Free Republic

The Washington National Cathedral will host a Muslim prayer service on Friday -- for the first time in American history. Why is National Cathedral hosting a prayer service for a religion that opposes the teachings of Christianity? I asked Erwin Lutzer, the pastor of Moody Church, about the significance of this moment. What he told me should be shared! Pastor Lutzer: "The National Cathedral was dedicated to be a house of worship for Christians. Although tolerance is a commendable virtue, we might well wonder why this Cathedral will be used to host a prayer service for a religion which opposes...

On Friday, November 14 the Washington, DC’s National Cathedral will host a Muslim prayer service organized by the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR), The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the All-Dulles Area Muslims Society (ADAMS) Center. The leaders of the National Cathedral told The Washington Post that they hope Friday’s service at the historic cathedral will foster more understanding and acceptance between Christians and Muslims around the world. However, there is ample evidence to suggest that the Muslim participants have a different motive for choosing November 14 to hold their prayers in...

The Washington National Cathedral is welcoming the first openly transgendered Episcopal priest to its altar this month. The Rev. Cameron Partridge, a transgendered man, is set to give the June 22 sermon at the cathedral, a fixture in the D.C. skyline and one of the nation’s most well-known houses of worship. “We at Washington National Cathedral are striving to send a message of love and affirmation, especially to LGBT youth who suffer daily because of their gender identity or sexual orientation,” Mr. Hall said. “We want to proclaim to them as proudly and unequivocally as we can: Your gender identity...

(CNSNews.com) – The Very Rev. Gary Hall, chief ecclesiastical leader and executive officer of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., said in a sermon on Sunday that “homophobia” and “heterosexism” are sins. “In its wisdom, the church came to its senses and labeled both racism and sexism as sinful,” Hall said. “And now we find ourselves at the last barrier—call that barrier homophobia, call it heterosexism. “We must now have the courage to take the final step and call homophobia and heterosexism what they are,” Hall said. “They are sin. “Homophobia is a sin,” Hall said. “Heterosexism is a sin.

Tian Jiamel a 58 year old woman has been arrested in Washington DC for defacing property. Tian Jiamel was arrested after green paint was found splattered at Washington’s National Cathedral. According to Fox News authorities planned to question Jiamel about two similar vandalism incidents including the Lincoln Memorial. A ‘language barrier’ delayed the interrogation. There doesn’t seem to be any Facebook or Twitter accounts with the name Tian Jiamel. Cathedral spokesman Richard Weinberg said the paint was discovered there about 2pm ET and was still wet. Linda St. Thomas, chief spokesperson for the Smithsonian Institution, confirmed green paint was discovered...

WASHINGTON — The Washington National Cathedral, where the nation gathers to mourn tragedies and celebrate new presidents, will soon begin hosting same-sex marriages. Cathedral officials say the church will be among the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite of marriage for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members. The church announced its new policy Wednesday. As the nation’s most prominent church, the decision carries huge symbolism. The 106-year-old cathedral has long been a spiritual center for the nation, hosting presidential inaugural services and funerals for Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his last...

Sirs, You have turned the National Cathedral into a national disgrace. I am glad that most people, now, do not associate the National Cathedral with Christianity, just as most Episcopalians are also anathema to the faith. Someone at NC has said that "Gays are children of God." But what God? The Bible says that all humans are God's "offspring" via Adam, but that unless you are born again into the family of God, you are not a child of God as bought by His Only Begotten Son Jesus's shed blood. Your mockery of the things of God will surely end...

America is a seething hotbed of “Islamophobia,” filled with ignorant racist rubes who irrationally fear the benign Muslim religion, according to the Obama administration’s lead investigator into the Benghazi atrocities. So said former Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering in more polished, diplomatic language during an Oct. 23 panel discussion at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The talk was on “what role the faith community can play in fighting Islamophobia,” a make-believe mental illness that Islamists would love to have listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Radical Islam’s stateside defenders frequently accuse anti-terrorism hawks of “McCarthyism,” hurling...

