Free Republic

Why did he hire so many “Csars” then?

The only person Pope Francis is “obsessed with” is Jesus Christ and His Saving Power. Since Satan is the enemy of God and of His son, Jesus, it stands to reason that PF would also be antagonistic to Satan and his legions of followers.

This may be too difficut a concept for non-believers to appreciate or understand.

Apeech is one, and theother is Religious freedon and the right to have a conscience which objects to their behavior.

I distinctly remember Gretchen Carlson on Fox & Friends saying that her family’s GM car dealership which they had for about 90 years or so, and which was very profitable, was closed even though some dealerships in Minneapolis were allowed to stay open - because they were liberal friends of the Mpls Mayor.

Now that the IRS double dealing has come into the open, maybe the GM franchises will also be scrutinized more clearly.

Not the same thing. Some PETA activists are borderline terrorists or wannabees.

I know many PETA folks are simply animal advocates, but the left-most members are intimidating and assaulting people who do not agree with them and then they hide behind their mantra that they are just nice folks protecting God’s creatures.

What the world needs now is more of the Holy Spirit and less of Lucifer; more of the Ten Commandments and less of anti-Bully laws and PC laws [all of which are inherently discriminatory and bullying of the non-PC crowd.) More of wisdom and less of good two-shoes liberals.

".........who were hopeful about the break from the 
hierarchy’s typical bashing of gays, women and all things sexual......" Well, the end of her story reveals her liberal bone fides. She just does not like the R C Church because it is not in step with the current promiscuous lifestyle.

Transparently dishonest!

Amen to that.

In this sex-crazed society, fornication is never mentioned as sinful. My oldest brother was a Deacon in the Catholic Church. He told me that statistics show that those who commit fornication before marriage, tend to be the same ones who commit adultery in a marriage. The sinfulness of sex outside of the marriage bond, and one’s abstaining from it before marriage, gives a person a stronger will to not be unfaithful in a marriage.

OTOH, if a person does not treat fornication as a serious offense against God, they will likely not think twice about adultery. Their conscience fortress walls have already been breached!

True Christians ought to treat sins of the flesh equally - fornication, adultery and homosexual acts are all sinful in nature. The fact that homosexual acts are unnatural as well, make them seem worse, but in God’s eyes are they worse? My view of homosexuals is that when they flaunt their sinful acts and relationships, they are not only promoting their hedonism, they are deliberatley trying to assault my sensibilities. It becomes doubly offensive to me.

But, the same can be said of some hetersexuals who are immodest, crude, lewd, etc in their behavior. My belief is that sexuality is a personal thing and ought not to be inflicted upon others in an agressive and flaunting manner.

The Catholic Church has done studies of couples who cohabitated before marriage, and/or committed fornication before marriage. Their studies showed that such couples were more apt to have failed marriages - with one exception when the couple were in a committed (engaged to be married) relationship and were already in the process of planning their wedding. Then it seemed that the risk of divorce was only slightly higher than couples who did not engage in fornication.

OK. I have been reading the threads with interest, a bit of dismay, and some amusement. After all, did not our Savior say that “In my Father’s kingdom are many mansions”?

I can applaud all the committed Christians here on the thread. However, the following statement has jumped off the page at me.

“If I was Peter, I would be mortified that for centuries Catholicism has glorified me rather than the Lord Jesus Christ himself.”

WOW! What a statement. It is completely inaccurate. No one is glorifying Peter. Peter is such a wonderful personality. His lack of courage during the passion makes him human and easy to relate to. His post resurrection faith and energy give all Christians hope. After all,did not Jesus forgive him, and raise Peter above the other apostles as their leader? Jesus asked Peter Three Times(!), “Do you love me?” Why three times? Because Peter denied Jesus three times! After Peter affirmed his love and faith in Jesus, and confirmed that Jesus was the Son of the living God, then Our Lord and Savior designated Peter as the leader of the “Church He was building”. He gave Peter the Keys of the Kingdom.

Catholics do not worship Peter or raise him above the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God.

The Catholic Church is the Rock of Christianity, the Mother Church. The closer various Christian denominations remain in proximity to the RC Church, the better off they will be.

