Free Republic

A few days ago the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, died. I was hoping to read an extended story about his life, as is customary when someone of note passes, in the papers I have been reading for many years. I was only able to find a brief seven line column announcing his death, and even in that brief announcement the paper made sure to insert an implied negative connotation such as “making the (Russian) church a force for nationalism”. The European press has been more respectful and given Patriarch Alexy II his due. He was described...

As questions have been raised over how thoroughly Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign vetted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the V.P. slot, it seems the McCain campaign was unaware of a video -- available online -- in which Palin talks about God's role in U.S. military action overseas, according to a political operative familiar with the situation.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution. Rejecting claims of religious discrimination and stifling of free expression, U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles said UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking. Otero's ruling Friday, which focused on specific courses and texts, followed his decision in March that found no...

court in Wisconsin has been asked to suspend immediately a policy in the Tomah Area School District that bans Christian symbols in students' artwork, but allows Hindu, Buddhist and satanic representations. The motion was filed yesterday by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has taken on the case of a student identified by the initials A.P. The ADF launched a lawsuit on the student's behalf after a teacher refused to give him a grade on a project because his work included "John 3:16" as well as "As sign of love." The school district, however, openly acknowledged and publicized various pieces of...

Canada's government funded National Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has offered its annual Christmas season refutation of Christianity, this year in the form of a documentary entitled, "The Pagan Christ" based on the book of the same name by popular Canadian liberal "theologian" Tom Harpur. The CBC webpage for the documentary asks, "So, what if it could be proven that Jesus never existed? What if there was evidence that every word of the New Testament - the cornerstone of Christianity - is based on myth and metaphor?" The idea was popularized by radical feminist and lesbian writers like the self-styled "witch" Miriam...

Anti-Christian Crusade - Beowulf is the latest installment in Hollywood’s attempt to reconfigure history By now, the oft-recurring negative portrayals of Christianity in major Hollywood movies have become hackneyed and predictable. The recent rendition of Beowulf only reinforced this trend. The same subtle depictions and motifs present in movies from decades past were once again present, a favorite being the attempt to try to depict pagans as “open-minded” and “free-spirited” peoples, or, quite anachronistically, as medieval counterparts to the modern, secular, liberal. The idea being that pagan peoples — unencumbered by the suffocating forces of Christianity — were/are happy, passionate...

Holiday task force gives decoration suggestions for city This article discusses a proposal by the city of Fort Collins, CO to establish a task force to consider policies related to city-sponsored holiday displays. The "educational and multicultural" display would represent both religious and non-religious celebrations that occur between Nov 1 and Jan 30.

<p>ABC may have set a loathsome new MSM low in insulting traditional Christians. On today's "Good Morning America," the network lumped the "Christan right" with the 9-11 Islamic terrorists as driving people to atheism.</p> <p>Some are reacting to religious extremism, like the Islamic fundamentalism behind the terrorist attacks of 9-11, but also the rise of the Christian right in the U.S.</p>

A court decision that opens the doors of Culbertson Elementary School in Pennsylvania to books about witches – but rejects the Bible as being too "proselytizing" – is being challenged. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund has submitted amicus briefs in a lawsuit filed when a kindergarten student, under an assignment in which parents were invited to read their child's favorite book, was denied permission to have his mother read a Bible story. A decision in U.S. District Court that sided with the school's decision to ban the Bible reading, while allowing teachers to suggest reading books about "witches and Halloween,"...

During her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee testimony Dem congressman Steven Cohen of Tennessee quizzed former Justice Department official Monica Goodling regarding her Christian faith and the Christian law school at Regent University, founded by Pat Robertson, that she attended. An internet search reveals brief references to the interrogation in articles by Dana Milbank in the Washington Post and Maura Reynolds in the Los Angeles Times. But I saw no coverage of the grilling on any of the morning news shows, nor have CNN or MSNBC picked it up as far as I have noticed. I'm setting forth...

A Navy chaplain said Thursday he was dismissed from service following his public protest of the branch's policy on nondenominational prayer. In September a military jury found Lt. Gordon Klingenschmitt had disobeyed a superior officer's order not to wear his uniform to a political protest at the White House in March 2006. Klingenschmitt argued he was allowed to wear his uniform if conducting a "bona fide worship service." He said he believes he was punished for making a political speech in uniform because he prayed in Jesus' name. William Farley, Klingenschmitt's attorney, said the Navy's decision violated his client's constitutional...

