Free Republic

Our country was founded by people who risked everything for religious liberty. So that’s why when Ted heard the story of Dick and Betty Odgaard, he knew he had to do something. The Iowa couple is shutting down their business as a result of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission’s efforts to force them to host a same-sex wedding ceremony in violation of their religious beliefs. He recently sat down with Dick and Betty allowing them to share their story with America. I hope you’ll watch.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, has ordered a monument of the Ten Commandments removed from the Capitol. Calling the Commandments "religious in nature and an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths," the court said the monument must go. Gov. Mary Fallin has refused. And Oklahoma lawmakers instead have filed legislation to let voters cut out of their constitution the specific article the justices invoked. Some legislators want the justices impeached. Fallin's action seems a harbinger of what is to come in America — an era of civil disobedience like the 1960s, where court orders are...

The Oklahoma Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, has ordered a monument of the Ten Commandments removed from the state Capitol. Calling the Commandments “religious in nature and an integral part of the Jewish and Christian faiths,” ... monument must go. Gov. Mary Fallin has refused. And Oklahoma lawmakers instead have filed legislation to let voters cut out of their constitution the specific article the justices invoked. Some legislators want the justices impeached. Fallin’s action seems a harbinger of what is to come in America – an era of civil disobedience like the 1960s, where court orders are defied and...

The case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which ended June 26 with the United States Supreme Court ruling 5-4 to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, is headed for the big screen.

George Takei unleashed a racist rant against Clarence Thomas, sneering that the Supreme Court justice is a "clown in blackface." The Star Trek actor on Monday fumed, "[Thomas] is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry. He doesn't belong there." Talking to a local Fox affiliate in Phoenix, Takei snarled that the second African American on the Supreme Court is unqualified: "This man does not belong on the Supreme Court. He is an embarrassment. He is a disgrace to America."

Via the Free Beacon, I think it was Dan McLaughlin of Red State who tweeted after last week’s SSM decision was released, “Now the contest begins to see who’ll be the angriest winner.” His point was that, for a movement that’s been unstoppable culturally over the past 10 years, there’s a curiously strong impulse towards nastiness in some lefties’ reaction to each new victory. With this remark from George Takei, I think it’s safe to say the contest is now over. Takei’s overreacting to a point Thomas made in response to Kennedy’s idea that state recognition of gay marriage is...

MADISON, Wisconsin — Wisconsin Democrats on Monday called for the elimination of nullified language in the state's constitution that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers held a news conference to introduce the resolution after the U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday legalizing gay marriage nationwide. State Reps. JoCasta Zamarripa, D-Milwaukee, and Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, applauded the court's decision and said Wisconsin's constitution should be amended to reflect it. "Finally victory is ours, but with this bill we want to ensure that our beloved state of Wisconsin is on the right side of history by removing this discriminatory...

ALBANY - Days after getting the right to marry people, Gov. Cuomo will officiate a same-sex marriage Sunday morning an hour before marching in the city gay pride parade. Cuomo will marry David Contreras Turley, 36, and Peter Thiede, 35. "It’s hard to believe everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours,” Turley told the Daily News on Saturday night. “The opportunity arose for us to get married by the governor, and we couldn’t be happier.” Longtime gay rights activist Edie Windsor, who was part of a landmark Supreme Court decision, will deliver the opening remarks at the ceremony, which...

Societies across the globe are engaged in conversations to redefine marriage. Media debates, election-day balloting, and governmental court rulings have provided the platform for this redefinition. We believe a biblical view of marriage involves a monogamous, covenantal relationship between a man and a woman. Jesus said, “At the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one...

In a landmark opinion, the Supreme Court ruled Friday that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a victory that until very recently would have seemed unthinkable. The 5-4 ruling had Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority with the four liberal justices. Each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent. The far-reaching decision settles one of the major civil rights fights of this era -- one that has rapidly evolved in the minds of the American public and its leaders, including President Barack Obama. He struggled with the issue...

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24...

Having totally predicted the outcome of today’s ObamaCare decision, I feel obliged to try to guess the vote count on tomorrow’s (or next week’s?) gay-marriage outcome too. In some ways this is an easier call than King v. Burwell, in some ways it’s harder. It’s easier in the sense that the outcome isn’t in doubt. There was, at least, a chance (according to some people, not me) that Roberts and Kennedy would side with the other conservatives and strike down federal O-Care subsidies. To predict King correctly, you had to guess the outcome before you guessed the votes. The gay-marriage...

The most decisive factor in Ireland's support for "gay marriage'" was the failure of Pope Francis to publicly oppose " gay marriage " prior to the vote. The Pope speaks almost every day on trivial subjects such as his not watching television but when the date the of Irish referendum was first set, and up to the actual days before the election he should have publicly opposed "gay marriage" in Ireland. The recent post-election comments of Vatican Secretary of State that the Pope was " saddened" by the Irish vote mean nothing. The Pope could have prevented the passage of...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Racing both a U.S. Supreme Court decision on gay marriage and legislative deadlines, Texas Republicans pushed ahead Tuesday toward putting the state at the forefront of resistance if same-sex weddings are ruled constitutional. Nearly every Republican in the Texas House is backing a measure that would prohibit state and local officials from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Less than three weeks remain in Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's first session, and the bill must clear the House by midnight Thursday to advance. If signed by Abbott, the bill would aim to defy the Supreme Court if...

One moment in the Supreme Court's oral arguments over same-sex “marriage” reveals what an embarrassment Sonia Sotomayor is as a justice. John J. Bursch, who argued on behalf of marriage, said that the people, not five unelected justices, should be able to decide whether to redefine a pillar of society that predates the government and written history. “This case isn't about how to define marriage,” he said. “It's about who gets to decide that question. Is it the people acting through the democratic process, or is it the federal courts? And we're asking you to affirm every individual's fundamental liberty...

Talk radio host and author of “The Liberty Amendments,” Mark Levin argued that the left is being “intolerant” and making everyone adopt their newfound support of same-sex marriage on Tuesday.

Gay activists and their leftist allies told us decades ago that same-sex marriage wasn’t on the agenda. All homosexuals wanted was the benefits of marriage, but not the title. That, of course, was a lie.

As noted here, "Happy newlyweds Joke, 29, Bell, 21 and Art, 26, took the plunge on Valentine's Day after exchanging their vows in a fairy-tale ceremony at their home in Uthai Thani Province, Thailand. The three blushing grooms are thought to be the world's only wedded male threesome and have since become internet sensations after photos from their big day went viral. The trio consummated their love under Buddhist law in the ceremony as same-sex marriages are not recognised as legitimate under Thai law. In what they described as the happiest day of their lives, the three men were suited...

I will say no to those who want to remove the moral pillars that have served our society and all societies over the millennia. Over the course of its history the Supreme Court has made some very bad decisions and the decision to declare abortion legal ranks high among them. On January 22, 1973, in Roe v. Wade the Court interpreted the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to extend a right of privacy to a woman’s decision to have an abortion prior to the third trimester of pregnancy. There have been 57.5 million abortions since 1973—42 years—when the...

Religious Liberty | An update on five small businesses that refused to participate in same-sex weddings and paid a heavy price