Believe it or not, I feel that Evangelicals have more in common with me (a practicing RC), than non-practicing Catholics, and many of the so-called mainstream Christian denominations which are accepting so many modern, sinful behaviors. Roman Catholics hold the Trinity, the Triune God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This dogma came from the Early Church, and has never been described as a Trinity except by the Early Christian Church which had its center in Rome. The word “Trinity” is not found in the bible, but all the concepts are clearly in the new Testament.

Jesus said, by their actions ye shall know them. Yes, indeed, I do respect faith-filled Protestants, and am edified by the strength in your beliefs.

As a sister in Christ, we should agree with Christian love, to disagree amicably, but not misrepresent each others’ beliefs.

Peace be to you.

The concept that radiical Feminists are the greatest supporters of Gay marriage may be true, but I still have a nagging belief that gay men frequently hate women. Toe sided of the same coin, IMHO.

Homosexuality is an unbalanced view of humanity. No concept of the complementary sexual natures and spiritual natures of the two genders which are meant for the continuation of the species as well as an even-handed perspective of events.

“Jews were allowed to live as oppressed dhimmi in Muslim lands. They generally weren’t allowed to live at all in Christian lands.”

They were not allowed to live in Christian lands? Then how was it that the Nazis were able to round up 6 million of them and murder them during WWII? While there is ample evidence of discrimination against Jews, laws against them regarding land ownership, etc., segregation and all sorts of blood libels, expulsions, etc., they certainly were allowed to live in Christian lands.

Still, the constant fear of being expelled from their homes was true. Likewise, false accusations.

“Mary was conceived just like every other human that has ever lived, with the sin nature passed to her through her father.............”

Mary was conceived naturallly, which is true. But the “Immaculate Conception” is not a physical thing. It is a spiritual favor granted to her by her Creator who selected her to be the Mother of his Son, Jesus.

Now, is it logical that God, the Almighty Father, would select a woman as a vessel for the Incarnation who was tainted with sin, and under the influence of Satan?

Since Jesus is the new Adam, then Mary is the new Eve. Selected by God, and conceived without the stain of sin, through no power of her or her parents, but by the grace of God.

Honoring Mary is merely recognizing her as the Mother of Jesus, the Savior. Also, we must NEVER FORGET that at the foot of the cross was the Mother of Jesus and a few other women named Mary, plus the Apostle John. Everyone else abandoned Jesus in his hour of darkness.

Of course Romney is to blame. The Statute of Limitations has run out on G W Bush!

And absolutely do NOT drink beer at an American Oktoberfest. It might offend Germans, like me - NOT. But everyone knows Germans can be offended.

HOw about the Irish? Can you have a Bailey’s Irish Cream on St. Patrick’s Day?

In Minnesota, May 17th is celebrated by the Norwegian-Ameicans - Syttendae Mai! their Independence day from the Swedes. I wonder what would offend them? Flying a Swedish flag, perhaps?

Well, I know my ancestor, Johann der Wilde [John, the Wild] von Wallmerode Buewinghausen contributed his share of DNA to the European gene pool. I have said many times that I am related to all Europeans through this man. He lived in the 15-16th century and was married with 3 daughters, but when he died he had acknowledged 72 illegitimate children. I wonder how many more unacknowledge children he had?

He was a minor nobleman in the northern Rheinland. Maybe you too could be a descendant of his?????

I believe the Pope is referring to church as the Roman Catholic Church when speaking to the nuns. Too often the liberal religious congregations have forgotten entirely that to be a good Christian you must first embrace the Lord Jesus as Saviour and must be repentant of your sins. Liberals seem to forget that sins exist as it makes them uncomfortable to speak of it, lest someone might think you are being judgemental and intolerant. As a Christian one of our callings to evangelization is to convict the world of sin and the need for Jesus’s saving grace.

However, the term, the “Christian Church” or “the Body of Christ” can also refer to the entire legion of Christians throughout the world. So, I suppose Pope Francis’s word may seem to be unreasonable, but they are not considering his audience.

I think I heard that Gina DeJesus was a friend of Ariel Castro’s daughter.

What Difference does it Make?????????????

