Free Republic

The anti-Trump demonstrations we now see in the streets are not just examples of the immaturity of many modern secular liberals, who seem to think that everyone else is somehow obligated to agree with them. They’re also a symptom of the distorted influence politics now exercises over our culture. But in addition to being a symptom of our culture, the dominance of politics in every aspect of life is also a consequence of liberalism itself. The tendency of liberalism has always been to politicize everything. Thanks to liberalism, we have a politicized media that has abandoned journalistic standards in a...

Gospel singer and preacher Marvin Sapp is facing severe criticism online after a video of him seemingly pressuring his congregation into donating $40,000 went viral. In the video, Marvin Sapp, known for his popular singles "Never Would Have Made It" and "The Best In Me," instructs ushers to "close the doors" until he sees all 1,000 churchgoers drop a "seed" of $20. He's also under fire for demanding that online visitors prove they donated virtually. Marvin Sapp Tells Church Workers To 'Close The Doors' On 1,000 Members Marvin Sapp is clearly HUSTLING his congregation for 40k— and using God’s name...

This month — March 30th — will mark 20 years since Terri Schindler Schiavo was cruelly killed, deprived of food and water for 13 days until she finally succumbed to dehydration and starvation. It was one of the most controversial bioethics issues to arise since Roe v. Wade, in what many deemed a victory for supposed “medical choice.” Now, two decades later, a pair of bioethicists is revisiting Terri’s death, and argued that while they believe killing her was the right decision, it also ended up leading to the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Hastings Center is...

Jane Roberts – the wife of Chief Justice John Roberts – was paid $10 million as a legal "recruiter" for corporate firms with cases before the Supreme Court. A flagrant conflict of interest. The Court's justices are incapable of policing themselves. Congress must act. ... the spouse of US Chief Justice John Roberts was hauling in millions of dollars as a legal "recruiter" for corporate firms – some of which had cases before her husband's court:

Sister Dottie Almoney is the new Directing Deaconess of the Deaconess Community of the ELCA. Before this, however, she spent more than two decades on staff at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, working in various capacities and, most recently as the Director of Education & Outreach. Preaching her final sermon at St. Peters, she took her church to task for their wayward ways, blasting them for being a bunch of backstabbing gossipers who were seemingly complaining about her progressive theology. Notably, she tells congregants that if they are so uncomfortable with the ELCA and their views on social policies, it is...

If we reach what we call success here, then we have, in essence, created a world with no need of the Living God. For those that might not yet fully understand, it would be little to do with the Lord and a whole lot to do with the world.

Contemporary Christian musician Amy Grant has been named one of the Kennedy Center’s five honorees for 2022. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors,” Grant said in a statement. “I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.” The center plans to fete Grant in its 45th class of honorees that also includes actor George Clooney, singer Gladys Knight, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León, and the rock band U2.

Why Does Jesus Tell Us to Use "Dishonest Wealth"? Msgr. Charles Pope • November 8, 2015 • There was a puzzling reference in Saturday morning's Gospel (Saturday of the 31st week in Ordinary Time) in which Jesus says,I tell you, make friends for yourselves by your use of dishonest wealth, so that, when it fails, they will welcome you to eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9).What does He mean by "dishonest wealth"?The Greek expression μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας (mamona tes adikias) is more literally translated as “mammon of unrighteousness.” Mammon is a Hebrew and Aramaic word that has a wider meaning than just...

Sprint became the first U.S. telecommunications company to provide direct roaming mobile phone service to foreigners in Cuba, after a striking a deal at the Havana International Fair. Sprint says it expects the number of visitors in Cuba to reach 5 million a year within the next decade. The U.S.-based firm Sprint signed a deal with Cuba’s state telecommunications agency Etecsa, with the objective to reach millions of tourists expected to visit the island in coming years. The move comes as Washington and Havana continue to explore business opportunities, since restoring diplomatic relations in July for the first time in...

