Free Republic

A young Saudi journalist is facing calls for his execution after tweeting remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, and the kingdom's top clerics are demanding his trial after denouncing him as an "apostate." On the occasion of the Muslim prophet's birthday last week, 23-year-old Hamza Kashgari tweeted: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you." "I will not pray for you," he added. The controversial tweet sparked a frenzy of responses -- some 30,000, according to an online service that tracks tweets in the Arab world....

The husband and friends of an Iranian refugee missing since last month fear she has been kidnapped by Islamic extremists because of her efforts to convert Muslims to Christianity. Melbourne woman Mandy Ahmadi disappeared from her Dandenong home on December 16, leaving behind her handbag, money and credit cards, The Age reported. Moving to Australia in 1999, Mrs Ahmadi became a Christian five years ago, and her husband Nathan converted from Islam a year later. Mrs Ahmadi became active in the migrant community, helping Muslims leaving detention centres through an agency she co-founded at a local church. "It is so...

Interview with Kamal Fahmi, director of Set My People Free (10th of December 2011, Stockholm). What is the purpose of today’s event? Today, actually is the international day of human rights. This is one of the reasons we chose this day, and the second one also, that it is that we give the Nobel prize, so there is a lot of media attention, and what we want to bring the attention of the people to is the apostasy law in Islam, which not many people know about. Islam is a one way religion. If you are a Muslim you can...

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) – A respected former Catholic bishop in Ireland is calling for an end to clerical celibacy in the wake of the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the church worldwide, and says he finds it "heartbreaking" that some prospective priests turn away from the calling because of the celibacy rule. In his recently published book, "A Troubled See, Memoirs of a Derry Bishop," Dr. Edward Daly said that allowing clergymen to marry would ease many of the church's problems. There needs to be a place in the modern Catholic church for a married priesthood, said Daly,...

Al Fadi, a Saudi native now living in America, is setting out to educate the West about his former religion — Islam. His message, rooted in what he says are deep convictions and personal truth, is sure to inspire controversy. Al Fadi converted to Christianity after coming to the United States for college. While he claims that he initially planned to convert everyone he met to Islam, something completely unexpected happened. After meeting Christians for the first time in his life, al Fadi became enamored. He explained his conversion to CBN’s Erick Stakelbeck: “Basically, the more I met people who...

“We want to send a message to the world,” said Tad Stahnke, director of policy and programs for Human Rights First, “that Americans do respect religious differences and reject religious bigotry and the demonization of Islam or any other religion.” Do the Qur'an readings below constitute demonization of Christianity? Would Tad Stahnke care to explain why not? Here are some readings that the congregants in the various churches might enjoy: Christians have forgotten part of the divine revelations they received: "From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the...

After decades of debate, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Tuesday struck down a barrier to ordaining gays, ratifying a proposal that removes the celibacy requirement for unmarried clergy, in the latest mainline Protestant move toward accepting gay relationships... Differences over the Bible and homosexuality have split Protestant groups nationally and worldwide for years. Within the Presbyterian Church, about 100 of the 11,000 congregations had already broken away ahead of the vote, but a group of large theologically conservative congregations, which calls itself Fellowship, has decided to remain in the denomination for now. Top Presbyterian executives issued a statement to the...

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) -- A Muslim cleric who embraced nonviolence and spoke out against the sectarian violence plaguing northeast Nigeria died Sunday after suffering gunshot wounds in an apparent attack by a radical sect, witnesses said. Imam Ibrahim Ahmed Abdullahi died in the shade of his Maiduguri mosque after gunmen from the Boko Haram sect apparently jumped out of a sport utility vehicle and opened fire, witnesses told The Associated Press. Abdullahi suffered five gunshot wounds and died as the gunmen apparently escaped into the restive city.

Saddleback Health & Fitness Seminar - Infomercial for Sustainable Development Today on Patmos we will discuss my experience at the Saddleback Health and Fitness Seminar this past weekend. I first arrived to Saddleback's campus only to be told that "all parking lots were full." I drove across the street to see if there were any spots available in the business lots and they were full too. I ended up parking in a housing tract and walked a mile or two back to Saddleback's campus. As I arrived, I overheard a parking lot attendant say they estimated about 6,000 people had...

