Free Republic

Large swaths of economics are going to have to be rethought on the basis of what's happened." So said Larry Summers, President Obama's chief economic adviser, in an interview in the weeks after the markets crashed a year ago. Yet to a remarkable degree, economic thinking hasn't changed very much at all. (Click here to follow Michael Hirsh). Now financier George Soros is announcing a $50 million effort to speed things along. This week Soros is gathering some of the leading practitioners of the market-skeptic school, who were marginalized during the era of "free-market fundamentalism," among them Nobelists Joseph Stiglitz,...

He enraged America's religious right with his portrayal of God as a senile old man in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and now Philip Pullman is set to court more Christian controversy – this time with a novel about "the Scoundrel Christ". The book will provide a new account of the life of Jesus, challenging the gospels and arguing that the version in the New Testament was shaped by the apostle Paul. "By the time the gospels were being written, Paul had already begun to transform the story of Jesus into something altogether new and extraordinary, and some of his...

HATES THE RIGHT WING FOR BEING NON VIOLENT“The American Right-wing (RW) with few exceptions is totally Pacifist. They are "educators." The RW does NOTHING BUT TALK. It offers no Goal, no short or long-term objectives, no plan of action against the well-known enemy. There is no strategy, no tactical advice. Only the warning: DO NOTHING, BREAK NO LAWS, SIT TIGHT (as it has for almost 100-years). (7 or 8 paragraphs from bottom)

The atheists and humanists must have been eyeing the benefits of Christian congregations because they now want a piece of the action. To accomplish this, they are establishing God-free, um, church-type places. They want all the benefits of a Christian church without the Christian part. I can save them a great deal of trouble in starting this God-free denomination. All they need to do is find their local mainline Protestant church. Why reinvent the wheel? These atheists, agnostics and humanists will feel right at home on Evolution Sunday, listening to lectures about the glories of man, and they can have...

My box office gurus are telling me that New Line Cinema's holiday tentpole The Golden Compass is going to be a huge bomb. They predict an opening domestic weekend starting today only in the high $20s million from 3,528 theaters. That's disastrous because, with a pricetag of $200+ million without P&A costs, the fantasy epic should be making a minimum $50 million debut. Not to mention that the studio has spent big bucks marketing the heck out of the PG-13 pic based on UK author Philip Pullman's young adult book trilogy His Dark Materials. Problem is, Golden Compass has sparked...

Neither snow, nor rain, nor fire and brimstone will keep Joshua Witter from the swift completion of his appointed rounds come the end of the world. Witter, a 24-year-old self-described atheist living in Orlando, is the creator of the Post-Rapture Post, which bills itself as "the postal service of the saved." For as little as $4.99, Witter offers to deliver your letters to friends and loved ones left behind after the Rapture, when some Christians believe they will be whisked up to heaven while everyone else — the "Left Behind" of the popular book series — suffers a series of...

An Ohio woman is steaming after reading an anti-God message published on the side of a Starbucks coffee cup. The message that got Michelle Incanno's blood boiling reads: "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure."

Atheists Split Over Message By JAY LINDSAY BOSTON - Atheists are under attack these days for being too militant, for not just disbelieving in religious faith but for trying to eradicate it. And who's leveling these accusations? Other atheists, it turns out. Among the millions of Americans who don't believe God exists, there's a split between people such as Greg Epstein, who holds the partially endowed post of humanist chaplain at Harvard University, and so-called "New Atheists." Epstein and other humanists feel their movement is on the verge of explosive growth, but are concerned it will be dragged down by...

James Rosen from FOX News does this news story about Rep. Pete Stark (D) Fremont, CA who cussed out an Army National Guard soldier on his personal telephone voicemail in response to a letter from the soldier, his constituent.

SAN DIEGO – A San Diego appeals court ruled Thursday that Proposition A, a voter-approved 2005 measure which authorized transferring land underneath the Mount Soledad cross to the federal government was constitutional. The 3-0 ruling by a panel of justices from the 4th District Court of Appeal overturned a decision by Superior Court Judge Patricia Yim Cowett that invalidated the measure. Cowett ruled that Proposition A violated the state constitution's ban on government preference or aid to religion. The justices concluded that the initiative was religiously neutral and city voters did not endorse the establishment of any religion when...

Philip Kevin Paulson, who fought a 17-year legal battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from public property, died Wednesday of liver cancer. He was 59. Paulson, a 6-foot-5 Vietnam veteran who lived in City Heights, became so passionate about the separation of church and state that he filed a civil lawsuit against the city of San Diego in 1989 without an attorney. He won the case, and as the appeals dragged on he became one of the county's most reviled and respected characters. The CrossTypical Memorial Plaque around base During interviews with The San Diego Union-Tribune in September and...

