Free Republic

Televangelist Joel Osteen cancelled services at his Houston megachurch Sunday and has yet to reopen its doors — despite the fact that thousands of flooded-out residents are desperately seeking shelter. The perpetually smiling pastor told followers on Twitter on Monday to lean on their faith. “Jesus promises us peace that passes understanding,” he wrote. “That’s peace when it doesn’t make sense.” But Osteen’s comforting words didn’t sit well with critics, who want to know why the doors to his 16,800-seat arena at his Lakewood Church near downtown Houston are closed. “You have taken so much money away from your people...

Stormfront, one of the internet’s oldest and most popular white supremacist sites, has been booted off its web address of more than two decades amid a crackdown against hate sites. The address Stormfront.org went dark on Friday, and publicly available information current lists its domain status as “under hold,” a category reserved for websites under legal dispute or slated for deletion, the USA Today network first reported. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a D.C.-based nonprofit group, said it was behind the effort and had successfully booted the website from its domain of 22 years by raising its...

Who owns the trademark for “What Would Jesus Do?” Is it a well-known evangelist like Pat Robertson? Is it, perhaps, the producers of that hit miniseries on the Bible? Or is it some religious political organization using it as a slogan to push some sort of agenda? Nope. It’s this guy. Yep, Tyler Perry. Perry obtained the trademark after taking it from Kimberly Kearney (also known as Poprah) after she wasn’t really using it that much.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kearney filed for the trademark for some reality TV show she was working on, but the show never really went...

Christians of strong religious faith and sound moral conscience often end up in disagreement. Human affairs are a messy business, unfortunately, and even at the best of times we only see through a glass, darkly. It is hard for that reason to call Christians to a universal standard of behavior. At this moment, however, we cannot afford to dilute the message of Jesus into meaningless ambiguity. There are certain acts that a follower of Jesus simply cannot accept. Here is one: A Christian cannot justify the torture of a human being. The practice of torture by American soldiers is a...

There they go again. Devoid of ideas, running from the record of failure on the economy and national security, President Bush and his campaign are going negative again, trying to label John Kerry rather than level with Americans. Now the refrain is that Kerry and Edwards are too ''liberal'' for America. Democrats tend to duck when such charges are leveled. Clinton dressed up as a ''New Democrat,'' trying to separate himself rhetorically. Reformers now call themselves ''progressives,'' trying to avoid the label. Frankly, I think it's time for people to stand up. Think about it: A conservative Christian is a...