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recommended constitutional amendments to the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly regarding a 3-year cycle for churchwide assemblies, council membership, eliminating program committees and strengthening interrelationships. . . . David D. Swartling, ELCA secretary, said a committee of the "Living Into the Future Together: Renewing the Ecology of the ELCA" task force, proposed the four constitutional amendments on structure and governance. The council adopted the amendments and sent them to the 2011 Churchwide Assembly, which must approve amendments to the ELCA Constitution, Bylaws and Continuing Resolutions. The council...

Sr. Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association, has been a frequent guest at the obama White House. Visitor logs just released reveal that Sr. Keehan visited the White House 15 times since the beginning of the present administration.However, on seven occasions, Sr. Keehan met with President Obama himself -- that's a remarkable level of access. It reflects Sr. Carol's importance in the eyes of the administration in both passing the health care bill and controlling the ongoing health care debate.

n a ceremony that started with a public mea culpa and ended with a prolonged standing ovation, three lesbian ministers were officially embraced Saturday by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The three were the Rev. Anita Hill, pastor of St. Paul-Reformation Lutheran Church in St. Paul, and two Minneapolis chaplains: the Rev. Phyllis Zillhart at Fairview Home Care and Hospice and the Rev. Ruth Frost at the Hospice of the Twin Cities.

Pastors affirm Obama's Christianity, denounce 'misrepresentations' By Elise Viebeck - 08/27/10 12:59 PM ET More than 70 pastors and other denominational leaders affirmed President Obama's Christianity on Friday in a letter written to oppose "those who continue to insinuate that the President is Muslim, not a Christian." The letter urged religious leaders, public officials and the media to refuse to give attention to those who distort Obama's faith, calling the president "unwavering" in his commitment to Christianity. The statement comes on the heels of a poll last week showing that 18 percent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, up...

*snip* Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith. As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion.

The following is an interview with “OC Apostate,” a former UC Irvine student who made the decision to leave Islam and the Muslim Student Union at UCI. Though as OC Apostate describes it, the two decisions were not related. This interview provides a unique firsthand description of the MSU from an insider’s perspective, something usually unavailable to the outside community. As readers will see, OC Apostate did not have an easy time disengaging from the MSU. Why did you decide to leave Islam and the Muslim Student Union? Were the two decisions related? My parents were not religious before; they...

Mary Kay Kusner was raised as a quite traditional Roman Catholic.On Sunday, she was ordained as a priest — a role for women that is anything but traditional in the Catholic Church.Kusner’s ordination was made possible by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests organization, a group loyal to the church in its teachings and rituals but denounced by the church for its belief that women, too, can be priests.“We’re growing very quickly, and the people are accepting us,” Roman Catholic Woman Bishop, Bridget Mary Meehan said.Meehan, who actively keeps a blog on the movement, was one of the first eight women in...

As he stood in front of dozens of reporters a year ago to say he was leaving the Roman Catholic Church and marrying, celebrity priest Alberto Cutié took a plunge, putting his life on a path that would look little like what he imagined when he slipped on that first clerical collar in his 20s and and vowed a life of celibacy. These days, he's a suburban 41-year-old husband, sharing a three-bedroom house in Miami Shores with his wife and her son, often cooking Cuban meals before a game of Chinese checkers. On Saturday, after dusting off the same white...

Move aside pro-atheist and Christian bus ads. A new ad targeting former Muslims has joined the religious bus ad campaigns in New York City. Some 30 city buses began in mid-May to display an ad that reads: “Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?” The ad directs people to the website www.refugefromislam.com. Opponents of the ad say it promotes an anti-Muslim message and seeks to draw people away from the faith. But supporters of the campaign say it is meeting a real need to provide resources for Muslims who want to leave the faith. “As an...

May 21, 20108:02AMRand Paul: We Wouldn't Need Laws If Everyone Were ChristianPost by Sarah PosnerAppearing on The Brody File, Rand Paul, who believes that portions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act need "further discussion" and may violate private business owners' First Amendment rights, said that we wouldn't really need laws in this country if everyone were a good Christian: "I'm a Christian. We go to the Presbyterian Church. My wife’s a Deacon there and we’ve gone there ever since we came to town. I see that Christianity and values is the basis of our society. . . . 98% of...

