Free Republic

We need your help in calling on the Air Force to reverse its decision to remove a Latin reference to "God" from a logo after an atheist group complained. But after the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers complained, the line was rewritten in Latin to read, "Doing Miracles with Other People's Money."

http://www.cracked.com/article_15759_10-things-christians-atheists-can-and-must-agree-on.html

How Will The Shocking Decline Of Christianity In America Affect The Future Of This Nation?January 19,2012 Is Christianity in decline in America? When you examine the cold, hard numbers it is simply not possible to come to any other conclusion. Over the past few decades, the percentage of Christians in America has been steadily declining. This has especially been true among young people. As you will see later in this article, there has been a mass exodus of teens and young adults out of U.S. churches. In addition, what "Christianity" means to American Christians today is often far different from...

After visiting the United States in the 19th century, Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, “Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” The United States has been based on a resolute belief in God since her founding. This belief has provided a strong foundation for American values and exceptionalism which has long propelled our nation towards greatness. However, in recent decades,...

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow has seemingly made himself the poster boy for Christianity, praying on the field after a win, putting Bible verses on his eye black during games and even starring in an anti-abortion ad during the Super Bowl, but one atheist group believes he’s doing it all for personal gain. ... Silverman states that Tebow’s repeated references to God into his post-game comments after a win is “bad for football. “(Religion) injects the divisive force into football,” Silverman says. “Why in the world are we talking about religion when we are talking about football?”

I don’t like dredging up that whole “war on Christmas” thing, but (with apologies in advance to Allahpundit) this story kind of gets under my skin. In Santa Monica, California, there is apparently one particular stretch of road alongside a park which has traditionally been set aside for Christmas displays. The nativity scenes on display have been popular with residents and tourists. But in order to be fair to everyone, the city used a lottery to allocate space to groups wishing to put up Creche displays and related scenes. Now, a group of atheists are accused of swamping the lottery...

We hear about the famous War on Christmas that our secular society wages with great intensity. However, the latest news from the front is not encouraging for those who would worship around a holiday tree. According to a recent Rasmussen report, 88% of Americans will celebrate Christmas this year and 81% of that group will celebrate it as a religious holiday. From these statistics, we can clearly deduce that Christianity and Christmas have yet to disappear as of 2011. The ferocious onslaught of secular humanism rages as it pushes its agenda through the media, the political world and our...

For a number of Americans, the Christmas season is a time for joy and love, but for others, it’s an opportunity to stage a war against Christianity. The latest battle entails a blasphemous nativity scene from a group of atheists, which they have defended as a response to counteract the Christian “War on the Constitution.”  Wisconsin is once again at the center of a major dispute, this time because Governor Scott Walker made the mistake of referring to the “holiday” spruce as a “Christmas tree.” That prompted the Freedom from Religion Foundation to call Walker “a Teabagger governor wearing religion...

This site has some thing called the Atheist Christmas Coloring Book. It is for KIDS and tries to steal Christmas from Christians and make it for everyone. http://www.mindposts.com/uncategorized/celebrate-a-rational-holiday-with-the-atheist-christmas-coloring-book The war on Christmas has become the war FOR it.

This is an email sent from a friend to a friend....it demonstrates what some in the country now believe. (My dear friend): Thanx vm for the thoughtful (telephone) call. Sorry we were in a rush, but this was a “Super Solstice Celebration� party thrown by one of my dearest friends down here and he'd scheduled the event on Friday night just so (a friend) could attend. The party was excellent!! We barely made it home before midnight. Would have looked like any other nice party except we all stopped partying at ~10 p.m., gathered in our hosts’ great room, and...

When Christopher Hitchens died this week, I trust that after he did so, something miraculous happened. That’s what my faith tells me. It’s not in good taste to speak ill of someone recently deceased. But in this case, I think Hitchens would approve, or at least shrug it off with indifference, many of the screeds written for or against him. But, while reading the eulogies about Hitchens I get the feeling, more than anything else, of a life wasted on unbelief. Everyone dies, and then…that’s it… or is it? Is all that’s left behind for a writer like Hitchens a...

How can a conservative commentator and an orthodox Catholic like me possibly admire Christopher Hitchens? He hated the Pope, smeared Mother Teresa viciously. He even published a book four years ago defending his militant atheism called God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. Then Christopher Hitchens debated around the world on that very topic. Then he co-wrote and edited a book about the debates. In between those two books, there was a third one, about the war in Iraq and his support of it - which had caused him to break with many of the friends of his youth....

