Free Republic

For those of us who spend far too much time following the news these days, it is easy to feel that everything is falling apart. Regardless of your political ideology, there is no doubt that this country is politically divided and facing serious challenges. To make matters worse, we are entering an election season. Politicians will be trying their best to convince us that we are one vote away from choosing between Nazi Germany and Venezuela. Yet, as we gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving, it is worth remembering that, beyond the headlines, things are actually pretty darn good....

Fox News contributor Guy Benson married his boyfriend of four years, Adam Wise, on Saturday. The couple tied the knot in front of 150 guests at the Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley, Calif., People reported. Wise, 24, said of Benson, “We’re both organized and driven human beings. We just work well together. We’re best friends. He’s my home.” The pair met after Benson came out as gay on Fox News' "The Kelly File" in 2015, where he'd been promoting his book, "End of Discussion."

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has dismissed a landmark petition to legalize same-sex marriage in the majority Catholic country. On Tuesday, the country’s highest court ruled that Jesus Nicardo Falcis III, an openly gay attorney who initiated the petition in 2015, had no legal standing in the case since he had not applied for a marriage license, the South China Morning Post reported. Despite its decision, in a text released to journalists, the court noted the Southeast Asian nation's 1987 Constitution “does not define, or restrict, marriage on the basis of … sexual orientation, or...

Songs of Praise has screened the show's first ever gay wedding as part of a drive to modernise the programme. Presenters of the BBC One show have vowed that they are “not afraid of controversy” as they broadcast a wedding which is currently banned in the Church of England. The Sunday afternoon show, which has been running since 1961, was traditionally a “sort of hymn sandwich”, presenter of more than three decades Pam Rhodes said. But now, which a magazine format an on screen cast which includes soprano Katherine Jenkins and JB Gill, the former frontman of boy-band JLS, the...

An Oregon baker said Tuesday she's thrilled to have a "second chance" to fight in court over a $135,000 penalty for her shop's refusal to make a same-sex wedding cake. The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a ruling against the bakers, Melissa and Aaron Klein, who refused to bake the cake citing their religious beliefs. During the court's last term, justices ruled in favor of a Colorado baker in a similar situation, stating that a state body demonstrated improper hostility toward the baker's religion in finding that he violated a state anti-discrimination law. On Monday, the Supreme Court sent...

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is, once again, under attack. And, once again, the attacks are from liberals who cannot tolerate Thomas' consistent, unyielding and faithful commitment to America's founding principles. The latest concerns Thomas' 20-page opinion offered up in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, recently considered by the Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood challenged Indiana law prohibiting abortion for reasons of sex, race or non-life threatening deformity. The challenge was upheld in district court and the law overturned. However, the Supreme Court chose not to rule on the matter for procedural reasons, turning it back to...

When Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex unions, hundreds of gay people marked the occasion by registering to marry. It marked a significant change on the island, where the majority of people only relatively recently became supportive of same-sex relationships. In many other places there has also been a shift - often a rapid one - towards more liberal attitudes. For example, in 2007, one in five South Koreans said homosexuality should be accepted, -but, by 2013, that figure had doubled. Attitudes among the public also appear to have softened in other places including Argentina, Chile,...

Out of all the criticisms of Donald Trump, the one I've never understood is that he's somehow anti-gay. The Trump/Pence ticket was supposed to have put up conversion-therapy camps all across America by now, right? Yet somehow it hasn't happened. With all the legitimate reasons for a person to oppose Trump, they still keep making stuff up. Pete Buttigieg has been capitalizing on this, depicting himself as some sort of victim. He wants you to think Trump is oppressing him. He just can't seem to get Trump to play along. Check out this clip from an interview Trump just gave...

Taiwan's parliament has become the first in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage following a vote on Friday. In 2017, the island's constitutional court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to legally marry. Parliament was given a two-year deadline and was required to pass the changes by 24 May. Lawmakers debated three different bills to legalise same-sex unions and the government's bill, the most progressive of the three, was passed. Thousands of gay rights supporters gathered in the rain outside the parliament building in the capital, Taipei, to await the landmark ruling. There were shouts of joy and some tearful...

Children of LGBT parents can now be blessed or baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church officials declared in a new policy on Thursday, dramatically reversing a 2015 decision that excluded those children from the rituals until they were 18. The church will also update its handbook for leaders, removing the label of “apostasy” for same-sex marriage.

