Free Republic

I. The Paradox of this Night - In a way, we are too familiar with the Christmas story, and so many of its strange paradoxes and stunning “absurdities” fail to shock and amaze us. And yet it does not take long to consider that no human being would ever craft this sort of entrance of God into our world. Surely we would envision God’s entrance in Cecil B. DeMille proportions.  (DeMille was producer of “The Ten Commandments” and other classic Hollywood Epics, in case I’m showing my age). Yes, there would be grand sets, a cast of thousands, palaces, trumpets,...

Really, REALLY nice new Christmas music video from the typically red meat JoeDanMedia. "Merry Christmas (Peace on Earth)"

Ethiopian jets bombed Somalia's two main airports Monday while ground troops captured three villages and a strategic border town, lending Somalia's internationally backed government crucial military aid in its struggle against a powerful Islamic militia. Russian-made jets swept low over the capital at midmorning, dropping two bombs on Mogadishu International Airport, part of a major escalation in the week-old fighting. The leader of the Islamic militia, Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, flew into the airport shortly after the attack; it was not clear if he was an intended target. Air strikes also hit Baledogle Airport, about 35 miles outside Mogadishu. "We...

Children light candles at the Sacred Heart Church on Christmas Eve, in Delhi on Saturday, Dec 24, 2005. (AP) NEW DELHI: Christianity came to India much before it went to the West, perhaps a reason why India's 25 million Christians prefer to be Catholic in faith, oriental in worship and Indian in culture. It has been a two-way process - a process of osmosis where Christianity has over the centuries become an indelible part of Indian plurality. Not only for the urban middle classes enthusiastically getting ready for Christmas, a festival that long ago surpassed the boundaries of mere religion,...

Bruce Bain doesn't attend church regularly, but nothing was going to keep him from showing up on the corner of 17th Street and Tremont Place on Friday night. "How can you have the Parade of Lights without the 'light of the world'?" he asked. "Christmas is a religious holiday." So the 56-year-old Englewood man joined hundreds of Christmas carolers from metro-area churches and sang along the Parade of Lights route. They sang on 15th Street. They sang at Court Place. And they sang at Colfax Avenue and Bannock Street. What they didn't do was raise hell. Yes, it was a...

In search of a recipe for Peace on Earth ..A Daunting Task for a simple Chef..These are very unique times in our history as well as our personal lives. This holiday season is so special because we find ourselves once again focused on events in the some of the most sacred and holy places in human history. The news of the day finds monumental activity in the Middle east, Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Orient. Names and places, cities and towns in and around the milestones and birthplaces of the most important and holy of our bedrock religions...

Man Donates Peace T-Shirt to N.Y. Museum Man Arrested for Wearing 'Peace on Earth' T-Shirt in Mall Donates Shirt to New York Museum ALBANY, N.Y. June 21 — A man arrested earlier this year after he refused to take off a "Peace on Earth" T-shirt in a mall donated the shirt to a state museum. The shirt is part of the permanent collection of the State Museum in Albany, which includes wardrobes dating to the 1760s, Revolutionary War rifles and a "Howdy Doody" marionette. "Our mission is to document New York history, natural and human, and this certainly is a...

China has added its voice to those of Germany, France, and Russia in calling for increased efforts to solve the Iraq conflict without war. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said it supported every effort to reach a political solution. As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has the power to veto UN resolutions. Paris, Berlin, and Moscow have appealed for an increase in the number of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, as well as an extension of their mandate to oversee Iraq's disarmament. Government officials in Berlin have said they believe the majority of...