Free Republic

The state of Missouri has executed Marcellus Williams despite concerns that the convicted murderer might have been innocent. Williams died by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. Tuesday at Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a social worker and former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was fatally stabbed during a daytime burglary. Republican Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Missouri's Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court all rejected last-minute attempts to halt the execution, ignoring clemency pleas from Williams' lawyers, prosecutors and members of the...

The Failure of Interreligious Dialogue with IslamLast week, on the morning of August 7th, Pope Francis, just before his regular Wednesday general audience, received a group of representatives from the Afghan Muslim community in Italy. He touched upon the “complicated and dramatic history [in Afghanistan], marked by a succession of wars and blood-stained conflicts, which have made it very difficult for people to lead peaceful, free and secure lives.” The pontiff went on to tell the Afghan males—there were, surprisingly, no women at the encounter—“to continue in [their] noble endeavour to promote religious harmony and to strive to overcome misunderstandings...

"To serve our country and deal with this kind of hate really it sets, I think, the wrong tone and sends a message that our country isn’t as inclusive, as welcoming as we could like it to be," Omar said. "And so, I work really hard to try to make sure that we are leading with compassion."

A row over how to deal with child marriage among immigrants has inflamed political debate ahead of a general election in Sweden, where migration continues to divide public opinion and the far right is riding high in the polls. A tug-of-war between the ruling Social Democrat-Green Party coalition and the opposition over the government’s role in managing or eradicating the practice — which predominantly affects young girls, and in some cases boys, from immigrant backgrounds — is emblematic of a broader struggle to find a balance between efforts to integrate a large number of new immigrants and preserve a Swedish...

Again, mahometans have made their religion known in a major city. Again, it is known by those who choose to learn that these are NOT radicals. They are carrying out the commands of the alcoran and other mahometan scriptures. Again, the response of the west will be --tears --"prayers" (for what exactly?) --expressions of "support" with no substance behind them and lest we forget, --Where's the FB thing where you can alter your badge to resemble the flag of Belgium? Falling behind, guys! After all, it was soooooo effective after Paris. Face it, Belgium and the rest of the EU...