's National Assembly. Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban national whose precarious boyhood arrival in the U.S. in 1999 prompted a fierce international custody battle, is set to become a lawmaker. Gonzalez was nominated by his local municipal assembly on Sunday to serve in Cuba's National Assembly... Gonzlaez was en route to Florida with his mother when their boat capsized on Thanksgiving 1999 and she and other migrants drowned. The boy's fate thereafter became a flashpoint in U.S.-Cuba relations. His father, a waiter named...