Hitler's Muslim Nephew Comes to New York September 24, 2007 FrontPageMagazine.com Kenneth R. Timmerman What was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinking? Apparently the former Democrat believed that escorting Iran’s Hitler-wannabe president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the site of the September 11 memorial at Ground Zero would generate a terrific photo op. “Here I am with world leaders,” that type of thing. After all, Bloomberg has already made his appearance at the “World Leaders Forum” at Columbia University, so he was in the zone. And last year, U.S. News & World Report crowned him as one of America’s “best leaders.” But...

The Washington National Cathedral, in its commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, has deliberately and carefully excluded evangelicals from their multi-religious commemoration. The service includes Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims, but not evangelical Christians. Mind you, I am opposed to interfaith services in any shape or form and that is why, in a previous blog, I stated that I was relieved that the mayor of New York spared us the agony of watching the One, True God of the Bible “worshipped” alongside false gods. National Cathedral (Washington, DC)The National Cathedral is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Having...

A weekend of religious-themed observances at Washington National Cathedral marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks will include a Buddhist nun and an Imam, but not an evangelical Christian, leading the head of the Southern Baptist Convention to ask President Obama to reconsider attending the event. “A Call to Compassion” will include an interfaith prayer vigil on Sept. 11. It will feature the dean of the Cathedral, the Bishop of Washington, a rabbi, Buddhist nun and incarnate lama, a Hindu priest, the president of the Islamic Society of North America and a Muslim musician. However, Southern Baptists,...

A 500-foot crane performing cleanup work at the National Cathedral fell over Wednesday, damaging at least one building and several vehicles near the Cathedral. Reports came in of the collapse around 11 a.m. There are reports that at least one person was injured. Richard Weinberg, a spokesperson for the Cathedral, told News4 the crane, positioned on the south side, crashed into two adjoining buildings -- the Herb Cottage and the Church House. The main structure was not damaged in the accident. Early this week the giant crane removed debris from the around the cathedral's. Crews worked to clear broken stone...

The Washington National Cathedral sustained significant damage in the earthquake that hit D.C. on Tuesday afternoon. Damage included arch displacement, cracking, falling limestone and rotating pinnacles on the Cathedral's neogothic towers. National Cathedral Head Mason Joe Alonso estimated a piece weighing about 3,000 pounds toppled from the central tower. He called the damage to that section of the Cathedral "mind boggling." A link to video of Alonso detailing the damage was tweeted by the National Cathedral on Wednesday morning. "A lot of what fell, we're fortunate that it fell in toward the roof and not out toward the streets," Alonso...

A spokesman for Washington National Cathedral says at least three of the four pinnacles on the central tower have fallen off and the central tower appears to be leaning. The pinnacles are the top stones on the cathedral's towers. Richard Weinberg, director of communications for the cathedral, said the cathedral has been evacuated and stone masons are assessing the damage.

In the 1980s, while the west towers were construction, Washington National Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

'It is amazing where destiny will take us when we rise to offer our dreams, gifts, and talents to the call and the timing of God," said my brother, Larry Duncan, in a text message he sent me during the inaugural address. His words resonated as I listened to the sacred music and words during the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. Barack Obama's appearance at the traditional presidential prayer service served as yet another monumental moment in a historic week. It is indeed fitting that President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama began their four years in the White House in...

Today a National Prayer Service was held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for President Barack Obama and incoming Government officials. The most moving point of the service was the singing of "Amazing Grace" by the outstanding singer Wintley Phipps. Here is video of Phipps singing "Amazing Grace" today at the Cathedral . . . . . (watch video) The video below contains Wintley Phipps telling the story behind "Amazing Grace" and then singing the song in an even more powerful rendition (Trust me - worth your time to watch!) . . . . (watch video)

U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill, and former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton sing the national anthem during the Presidential inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington January 21, 2009. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Federal prosecutors last summer rejected claims that ISNA was unfairly named an unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas terror funding case. ISNA has admitted ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood is waging, in its own words, "a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” And the head of ISNA is going to offer a

At past inaugurations, ceremonial prayers uttered on behalf of the incoming president drew about as much attention as the flags on the podium. Not this year. Barack Obama's choice of clergy is under scrutiny like no other president-elect before him, alternately outraging Americans on the left and the right as he navigates the minefield of U.S. religion. "I can't recall any prayers drawing so much attention," said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center who specializes in religion in public life. Gay advocates assailed Obama, while many conservative Christians were heartened, when he invited the Rev. Rick Warren,...