Science writers like Gould, Goodenough, Sagan, or Dawkins often aspire to communicate the wonder they feel at the beauty, complexity, and diversity of nature. It's a natural consequence of a career in science—perhaps even a prerequisite for one—to marvel at stars in the sky or strange creatures of the deep, or even the miracle of our own flesh. Great science writing tries to transmit that same sense of amazement to the reader. In return, all too often these writers are paid the backhanded compliment that they, who do not believe in spirits, are "spiritual;" that the joy they take in...

Philip Paulson, who sued the city of San Diego 17 years ago to force the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from public property, has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Paulson, 59, and his lawyer, James McElroy, said yesterday they plan to add another plaintiff to the case so that it may continue. Like Paulson, the new plaintiff, Steve Trunk, is a Vietnam war veteran, an atheist and the product of a religious upbringing. “I'm deeply saddened to hear about Phil's health,” McElroy said. “He's been a very courageous man in my eyes to stand up against such difficult...

TAMPA - It may have been the least likely place for a man who doesn't believe in God to receive a standing ovation, but it happened Sunday morning when Joe Redner went to church. Bishop Randy White, senior pastor at Without Walls International Church, invited the strip club owner to join him in the pulpit and talk about his campaign for the Hillsborough County Commission District 5 seat. "All right, he's not running for pastor. My job's not up," White jokingly told parishioners while introducing Redner, as their continued applause prompted Redner to stand and nod his head in thanks.

The federal judge who ordered the removal of the Mount Soledad cross from city parkland yesterday rejected a bid by a private group to join the litigation, saying its efforts to save the cross come “much too late.” The decision means that San Diegans for the Mount Soledad National War Memorial cannot appeal the judge's decision ordering the city to remove the 29-foot concrete cross by Aug. 1 or pay $5,000 daily fines. The group was behind Proposition A, a public vote last summer to donate the cross to the federal government for a national park. It says it wants...

San Diego lawyer Jim McElroy insists he isn't terribly bothered by the scathing insults and threats directed his way. A few weeks back, someone wrote him an e-mail telling him to “burn in hell.” Someone else sent a note that opened with the words, “Hey Dumb--- McElroy.” Then there was this message, e-mailed several months ago. “When outraged Americans come and commit justifiable homicide against James McElroy, I'm throwing a party and inviting McElroy's family and friends and co-workers . . . It will be a great festive day!” McElroy has practiced law in San Diego for 19 years, usually...

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has indicated that he would fight hard to save the Mount Soledad cross. He also indicated that “The courts have routinely approved secular monuments that have crosses as an element of the (war memorial) monument.” This is not a true statement. There is not one single federal or California case that has ever approved the permanent placement of a cross on federal land, state land or city land, monument or no monument, war memorial or no war memorial. Quite the contrary, there are 10 c ases that have ruled on the permanent presence of crosses...

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,...

A high school senior in the Chicago area complained to district officials because religious people were allowed to speak at a school-wide assembly,.. --snip-- Lane Tech's principal, Keith Foley (along with a teacher who attended the event) says God or faith was not mentioned once. --snip-- Soto didn't even attend the assembly, however. He sat it out along with four other students in the principal's office.

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

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA — For sixteen years atheist, Phillip Paulson, claiming he wants to maintain neutrality between government and religion, has been waging an unrelenting war against the Mt. Soledad Cross that is the centerpiece of the historic Veterans Memorial in San Diego. However, Paulson’s comments on the website of the Atheist Coalition of San Diego reveals his true motivation is hatred for Christianity. Paulson goes so far as to state; “We need to attack Jesus…” Those comments, followed by vulgar remarks about Christ, God and the Virgin Mary are so crude and offensive that the Thomas More Law...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - An outspoken Catholic cardinal took his war of words with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to a new level in an interview published Sunday, calling him "a paranoid dictator" who needs "an exorcism." Rosalio Castillo, Venezuela's only cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, also accused Chavez of rounding up more than 100 political prisoners and torturing some captives. "There is no democracy here (in Venezuela)," Castillo told Colombia's main newspaper, El Tiempo. "This is a despotic government." Chavez, who insists he supports democracy, is up for re-election next year, and recent polls suggest he is strongly favored...

