Free Republic

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.

A strong majority of U.S. adults believe religion is losing its influence in public life, a new Pew Research Center survey found. Overall, 80 percent of U.S. adults say religion’s role in American life is shrinking, “a percentage that’s as high as it’s ever been,” according to the poll report. Nearly half (49 percent) say the decline of religious influence in public life is a “bad thing.” Eight percent say religious influence is “growing and this is good.” Only 6 percent say religious influence is “growing and this is bad,” and 13 percent say religious influence is “shrinking and this...

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Tuesday on his show “Morning Joe” that the far right invented a religion and made “abortion not just as a political issue” but a “religious issue.” Scarborough said, “This bears repeating because of the self-righteousness of so many on the far, far, Trump right, they’ve invented a religion. This Christian nationalism, they’ve invented a religion. It keeps getting more extreme every week. IVF now is, I guess, the devil’s playhouse. Mike Pence had kids through IVF. So now what, is he a heretic? Are they going to hang him? They wanted to. Is his wife...

Biometrics are transforming the way we travel. The technology, which identifies travelers using unique physical traits like fingerprints and faces, is becoming more common at airports in the United States. As a result, time-consuming rituals that once required repeated ID checks — such as bag dropping, security screening and boarding — are getting easier and faster. Some experts believe that this will be the year that biometric use, primarily facial recognition, becomes standard at many airports. The technology offers several advantages: enhanced security, quicker processing of passengers and a more convenient airport experience. It also raises concerns about privacy, ethics...

Raised as a Muslim in Iran—one of the most dangerous places to be a Christian—Dilara* is well-acquainted with the harsh reality of persecution. She has spent the past eight years in Lebanon, where some Christian friends in this largely Muslim country invited her to church. Dilara took them up on their offer... she discovered free, online discipleship courses through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s internet evangelism ministry, Search for Jesus. Eager to continue exploring Christianity, she decided to enroll and was paired with a trained online discipleship volunteer to lead her through it. As she poured through the course material,...

A core component of the United States' foreign policy since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US has been educational reform in Muslim countries to check the influence of extremist ideologies and fundamentalism. International obligations under the United Nations Security Council's anti-extremism resolutions also require curricular reform. Pakistan, as the birthplace of the Taliban and home to many a militant Islamic movement, finds itself at the center of policy debates and projects on curbing extremism and promoting "moderate Islam" through education. A growing pile of policy proposals in the United States, including a recent report from the US Institute...

... Five years after allowing churches to leave with their properties if they disagreed with the direction the denomination was heading on issues of gender and sexuality, the results of the split are in, and they reflect larger political patterns to a substantial degree. A new study by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary finds that the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination lost a quarter of its total churches between 2019 and 2023. Leading the way were churches in the South — the same area of the country that tends to be the most politically conservative and...

We've discussed the frustrating, borderline heretical, and highly politicized pontificate of Pope Francis at length here at Twitchy. So when we saw these comments, we were both shocked and not shocked at all: NEW - Pope: Marxists and Christians have a "common mission." pic.twitter.com/Tr0NVbzX0t — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 13, 2024 Oh really? Well, the Catholic News Agency elborates: Pope Francis this week called for cooperation between Christians and Marxists as a way to achieve greater “dialogue” and help in the search for the “common good.” “I thank you for your commitment to dialogue,” the pope said in a private meeting...

Current events reminded me of these predictions and inspired me to look them up again. If we are currently in "Obama's third term", might Charlie have been correct in his predictions but off target as to timing? Here is an article last updated in 2018 discussing his election 2016 predictions after the fact. The rumors of a possible Michelle Obama run add another twist. It looks like Charlie's original page is gone. August 2, 2015 at 9:30 pm **snip**Donette, I said bluntly on the Birmingham Video that President Obama will not finish his term. I said that he would be...

As the Episcopal Church consecrated Gene Robinson the 9th bishop of New Hampshire in November 2003, he wore the customary vestments. He was also wearing a bullet-proof vest. What made the occasion controversial, indeed historic, was the Church's acceptance of Gene Robinson as the first openly-gay bishop in all of Christendom. Robinson is quick to point out that there have always been gay bishops in the Episcopal Church. "There have been a lot of us, let's just be clear," he said. "I'm just the first openly-gay one." Almost certainly the first Episcopal Bishop with purple nail polish. This was, of...

...Indeed, the exhibit as a whole emphasizes that views on reproductive ethics vary widely among people shaped by spiritual traditions. Artist and curator Caron Tabb initially conceived of Deeply Rooted after the leak of the Dobbs decision; she envisioned an exhibition that would explore Jewish views of abortion and reproductive justice and rebut Justice Alito’s assertion that “the right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and tradition.” But she broadened the scope over time, gathering works by 21 artists representing a range of beliefs and backgrounds.