PRETORIA, March 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – In South Africa, a high court ruled that the Dutch Reformed Church’s adherence to its teachings that marriage is for one man and one woman amounts to “discrimination.” On March 8, the Gauteng Division of South Africa’s High Court in Pretoria ruled that the Dutch Reformed Church may not exclude certain members of the church from the full and equal enjoyment of the rights and freedoms offered to all of its members. This would include allowing “marriage” for same-sex couples. “If a member of the [Dutch Reformed] Church is permitted to study to become...

I received my Academy screener of "Vice" -- Adam McKay's intermittently black comic biopic of Dick Cheney --- just a few days before its Christmas opening and watched it almost immediately, even though I knew I would hate it. I did. It had exactly the retrograde, conformist Hollywood politics I expected. What I didn't expect was that it would be an aesthetic jumble and quite boring. Nevertheless, "Vice" led the pack of Golden Globe nominations with six and is an early favorite for the Best Picture Oscar. So unfortunately, due to the biased state of our educational system, this could...

Homosexual celebrations could be coming to toy aisles nationwide soon if Barbie manufacturer Mattel accepts a proposal to produce sets of same-sex “wedding” dolls. Matt Jacobi and Nick Caprio are a homosexual couple in Arizona that plans to get “married” next May. In comments on Instagram and to ABC 15, they explain that they wanted to get a special birthday present for Jacobi’s 8-year-old niece, who will be a flower girl at their “wedding.” Jacobi is also an E! reality TV personality and contributor to Instinct Magazine. “We thought it would be special to give her something with a little...

While the state may have chosen to expand its definition of marriage to accommodate for some of the above legal benefits normally given to a husband and wife, it is not necessary for the Church to change its definition or understanding of the sacrament of Holy Matrimony to match the State’s definition. It is time for the Church to stop functioning as an agent of the State in issuing marriage licenses.

Taiwan has rejected same-sex marriages, in a blow to the island's reputation as a rights trailblazer in Asia. The results in referendums come despite a high court ruling in March 2017 in favour of such unions. The court also gave parliament two years to amend laws or pass new ones. It is unclear how Saturday's voting will affect legislation. Meanwhile, President Tsai Ing-wen quit as leader of Taiwan's governing party after defeats in local elections. Her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is set to lose more than half of the 13 cities and counties it won in 2014, Taiwanese media...

A bishop of The Episcopal Church whose diocese is based in the capital of New York has announced that his churches will not perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. Earlier this year, the Episcopal Church General Convention passed a resolution allowing for congregations to perform gay weddings even in dioceses where leadership objects. The new policy is scheduled to take effect on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2. This stood in contrast to a resolution passed by the General Convention in 2015 that allowed bishops opposed to same-sex marriage to maintain a ban on such unions within their diocese. Bishop William...

Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who received international attention for denying gay couples marriage licenses, lost her re-election bid Tuesday, according to local reports. Davis, a Republican, was about 700 votes behind her Democratic opponent, Elwood Caudill Jr., in her bid for a second term as Rowan County clerk. In the Democratic primary, Caudill beat David Ermold, the man whom Davis had refused to grant a same-sex marriage license, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported. Caudill, Rowan County's chief deputy property valuation administrator, had unsuccessfully challenged Davis in 2014 in the Republican primary. Davis switched party allegiances in 2015. “I want...

Homosexuality and transgenderism were flashpoints in a debate Tuesday night between a liberal Democrat trying to unseat a moderate veteran state representative in northern Massachusetts. State Representative Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) criticized challenger Sabrina Heiser, a member of the Dracut School Committee, for drawing the vast majority of her campaign funds from outside the district, which she charged comes from rich people trying to buy the seat to further their left-wing agenda.

I was recently confronted with a challenge about marriage at one of my events. The claim was that God permits same-sex marriage today because marriage is not clearly defined in Scripture. Adam and Eve were a monogamous heterosexual couple, but later in Scripture God allowed men to marry multiple women. This signals a trajectory in the Bible towards more openness of sexual expression and in the definition of marriage. Therefore, same-sex marriage should be allowed by Christians today. I don’t think the Bible permits same-sex marriage for a whole host of reasons, but I’ll only explain the ones I offered...

The Uniting Church in Australia's Assembly voted Saturday to change the denomination's definition of marriage and allow ministers to officiate weddings for same-sex couples. In a statement posted on the Church's website, Uniting Church in Australia President Deidre Palmer announced the changes that were made by the 265-member assembly that gathered in Melbourne, saying: "To honor the diversity of Christian belief among our members, we will hold two equal and distinct statements of belief on marriage." The first statement of belief regarding marriage is one that the Uniting Church has been following for a long time. "The existing statement of...