AgapePress) - Although funnyman Will Ferrell's new movie, Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby, finished first at the box office this past weekend, the comedy was not a winner as far as Christian movie reviewer Ted Baehr is concerned. Baehr, publisher of Movieguide.org, is waving the yellow flag over the film about a dim-witted NASCAR racer with a gung-ho, win-at-all-costs attitude. According to Associated Press (AP) reports, the Christian media reviewer describes Talladega Nights as "a racist, bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, Southern white men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity." The Movieguide review of...

Christian Reviewer Rants About Liberal Hollywood LOS ANGELES -- Christian film reviewer Ted Baehr is no fan of this past weekend's top movie at the box office. Web Site: See Baehr's Review The Movieguide.org publisher said Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is "a racist, bigoted work that ridicules the Bible Belt, Southern white men, Christianity, Jesus Christ, the family, and American masculinity." Baehr said the lead character's mocking prayer to baby Jesus shows anti-Christian bigotry and wonders why Hollywood isn't treating Will Ferrell like it's treated Mel Gibson, who has apologized for his anti-Semitic outburst. "Don't...

WASHINGTON -- These are rich times for conspiracy theorists, and the mother lode these days may be found in the fevered minds of anti-Christianists. Among paranoiacs who see a Jerry Falwell or a John Hagee in every burning bush, U.S. support for Israel isn't about protecting the only healthy democracy in the Middle East, but about advancing Armageddon and, yes, the Second Coming. At last, we'll get to know what Jesus would drive. Most likely, he'd drive out the conspiracy theorists on both sides of this imagined apocalypse. For those who do not spend their days pulling imaginary bugs out...

A group representing California religious schools has filed a lawsuit accusing the University of California system of discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other conservative Christian viewpoints. The Association of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 schools, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday claiming UC admissions officials have refused to certify high school science courses that use textbooks challenging Darwin's theory of evolution. Other rejected courses include "Christianity's Influence in American History." According to the lawsuit, the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta was told its courses were rejected because they use textbooks printed by two Christian...

federal judge on Wednesday ordered the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from property owned by the city of San Diego within 90 days or he will fine the city $5,000 a day. “It is now time, and perhaps long overdue, for this court to enforce its initial permanent injunction forbidding the presence of the Mount Soledad cross on city property,” said U.S. District Judge Gordon Thompson. Thompson first found the presence of the cross on city property unconstitutional in 1991 because it violated the separation of church and state. Since then, his order, and the issue of the cross,...

So here's my question, and it's a simple one because I am a simple man: The New York Times will not print any of those Danish political cartoons that mock Islamic violence, but it will publish a picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus, covered with dung. What's up with that? Here's what the Times wrote about the cartoons: "(We) and much of the rest of the nation's news media have reported on the cartoons but refrained from showing them. That seems a reasonable choice for news organizations that usually refrain from gratuitous assaults on religious symbols … " OK,...

Let me see if I get this right: in smarmy, liberal America-ville, it’s cool to celebrate a painting of the Virgin Mary covered in dung, a picture of Jesus marinating in urine, a play in which Jesus is depicted as gay and TV shows and movies that mock Christ and Christianity; but it is uncool to run a Danish cartoon slamming Islam’s irrational rage, because that would be a “gratuitous assault” on the Muslim religion? Well, cock-a-doodle-do. Case in point: the quickly-approaching-cheap-toilet-paper status New York Times has decided to refrain from running anything that might be offensive to Muslims, while...

Home » blogs » Tim Graham's blog Internal WashPost Testimony: Religion's For "Kooks," Reporters Mock Pope At Death Posted by Tim Graham on February 10, 2006 - 09:48. MediaBistro's FishBowl DC bloggers, Garrett Graff and Patrick Gavin, posted an internal Washington Post report on racial diversity at the newspaper. The January 26 cover letter to newsroom staff from top editors -- Executive Editor Len Downie, Managing Editor Phil Bennett, and Deputy Managing Editor Milton Coleman -- boasted of increased diversity in hiring: "Through determined recruiting, we have increased the number of minority journalists working in our newsroom to an...

A Florida city has barred three paintings from a city hall display celebrating Black History Month because they contain small references to the Christian faith. Officials at the city of Deltona, Fla., say hanging the colorful photos by artist Lloyd Marcus would be tantamount to the town favoring a specific religion. Marcus' paintings were to be part of an employee-organized display in the lobby of Deltona City Hall, but acting city manager Roland Blossom nixed the art, reported the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld New York City's policy on school holiday displays, which allows symbols of Jewish and Muslim holidays but prohibits Christian nativity scenes. Santa Claus, reindeer and Christmas trees are permitted. The 2-1 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court judge, who said allowing secular symbols neither advanced nor inhibited religion. The appeals court said no objective observer would believe the city wanted to communicate to its million-plus students "any official endorsement of Judaism and Islam or any dismissal of Christianity." Instead, the court said,...