As a Minnesotan, I can tell you that his district is in the heart of liberal Minneapolis with a very large percentage of the pop’n being black.

Ellison’s Moslem name was/and still is hidden from the electorate in Mpls. The guys over at the Powerline blog gave Ellison’s history a lot of coverage, but the low info voters don’t read anything useful like Powerline.

That yellow dress is a surprise to me as I have not seen it before. The pattern on the material looks like french fries! I cannot believe a FLOTUS would actually wear someting like that. And on top of it, she has a matching belt with the same material. Really WIERD!

The problem is not her weight, but the concept that cheerleaders are nothing more than potential playmates for the Playboy magazine.

I deplore the sexualization of cheerleading. It is disgusting.

Will the free loaders ever get over hating the Germans? It is mighty convenient to ask for reparations now after they bankrupted themselves through mismanagement of their money. WWII ended 68 years ago.

The Germans have been good citizens of the world since then. They had a very proud history until the past two wars. That is what having two lousy, evil leaders will do to a country’s reputation. All the Einsteins, Beethovens, Bachs and and pharnaceutical companies cannot seem to lift the reputation of this country.

Somewhere I read that the Germans will need two centuries for the world to look at Germans just like any other country.

As a Catholic, I am happy to see that the truth about the persecution of religious people in Nazi Germany is finally becoming better known. Shame on the 700 Club for disemminating falsehoods about this time in Germany.

I am Catholic and I have always known about the persecution of the Catholic Church under Hitler. The fact is, the Catholic Church was persecuted under Otto von Bismarck as well by the imposition of the “May Laws” which terrorized the clergy in the 1870’s. The law was eventually overturned.

However, I digress. You are correct that for 65+ years the American press has ignored the terrible circumstances of ALL the CHRISTIAN churches under Nazism. It was untrue that the Lutherans did not resist. In fact, they put up a very good fight against the Nazi plan to replace the historic Lutheran Church with a “German Church”, filled with heretical pastors who were willing to toe the line and impose radical nationalism, anti-Semitism, and also willing to replace the crosses in the Lutheran churches with a picture of “Der Fuehrer”.

Recently I read a book about the terrible circumstances faithful Lutherans had when the Nazis came after them and indoctrinated their children with the toxic Nazi philosophy. The book is named, “Day of No Return”, by Kressmann Taylor. It is well worth reading. I highly recommend it. Martin Niemoeller’s name is prominent in the story.

Definitely FDR. Then I would add Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama.

Coexistence - isn’t that the principle that that Neville Chamberlain used when he made the treaty (or whatever it was called) with Hitler’s Germany regarding the Sudetenland? Nazi Germany immediately invaded the Czech hoeland to grab the Sudetenland and then they invaded Polad as well.

Coexistence is a word which is similar to Tolerance. Both words are used as virtues rather than to define an attitude of how to act toward differing philosophies, some of which are evil in nature.

While I am certainly not qualified to interpret the words of Pope Francis, I wonder if he is referring to the fact that we all are guilty of filtering the gospel a bit to fit our own perpective or ideology. Instead we all need to look at the Gospel message as a personal message to us for our own conversion - not the conversion of someone else.

Of course, that may or may not affect the leftists and convert them in any way. But, I do agree with him that social change takes place person by person.

You forgot some more that the gov’t should add: Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormons, Hasidic Jews, Amish, Memmonites, - well, you get the point!

She ought to be fired!

So, the pain felt by all the other normal women is of no account? Only the pain felt by this so-called transgender person is of concern to the authorities?

What I am certain of is this: Sometime, somewhere, one of these people (or a man masquerading as a transgender), is going to assault some little girls in a women’s bathroom, then then the %#$@ will hit the fan.

why do normal folks have to put up with this nonsense?

The 35 Most Powerful LIBERAL people in the media. The folks who formed tis list have probably never heard of many of the comservative media folks. I should check out the entire list. Are Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity on the list?

I find this all very interesting. While some of these folks will return to practicing their religion, many sound to me like their “change of heart” is superficial.

