Free Republic

Time Magazine wasted no time in calling for the end of tax exemptions for religious institutions, with writer Mark Oppenheimer firing the initial salvo.  Oppenheimer writes the “beliefs” column for The New York Times, in which he studies religious matters with the alacrity of a medical examiner performing an autopsy: God is dead, let’s find out what killed Him. I have a different view on the subject, that God’s not dead, but attempts to kill Him surely result in self-impalement on His extremely sharp sword.  Churches don’t need tax-exempt status for God’s sake, but for society’s sake, and I offer...

With two Pulitzer Prizes to her name, Dana Priest is one of the Washington Post’s most celebrated reporters. Until Monday, when the Post published the first installment of a bombshell series on post-9/11 intelligence industrial complex, national security blogger William Arkin was hardly known to the paper’s readers. But from a media perspective, Arkin’s role as co-author of the series might be the more important. It marks the first time one of the Post’s bloggers – lately the cause of controversy because they sometimes blur opinion and reporting — has had a byline in one of the paper’s big, investigative...

Kweisi Mfume recently announced his departure as NAACP President, and not a moment too soon. His tenure has been a disaster for the storied civil rights organization, driving it deeper into liberal irrelevance. But that doesn't mean it still shouldn't be defended against the current IRS probe of its tax-exempt status. Back in October the NAACP was informed that it may have violated a law that prohibits charities, churches and other nonprofits from engaging in partisan activities. Under Mr. Mfume and chairman Julian Bond, the group has accused President Bush of being at war with black America; compared Republicans to...