Chris Ofili's "Holy Virgin Mary" was at the center of controversy when shown at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999.

Saudi Professor of Islamic Law on Saudi TV Exhorts Muslims to "Positive Hatred" of Christians By: Saudi Professor of Islamic Law on Saudi TV Exhorts Muslims to "Positive Hatred" of Christians Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan, a professor of Islamic law at Al-ImamUniversity, who frequently appears on Saudi TV recently made anti-Christian comments on Saudi Al-Majd TV. He told his audience to hate anyone "who worships Christ, son of Mary" and added that "whoever says 'I don't hate him [i.e. a Christian]' is not a Muslim..." He went on to explain that such an attitude "is not racism" since the...

Anti-Religious Entertainment Agenda for 2006? January 06, 2006 Michael Medved “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Passion of the Christ” achieved overwhelming box office success by appealing to religious moviegoers, but in high profile projects in 2006 Hollywood risks offending, rather than engaging, people of faith. In Newsweek, makers of the forthcoming “The DaVinci Code” proudly declare that they will do nothing to soften the controversial message of their project—that Jesus married and fathered a daughter, and that the Gospels and early Christians deliberately lied. Newsweek describes the movie’s villain as a Catholic bishop “whose religious zealotry appears to be...

America's corporations are under increasing pressure not only to accommodate homosexuality but to celebrate it and to punish employees who object. Over the past two decades, hundreds of companies have adopted varying degrees of homosexual activism in their official policies. As a result, a growing number of Christians have been disciplined or fired for resisting the trend. Elizabeth Birch, former president of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest homosexual pressure group, said in 2004 that she was happily surprised that corporations have become "the driving engine" of "gay" activism.1 The HRC Web site's National Corporate Sponsors page has this...

"STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Cheap Monday jeans are a hot commodity among young Swedes thanks to their trendy tight fit and low price, even if a few buyers are turned off by the logo: a skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead. Logo designer Bjorn Atldax says he's not just trying for an antiestablishment vibe. "It is an active statement against Christianity," Atldax told The Associated Press. "I'm not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion." ... "One cannot just keep quiet about this," said the Rev. Karl-Erik Nylund, vicar of St. Mary...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Cheap Monday jeans are a hot commodity among young Swedes thanks to their trendy tight fit and low price, even if a few buyers are turned off by the logo: a skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead. Logo designer Bjorn Atldax says he's not just trying for an antiestablishment vibe. "It is an active statement against Christianity," Atldax told The Associated Press. "I'm not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion." The label's makers say it's more of a joke, but Atldax insists his graphic designs have a...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Cheap Monday jeans are a hot commodity among young Swedes thanks to their trendy tight fit and low price, even if a few buyers are turned off by the logo: a skull with a cross turned upside down on its forehead. Logo designer Bjorn Atldax says he's not just trying for an antiestablishment vibe. "It is an active statement against Christianity," Atldax told The Associated Press. "I'm not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion." The label's makers say it's more of a joke, but Atldax insists his graphic designs have a...

Indiana House of Representatives can't have clergy mention savior -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: December 29, 2005 2:50 p.m. Eastern -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com An Indian federal judge yesterday reaffirmed his decision to forbid prayers to be offered that use Jesus' name in the state House of Representatives. U.S. District Judge David Hamilton rejected a request by Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma to review the original Nov. 30 ruling. Bosma claimed the directive was too vague to enforce. Ruling on a suit brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, Hamilton said that "using Christ's name or title" or referring to a "savior" amounted...

House Lawmakers Concerned About Limits on Military Chaplains Wednesday, December 14, 2005 WASHINGTON — House lawmakers concerned that proposed military guidelines are restricting some Christian chaplains' abilities to pray said Wednesday they will deliver a 6-inch-thick petition to President Bush this week asking him to intervene. The Pentagon is finalizing guidelines to help determine what is appropriate religious expression, following an internal investigation that found examples of religious insensitivity at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Col. Conservative lawmakers and others said they fear the guidelines, which urge sensitivity to religious diversity, go too far. They said some Christian...