What is the definition of 'anti-Mormon'?   I have often heard the criticism that Latter-day Saints classify everyone who disagrees with our beliefs as "anti-Mormon." Of course, the people who say this are usually anti-Mormons. Am I proving their point? I don't think so. I actually agree that this is a problem in our church. After all, our belief system, if firmly embraced, demands a lot of personal sacrifice, and we often become hyper-defensive when we sense a threat to our faith. Unfortunately, this often leads to irrational name-calling and blindly neglecting to differentiate between non-Mormons and anti-Mormons. Of...

Fox News analyst Bob Beckel today criticized Vice President Joe Biden for wearing ashes on TV; today is Ash Wednesday and Biden is Catholic. In the middle of a discussion on President Obama’s stimulus plan, Beckel gratuitously said, “Sorry about laughing, but I looked at Joe Biden’s forehead, and I know it is Ash Wednesday, but I’m not sure I would wear that ash on the air. Anyway….” Catholic League president Bill Donohue wasn’t amused: Bob Beckel’s admonishing remark, “I’m not sure I would wear that ash on the air,” makes us wonder whether it is the public display of...

Evangelical Church Opens Doors Fully To Gays Renegade pastor in Denver finds new followers, but makes enemies too DENVER - The auditorium lights turned low, the service begins with the familiar rhythms of church: children singing, hugs and handshakes of greeting, a plea for donations to fix the boiler. Then the 55-year-old pastor with spiked gray hair and blue jeans launches into his weekly welcome, a poem-like litany that includes the line "queer or straight here, there's no hate here." The Rev. Mark Tidd initially used the word "gay." But he changed it to "queer" because it's the preferred term...

The election of a second openly-homosexual bishop in the Episcopal Church hardly came as a surprise. Given the actions of the church in its General Convention this past summer, the question was clearly not if there would be more openly-gay bishops, but when. The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles answered that question on Saturday, electing the Reverend Mary D. Glasspool of Baltimore as an assistant bishop. She is expected to be consecrated as bishop on May 15 in Los Angeles.Ms. Glasspool was elected on the seventh ballot, winning 153 clergy votes and 203 lay votes. Her election followed the election...

Out of the Closet; Into the Church Homo McGreevey Finds Higher Calling thelastcrusade.org What does a gay governor do after he resigns from political office in disgrace? He becomes an Episcopalian and enters the priesthood. Jim McGreevey, the former New Jersey love gov, has gone from Turnpike truck stops to All Saints Church in Hoboken, where he is known as “Father Jim.” Last Sunday, the ex governor administered the sacrament of baptism to a bevy of babies, blessed the Eucharist, and carried the cross during the processional. In 2004, Mr. McGreevey resigned as Governor of New Jersey after revealing...

Dear Diocesan Family, A panel of the Virginia Supreme Court will hear our petition for appeal on October 21 and, while it is unfortunate that these legal proceedings were necessary, I trust that this hearing will bring us one step closer to resolution. I am proud that the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church have chosen the path consistently to defend loyal Episcopalians, and to safeguard and to protect the Church's legacy and the Church from unwarranted governmental and legislative interference. It is with the same determination to stand by the people, traditions and legacy of our diocese that...

Updated August 18, 2008 (first published June 4, 2008) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) - Many people have walked into the Roman Catholic Church through the broad door of the “church fathers,� and this is a loud warning today when there is a widespread attraction to the “church fathers� within evangelicalism. The Catholic apologetic ministries use the “church fathers� to prove that Rome’s doctrines go back to the earliest centuries. In...

President Barack Obama will deliver a eulogy at US Senator Edward M. Kennedy's funeral Mass on Saturday, a White House official has told the Globe. Kennedy's funeral will be held at a time yet to be determined Saturday morning at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Mission Hill section of Boston. Commonly known as the Mission Church, the 1,450-seat basilica on Tremont Street was built in the 1870s. Kennedy prayed there in 2003 while his daughter, Kara, was being treated for lung cancer.

I encourage all readers to take the time to watch this short video in which 17 year-old apostate of Islam Rifqa Bary, pours her heart out to the world as her own father told her "that if you have this Jesus in your heart, you're dead to me. You are not my daughter. I will kill you". She also states that if she has to return back to the Muslim community in Ohio she will be dead within a week. If there are any Islamic apologists reading this I strongly suggest that you watch this video. You might learn something...

