Free Republic

Many young people are leaving the Church today because Christianity has become too judgmental and alienating for them, said lifelong Methodist and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton made the comment while interviewing social justice advocate and Pastor William J. Barber II of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, last week on her “You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton” podcast. During the podcast, she argued that "black lives matter" is a “theological statement.” The Church in America, she suggested, needs to “take a hard look at itself and try to figure out how it can be a...

[full title] “Look at the Tea Party: Some of the angriest, most hateful people on earth, and they’re backed by what they think is Scripture” Forgiveness has become a pursuit more important to me than almost anything. Because as I said in an old book, it’s not my strong suit. I always joke that I wasn’t one of those Christians who was heavily into forgiveness – that I was the other kind; that I was reform. But it’s so awful to be a person who doesn’t forgive; in my experience the willingness to change down deep always comes from the...

From the video, "Lesson in Compassion".

On a glorious springtime visit to San Francisco — where the “if it feels good do it” culture is reflected in the bumper sticker “Your body may be a temple, but mine’s an amusement park” — I was struck by the tattooing trend, as if body art is the modern version of big shoulder pads or miniskirts, not a sign of rebellion. Personally, I prefer art on a canvas, not a human chest, though in healthy societies, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Then I encountered a scantily clad, tattoo-festooned woman on whose neck and jaw was emblazoned

It turns out that criticizing Joel Osteen ruffles feathers. Perhaps this shouldn't surprise. His congregation is more than forty-thousand strong, his sermons air worldwide, and his book sales are stratospheric. He's got more than a few fans available to take offense at someone holding his feet to the fire. In response to my piece Friday, “The insufferable Joel Osteen,” several people said that I was “judging” Osteen, which is a considerable no-no. I was told I should be ashamed and that I should apologize.But not so fast. Is saying that a man is wrong “judging” him? “Judge not, that you...

I've been wanting to get around to the subject of beauty pageant contestant Carrie Prejean, Miss California, and the hysterical condemnation she's received from leftists for having the audacity to pose for a couple of moderately racy pictures (example below the fold). An example of the leftists bile appeared at TheDirty.com, which I excerpt here so that you need not add to this nimrod's page view totals: Exclusive: Self-proclaimed bible thumper Miss California... should start pointing the finger at herself for her own indiscretions. TheDirty.com has received exclusive images of the homophobic debutante that would clearly strip her of her...

Why the 'Christian Left' is not By Kevin McCullough Sunday, January 14, 2007 For the Christian Left to claim connection to true Christianity is to deny its leftist tendencies and for them to claim connection to the aims of the political left is to deny its Christianity. U.S. Senator Barrack Obama (D-IL), makes Pastor Rick Warren (R) laugh during a news conference at the 2006 Global Summit on AIDS and the Church at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California December 1, 2006. REUTERS/Mark Avery (UNITED STATES) They seem to share more anger for fellow Christians than they do towards evil....

DEAR ABBY: I am a female who is almost 38 years old. Most of my adult life has been spent in school, working or traveling. It is only in the last two years that I have met someone and settled down somewhat -- although we are not married. We are both artists, so much of our time is filled doing the things that we love and believe in. Neither of us feels a giant void in our relationship or our lives that needs to be filled by a baby. In the past year or so, several of my co-workers and...

A primary difference between liberals and conservatives theologically is the way they interpret the Bible. Liberals read the Bible symbolically or allegorically, as a collection of interesting stories to take whatever meaning out of that pleases them. This allows them to reject various portions of the Bible they disagree with. Liberals label their interpretation as a “critical” approach, which essentially allows most of their theology to consist of finding ways to criticize the Bible, rather than actually trying to determine what it says. Theological conservatives believe the Bible is God’s inspired word to humanity, and therefore believe that the Bible...