"Too Late To Die Young: Nearly True Tales From a Life," by Harriet McBryde Johnson. About two years ago, Harriet Johnson appeared on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. If you saw her portrait, you probably haven't forgotten it. A thin woman in a wheelchair leans forward, a purple shawl draping one shoulder. Johnson describes it this way in her new memoir: "The portrait has been described as beautifully disturbing, and most nondisabled people seem to see it that way. I'd prefer to call it disturbingly beautiful, but I'll take it the other way around if I must."...

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn College (search) professor has ignited a firestorm of controversy over comments he made about organized religion.

Flag shouldn't be lowered for pope, group says By Matt Pommer April 6, 2005 An anti-religion group is denouncing Gov. Jim Doyle's executive order to lower flags to mark the death of Pope John Paul II. Doyle's directive appears like "an endorsement of Roman Catholicism over other religious viewpoints," according to the Freedom From Religion Foundation. On Saturday, the governor praised the pope as both an inspiration spiritual leader and a man who has made "a significant impact on social justice." Doyle cited the pope's fight against communism, his opening of dialogue with other faiths, and his fight for peace...

The Mount Soledad cross must go, the San Diego City Council said yesterday. The 16-year saga of whether the cross would stay on public land in La Jolla came to an emotional conclusion last night as the council voted 5-3 to reject a last-ditch effort to keep it in place. The vote capped a six-hour public hearing that attracted 350 people, most of them Christians who urged the council to donate the cross and surrounding land to the federal government so it possibly could remain where it has stood since 1954. But the cross now must be moved to comply...

The United States is often cited as the most devout nation in the Western world; somewhere around 90 percent of the population affirms a belief in God. So, what's it like to be among the 10 percent who do not share that view? Rik Myslewski is a 54-year-old San Francisco native who studied to become a Catholic priest before dropping out of seminary and eventually abandoning his faith altogether. Myslewski, a former rock musician who is editor in chief of MacAddict magazine, declared himself an atheist when he was in his 20s. Since then, he hasn't looked back. Let's start...

Jeddah: George Soros is warning all oil-producing countries about pegging their currencies and oil revenues to the dollar. "The US dollar is weak, and is expected to deteriorate more," said Soros. The famous currency trader and financier warned Russia and other oil-producing countries to sell their oil and price it in euros rather than US dollars, because the US dollar continues to fall against the euro. The US dollar poses a danger to oil-producing countries and their economies, he said. Many central banks intend to peg their currencies to the euro and increase their balances of European currency against the...

Atheist sues to prevent prayer at Bush inauguration The Associated Press (Updated Thursday, January 6, 2005, 4:45 PM) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An atheist who sued because he did not want his young daughter exposed to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is now filing a suit to bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, notes that two ministers, the Reverend Franklin Graham and the Reverend Kirbyjon Caldwell, delivered Christian invocations at Bush's first inaugural ceremony in 2001.

An effort to boost Christmas Tree recycling in Chicago has come under fire by atheists (search), who say it unfairly benefits Christians. Authorities planned to hand out a year's worth of blue recycling bags in exchange for one used tree, but atheist activist Rob Sherman says the program is inherently unfair to those without Christmas trees. Officials told him he could bring someone else's tree but Sherman complained that "Atheists shouldn't have to go begging from home to home for a Christian who will sponsor them." The city will now offer the blue bags to anyone who visits a tree...

'MERRY CHRISTMAS" — I know those Christian-sounding words ought to feel odd coming from my lips — I'm a third-generation atheist of Jewish ancestry and I'm almost evangelical in my lack of faith. But they feel fine. 'Merry Christmas!' "

Going All the Way An atheist "converts" to intelligent design. Why so timid, Mr. Flew? BY ANDREW KLAVAN Friday, December 24, 2004 12:01 a.m. Antony Flew and I found God this year. We had different reactions to the discovery. Mr. Flew, an 81-year-old professor of philosophy in Britain, had been a leading champion of atheism for the past half-century. He has now hesitantly accepted a version of what's called the argument from design. He says the "unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce life" shows that "intelligence must have been involved." But in a panel discussion taped...

Bill O'Reilly, one of the most ardent defenders of Christmas interviewed Peter Boyles of KHOW 630am radio about the talk radio and grass roots movement that put Christmas back into the annual Parade of Lights celebration here in Denver, Colorado. The local talk show hosts here in Denver who led the charge were Gunny Bob Newman, Mike Rosen, Donna Star all on KOA 850am and Dan Caplis on KHOW 630am. Add to that the coverage on FoxNews, Michelle Malkin's Lump of Coal campaign idea and the grass roots effort from the great Americans in our state and electronic activism from...