No wonder Mel Gibson is giving the thumbs-up. Full time has been called on his 28-year marriage to Robyn Moore. The Pope didn't give the order, though. That edict came from Mel's 90-year-old father Hutton Gibson, and it paves the way for his son to marry his pregnant Russian girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva by Christmas. Having had his request turned down by Catholic bishops, Mel, 53, pleaded his case in front of a tribunal of members from the Church of the Holy Family, his breakaway Catholic church in Malibu. Hutton, who once studied for the priesthood only to leave before he...

Yeah sure, God become man. And He definitely rose from the dead. But there's no way he multiplied loaves and fishes for people to eat. That's the logic of so many when they deny the physical nature of the miracle of loaves and fishes from yesterday's Gospel. What is the problem some people have with this miracle? I've heard it argued (even from the pulpit) that this was not a physical miracle but a spiritual one in that the people were so moved by Jesus' words that they shared. Come on, if it was just about sharing, do they really...

Episcopalians overwhelmingly favor tossing a previously approved resolution that bans ordaining openly gay bishops. In discussions that began Thursday afternoon and continued Friday morning during The Episcopal Church's triennial General Convention, Episcopalians spoke frankly, testifying passionately either for throwing out the ban or against rescinding it. "Gays and lesbians are asked to make sacrifices the rest of us are not asked to make," said the Rev. J. Frederick Barber of Fort Worth, according to the Episcopal News Service. Debate centered on resolution B033, which was approved by the General Convention in 2006. It calls for restraint in ordaining bishops "whose...

President Obama has named to his faith-based advisory council a self-professed Christian who holds that the New Testament's teaching that homosexual behavior is unnatural and wrong--which is found in St. Paul's letter to the Romans--“is not true." The appointee, Harry Knox, has also said that Obama's decision to invite the Rev. Rick Warren to say a prayer at the Inauguration "tainted" the ceremony and that Pope Benedict XVI is a "discredited leader." Harry Knox, a professed gay Christian who is director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual rights group, was named to President...

INDIANAPOLIS, April 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Chris Rosebrough, captain of internet based Pirate Christian Radio and host of the Fighting for the Faith Radio program announced on Monday that Joel Osteen is the winner of the "Worst Easter Sermon Award" for 2009. "Every Christmas Christians whine and complain about secular and atheistic efforts designed to take Christ out of Christmas yet more and more Christian pastors have committed an even worse offense and have removed Jesus Christ and His victorious resurrection from the grave from their Easter sermons," said Chris Rosebrough. "Far too many pastors have played the role of...

Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views. Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals

Former premier Tony Blair said the Catholic Church needed to rethink its attitude towards homosexuality, as it is out of step with ordinary church-goers', in an interview published Wednesday. Blair, who converted to Catholicism after leaving office in June 2007, cited a "huge generational difference" as the key to Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to homosexuality. A poll of the congregation at a Catholic Church on a Sunday would reveal how liberal those in attendance were, he claimed. "We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you...

I really wanted to go through Holy Week without doing any fisking or public pulling of air or wild rolling of the eyes, but I had the misfortune of reading this piece, just posted by BBC News: "Blair questions Papal gay policy." It reports on a recent interview given by Tony Blair to Attitude, a popular British "gay" magazine (a PDF of the interview, sans advertising, can be accesssed here), which opens by stating Blair "is probably the most prominent pro-gay religious figure in the world." All of those who criticized or expressed serious doubts about the former Prime Minister's...

Two days after the 1999 Soho pub bomb, monthly Masses were launched at a Catholic convent in London, welcoming lesbian and gay Catholics, their parents and families. Unable to find a central London Catholic church, after the convent's closure, LGBT Catholics found hospitality at Soho's Anglican parish church. Increasing numbers resulted in the Masses being held twice a month. While the Diocese of Westminster might have believed that the group would fade away, it recognised that real pastoral needs were being met, converts to Catholicism were being made, and a vibrant community could offer something to the local church. In...

By JOHN P. CONNOLLY, The Bulletin Monday, April 13, 2009 The University of Notre Dame, which has been criticized in recent weeks for inviting President Barack Obama to this year’s commencement, announced a series of events during Easter week to promote inclusivity of homosexuality. StaND Against Hate Week, announced on Holy Thursday, includes a showing of the film “Prayers for Bobby,” which reportedly blames a mother’s Christian beliefs for her gay son’s suicide. The event will take place from tomorrow through Friday, which is during the Christian celebration of Easter week. The week is co-sponsored by Notre Dame’s Gender Relations...

