Free Republic

The most common religious identity among young adults in the U.S. is "none," and the majority of Americans don’t believe it’s necessary for a person to believe in God to be moral and have good values, a new survey has found. Released Tuesday, AEI’s Survey Center on American Life investigating contemporary religion in the U.S. found that among young adults (age 18 to 29), the most common religious identity today is none. More than one in three (34%) young adults are religiously unaffiliated.Nearly nine in 10 (87%) Americans report they believe in God, but just over half (53%) report they...

Washington — The Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with a Colorado church challenging the state's capacity restrictions on houses of worship during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest order from the high court, now with a 6-3 conservative majority, in favor of churches and synagogues seeking to hold worship services during the ongoing crisis. In an order with three dissents, the high court tossed out an August decision from the federal district court in Colorado that kept the attendance limits in place and sent the dispute back to the lower courts for further consideration in light of its November order barring...

Moscow, December 11, Interfax - Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the Foreign Ministry until March 1, 2021 to initiate discussions on international forums concerning measures to prevent actions insulting religious feelings of believers and fomenting interfaith enmity and conflicts. The presidential instruction was published on the Kremlin's official website on Friday, following Putin's recent meeting with representatives of religious groups. The Foreign Ministry has also been told "to consider the possible conclusion of international agreements and (or) the adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution on such matters." Ismail Berdiyev, the head of the Coordinating Center of Muslims of...

Joe Biden rarely misses Sunday Mass. So it was notable when the President-elect didn't attend church on November 29, the first Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the season when Roman Catholics like Biden prepare for Christmas. Biden's absence was understandable, since just a day earlier he had broken his foot. But the following weekend, Biden was back at his home parish in Wilmington, Delaware -- St. Joseph on the Brandywine -- for Saturday's vigil Mass. He was there again on Tuesday on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation. That's a level of devotion...

For this year’s Hanukkah, Amir is lighting menorah candles and reciting blessings to celebrate the holiday’s eight nights, as many Jews are around the world. But he does so in secret, worried that Chinese officials will come around – as they often do on religious occasions – to enforce a ban against Judaism, pressuring him to renounce his faith. Sometimes, he’s even called in for interrogations. “Every time we celebrate, we are scared,” said Amir, not his real name as he asked not to be identified over worries of retaliation. "Whatever we do, we’re always very careful to make sure...

The mask is a religious symbol as much as a health precaution. Like saffron robes or a suffocating burka, it marks a true believer — or at least those willing to submit — and protects the wearer from divine wrath. To defy heaven’s mandate is to imperil yourself, your family, your community, and your social credit score. If you’re dumb enough to die with a naked face, the media will mock you as a science-denier for all eternity. When you consider the terrifying warnings pumped into our heads since springtime, often from trusted figures, can anyone be blamed for clinging...

Although Health Ministry Director Hezy Levy yesterday insisted to reporters that "we won't force people to take a vaccine. Israeli law doesn't allow for it," speaking before the Special Knesset Coronavirus Committee chaired by MK Yifat Shasha-Biton, Sheba Medical Center Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Eyal Zimlichman listed measures that are being planned to "maneuver" the population into vaccinating as a way of regaining freedom of movement. The issue of how to "motivate" vaccine compliance has generated increasing interest, with commentators such as Mike Cernovich writing: "Government won’t force you to take vaccine. Amazon will. Airlines will....

The nerves of the world frayed by an authoritarianism imposed on all of us by the forces of Big Government (All Major Established Political Parties Worldwide) and Big Business in the name of "health and safety" and the drama of politicians demanding money so we can elect US Senators who will supposedly defend our freedom from a "socialist, communist President Joe Biden". The socialism and communism is already here, the whole world is Venezuela... God forbid you would learn of the Danish study of six thousand, a real scientific study. It revealed that the difference between wearing the face diaper...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from reimposing strict attendance caps at worship services in areas hit hard by the novel coronavirus.