It is nice that they are inspired by Pope Francis’s humble example, but the 2 previous Popes were also humble and holy men. The end result desired is a change of heart and to follow in Jesus’s footseps, converting yourself to be a follower of Jesus, not a person who wants the church to change according to their own values. The gal who went to a Unitarian Church does not sound like a serious Christian believer to me, but that is my own opinion. At least for now we stil have religious freedom in the USA, which is all for the good.

So was our choice for the most beautiful woman!!

Perhaps someone can answer a question for me. In the first quater of this year, I decided to become a monthly donor, instead of giving once every 3 months. I checked the monthly spot and selected an amount ($20). I thought all was done and well, but my name never appeared on the monthly list, so I was confused about it. I was listed as a donor, however.

I chalked it up to maybe an error on my part, but that brought up another question. When choosing to be a monthly donor, shouldn’t the site indicate if your pledge is for 3 months, 6 months, 9 months or 1 year? I do not recall seeing any indication of how long my pledge was for.

So, I am still confused, and would be willing to be a monthly donor provided I can fully comprehend the pledge I am making. And, did I make an error when I tried to become a monthly donor - like not completing the form or something?

Just asking. Thanks.

Truer words were never spoken. It is all very logical and is proven true by the dopes who are always complaining about being a victim of something or somebody. They wail and cry and never improve their lot in life and never grow in the Grace of the Lord.

“Air brushing photos can work wonders with improvements! I doubt she can hold a candle to several dozen republican ladies, like Sarah Palin, Wisconsin Lt Gov Rebecca Kleefish, etc.”

Over on Powerline they showed pictures of the GOP’s AG’s Pam Bondi of FLorida and the AG of Nevada - I can’t remember her name. Both are very pretty women.

The responses were nearly unanimous. Pam Bondi si the best looking (female) AG.

Not that any of it matters one iota.

Hear, Hear! “Up north” in central Minnesot we have yet to see a 50 degree temperature this spring. Mpls-St Paul finally reached that mark this past week - I think 2 days reached that temp.

This is very good advice, and with the exception of the first point (which referenced priesthood and consecrated lives - nuns and brothers), it should be a great read for all Christians.

OK - just to make it fair - a few women too:

1. Barbara Streisand - can sing some songs well, but is not even half as great as she is rated to be.

2. Judy Garland - sang a bit shrilly when she gets wound up and her voice begins to waver.

Two Comments:

1. I doubt that these Sisters of Charity were Obama supporters. They are the type of religious order who are faithful, orthodox Catholics. This is the type of nuns who are enjoying increased vocations. In other words, not the silly leftist nuns who ride buses around the country looking for more government funds. These latter types are getting no vocations at all.

1. Why is a charitable organization called a business? An inquiring mind wants to know.

“Devotions to these activities won’t save you, either. “ - pictures of a rosary and a scapular.

In the Catholic Church we do have what we call “pious devotions”. They are forms of prayer that inspire us to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. No one is required to use these prayers. They are tools that can strengthen our love of the Holy Trinity or specifically Jesus.

During Lent, our attention is on the impending death of the Lord, Jesus. Thus on Good Friday evening at Tenabrae we sing, “Oh, crucified Messiah, Oh, crucified Redeemer, Son of God Most Holy, Crucifed for us.”

But, but, but, aren’t the Democrats the party of the oppressed and the GOP are the party of bigots? The halo over FDR’s head is a very tarnished one.

Thanks for confirming my memories about this subject.

Years ago (the early ‘80’s) I was at the LDS Gen’l Library in SLC, and I discovered one of my ancestors (a 6th ggrandfather) had been “sealed” into the LDS Church. I was allowed to contact the person who submitted my ancestor’s name and we discovered we were something like 7th or 8th cousins. I added a few more people to my family tree that day.

Although I am not Mormon, I see no particular harm in your faith’s tradition of doing this. However, I don’t comprehend why a man who was already baptized in the “Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” in a Christian faith in the 17th century would need to have it done again.

You really do not need to reply to this - it is only a comment on my part.

The headline is not misleading. Christians are expected to act in the name of Jesus Christ, and to be his voice, hands and feet upon this earth. So, the concept that the kiss was a kiss from heaven is not so outrageous, but is a symbol of God’s love for all of us. When we do anything out of love for God, we are bringing a bit of heaven to the earth.

