Free Republic

The Savior, the Master Teacher    By Elder Jay E. JensenOf the Presidency of the SeventyJay E. Jensen, "The Savior, the Master Teacher", Ensign, Jan. 2011, 42–47   We are to feast upon the words of Christ—the scriptures—and, as He did, use them to teach and strengthen others.  Under the direction of His Father, Jesus Christ created worlds without number. He was the great Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. He was born of a mortal mother, Mary, and of God the Eternal Father. He was the greatest being to live on earth. He said He came “to do the will of him...

And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;(Ephesians 8)Christ himself says this in Mark 3:28. Do you think he meant it? 28'I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them." Notice the future tense. At the time he spoke these words, all men were condemned by imputed sin of Adam just as they are now but not condemned by imputed righteous for those who accept HIM. He is reported again as saying the same thing in...

....My father, because his country was founded in faith, and blood – a million people had died so that it could be made–could not say that the sentence was wrong; the sentence stood; all he sought for Aasia Bibi was clemency on humanitarian grounds. But it was enough to demand his head. What my father could never say was what I suspect he really felt: "The very idea of a blasphemy law is primitive; no woman, in any humane society, should die for what she says and thinks." And when finally my father sought the repeal of the laws that...

A 60-year-old university administrator in the southern port city of Karachi is wistful as he recalls the more tolerant, freewheeling Pakistan of his youth. Once, when a teacher suggested no book can be perfect, the boy asked if that included Islam's holy book, the Quran. That sparked a candid class discussion about religion. But in today's Pakistan, Muqtida Mansoor said he would never dare to ask the question in public. After all, "anyone could shoot you." [snip] "The silent majority does not want to take out a gun and shoot anyone, but at the same time they're not appalled by...

An Austrian has been fined for yodelling while mowing his lawn, according to a report. The Kronen Zeitung newspaper claims Helmut G. was told by a court in Graz, Styria, that his yodelling offended his next-door Muslim neighbours. The men reportedly accused the 63-year-old of having tried to mock and imitate the call of the Muezzin. The daily paper writes the Austrian was fined 800 Euros after judges ruled he could have tried to offend them and ridicule their belief. The Muslims, whose nationalities were not revealed by the report, were right in the middle of a prayer when the...

QALQILIYA, West Bank (AP) — A mysterious blogger who set off an uproar in the Arab world by claiming he was God and hurling insults at the Prophet Muhammad is now behind bars — caught in a sting that used Facebook to track him down. The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from this backwater West Bank town, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority — and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.

While America prepared to watch another round of Monday Night Football, freedom of speech again went on trial in Europe. The criminal prosecution of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Woff (photo above) began today in Vienna, Austria. Elisabeth, a wife and mother, is charged with denigrating religious teachings – specifically Muslim teachings – for speaking publicly with quotes from the Koran and rendering her opinions of the same. She faces a year in prison if convicted. Gates of Vienna is covering the trial in considerable detail, with live blogging of questions and testimony during the proceedings. The link to the site, followed by an...

The provocative exposition will be defended now as before by the Austrian Freedom Party. St. Pölten (kath.net) In connection with the "art exhibit" in the National House of Lower Austria, the FPO National Council, Walter Rosenkranz is making a statement to the State Attorney General of St. Polten. An Australian "artist" has put an oversized condom on a Marian statue and has covered it also with mock semen, which has till recently been on display at the Capital.

Most of us have had a Mormon Missionary knock at our door.  If you have ever invited them in and listened to a presentation of their beliefs, you probably found most but not all of what they said very similar to those beliefs held by Christians.  However, while trying to convince you that your Church is wrong and the Mormon Church is right, there are several points they intentionally leave out.  Below is a list of Mormon beliefs the missionaries will be reluctant to tell you about:   They will be reluctant to tell you that the God they...

