Free Republic

Most people would agree that politics and religion are the two most likely topics that divide even the best of friends. Websters dictionary says that politics is the political opinions or sympathies of a person, while it says that religion is a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. I don’t see the difference between the two. When I watch elected officials on the floor of the US Senate or House, I am reminded of an old friend of mine who pastors a church in Columbus, Georgia. He will flail his arms all around...

Florida Satanists are volunteering to fill school counselor roles after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a law allowing religious chaplains into public schools amid staffing shortages. “Nothing in the text of the bill serves to exclude us, and no credible interpretation of the First Amendment could. Should a school district now choose to have chaplains, they should expect Satanists to participate as well,” Lucien Greaves, cofounder and spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, said in a statement... Back when DeSantis signed the bill in April, he described Satanism as “not a religion” and said its members would not be allowed to...

A town in the Mountain West found out the hard way that banning the most potent symbol in Christianity is not the best way to celebrate the nation’s enduring freedoms. Rules for this year’s Fourth of July parade in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, originally prohibited religious symbols from being part of the procession — a bitter irony in a country where the very first provision of the very First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion. And the backlash forced organizers to back down.

Oklahoma schools will be required to teach the Bible and the Ten Commandments to all grade school children. Effective immediately, Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters sent a memo to schools saying that grades five through 12 are required to refer to the Bible and the Ten Commandments for their “substantial influence on our nation’s founders and the foundational principles of our Constitution.” Walters said the new curriculum is to ensure that “historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma.” “It’s crystal clear to us that in the Oklahoma academic standards under Title 70 on multiple...

The state of Louisiana has ignited a hot new controversy on the role of religion in American public life by passing a law requiring a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in every classroom and in every K-12 public school and college classroom in the state. Other states such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Utah are considering similar legislation. Predictably, Americans for Separation of Church and State and the ACLU have declared this act as a violation of the constitutional mandate that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free...

A newly approved law will enable Oklahoma public school students to receive off-campus religious instruction during the school day if they choose to. Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 1425 into law Wednesday. The bill was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last month, with the Senate voting 38-7 and the House of Representatives voting 51-40.The law authorizes school districts’ boards of education to “adopt a policy that excuses a student from school to attend a released time course for no more than three class periods per week or a maximum of one hundred twenty-five class periods per year.”The...

Making Reparation For the Offenses Against the Sacred Heart of Jesus That Have Grown Progressively Worse Since Vatican IIIn his June 5, 2024 General Audience, Francis announced his intention to publish a document on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in September:“We are passing through this month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. . . This is why I am pleased to prepare a document that brings together the precious reflections of previous Magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the Sacred Scriptures, in order to re-propose today, to the whole Church, this devotion imbued with spiritual...

A Colorado university’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate violates the U.S. Constitution, a federal court has ruled. The Sept. 1, 2021, mandate “clearly violates the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause as interpreted by our precedents,” a majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit said in the May 7 decision. While the mandate was later updated, the newer version also violates the Constitution, the judges said. The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2021 required COVID-19 vaccination of all students and employees. It initially offered religious exemptions to anyone who checked a box, but later said...

Is it any wonder Americans no longer share a hope for the future and a sense of the common good?A new study by researchers at the University of Arkansas and the University of Buckingham, which analyzed 57 international studies, concluded that religious schools are far more effective at teaching children to become engaged citizens than secular public schools — resulting in students who model political tolerance, knowledge, and skills better than their publicly educated peers.The study found that receiving a private, faith-based education increased political tolerance and knowledge by 12 percent of a standard deviation. In turn, receiving such an...

Although he appeared well and spoke in a clear voice, he also made a rare acknowledgement of the strains of the job. "Please pray for me because this work is not easy," he told thousands of faithful gathered in St Mark's Square. He started the day by flying by helicopter into a women's prison where the Vatican has set up an exhibition that is part of the Venice Biennale -- a prestigious international art show that has never been visited by a pope before.

The Sunshine State is now welcoming chaplains into public schools, but Satanists need not apply. On Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill into law allowing chaplains to volunteer to offer counseling at public and charter schools. However, the Catholic governor warned that Satanists would not be accepted into the program, as some Christian and conservative groups had feared. “Now some have said if you do a school chaplain program that somehow you’re going to have Satanists running around in all our schools,” DeSantis said in a press conference. “We’re not playing those games in Florida. That...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian, is a Christian hero for many. Executed by the Nazis just days before the end of WWII for his participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler, Bonhoeffer is hailed as a 20th-century martyr. But Bonhoeffer struggled with a moral dilemma – his religious views were in stark contrast to the evil he saw all around him. He chose to face possible imprisonment and execution and to remain faithful to the principles of his belief in God. Across the political and theological spectrum, Bonhoeffer is celebrated as an icon of true Christianity and his theological writings...