This is the title of a movie review written by British film critic, Poly Toynbee of CS Lewis' masterpiece turned Hollywood blockbuster entitled “The Chronicles of Narnia” . It clearly demonstrates the contempt that many non-believers have for Christianity. Read More... Craig DeLuz Visit The Home of Uncommon Sense... www.craigdeluz.com

SAN DIEGO - An official with the City of Chula Vista (California) Recreation Department asked a local Christian hip-hop dance group to not perform at a city-sponsored "Holiday Festival" last weekend. The dance group was scheduled to perform at the city-sponsored event on December 3, but was told after the program began that it could not perform. The six-girl dance troupe -- with participants ranging in age from 8 to 12 -- wore shirts identifying themselves as a "Jesus Christ Dancer." AgapePress was told of the incident by Phil Magnan of Biblical Family Advocates. John Gates, senior supervisor for the...

Friday, December 17, 2004 HOLIDAY BLUES Homosexuals behind Target action? Stores banned Salvation Army bell ringers from property Posted: December 17, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern Citing a history of homosexual attacks on the Salvation Army, pro-family activists are convinced alternative-lifestyle advocates are behind Target's decision to ban the organization's traditional red-kettle bell ringers from outside its stores. The Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, points to a story in the homosexual publication Washington Blade published last year describing a three-year boycott of the Salvation Army's Christmas fund-raising outside retail stores. "Gay rights groups continue to target the...

Judge: Legislative Prayers Can't Mention Jesus Ruling Follows Lawsuit From ICLU POSTED: 2:40 pm EST November 30, 2005 UPDATED: 6:20 pm EST November 30, 2005 INDIANAPOLIS -- Prayers that typically open sessions of the Indiana House of Representatives can no longer mention Jesus Christ or advance a religious denomination, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Court Judge David Hamilton issued a permanent injunction barring House Speaker Brian Bosma from permitting sectarian prayer as part of the official business of the House. Bosma can continue the legislative prayers, but must advise those giving the invocations not to advance one faith...

Did anyone else see the last 10 minutes or so of "Criminal Minds", the CBS drama with FBI profilers? I can't beleieve what I just saw. They portrayed a female student reciting the Lord's Prayer while dousing other students with kerosene in a tank and then lighting a flare, about to set them on fire. When confronted by an FBI agent, she sai "God chose me to do this. If I don't something terrible will happen". He shouts at her "God chose you? BE RATIONAL. Don't do this". She does not relent and he shoots her, apparently fatally. I am...

Boston set off a furor this week when it officially renamed a giant tree erected in a city park a "holiday tree" instead of a "Christmas tree." The move drew an angry response from Christian conservatives, including evangelist Jerry Falwell who heckled Boston officials and pressed the city to change the name back. "There's been a concerted effort to steal Christmas," Falwell told Fox Television. The Nova Scotia logger who cut down the 48-foot (14-meter) tree was indignant and said he would not have donated the tree if he had known of the name change. "I'd have cut it down...

This show, subtitled "The End of The World" I had told my wife would likely be likely a movie she liked, Day after Tomorrow. Instead, after the expected global warming crowd, the Fema is great crowd, the GOP is evil crowd, and the 'Energy people are evil talk', what shocked both of us is the subplot of the Two Christian TV evangelists. The plot of this story is clear -- the Christian TV evangelists are totally deceptive and are using fear to goad people. Mrs. GB said, so far, the show is "horrifying", and I mostly agreed. The frog scene...

After the last election, a Newsweek poll found 67 percent of Americans believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, and 82 percent believe Jesus is the Son of God. Exit polls also found the No. 1 issue for Americans is "moral values." Hollywood declares (boasts?) it is delivering to the marketplace products demanded by the market. If that is so, why is the entertainment industry so incapable of looking at numbers like that as an opportunity to mine a vastly untapped source of riches? The massive turnout for Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ was supposed to change Hollywood's...

A pro-family leader says a new U.S. Senate bill designed to aid hurricane-displaced students contains language that assails private and religious education. The measure sponsored by Republican Mike Enzi and Democrat Ted Kennedy would allow both public and private schools to seek up to $6,000 reimbursement for each displaced student served; however, the proposal forbids using the aid for "religious instruction, indoctrination, or worship." Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) believes the bipartisan education funding bill discriminates by restricting the use of the funding to support of secular educational activities. And, he contends, in so doing, the measure...

If, indeed, "there are no atheists in foxholes,” a new Air Force regulation may ensure that there is no Christian prayer there either. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) is circulating a letter he sent to President George W. Bush, which alleges a new Air Force guideline urging "non-sectarian” prayer is "merely a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable so long as they censor Christian beliefs.” The letter requests Bush to sign an executive order withdrawing the new regulation. Thus far, Rep. Jones has only gathered 32 signatures. He says more are to come. The Air Force regulation was authored by...