As the Unions begin their annual push to get the rank and file to the polls we now have evidence that Union Leaders are now telling their members they need to stand by Obama by voting to keep Congress in the hands of Democrats. After all, even Jesus Christ Himself could not do a better job than Obama has.  At least that's what  AFL-CIO official Herb Johnson has been telling the rank and file in Kansas City Mo. That's right. In an interview with an AP reporter, Mr Johnson actually equated Obama with Jesus Christ by saying Jesus could not...

* Loveland Colorado's Official Tax-Subsidized Religious Bigotry: The city's Loveland Museum is displaying blasphemous artwork, using tax dollars from Governor Bill Ritter no less, portraying Jesus in a filthy, sexually perverse way. The director of the museum told Bob Enyart Live that the rumors that they were also portraying Mohammad as a homosexual were not true. In fact, director Susan Ison said that the following reports was fictitious and absolutely, "not accurate."

I am curious to see what happens when President Obama invites Molly Norris to the White House for a beer. Oh, Wait…Molly Norris can’t go to the White House for beer because Molly Norris no longer exists; any trace of her has been wiped clean. Norris, a Seattle cartoonist, was the unfortunate, creative mind who conceived of “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.” Ironically, her satirical comment on the demise of free speech in America led to protests and death threats from fundamentalists Muslims, who apparently take cartooning very seriously. Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric who became an al-Qaida leader, then issued...

Exhibit shows Jesus taking part in lewd act

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has expressed a willingness to ban protesters from burning the Koran as the modern day equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theater.The Supreme Court has ruled burning the American flag in protest is protected speech under the First Amendment of the Constitution.Breyer spoke to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's Good Morning America today:But Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer told me on "GMA" that he's not prepared to conclude that -- in the internet age -- the First Amendment condones Koran burning.“Holmes said it doesn’t mean you can shout 'fire' in a crowded theater,” Breyer...

"In a way, Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God." Newsweek editor Evan Thomas Grand Old Partisan calls on the Democratic Party to denounce and disavow efforts by the socialist media to portray Barack Obama as God, with images such as:

Harrisburg, PA (LifeNews.com) -- In a ruling involving a mentally disabled man whose legal guardians sought the power to end his medical care, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that state law requires life-preserving treatment for people who are not near death and have not refused treatment. The Alliance Defense Fund and allied pro-life attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 53-year-old David Hockenberry, who has had acute mental disabilities since birth, arguing that his legal guardians should not be allowed to deny him life-preserving treatment while he is not terminal or unconscious.Hockenberry’s guardians unsuccessfully attempted to deny him...

What are we to think of Calvin? Rev . Fr. Philippe Marcille The influence of John Calvin (1509-1564) has been immense, perhaps even more so than that of Luther. Certainly, without the bellowing revolutionary Luther, Calvin would not have been able to do anything; yet without Calvin, the revolt would not have had the political impact that it did in France and especially the United States. Origins He was born in Picardy, France, in 1509. His parents were well-to-do people. A very gifted student, he received a benefice from the Church and continued his studies at Paris. He was not...

Few would have guessed it, but Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi has become quite the outspoken Catholic. In last month's Catholic Community Conference in Washington, she testified that amnesty for illegal aliens would be a "manifestation of our living the Gospels," and that our legislative paths should be paved by the concepts found in the word of God. Specifically, she alluded to the scriptural reference of Jesus Christ, the embodiment of "the Word made flesh." But Pelosi's legislative record does not suggest there is any truth to this spiritual proclamation. She has actually been one of the biggest obstacles to the...

Queen of controversy Lady Gaga is making headlines for yet another racy video featuring highly sexualized material combined with religious imagery. But while some argue Gaga has crossed the line between edgy and tasteless, her use of distorted Catholic imagery speaks to a rising trend in Hollywood. The pop princess, real name Stefani Germanotta, recently released the music video for her single “Alejandro” and has sparked quite the outcry given its saturation of controversial imagery, including her swallowing rosary beads in a latex-version of a nun’s habit, holding the crucifix in front of her crotch and simulating group sex with...