For nearly 60 years at Christmastime, Christian congregations from Santa Monica have come together to organize a life-sized Nativity scene, using 14 display areas in a city park to illustrate the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. This year, however, the story had to be abridged. Because of a city lottery system to dole out available spots in Santa Monica's Palisades Park, along Ocean Avenue, atheists have been able to claim most of the display spaces traditionally used for the Nativity, leaving room for only three of the scenes. Damon Vix, an atheist, had a display last year that...

Freddie Schineller is a hip-looking math professor with a salt-and-pepper goatee. His artist wife, Holly, has long blond hair and stays home to take care of their four kids, ages 8-12. The middle-class family lives in a modest Tempe home full of lots of love, noise and pets, including two dogs and a python named Monty. Their bookshelves hold works by Plato, Leo Tolstoy and Franz Kafka, as well as the Book of Mormon and a Bible. But Holly and Freddie don't believe in G0d. And, earlier this year, they decided it was time to "come out of the closet"...

One conservative attorney says he has no sympathy for the atheists who have launched a holiday advertising campaign to promote their stance and attack Christians. The billboard and newspaper ads that read "Bias Against Atheists is Naughty, Not Nice" are being placed in towns where atheists have made an effort to push religion out of the public arena. "I have very little sympathy for atheists, the ones who are perpetrating anti-Christian bias," admits Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel Action. "And when they receive a little push-back and people point out the reality that we are a Christian nation, they get...

The young man in the video pulls in close to his computer camera with the trappings of a typical college dorm room—a loft bed and the clutter of cast-off clothes—piled behind him. Alex Fiorentini isn’t talking about girls, beer or football. Instead, it’s a coming-out moment of sorts. “Is it acceptable to the majority of the population to be an atheist?” he asks the camera. “Nope. Are all of your friends going to accept you as an atheist? Probably not all of them. And yeah, those things are gonna suck. But the real question is, ‘Is it OK to be...

CUMBERLAND — Thanks to a small group of local men, the tradition of erecting a Nativity scene and decorating a large Christmas tree on the lawn of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in downtown Cumberland will continue. Two years ago, city officials decided to end city government’s involvement with the Nativity scene. According to Michael Mudge, one of the men who is keeping the tradition alive, city leaders had received a complaint from two people who objected to local government being involved in the Christian Nativity tradition.After Christmas 2009, the city donated the Nativity items to The Cumberland Nativity & Tree Display...

In his last New Rule of the evening, Bill Maher argued that Christian populism and anti-intellectualism have been steadily growing in the Republican party, and that one of the core beliefs of the religious right in America today is that “knowing things has become an affront to the all-knowing.” Maher decided if the Republican party wanted to nominate a devoutly Christian candidate, they might as well nominate Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. Maher argued that on the football field Tebow was way in over his head, and rated his football abilities as sub-par, but it was Tebow’s Christian faith that...

Skiers and boarders beware: Ski areas are opening but the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) hopes to tumble one symbolic guardian from your sport's terrain. Anti-religionists aim to remove a statue of Jesus from near the top of Chair 2 at Montana's Whitefish Mountain Resort. Local Knights of Columbus erected the figure in the 1950s. Many members were World War II veterans wanting to replicate sculptures they saw while fighting in the European mountains. The U.S. Forest Service, cowed by false assertions that religious displays on public land are illegal, wants Jesus gone. And the FFRF intelligensia waves its misleading...

Skiers and boarders beware: Ski areas are opening but the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) hopes to tumble one symbolic guardian from your sport's terrain. Anti-religionists aim to remove a statue of Jesus from near the top of Chair 2 at Montana's Whitefish Mountain Resort. Local Knights of Columbus erected the figure in the 1950s. Many members were World War II veterans wanting to replicate sculptures they saw while fighting in the European mountains. The U.S. Forest Service, cowed by false assertions that religious displays on public land are illegal, wants Jesus gone. And the FFRF intelligensia waves its misleading...

Man, Dawkins surely outdid himself this time. Yea, if only Jesus Christ in his all-powerful and all-knowing state 2,000 years ago would have grasped what Richard Dawkins and his fellow enlightened post-modernists knew today, by golly, he would have denied Himself and His Father on the spot. Meglomania has never had such a tough opponent.