Conservative lawmakers in Congress are pressing President Bush to issue an executive order that they say would protect freedom-of-speech rights of military chaplains. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) is spearheading the effort to persuade the Bush administration to ease the Pentagon’s policies on prayer. Jones will send a letter to the president tomorrow to make the case that Christian military chaplains in particular have been muzzled by the Department of Defense (DoD). The letter initiated by Jones has gathered 32 signatures. Jones told The Hill that he is expecting to have upwards of 50 signatures by tomorrow. Among those who signed...

No more "Christ" with a capital C in the NetherlandsBrussels, Oct. 19, 2005 (CNA) - According to a new grammar rule in the Netherlands and Belgium, the name "Christ" will soon be written with a lower-case "c", as stipulated by an orthography reform published last Friday.According to the Kath.net agency, the new spelling rules also will stipulate that the Dutch word for "jews" (joden) be spelled with a capital "J" when referring to nationality and with a lower-case "j" when referring to the religion. The changes will be mandatory starting in August 2006.

Certainly, it's hard to know whether to trust the allegations in the writings of Tacitus. Yet, what about the explanation offered by Nero, that the Christians were to blame? At least one scholar believes Nero was on the mark. Professor Gerhard Baudy of the University of Konstanz in Germany has spent fifteen years studying ancient apocalyptic prophecies. His studies have shown that in the poor districts of Rome, Christians were circulating vengeful texts predicting that a raging inferno would to reduce the city to ashes. "In all of these oracles, the destruction of Rome by fire is prophesied," Baudy explains....

(AgapePress) - The University of California system is being sued for alleged viewpoint and content discrimination against Christian school instruction and textbooks. The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI), which represents more than 800 schools worldwide, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a University of California policy that bars students taught from a conservative Christian viewpoint from being admitted to schools in the UC system. The suit accuses the university system of violating the free-speech rights of Christian students. Wendell Bird, an attorney for ACSI, says UC admissions officials have told Christian schools that several courses taught from a Christian...

Saying the University of California system is discriminating against Christians, a lawsuit has been filed against the network of colleges claiming potential students at faith-based private schools have not been given credit for several high-school courses they've taken. According to the North County Times, the suit was filed on behalf of Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, Calif., five of its students, and the Association of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 religious schools in the state and 4,000 nationwide, court documents state. The suit, filed Thursday, claims the UC system, which operates 10 public universities serving more...

Civil rights action says the system's admissions policy discriminates against students who are taught creationism and religious viewpoints. Amid the growing national debate over the mixing of religion and science in America's classrooms, University of California admissions officials have been accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit of discriminating against high schools that teach creationism and other conservative Christian viewpoints. The suit was filed in Los Angeles federal court Thursday by the Assn. of Christian Schools International, which represents more than 800 religious schools in the state, and by the Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, which has an enrollment...

Washington, August 19: The United States has expressed 'serious concern' over anti-Christian and anti-Jewish passages in Pakistani textbooks and termed them as "unacceptable and inciteful". The issue is a matter of concern for the US even though Pakistan is in the process of reviewing the educational system, State Department spokesman Sean Mccormack said. "These type of reports are of serious concern to us," he said referring to reports in a section of the US media that 'jihad' was still a part of school curricula in Pakistan. The United States has specifically raised the issue of "unacceptable and inciteful" textbooks with...

Would you let you child go fishing alone with a known child molester? Why not? The answer is simple enough: because patterns of behavior are called “patterns of behavior” for a reason, and once someone does something once, they are likely to do it again. Evil people do evil things over and over. Over the last 50 years, the radical left has established a pattern of winning minor precedents from an activist judiciary system then slowly building on those precedents to warp the interpretation of the law and erode the fundamental foundations of our society. The original Supreme Court decisions...

WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman accused Democrats on Monday of "denigrating and demonizing Christians" by concluding there was religious intolerance at the U.S. Air Force Academy. During debate on a proposal by Democrats that would put Congress on record against "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" at the academy, Rep. John Hostettler (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., criticized Reps. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and David Obey, D-Wis. "Like a moth to a flame, Democrats can't help themselves when it comes to denigrating and demonizing Christians," Hostettler said. Democrats leapt to their feet and demanded Hostettler be censured for his remarks. After a...

'Post-Dispatch' Runs Lengthy Apology After Local Ministry Complains Of Errors By Joe Strupp Published: June 20, 2005 5:00 PM ET NEW YORK The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a lengthy apology to readers Sunday after a local religious ministry complained that two articles written by a staff writer contained numerous errors. The paper also says it is taking "corrective action." Post-Dispatch Managing Editor Arnie Robbins, who refused to name the reporter, said the staffer had not been fired, and declined to comment on any other disciplinary action. A review of the paper's archives by E&P reveals, however, that the reporter was...