Free Republic

A leftwing school board member in North Carolina exploded in rage when a fellow member made a motion to start meetings with an invocation. “How much prayer do you need,” said Pam Escobar, a member of the Cabarrus County School Board. “How much God do you need?” Melanie Freeman, a newcomer to the school board, told me that it’s important to start meetings by seeking God’s wisdom. She ran for office by declaring her faith in God and she was determined to reinstate the pre-meeting prayer. “I knew there would be resistance, because any time you put back something that...

When Pope Benedict XVI greets U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican on July 10, the symbolism and sheer star power of the encounter will keep the pundits chattering away. The photo op alone is worth a thousand words: The 82-year-old man in white, the world's most recognizable religious leader and head of its largest single denomination comes face-to-face with the charismatic first black President of the world's last superpower. And the scheduling efforts of both the Vatican and the White House suggest a shared appreciation of the symbolic weight the first encounter between Obama and Benedict could carry. It...

Bush to Speak at Islamic Center of Washington DC On September 17, 2001, six days after the worst Islamic terror attacks ever on US soil, President Bush stood next to CAIR’s Nihad Awad at the Islamic Center of Washington DC, and pronounced ‘Islam is Peace’. Nihad Awad is second from the right. Here’s an excerpt from the President’s speech: The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war. ... Women who cover their heads in this country must...

A public-school handout urging young children in Virginia to attend a "Pagan ritual" tomorrow to "celebrate Yule" is sparking objections from concerned parents. "Amazing – government schools ban orthodox Christianity, but allow an openly pagan organization to proselytize six-year-olds!" one observer who asked for anonymity told WND. The concern has risen to such a level that the head of the Albemarle district in Charlottesville, Va., admits the policy allowing handouts may change, potentially eliminating them from all organizations. The flyer in question is from a group called NatureSpirit from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation that also...