Free Republic

After a year of lockdown, museums, libraries and bookstores across America are reopening. This cultural reawakening’s beginning coincided with both the Juneteenth holiday and the one-year anniversary of the one of the largest protests in American history against racial injustice. As bookstores reopen, many are organizing displays of children's books that celebrate Black history. What you won’t find in even the biggest collections of books is the story of the dark-skinned early people who launched human civilization.

I am a 40-something attorney and mother who lives in a quiet neighborhood with a yard and a garage full of scooters and soccer balls. I often walk with my children to get ice cream and spend weekends hiking through a national park. I am not the type of person who would normally consider becoming a Satanist, but these are not normal times. Like so many other women in the United States, when I learned of Justice Ruth Bader GinsburgÂ’s passing, my first reaction was not grief but fear. I fear that American citizens are inching closer to living in...

Although Montana’s leftwingers claim that anti-police protests around the Big Sky State are peaceful and that citizens being on guard for potential lawlessness amounts to “intimidation,” it appears that there is indeed an ugly side to the activists. They just pulled down a monument to the Ten Commandments, chained it to a pickup, and drove off with it being dragged down the street. Flathead 411 posted a video (credit: Dusty Jones) of workers placing the monument, abandoned in the middle of the street across the yellow line, into a skid steer bucket to be transported out of the way of...

No, Prof. Pinker, Belief in an Afterlife is Not a ‘Malignant Delusion’ A May 20 Washington Post op-ed claimed that evangelical Christians are behind the Republican push to reopen the nation. In response, Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker tweeted on May 21, “Belief in an afterlife is a malignant delusion, since it devalues actual lives and discourages action that would make them longer, safer, and happier. Exhibit A: What’s really behind Republicans wanting a swift reopening? Evangelicals.” (The tweet has since been removed.)Prof. Pinker, a self-described atheist, is wrong on all points. (Practical lesson: You can be a brilliant Harvard scientist...

The New York Times published an op-ed Friday that blamed evangelical Christians for the coronavirus pandemic. The argument, by journalist and author Katherine Stewart, is that because religious voters supported Trump, that means he governs without regard for science. Stewart also claims that Republicans, more than Democrats, are likely to deny science. In her op-ed, titled “The Road to Coronavirus Hell Was Paved by Evangelicals,” she writes: Donald Trump rose to power with the determined assistance of a movement that denies science, bashes government and prioritized loyalty over professional expertise. In the current crisis, we are all reaping what that...

This hothead is going to have to pray for a lot of forgiveness. A crazed woman wielding a stiletto heel and shouting “f–k your God” bashed an elderly singing subway preacher in the head on a train in Manhattan, according to disturbing video released Friday. The 79-year-old victim was preaching aboard a southbound No. 2 train near the 42nd Street-Times Square station at around 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 25, when the woman removed her high heel and menaced him with it as if it were a weapon, according to cops and video of the incident.

Peter Atterton, a professor of philosophy who teaches at San Diego State University, recently published an op-ed in The New York Times with the title, “A God Problem.” The author contends that the traditional “Western,” i.e. Christian, conception of God as a being who is at once “perfect,” “all-powerful,” and “all-knowing” is in fact “not coherent.” To put this another way, the idea of God is self-contradictory, as logically impossible as square circles, colorless red things, and married bachelors. Professor Atterton’s position, as I will show, is no less mistaken now than when it was articulated by philosophers in centuries past.Atterton launches a two-prong...

A Home Office official cited the bible to claim that Christianity is not a peaceful religionThe British Home Office has agreed to reconsider the asylum claim of an Iranian Christian, after it was shown on Twitter that the department had denied the application on the grounds that Christianity is not a peaceful religion. “The Home Office have agreed to withdraw their refusal and to reconsider our client’s asylum application, offering us a chance to submit further representations. A good start, but more change is needed”, the Iranian’s caseworker, Nathan Stevens, tweeted March 22. Stevens added that he hopes “there will...

“Teen Vogue” Columnist Lauren Duca responded to news of Rev. Billy Graham’s death by telling him to, “Have fun in hell, bitch.” Taking to Twitter after news broke that the world-renowned and beloved evangelist had died Wednesday at age 99, Duca mocked Graham’s longevity and hurled her insult: “The big news today is that Billy Graham was still alive this whole time. Anyway, have fun in hell, bitch.” After receiving backlash on Twitter for her hateful irreverence, Duca doubled-down on her comment, declaring that “Respecting the dead” only applies to people who weren’t evil pieces of sh*t while they were...

