Free Republic

MSNBC anchor Joy Reid said Wednesday on her show “The ReidOut” that former President Donald Trump’s supporters had made MAGA a religion. Reid said, “Only in America could a party have its president foment an insurrection and have people who participated in the insurrection have a shot at having national and state leadership. That is where we are in this country. The insurrection didn’t cause the Republican party to pull back.”

Rishi Sunak happens to be Hindu by faith, but this fact is unlikely to make him pro-India With Rishi Sunak becoming the third Prime Minister in two months, there are great expectations from him, especially because he has experience, as a former finance minister, to tackle the economic crisis that Britain faces. Just like his immediate predecessor, Liz Truss, he is a Thatcherite. “My values are Thatcherite. I believe in hard work, family and integrity. I am a Thatcherite, I am running as a Thatcherite and I will govern as a Thatcherite,” he wrote in a newspaper. But there is...

Lindsey Barr is a mother of three children who attend Bryan County Schools in Georgia. For 10 years, Lindsey served as a full-time teacher with Bryan County Schools, where she received excellent reviews, earning a rating of exemplary on almost all performance criteria. ... At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, Lindsey learned of a book that was going to be read to every class as a part of a new read-aloud program at the school’s library. This book was called All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. The publisher’s website describes the book as, “A bright and uplifting celebration...

The Liz Truss tragicomedy, almost by accident, showed that we are a country in terrible debt. We live on a reputation for solvency that we no longer deserve. Jeremy Hunt's cancellation of the Truss Package on Monday morning was delivered and timed to placate the money markets. Our supposedly sovereign Parliament had to wait hours to be told the same thing. Let us look at the extent of the mess which this crisis has revealed, like a flash of lightning in pitch darkness which shows a traveller he is on the edge of a precipice. In a frantic attempt to...

Israel’s two chief rabbis, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi David Lau, Egypt’s Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb and Pope Francis were just some of the top clergy who gathered last month at the VII Congress of Leaders of World And Traditional Religions in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital city, to discuss ways in which the world’s religious leaders could work together to overcome extremism, conflict and disunity around the world. “It was an extremely well-organized event and obviously the centerpiece was the participation of the pope,” Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who was...

SÃO PAULO – Facing opposition from both the Brazilian bishops and the National Association of Catholic Education, conservative Christian groups are pressuring President Jair Bolsonaro and lawmakers to legalize homeschooling. Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that although homeschooling was possible, specific legislation was necessary to allow it. Seeking a second term in elections scheduled for next month, Bolsonaro has met with advocates of homeschooling on two different occasions since the end of August. It is estimated that around 30,000 families in Brazil educate their children at home, despite the legal ambiguity surrounding the practice. Without specific legal protection, they...

(RNS) — Queer students like Veronica Bonifacio Penales, who have been protesting religious university policies they call discriminatory and homophopic, often find themselves confronting the same question: “Why would you go to a Christian school if you are LGBTQ?” For many of these students, this fight at religiously affiliated universities is part of a larger push happening from within Christianity toward more inclusive beliefs to, as activists at Seattle Pacific University put it, “deconstruct harmful theologies on sexuality, gender and queerness.” And, as they’ve reminded their thousands of social media followers: “You can be queer and Christian.” “We shouldn’t have...

My brother and I loved to play with my father's sword. The fact that my mother was quite unworried by this tells you a lot about the world we then lived in. It was a real weapon, made by Messrs Wilkinson, a beautiful patterned blade and a very sharp point. But the thing which fascinated me about it most was the hilt, several ridges of rough grey sharkskin... Now, the Royal Navy to which my father belonged had by then given up the use of naked steel blades, though only just. As recently as February 1940 sailors from the Destroyer...

A DEEP-DIVE INVESTIGATION INTO NOW-PRIVATE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS REVEALS THE DARK UNDERBELLY OF ONE OF JOE BIDEN'S RECENT, TOP HIRES. WASHINGTON, D.C. – On August 2nd, President Biden appointed Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, as the White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator. Also the CDC’s Division Director for HIV Prevention, he previously served in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration in the New York City Health Department. Daskalakis is known for his efforts in the world of HIV and other diseases affecting the LGBTQ+ community, having attended New York University Medical School, followed by a residency, fellowship, and additional masters degree from...

o Ankita Singh, 19, died after Shahrukh Hussain allegedly set her on fire in Ranchi o Shahrukh had been harassing Ankita for months and threatened to kill her o Her death has sparked protests after Hussain, a Muslim, is said to have wanted to convert Ankita, a Hindi, to Islam A teenage Hindu girl has been burned alive by her alleged Muslim stalker who poured petrol over her and set her alight as she slept at her home in India. Ankita Singh, 19, succumbed to her severe burn injuries and died on Sunday at a hospital in the city of...