Science Gives Famous Atheist Faith in God. NEW YORK - A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God, more or less, based on scientific evidence, and says so on a video released Thursday. At age 81, after decades of insisting belief is a mistake, Antony Flew has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of life and the complexity of nature, Flew said in a...

On the Gunny Bob Newman show and the Donna Star show here in Denver on KOA 850am tonight they have been talking about Denver mayor Hickenlooper's decision to ban the words 'Merry Christmas' from the traditional Parade of Lights downtown parade as well as any 'Christmas' float.

(Great Falls-AP) Nov. 16, 2004 - The Town of Great Falls will ask the United States Supreme Court to overturn lower court rulings that prevents Town Council from using the name "Jesus Christ" in prayers at meetings. The council voted 6-1 on Monday night to appeal the case. Darla Kaye Wynne, a Wiccan high priestess, sued the town in 2001 after its leaders refused to open meetings only with nonsectarian prayers or to allow members of different faiths to lead the prayers. A judge's ruling last year banned reference to a specific deity in prayers at the town's meetings, ruling...

ARTICLE 19 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 1. Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness. No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any court.  

The Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts has given Eagle Scout Darrell Lambert about a week to decide "in his heart" if he's truly an atheist. If he insists on sticking to his belief that there is no God, the Council will terminate his membership. "No way" is he going to change his beliefs, says Lambert, who has been in scouting since he was 9 years old. "It'd be like me asking them to change their belief. It's not going to happen." His beliefs, if unchanged, give the Scouts no choice, says Brad Farmer, council's Scout executive in Seattle....

(CNSNews.com) - The assistant Scoutmaster of a Pacific Northwest Boy Scout troop is currently faced with the decision of professing his belief in a "supreme being" or facing banishment from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). However, 19-year-old Darrel Lambert said he's been an atheist since the ninth grade and he's sticking to his convictions. Lambert's track record with the Seattle-based Troop 1531 is impressive. Throughout his 10-year scouting career he earned 37 merit badges to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout; served as a quartermaster and three-time senior patrol leader; and has dedicated himself to more than 1,000 hours...

Christians have long been criticized for their disunity, for splitting up over theological differences and for disagreeing about the nature of their faith. Now atheists are having their own theological disputes and are trying to excommunicate each other over differences as to the nature of godlessness. The catalyst for this schism is the Godless Americans March on Washington. This event, scheduled for Nov. 2, is designed to emulate other aggrieved groups—from liberal civil-rights advocates to pro-lifers—in putting together a huge crowd to march on the nation's capital to publicize their cause. Godless Americans, inspired by the ruckus raised by the...

WOODSTOCK IS FINALLY OVERTHE TIMES, THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' By: John GuthmillerPundits are wallowing in the unexpected largesse of last Tuesday's history-making midterm election. Seldom do the chattering classes get so much meat to chew on. Conservatives - the handful who get air time - are reveling like the Osbournes at a wrap party, while Democrats are alternately wailing like they should have at Paul Wellstone's funeral or putting on a game face and pretending their unprecedented losses don't matter. In the end, Republicans made political gains in the House of Representatives, and retook the Senate. These are stories to...

Imagine there's no atheist. By Darren Morrison The Ex-Beatle John Lennon wrote a song called Imagine. This song became a hymn for GOD haters everywhere. Marxists use this song as their battle cry and this very song is living proof that John Lennon was an anti-freedom communist. On December of 2000 Fidel Castro attended the unveiling of a bronze statue of John Lennon sitting on a bench in a park of the city. The statue has been made by Cuban sculptor Josè Villa Soberon, and represents a long haired John in blue jeans. From the sixties The Beatles have been...

Newdow is NOT an athiest. He is a PRACTICING Jew according to his child's mother per ED on Fox & Friends according to Rita Cosby's report interviewing Newdow's daughter's mother(they have never been married). He has always been "interested" in contitutional law is the reason given for taking this to court. Isn't THAT SPECIAL?!

Posted on Wed, Jul. 03, 2002 Ventura's 'Indivisible Day' proclamation riles some ASSOCIATED PRESS ST. PAUL (AP) _ Gov. Jesse Ventura's proclamation of the Fourth of July as "Indivisible Day" in Minnesota, an order sought by an atheist group, has upset the secretary of state and others who see it as a slap at religion. The proclamation, which Ventura signed Tuesday, emphasizes the constitutional separation between church and state. "Eternal vigilance must be maintained to guard against those who seek to stifle ideas, establish a narrow orthodoxy, and divide our nation along arbitrary lines of race, ethnicity and religious belief...