...it’s time to rev up Air Force One...Obama has a pair of fundraisers to attend in Florida. On Wednesday he’s off to Miami to raise money for the Democratic National Committee...in the home of a local real estate kingpin, priced up to $33,400 a plate. Then it’s on to one of those private “roundtable discussions,” this at the home of a mortgage broker, fetching $33,400 a person... ...Hillary Rodham Clinton is bound for Florida as well, and yes, the two will be in Miami on the very same day. On Thursday, Mrs. Clinton attends a pair of “Conversations with Hillary”...

Stonegate Bank in Pompano Beach, Fla., has confirmed that it will provide a bank account to the Cuban government...

...Cuomo speaks at the beginning of a Business Rountable with Cuban and American business leaders held at the Hotel Parque Central in Havana, Cuba....

My father had a saying which he passed down to me, “I’m not always right, but I’m never wrong.”  A little more than a week ago, I wrote a post titled “Matt Walsh Deserves Black Thanksgiving” in which I took apart his arguments for ending early store openings on Thanksgiving day.  I did it without mercy and with the spite meter dialed up to eleven.  I’ve had a change of heart, and I am here to say I’m not right.  In fact, and not for the first time, I may actually be wrong. My epiphany happened just last night, after...

On Wednesday evening, President Obama was being kept up to date on the developments from the mass shooting at Fort Hood while reportedly attending fundraisers for the 2014 election cycle. According to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, Obama is in the loop while at the fundraisers. Obama will be in Chicago for four and a half hours, and the events have largely been closed to the media, with radio and TV reporters banned from attendance. Only one print reporter will be allowed to provide press pool notes

Miami-With just weeks left to sign up for health care under the Affordable Care Act, Michelle Obama zeroed in on recruiting the crucial young adult demographic during a visit to a Miami community health center Wednesday. The first lady congratulated a handful of residents who had just enrolled during an intimate event, asking one woman whether she had gotten her son to enroll. “Tell him he could get hit by a car. It’s crazy. They don’t think about that kind of stuff,” said Obama, who moments later applauded another mother for signing herself and adult son up for insurance plans....

Staying in a kind of reflective mode from Last SundayÂ’s Gospel on Greed and how to avoid it, there may be value in pondering why Jesus called some (or all) mammon (wealth) unrighteous. The phrase occurs in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus says: I tell you, make friends for yourselves by your use of dishonest wealth, so that, when it fails, they will welcome you to eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9). We discussed yesterday what it means to be welcomed into eternal dwellings and who these friends who welcome us really are. But in this post perhaps we can consider...

Pope Francis recently issued the apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel." Click here to read it. Conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh isn't pleased with the document, calling it "pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope." (Source) I sought comment on the matter from Father John Trigilio Jr., Ph.D., Th.D., president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. Below is Father's analysis (slightly edited). I often listen to Rush Limbaugh and find him to be an intelligent man and an erudite conservative journalist. He uses common sense and logic to expose the fallacious arguments of liberal progressives. Unfortunately,...

It has been called "America's most disturbing holiday". Black Friday is the day when millions of average Americans wait outside retail stores in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to spend more money that they do not have for more cheap Chinese-made products that they do not need. It is a day when the rest of the world makes fun of Americans for behaving like "rabid animals" and "zombies" as we indulge in a tsunami of greed. It truly is a shameful orgy of materialism for a morally bankrupt nation. It is being projected that approximately 140...

Fights over items greatly reduced have taken place at Walmart stores in Beaumont, Texas; Jordan Creek in Iowa; Johnson City in Tennessee and Rialto in California. There was also a stabbing in a Walmart car park outside Walmart in Claypool Hill, Virginia.

I am constantly asked, "Chuck, why don't pastors take a stand and speak out?" I've been a pastor most of my adult life. I believe I am qualified to answer that question. Here is the stark reality: the vast majority of pastors today are "success" oriented. Beginning in Bible College or seminary, and continuing throughout a pastor's ministerial life, the emphasis is success. And that means church growth, larger congregations, bigger buildings, bigger offerings, burgeoning statistics, greater notoriety, denominational praise, invitations to speak at conferences, applause from fellow ministers, not to mention the financial perks and benefits that come with...