In yet another stunning attack on freedom of religion, President Barack Obama's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court last week to give the federal government the power to tell a church who its ministers will be. The case involves a former teacher at Lutheran school, who along with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is pushing a claim that a Lutheran congregation should be forced to restore her ministry position. Americans United for Separation of Church and State and American Atheists, Inc. have filed briefs siding with the Obama administration against the church. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Church...

The mayor of Whiteville, Tenn. said his community is under attack from a national atheist organization that is threatening to sue unless they remove a cross atop the town’s water tower. “They are terrorists as far as I’m concerned,” said Mayor James Bellar about the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “They are alleging that some Whiteville resident feels very, very intimidated by this cross.” The mayor told Fox News Radio that the cross was erected on the town’s water tower about eight years ago by a private group of citizens. They collected private donations to cover the costs. It’s just a...

In a public display of opposition against Christianity, a group of atheists on Saturday tore apart photocopies of Bible verses that they view as immoral and illegal. The demonstration was led by more than a dozen members of a humanist group called Backyard Skeptics at the base of the Huntington Beach pier in Southern California... ..."I just want to tear out pages of the Bible that are illegal," Gleason said, according to The Orange County Register. Backyard Skeptics has become increasingly visible and vocal in Orange County with the launch of several billboard ad campaigns and regular "outreaches" on the...

Al Stefanelli, Georgia State Director of American Atheists, Inc. — the same outfit that has been raising a stink about a cross at Ground Zero — helpfully explains why it’s okay for militantly devout atheists to be such bigots. When they use our leftist courts to suppress Christianity, they are only being intolerant of intolerance: "Intolerance toward beliefs and doctrines that serve only to promote hatred, bigotry and discrimination should be lauded, as should extremist points of view toward the eradication of these beliefs and doctrines." The reference is to Christians and their antithesis Muslims, whom he bizarrely expects us...

Backyard Skeptics, the group that has put up billboards in O.C., say they want to point out what they call immoral acts in the Bible. Members of a grassroots atheist group say they will tear out pages of the Bible at the Huntington Beach pier Saturday to point out what they say is immorality in the book many Christians base their faith on. Backyard Skeptics members plan to rip out pages with specific passages of the Bible that they say portray immoral biblical law, organizers say.

First there were efforts to compel Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Now statists in some nations want to force priests to violate the confidentiality of confession for, ostensibly, the purpose of uncovering sexual abuse. ...This is, of course, just common sense. Would a person really violate Catholic teaching by committing heinous sex crimes but yet feel a compulsion to abide by the teaching prescribing confession? It’s like thinking that someone could be willing to rob a bank but unwilling to violate gun laws as is necessary to obtain the tools for the crime. Thus, because of sex abusers’ de facto...

The organisation, which calls itself B4U-Act, is lobbying for changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, the guideline of standards on mental health that is put together by the American Psychiatric Association, FOXNews.com said. The group says its mission is to help paedophiles before they create a crisis, and to do so by offering a less critical view of the disorder. "Stigmatising and stereotyping minor-attracted people inflames the fears of minor-attracted people, mental health professionals and the public, without contributing to an understanding of minor-attracted people or the issue of child sexual abuse," reads the...

Atheists led by PZ Myers are trying to deny the will of the people of Ohio in selecting a sticker handed out at the polls on election day. Up until this past Thursday or Friday, a very patriotic sticker with the Ohio motto -- "With God, all things are possible" -- was in the lead with over 40% of the vote. The atheists have been manipulating the vote, which closes Monday, because of their personal dislike for that motto. Please help turn this back around. Thank you! http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectYourSticker.aspx?page=1634

It now appears that the ACLJ has less than two weeks to file a legal brief backing the cross at the new Ground Zero Museum. This is being challenged in court by the American Atheists. It is their view (the ACLJ) that the lawsuit is without merit. The cross was formed by two intersecting steel beams that survived the Twin Towers collapse on 9-11. According to the radio station that I heard this information, you can sign the petition at 1-877-989-2255 OR you can log onto Aclj.com and look under "Radio Årchives". ** I apologize if this format is incorrect...