Keeping people from their suffering loved ones does not safeguard them. It merely subjects them to a different kind of suffering — one for which there might be no recovery.One year ago today, my father died following a 10-year battle with cancer. Our family’s final weeks with him likely mirrored those of many other families. With a new wave of COVID-19 lockdowns beginning, however, I feel compelled to share our story because that journey convinces me that we, as a nation, are subjecting the dying to physical and psychological torture in the name of fighting a pandemic.Caring for FamilyI’m not...

The Old Testament book of Jeremiah tells the story of Judah, a suffering nation haunted by disobedience, corruption and godlessness. Unfortunately, it’s not difficult to see the resemblance between today’s America and ancient Judah. We read in Jeremiah 2:8, “The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit” (ESV). The spiritual breakdown of Judah began with its religious leaders and lawmakers. Jeremiah’s observation that corrupt leadership infects the entire nation like a moral...

While the United States was reeling last week from an utterly chaotic election, the Vatican decided it was the right moment to publish its long-awaited report into disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The mammoth document is a nauseating account of clerical coverup, cowardice, and complicity that prioritizes subtle finger-pointing and deflection over real accountability. Those expecting an explanation of how a serially accused predator was catapulted through the church hierarchy despite serious allegations and rumors of assault and indecent behavior will be left not merely disappointed but disillusioned.Equally unsatisfactory is its failure to disclose the extent to which this highly...

Two anti-abortion groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, in response to an August incident in which police arrested activists for writing "Black Pre-Born Lives Matter" outside a Planned Parenthood clinic.

Third, the biographies of at least some of today’s race-minded trailblazers suggest a connection between fatherlessness and identity politics. The author of the bestseller White Fragility was a child of divorce at age two. The author of the bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race reports that her father left the family and broke off contact, also when she was two. The author of another bestseller, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, was raised by a single mother. The author of another hot race book, The Anti-Racist: How to Start the Conversation About Race and...

We have been blessed with many liberties here in America, many of them unknown throughout human history. And we should diligently guard those liberties. It would be a terrible tragedy if we lost them, especially for the generations that will follow. Few things are as precious as our freedoms. At the same time, as followers of Jesus, it’s easy for us to lose our perspective because of those very liberties and freedoms. It’s easy for us to become dependent on the government. Or to put our trust in a worldly system. Or to believe that human limitations can put limitations...

During a speech before the Federalist Society on Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito stated that “in certain quarters, religious liberty is fast becoming a disfavored right.” And is viewed by some as “not a cherished freedom, it’s often just an excuse for bigotry and it can’t be tolerated, even when there is no evidence that anybody has been harmed.” Alito began by cautioning that, aside from specific references to any Supreme Court cases, he isn’t commenting on the legality of coronavirus restrictions and isn’t making any statements as to whether the restrictions constitute good policy.He stated that coronavirus has...

Late Night with Seth MeyersThere are way too many instances of Democrat/media hypocrisy on the issue of wearing masks and social distancing during the Wuhan virus pandemic to list here, so IÂ’ll just reference a few of them before we get started on Chris Hayes. There has been the repeated mask hypocrisy of CNN resident tough guy Chris Cuomo, starting all the way back in April and continuing up until at least August, if not later. There was House Speaker Nancy PelosiÂ’s maskless visit to a San Francisco hair salon on the same day she lectured President Trump and other...

It is because we hope in an eternal savior that we joyfully continue our daily lives. We don't need a week off of classes or work to mourn an election. Our daily joys have suffered no loss of meaning.On Election Night, I was crowded around the television with a dozen college friends in a tiny apartment above our government professor’s house. The Virginia night air seeping through the window was rescuing the feeble air conditioning unit and someone had propped up the three-legged TV with a handful of textbooks. Everyone watched the colorful maps on TV flip colors and we...

George Washingtons vision about America.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, in an op-ed for Kentucky Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) discussed his commitment to standing up for religious freedom at home and abroad through legislation and advocacy. Most recently, in September, Dr. Paul introduced S. 4685 to prevent the federal government from sending American taxpayer money to any nation that imposes a death sentence or penalty of life imprisonment on Christians or people of other faiths for expressing their faith. In the piece, Dr. Paul says that “in my years leading the fight for religious freedom, I have encountered far too many others in...