Free Republic

Joe Biden has argued that the terrorist threat from groups such al Qaeda and Isis has spread from Afghanistan to other parts of the world, including the African continent. In justifying his withdrawal of all US troops from Kabul he declared last week: “There’s a greater danger from Isis and al Qaeda and all these affiliates in other countries by far than there is from Afghanistan.” Despite this, there are serious questions over the international community’s commitment to fighting terrorism on the African continent. Jihadists are active and committing atrocities across Africa – but the signs from France suggest Western...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ( John 3:16)Why is it that Jesus, in John 3:16, doesn’t say that “God Loves the World…”, rather, even the English version of the Bible (rightly) speaks of God’s love in the past tense…? “For God so Loved the World…”.Does God love the World? Obviously the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified as a sacrifice for our sins, and resurrected, is still being offered to the World, so yes it is legitimate to say that God...

No one knows the mind of God, except for God himself. He is infinite; we are finite. We are not entirely clueless about his character, however, because God speaks to us through his Word. According to the Bible, one reason bad things happen is because the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19). That’s why Jesus taught us to ask God to deliver us from the evil one when we pray (Matthew 6:13). Even in the Garden of Eden — in paradise, before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit — Satan was...

Television host, Bill Maher, recently made the statement on the Mike Huckabee Show that Christianity is a form of insanity; a neurological disorder. Maher also stated that he was not trying to outlaw religion and people could believe whatever they wanted. “If you want to believe in the spaghetti monster or the Klingons, that’s fine. I’m just trying to present a point of view that tens of millions of Americans, yes that’s right, even American’s believe. And for those of you, who say that society falls down when we stop believing, it doesn’t and we have proof of that because...

THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG "The world we leave our children" SNIPPET: "And some took heart in what the First Lady assured them would be "a new day" at the EPA."

BERLIN (AP) — The world was riveted by the election drama unfolding Tuesday in the United States, inspired by Barack Obama or simply relieved that — whoever wins — the Bush administration was coming to an end.

A new study reveals that if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to criticize the nation of Israel before the United Nations, he could use American public school textbooks to do so. "It is shocking to find the kind of misinformation we discovered in American textbooks and supplemental materials being used by schools in every state in the country," said Dr. Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research and a co-author of the study. "Elected officials at every level should investigate how these offensive passages are creeping into our textbooks. Presenting false information in the classroom undermines...

Saudi King Says Middle East Crisis Will Affect The World DUBAI, June 19 (Bernama) -- The Saudi king has warned of an impending "explosion" in the Middle East, saying that it will not only affect the region but will spread all over the world, the English daily Gulf News reports. "The Middle East region suffers from the longest conflict in our contemporary history which is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel's occupation of Arab lands," King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, said in an interview with the Spanish El Pas newspaper which was published simultaneously in Al Riyadh newspaper yesterday. "At this...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - From the Middle East in flames to China's satellite-killer technology, future foreign policy crises are brewing by the day as Hillary Clinton and top rivals take aim for the White House. Barring an unexpected outbreak of global peace before 2008, whoever succeeds President George W. Bush could conceivably face Iraq in ruins, Iran going nuclear and a bristling North Korea. Events abroad rarely decide US elections, but proliferating security questions, above all on Iraq, mean no aspiring candidate can risk entering the fray without a diplomatic strategy. "Foreign policy is not the major issue in elections, but...

The New York Times surely once had an institutional policy against cronyism. But between then and now, something must have happened to the Times, or to ethics. Maureen Dowd, whom I actually like when she gets off politics, published a collection of her Bush-bashing columns and the Times, her paper, got it quickly reviewed and (mostly) praised. I thought that strange. Maureen is a big girl now and she ought to hunt and fight for coverage and praise like the rest of us. Stranger still is the saga of Tom Friedman. Those of us in the writing and opinion business...

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) - Music pounded, drinks flowed and a dazzling white light rippled over yachts bobbing in the blue bay of this resort city, where life blooms under an ever-present sun. But something changed Monday. With the sun still high in the sky, a dark moon shadow crept slowly upward, taking a small bite out of the glowing yellow orb about an hour and a half before sunset. Tourists rose from their beach chairs, restaurant employees abandoned their posts and beach vendors set down their wares as small crowds gathered on the shore to watch a partial...

Traffic Ticket to Amish Man Spurs Fight on Religion ... When the Pennsylvania state police stopped 22-year-old Jonas Swartzentruber, of an ultra-plain sect of the Old Order Amish, the officer ticketed him for not having an orange and red reflector triangle on his buggy's rear as night fell. According to a report in The New York Times, Swartzentruber, "arguing instead for a red lantern and plain gray strips of light-reflecting tape, quietly set a new course across the land, one that landed him in jail for three days." The case has since sparked a constitutional fight. Swartzentruber refused to pay...