It is really nice to see a bit of good news among all the wretched stories of communist treachery in Washington and across the nation. This past Friday, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) succeeded in beating back the atheist group, Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), in its efforts to prevent Governor Rick Perry from taking part in the Day of Prayer in Texas. As the ACLJ’s Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow reported, “A federal court in Texas did exactly what a federal appeals court did just three months ago. Shut down a flawed legal challenge by the Freedom...

Every now and then there is a lawsuit that really defines the desperation of a failing social movement. The recent decision of one of America’s most intolerant religious organizations, American Atheists, provides a prime example. This group of anti-Christian zealots has filed a lawsuit they will surely lose. But they will suffer an even more resounding defeat in the court of public opinion. Put simply, the lawsuit will demonstrate that atheism is largely the result of emotional inferiority rather than intellectual superiority. If you think my claims are over-stated, just read the following excerpt from their civil (actually it is...

They call themselves 'Backyard Skeptics.' One of their ads, includes the saying ' Out of the Closet Atheists.." They're spending thousands of dollars to put-up 30 bus-shelter ads from Anaheim to Mission Viejo. Their message: “Have Doubts? So Do We” "The campaign is aimed at letting other nonbelievers know “there is a community of non-theists who share the idea that we can be good without God,” The Orange County Register quoted Backyard Skeptics director Bruce Gleason as saying." "The ads are offending commuter, the newspaper noted. “If they don’t want to believe in God then they should just be quiet...

The two steel girders in the shape of a cross discovered in the rubble of the World Trade Center have since been moved to a museum dedicated to 9/11. ALBANY, N.Y., July 28, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) — When two steel girders were found intact, in the shape of a cross, in the middle of the wreckage of the World Trade Center after 9/11, it was hailed by many as a mini “miracle” and a sign of hope for a country beleaguered by a devastating terrorist attack. Now, however, an atheist group has filed a lawsuit that seeks to tear down that...

<p>It’s Christian vs. Atheist in a new thriller released Friday.</p> <p>Except the Christian is the bad guy. And atheists are saying this film could be their “Brokeback Mountain,” which broke down barriers for gays six years ago.</p> <p>The atheist director of “The Ledge” is hoping to start a similar conversation on behalf of non-believers.</p>

Group of atheists, agnostics sues to stop Christian prayer event proposed by Texas governorBy Chris Tomlinson, The Associated Press The Canadian Press – Wed, 13 Jul, 2011 AUSTIN, Texas - A group of atheists and agnostics sued in federal court Wednesday seeking to stop an evangelical Christian prayer event next month that was proposed and is endorsed by Texas' governor. The Freedom from Religion Foundation argues in its lawsuit filed in Houston that Republican Gov. Rick Perry's day of prayer and fasting would violate the constitutional ban on the government endorsing a religion. The event, which is called The Response...

A group that has already criticized Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his involvement with a Christian prayer rally scheduled for Reliant Stadium next month went a step further Wednesday and filed a federal lawsuit in Houston to stop him from promoting it. The Freedom From Religion Foundation claims Perry's association with the "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a National in Crisis" breaches the separation of church and state... The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Perry's official involvement. A Perry spokesman said he won't back away from the event... The suit also seeks to halt further publication of the...

Atheists and agnostics have a lot to learn from gays about the essential role of coming out in any long-term battle for personal respect and political recognition in American society. When New York’s state Senate passed a historic bill legalizing gay marriage last weekend, I happened to be attending a reunion of my eighth-grade class at St. Thomas Aquinas School in East Lansing, MI. A striking fact about this group of men and women, raised on the Catholic and American verities of the 1950s, was that many of my classmates, influenced by gay relatives and friends, long ago discarded the...

Pilots refuse to fly Independence Day atheist banners by John Jalsevac July 4, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An atheist organization that sought to celebrate Independence Day by flying banners promoting atheism all across the United States nearly ran into a major snag – most of the pilots working for the advertizing company refused to fly the banners. USA Today reports that 4 out of 5 pilots working for Fly Signs Aerial Advertising refused to participate in the campaign, which involved banners saying, “God-less America,” and “Atheism is patriotic.” Only 17 of the company’s 85 pilots agreed to participate. USA Today quotes...

(CNN)–It's a battle of belief - and the right not to believe - in a country founded on freedom. "I'm a patriotic American. I served my country. I get out there and celebrate the Fourth, too," Blair Scott, who calls himself a proud atheist, proclaimed. "This America belongs to everyone." Blair, the communications director for the New Jersey-based American Atheists, said atheists in the United States often feel alienated and face accusations of being anti-American because of their lack of belief in God. To combat those notions, his group is using Independence Day to say atheists love their country, too....