For people whose view of history extends beyond last week, the furor over Notre Dame’s decision to invite President Barack Obama to be its commencement speaker and receive an honorary degree is simply the latest chapter in an old story by the name of “Americanism.� Notre Dame is a paradigmatic institution — flagship of the Americanist impulse in U.S. Catholicism — and with the uproar over our pro-abortion president the university’s special status has come home to roost for folks under the Golden Dome. Pope Leo XIII in 1899 condemned a heresy he called Americanism as a “reprehensible� error. He...

Warren waver on Prop 8 stuns leaders Stance about-face at issue By Julia Duin April 11, 2009 Evangelical leaders say they are bewildered and stunned by the Rev. Rick Warren's apparent turnaround on gay marriage after the famous California pastor said earlier this week that he was not a proponent of California's Proposition 8. Mr. Warren told CNN's Larry King on Monday that he "never once even gave an endorsement" of the proposition, which said marriage in the state could only involve one man and one woman. The measure won at the polls last November by a close margin, in...

The head of a conservative activist group says President Obama's appointment of a leading homosexual activist to his faith-based council is an ominous sign that he may enforce a "pro-homosexuality orthodoxy" on religious groups receiving federal funds, which is itself a form of bigotry. Barack Obama has appointed outspoken homosexual activist Harry Knox to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Knox, who is the director of the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Religion and Faith program, will serve a one-year term on the 25-member Council. Two years ago during an appearance on MSNBC, Knox argued that scientific...

The launch by dating service eHarmony.com of a new website for homosexuals is creating concern among customers who were attracted to the company because of its Christian foundations, but they're not getting any satisfaction. WND reported when eHarmony launched its new Compatible Partners website for homosexuals, the result of a settlement of a discrimination complaint brought in New Jersey. Compatible Partners has been put online by eHarmony following the case prompted by a 2005 complaint by Eric McKinley, a homosexual, who claimed eHarmony's heterosexual-only matching service violated the state's anti-discrimination law.

1. Where is the United States in Bible Prophecy? One of the most common questions regarding Bible prophecy is where is the United States in scripture? Many nations of the world are not mentioned in scripture, however it is hard to understand how the world's most powerful nation would not be. At least not in a way that we recognize it clearly. There are many theories and ideas as to why this is but here are three of the most common: The United States is no longer relevant The United States is destroyed The United States is no longer its...

According to new sources, Barack Obama will be meeting with Palestinian officials in Ramallah during his current Middle East Tour. After visiting with Israeli officials, Obama will be escorted by Israeli defense forces until security is handed over to...

Libyan Leader Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi: Obama Suffers Inferiority Complex That Might Make Him Behave "Whiter Than the White." He Should Be Proud of His African, Muslim Identity. Ben-Gurion Gave the Green Light for the Killing of JFK Transcript here: http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1791.htm

The e-mail landed in Danielle Allen's queue one winter morning as she was studying in her office at the Institute for Advanced Study, the renowned haven for some of the nation's most brilliant minds. The missive began: "THIS DEFINITELY WARRANTS LOOKING INTO."

CH Spurgeon called it "the Down-Grade", when preachers and churches fell away from the pure Truth of God's Word for those methods and teachings that would appeal to the flesh. It ain't stopped and the technology of today make it obvious to anyone with spiritual discernment (that of the Holy Spirit) to see the danger and falsehood of "the Down-Grade".

Stafford, Va. - Osama bin Laden must be chuckling in his safe house. After all, the 2008 campaign could very well give Al Qaeda the ultimate propaganda tool: President Barack Hussein Obama, Muslim apostate. The fact that Senator Obama – the son of a Muslim father – insists he was never a Muslim before becoming Christian is irrelevant to bin Laden. In bin Laden's eyes, Obama is a murtad fitri, the worst type of apostate, because he was blessed by Allah to be born into the true faith of Islam. There are two types of apostates according to sharia (Islamic...

-- snip --As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant. Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a...

ELDORET, Kenya) — U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama phoned Kenya's opposition leader as diplomatic attempts to end Kenya's political crisis intensified Tuesday. The death toll from a week of violence after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election has reached nearly 500, according to the government, though the opposition claimed the death toll could be up to 1,000. On Monday, Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga made key concessions under U.S. pressure. Obama — a Democratic Party candidate who is of Kenyan descent — called Odinga late Monday or early Tuesday, said Odinga's spokesman, Salim Lone. "He called to express grave concern...