An antifa agitator who had been spouting off about virtues of communism while counter-protesting a pro-Trump “March For Jesus” in Portland, Oregon, was run over by a small pickup truck. The unidentified, uhh, person (gender unclear) apparently had some kind of weapon, as you can hear some of the pro Trump command the person (?) to get rid of their weapon. The communist then bolts across the Hawthorne bridge, only to be HIT SQUARE ON by a pickup truck, who had just emerged beyond the trusses of the bridge, and was likely unable to see the person (?) running through...

An Arizona man is fighting for his right to wear his religious headwear - a spaghetti colander - in his drivers license photo. Sean Corbett is part of the "Pastafarian" religion, a belief that a flying spaghetti monster created the universe. According to the website of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, the religion became more mainstream in 2005 after an open letter concerning the teaching of Creationism in schools. The site states that all religions are welcome to join their community, which believes their heaven consists of a beer volcano and stripper factory. The church recommends wearing colanders...

In “Physics: A cosmos in the lab,” a review of A Big Bang in a Little Room: The Quest to Create New Universes by Zeeya Merali, cosmologist Andreas Albrecht writes at Nature, The question of cosmic origins, and the possibility that humans might create new universes, can connect with religious concerns. These form a substantial thread through A Big Bang in a Little Room that significantly reduced the book’s appeal to me. I am an atheist. I respect that many people are deeply religious (some are very close to me) and that religion can have a positive, even beautiful,...

An Illinois man who was one of the better-known atheists in the country and an activist for keeping religious and government affairs separate died in a plane crash last week, officials said Monday. The McHenry County coroner said an autopsy Monday revealed that Robert I. Sherman, 63, of Poplar Grove, died from multiple crash injuries. Authorities said Sherman was piloting a small plane that crashed into a cornfield either Friday night or Saturday morning. The crash is under investigation. Sherman was an outspoken atheist and critic of using state money for religious purposes and having religious displays in public spaces....

In canonizing Mother Teresa as a saint ("Pope declares Mother Teresa a saint," Sept. 5), the pope publicly confirmed the essential tenets of Catholicism: That God could have stopped Catholic priests from raping altar boys. But, overall, He didn't want to. And millions throughout the world rejoiced in this good news. Such is religion.

This weekend on the Mall in Washington, a bunch of atheists — tens of thousands, including me -- will get together just to be counted as not having a personal god. Why? Whether the pollsters bemoan it or celebrate it, the percentage of Americans who are losing their religion is rising. And in a presidential election year, candidates need to take note. Two of those remaining, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, still give lip service to being religious -- even if many on either side of religion don't believe them or want to claim them. (Why would this be the...

7th Graders Forced To Deny God Is real, Or Take Failing Grade

If you doubt that Christians are fair game for ridicule by the cultural left, take a look at the hit piece on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia by Jeffrey Tayler for Salon. I can't decide which is worse, the title or the subtitle. The title: "Antonin Scalia is unfit to serve: A justice who rejects science and the law for religion is of unsound mind." The subtitle: "The justice claims to be an originalist, but his real loyalty is to religion and a phony man in the sky." The writer is trying to be cute, but don't conclude that any...

Jesus Christ was not a real person and is probably the result of a combination of stories about several different individuals, according to a writer and leading atheist activist. David Fitzgerald, a San Francisco based author, believes he has compiled compelling evidence that proves Jesus did not exist. He claims there are no contemporary mentions of Jesus in historical accounts from the time when he was supposed to have lived, yet other Jewish sect leaders from the time do appear.

Astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil DeGrasse Tyson is defending Scientology in light of HBO's highly critical documentary on the church. HBO's documentary "Going Clear" did not show the church in an entirely positive light — Scientology has a built a reputation for tormenting members who leave it either by surveillance or harassment. The film highlights the celebrities who made the religion intriguing to the world as well as the horrific stories of abuse from former members. But Tyson, in an interview with The Daily Beast, declined to bash the controversial church, saying people are free to believe whatever they want. "So,...

Three young Muslims, including a newly-wed couple, were shot dead in their home in a North Carolina neighbourhood in the US. Students Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her sister, Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, were found shot dead at their apartment in Chapel Hill near the University of North Carolina (UNC) campus. A 46-year-old man, identified by police as Craig Stephen Hicks, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder. All three victims were shot in the head, sources told WRAL news network. A motive has not yet been confirmed The incident sparked widespread outrage...