Get ready, America. This upcoming July 4 is about more than simply celebrating our nation’s founding. Apparently, it’s also an opportunity for Atheists to set the record straight about their patriotism. Thus, on Monday, people in 27 states will have the opportunity to look up in the sky and see airplanes flying banners that proudly say “God-LESS America“ or ”Atheism is Patriotic.” The campaign, being organized by the New Jersey-based American Atheists, is sure to stoke the fires of controversy.

Nik Rajokovic at Houston’s Channel 13 KTRH broke the story here. This PISSES. ME. OFF. I can barely get my thoughts together to type this post, but I’m not going to sit by and not speak up for those families who have lost a loved one and are having to now worry about submitting a written request for prayer to someone for approval. Last time I checked, this was the Home of the Brave and Land of the Free. Heads up, Director of the Houston National Cemetery. It still is. Thanks to the Berry Brigade, here is how YOU can...

A group of New York City atheists is demanding that the city remove a street sign honoring seven firefighters killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks because they say the sign violates the separation of church and state. The street, “Seven in Heaven Way,” was officially dedicated last weekend in Brooklyn outside the firehouse where the firefighters once served. The ceremony was attended by dozens of firefighters, city leaders and widows of the fallen men. “There should be no signage or displays of religious nature in the public domain,” said Ken Bronstein, president of New York City Atheists. “It’s...

The impulse to create new bibles is not new. ...So while making new bibles may be an old tradition, when an atheist does it, it’s certainly news. Shouldn’t atheists be the last people producing bibles? The fact that the latest edition of the “new” bible has been created by famed British philosopher A.C.Grayling, an avowed atheist, makes one wonder, why has he written this book?

For several years now, I have listened to Dr. Michael Savage’s radio show, The Savage Nation. He is a great thinker in the ways of politics, and his insight, his wit and his general knowledge are a treasure. His talent with words is great, and I love his fiery, truthful eruptions, and I also bust out laughing at his quick humor. I love his voice, and I can see that Dr. Savage has a tender heart. However, as a Christian, there are many times I listen, and I cringe when Dr. Savage gets on a theological discussion, as he did...

A federal judge has ordered a Texas school district to prohibit public prayer at a high school graduation ceremony. Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s order against the Medina Valley Independent School District also forbids students from using specific religious words including “prayer” and “amen.” The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz. Their son is among those scheduled to participate in Saturday’s graduation ceremony. The judge declared that the Schultz family and their son would “suffer irreparable harm” if anyone prayed at the ceremony. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said the school district...

China has claimed for several years a national fertility rate of 1.8 children born per female of child-bearing age. The latest census figures, released just weeks ago, report about 220 million children aged 0-15. This is consistent with a fertility rate of only 1.4. So why the discrepancy? Why would China lie about failing to reach a birth rate goal that it has succeeded in reaching? If China is lying about having as many as 1.8 children per female, doesn't that suggest that China finds it more advantageous to report the higher birth rate? The birth dearth in China is...

Seems like a lot of folks present old Thomas Jefferson as not being a Christian, not being religious, being a Deist, and just different from the other fifty-five signers of the Constitution. It seems folks just like to shoot off their mouth to prove a point without making sure what their shooting is good ammunition. I especially like the use of Mr. Jefferson statement of the “wall between church and state” to denote “the separation of church and state.” It sounds so good but was that what he meant? Mr. Jefferson, are you are Christian? “(My views on Christianity) are...

Richard Dawkins has made his name as the scourge of organised religion who branded the Roman Catholic Church “evil” and once called the Pope “a leering old villain in a frock”. But he now stands accused of “cowardice” after refusing four invitations to debate the existence of God with a renowned Christian philosopher. A war of words has broken out between the best selling author of The God Delusion, and his critics, who see his refusal to take on the American academic, William Lane Craig, as a “glaring” failure and a sign that he may be losing his nerve.

British scientist Stephen Hawking has branded heaven a "fairy story" for people afraid of the dark, in his latest dismissal of the concepts underpinning the world's religions. The author of 1988 international best-seller "A Brief History of Time" said in an interview with The Guardian published on Monday that his views were partly influenced by his battle with motor neurone disease. "I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he told the...