The Summary of the Report Background 2014-2021 Since the first months of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2014, faith-based communities of various denominations have fully experienced the brutality and ruthlessness of Russia’s repressive policy in the occupied territories of Crimea and the Donbas region. Russian troops and Russian- backed separatists have targeted religious leaders and individual believers of most faiths, except the Orthodox parishes affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate. Representatives of religious minorities were arbitrarily arrested, threatened, beaten, illegally imprisoned, tortured, and some were deliberately killed. The repressive policy in the self-proclaimed “people’s republics,” in those parts...

For generations, American politics has been defined by the outsize influence of Christian conservatives, so much so that the intersection of religion and politics is often treated as the sole province of white evangelicals. And for generations, promises of a rising “religious left” have come and gone without any lasting political imprint. But to look at America’s religious left at this moment is to see something genuinely different. Places of worship are participating in demonstrations for civil rights larger than any protest movement in American history. Democrats like the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Joe Biden—political leaders whose faith isn’t just...

George W. Truett Theological Seminary, or ‘Truett’ for short, is a Texas-based seminary operated by Baylor University (The World’s largest Baptist university) and associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. With nearly 400 students, they describe themselves as an “orthodox, evangelical school in the historic Baptist tradition” with a mission to “equip God-called people for gospel ministry in and alongside Christ’s Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.” We recently wrote about Baylor after Greg Garrett, their pro-choice, gay-affirming, trans-affirming professor of Literature and Culture who called a centuries-old hymn “sexist” for containing the word “brethren,” and after...

AP) – The Vatican has issued a new document rejecting the concept of changing one’s biological sex – a setback for transgender people who had hoped Pope Francis might be setting the stage for a more welcoming approach from the Catholic Church. Around the world, major religions have diverse approaches to gender identity, and the inclusion or exclusion of transgender people. Some examples: Christianity The Catholic Church’s disapproving stance toward gender transition is shared by some other denominations. For example, the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the United States – adopted a resolution in 2014 stating...

Joe Ronnie Hooper had his share non-judicial punishments (authorized by Article 15 of UCMJ), racked up 115 confirmed kills and was awarded the Medal of Honor. He was also one of the most decorated soldiers in American international combat. Born in the summer of 1938 in South Carolina, Joe Ronnie Hooper was relocated as a child to Moses Lake, Washington where he attended Moses Lake High School... Originally a Navy man, Hooper first enlisted in December of 1956. After graduation... Hooper enlisted in the US Army as a Private First Class...Now a Staff Sergeant, Hooper requested a tour in...

In the latest obvious attack on God, believers, and the biblical worldview, the Biden Democrats used a high-profile opportunity to offend Christians. Days before Easter, they banned religious (read “Christian”) images at the White House and also declared March 31 (Resurrection Sunday) the “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Make no mistake: this is the new religion of the Left. Vice President Kamala Harris passionately proclaimed, …“we celebrate transgender and nonbinary Americans,” and said, “We won’t stop fighting for you.” Well, they did put a bunny rabbit (which has nothing to do with Jesus) in the White House logo. As criticism erupted...

Author Lewis Ungit talks about his research into the links between psychedelics and the occult and shares an excerpt from his book, "The Return of the Dragon." Although Lewis Ungit released "The Return of the Dragon" a year ago, his book examining the links between psychedelics and the supernatural is more relevant than ever. So-called secular society continues to fill the post-Christian void with transhumanist fantasies and progressive utopian visions. Bitcoin bros "jokingly" reinterpret the second coming of Christ as the advent of artificial super intelligence. And everyone from prominent podcasters to suburban moms confront their demons in harrowing, healing...

Movie Review: "When a young Jewish orphan girl named Hadassah became the Queen of Persia sometime around 481 B.C., she had no idea that, as Queen Esther, she would be used by God to prevent the extinction of her entire race. It’s a story found in the Old Testament Book of Esther, and it’s one of the Bible’s most treasured sources of inspiration and comfort since it brilliantly illustrates God’s divine providence and His personal care and protection for His Chosen People". One Night With the King, then, has a lot to live up to.