It may be one of the most surefire findings in all of social psychology, repeatedly replicated over almost five decades of study: American conservatives say they are much happier than American liberals. They also report greater meaning and purpose in their lives, and higher overall life satisfaction. These links are so solidly evidenced that, for the most part, modern social scientists simply try to explain them. They've put forth numerous possible explanations. There are a couple clear contributors to point out first. Marriage tends to make people happier, and conservatives are more likely to be married. Religious belief is also...

Longtime Baylor University professor Rodney Stark passed away at his home in Woodway, Texas, on July 21, 2022. One of the world’s preeminent figures in the sociology of religion, in 2004 Stark joined the faculty of Baylor as Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences. In 2005, he agreed to become co-director of the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) with Byron Johnson. Stark grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, and began his career as a newspaper reporter. Following a tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments...

In a column for ten Religion News Service, Christian author David Dark called out religious institutions that turn a blind eye to high-profile members of their congregations who are not only '"abusive" but also threaten or incite violence. According to Dark, there are far too many political leaders who are using their Christianity as a shield as they make outrageous claims and preach hate in the name of Donald Trump, and the leaders of the churches that they ostensibly belong to should be calling them out and disassociating themselves from them. To make his point, Dark singled out highly controversial,...

The gorgeous Joey Wong has left such an impact on Asian viewers that nearly two decades after her showbiz retirement, people are still delighted to see her. The 55-year-old former actress, best known for her ethereal performance in the 1987 movie A Chinese Ghost Story, recently went viral when photos of her praying at LingYen Mountain Temple Canada were uploaded to the internet. In the Aug 13 event, Joey was draped in black and brown robes and did not appear to be wearing make-up. Some photos showed her with a face mask and one showed her without. Despite being away...

The Atlantic's hit-piece on Catholicism and the rosary has actually increased rosary sales. in Christianity, Culture, News, Politics Rosary Sales Surge After ‘The Atlantic’ Calls Rosary ‘An Extremist Symbol’ Three online shops have reported a massive surge in the sales of rosaries following The Atlantic, a massive mainstream media outlet, publishing a hit-piece on the rosary, labeling it a sign of extremism. Rosary vendors told Catholic News Agency that their sales and/or social media followings have boomed, probably to the spite of The Atlantic. As National File previously reported, Daniel Panneton wrote an article in The Atlantic which called the...

According to a study published in the Journal of Religion and Health, low religiosity in adulthood is associated with an increased risk for developing Parkinson’s disease, among both England and United States populations. Numerous cross-sectional studies have found an association between Parkinson’s disease and low religiosity, engagement in religious practices, and measures of self-transcendence, compared to age-matched control groups. Interestingly, individuals with Parkinson’s disease are more likely to report having spiritual beliefs. The past three decades has seen a rapid increase in the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease, and this trend is expected to continue with the aging population around the...

London -- British-Indian prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak on Wednesday pledged a crackdown on Islamist extremism, the UK's most “significant terror threat”, with a widened government definition of extremism and strengthening existing terrorism legislation. The 42-year-old former Chancellor, who is seen closing the gap with opponent Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race to 10 Downing Street, also vowed to weed out organisations that promote extremism in the UK and refocus the “failing”. Prevent programme, a government tool intended to tackle Islamist extremism. “There is no more important duty for a Prime Minister than keeping our country and our people...

The American left has plenty to complain about these days. Liberals who support standard Democratic Party platform planks such as legal abortion, more gun control, and public schools over private schools or homeschooling, have been drenched in bad news coming from various Supreme Court cases and polls showing a widespread rejection of their agenda in the coming elections. There is plenty of blame to go around, at least in their minds. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court is near the top of the list of villains for many. Conservative elected officials passing laws they disagree with are also common...

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday the Archdiocese of Indianapolis acted within the law when it fired a long-time counselor because she is in a same-sex marriage. The Chicago-based Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the former counselor was employed as a minister at the Catholic faith-based Roncalli High School, and she was expected to support the school’s religious mission and follow church teachings in her personal life to remain employed. The Catholic Church does not support gay marriage. The court affirmed a district court’s year-old decision in a 27-page ruling and barred discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment claims...

Contemporary Christian musician Amy Grant has been named one of the Kennedy Center’s five honorees for 2022. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors,” Grant said in a statement. “I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.” The center plans to fete Grant in its 45th class of honorees that also includes actor George Clooney, singer Gladys Knight, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León, and the rock band U2.