I seem to remember that several years ago, there was a confrontation between Mormons and Jews regarding this posthumous baptizing of dead people, particularly those who were Jews. In fact, it may have been the baptism of Anne Frank which prompted this meeting. I also seem to remember that the Mormon Church agreed to tell their members not to submit the names of deceased Jews to their temple for “sealing” in the LDS Church. Does anyone else remember this?

This cannot be true because everyone knows that sexual abuse of teenagers only happens in the Catholic Church!/s

Enough already! I feel like I am living in an alternate universe. After reading the comments, I realize that there are still a majority of people who think the church has done absolutely nothing to change their policies in screening seminarians, reporting abuses, removing the culprits, apologizng, etc.. I expect better from Freepers who ought to know better.

Because the RC Church is so huge, and because it has a hierarchy, the abuses of which 80% of the cases were attributable to - homosexual clergy with teenage boys, they have been broadcast all over and over and over and over again, and again, and again!!!!! They are not typically pedophilia but homosexual in nature. The fact that this is still being called Pedophilia is harmful to our youth, See my comments below about the Boy Scouts!!

Yes the abuses were horrible; Yes, they should have been stopped and punished and removed from the clergy; Yes the victims deserved attention and apology from the bishops, etc, and there was no excuse for the many years that nothing was done - which should have been done case by case immediately. The church has learned its lesson, although there is still some who are in denial. However, Pope Benedict has been excellent in cleaning out the church of many bad bishops - who were either homosexuals themselves or were afraid to act and intimidated by the enormity of the problem. Thank God that many seminaries have been totally restructured and candidates for prieshood are now being screened very well. The newly ordained priests are terrific, at least the ones I have met in the past 5 years are very dedicated and holy men.

HAS SOCIETY LEARNED ANYTHING FROM THIS DEBACLE?
NO! Harping continually against the RC Church will not correct the problems in the general society. The fact is that the RC church has adressed their problems, and hopefully will not have new cases anymore or will be handled better in the future.

BUT, WHAT ABOUT THE BOY SCOUTS? WHAT ABOUT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

The Gay Lobby is trying to force the Boy Scouts to accept Homosexuals as troop leaders. It is to the Gay Lobby’s advantage to continue to lable the Catholic Church problems as Pedophilia when it was actually primarily homosexual in nature.

As for the schools, is no one concerned about the constant drum of cases whereby teachers are abusing our children from small kids to high schoolers? Both male and female teachers! Is it because these institutions are less easy targets than the RCC Church?

If we as a society close our eyes and only keep yammering about a problem that has been resolved and then look the ohter way at other abusers, how is that helping our children?

We know from the messages of angels in the Bible and the teachings of Christ that we should not be afraid. I believe that when it comes to denying Holy Communion to politicians that support abortion, same sex marriage, and religious liberty that the American Bishops are very afraid. Their fear makes the Church seem weak and timid and that leads me and others to think that the Bishops and many priests do not believe that Christ’s teachings are worth fighting for............

I agree. I need to speak to my pastor about this. Since Catholic doctrine states that the consecrated host and wine are the true body and blood of Christ (Real Presence), it appears to me that the clergy are more afraid of their congregation than of their Lord and Savior. Why do we continually give Communion to people who are knowingly approaching the altar as seriousy in sin against the laws of God and the Church? This is scandalous. Isn’t this triviallizing the meaning of Holy Communion?

The problem is not liberal vs conservative. True Christianity is a force, philosophy and FAITH that cannot be pigeonholed.

The answer is to teach the truths of Christianity and that includes not only charity, but also living the life of a follower of Jesus Christ - which means a DAILY walk in conversion from sin into holiness.

Not an easy thing to do, but it is possible with humility and a strong prayer life and faith in God.

Churches which preach only social justice without the conversion process are no more that glorified social workers.

Anyone who denies the existence of a Hell, is in fact, commiting calumny against Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection.

Why would a loving God send his son into the world to save us from our sins, if there was not a counter force known as Satan and the eternal damnation of those who follow Satan?